Reg Hartt
A little while ago, I saw a film at Reg Hartt’s Cineforum in downtown Toronto. Not only was I looking forward to the movies he was showing, but also to the supposed brilliance of the man himself. Ha! Little did I know what a complete jackass he was. Oh wait, apparently he loves to be told that by his critics. Alright, how about… pathetic jackass.
He said don’t let yourself be judged, don’t listen to others, but he was always looking up at us expectantly, uttering “you know?” at the end of every sentence, as if he wanted some sort of approval from us, some outward agreement that he was as brilliant as he said he was. He told us to work for ourselves, not for others, and to do things to satiate a lust rather than to bring in a paycheck. Yet, everytime he measured success, either his or that of others, it was measured in terms of fame and money, not satisfaction. And believe me, he couldn’t say enough about his own success. I felt like I was watching a Reg Hartt commercial.
How am I supposed to respect a man like that? Next time I go (if there is a next time), I’m coming late. Better to avoid his “I’m the greatest man in the universe and I didn’t even go to university” lecture.
bear king said,
May 16, 2004 at 12:29 pm
insecurity is as insecurity does.
bearking said,
June 26, 2004 at 7:42 am
REG HARTT HAS A FEEL FOR FILM UNIQUE IN THIS COUNTRY, APPROACHING GENIUS LEVEL.
–Elwy Yost, former host SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES (TVOntario). Quoted in UofT
Student Newspaper.
JOHN ROBERT COLOMBO (author and anthologist).
Eight Things Everyone Must Know About Reg Hartt
l. Reg Hartt gives talks that are sometimes more interesting than the films he shows.
2. The films he shows are interesting films, otherwise he would not be repeatedly showing them
3. Reg Hartt is something of a legend in Toronto, and someone who has generated kilometers of publicity.
4. The purpose of the publicity he generates is not to feed his ego (though his ego is a grand one!); the publicity’s purpose is to draw attention to the fact that day after day, week after week, year after year, he exhibits to one and all the world’s classic films (especially its wonderful short features-animated cartoons). He has done so since l967. Since then perhaps millions have listened to his talks, watched his l6mm movies, and left infuriated or fulfilled.
5. Reg Hartt delights in his gnarly reputation.
6. His reputation is gnarly because he gives neither a fig nor a fuck for bourgeois morality, be it that of society, church, campus, boardroom, or the media. Friends and enemies alike attest to how fair the man is-and the fact that he views the world as drama-as a “vanity fair.”
7. Reg Hartt believes that “more things are wrought by wear and tear than this world dreams of.”
8. By “wear and tear” he has in mind the following fundamental and psychological facts: chaos and confrontation are crucial to human creativity…people have to pull down their hang-ups. ..Reg has a “beating hartt” but is no “bleeding hartt.”
MICHAEL VALPY, GLOBE AND MAIL columnist.
REG HARTT is what living in a metropolis is all about. He personifies the city as a meeting place
of ideas, as a feast of experience and discussion and debate, as a triumph of the original and provoking over the banal and soporific.
JOHN BENTLEY MAYS, former art writer THE GLOBE AND MAIL
(REG) HARTT’s SURREALIST FEST would be welcome any time, since much of what’s on view
is timelessly wonderful, and the rest is thoroughly interesting…To view this wonderful festival is to feel one’s self in a hall of mirrors, where images of the old seem new, and the new suddenly seem everlasting.
Paul McGrath, THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Some audience members were visibly distressed by the frequency and force of Hartt’s interjections
into the program but it is clearly his chosen way of doing things, and the payoff in information is
worth it. He has many good stories to tell: about Oswald the Lucky Rabbit’s transformation into
Mickey Mouse, Disney’s most enduring character; about the furor that greeted the creation of
Tweety Pie, which subsided only when the artists painted him yellow; and much valuable technical
information for the animation students. He has some interesting tales about Mel Blanc, Warners’
resident genius of voice characterization, as he continues the series with a full scale look at the Warner work of Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, and others. It’s the best work of its kind you will see anywhere because, except in rare oases in the United States and Eastern-Europe, they don’t make them like that anymore.
JULIA SCUTARU, retired journalist, Bucharest, Romania, 2000
In Toronto, I discovered by chance, Cineforum. Pure chance but a fortunate one. In that small room exhaling culture, passion and dedication, I watched the movie TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, an
important historical, political and social document., and real artistic achievement….As a journalist(in Romania) I worked in the cultural field, including film reviews. Therefore I came to the Cineforum not just as a movie lover, but as a knowledgeable professional…We live in an era authoritatively dominated by brainwashing and political correctness…I admired Reg Hartt’s courage and passion put in searching out and defending the human truth, the artistic truth, the historical truth; the Truth and unveiling it…Discovering Reg Hartt and his Cineforum was one of the most important events of my visit in Toronto.
BERNIE FARBER, national director of community relations for the Canadian Jewish Congress,
“(REG HARTTT’S presentation IS educational) TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, unfortunately and very tragically was one of the most important propaganda pieces ever made. Nazism was nothing if not for it propaganda machine…it laid the groundwork for the German public to accept Nazism, and these are things that have to be studied, in terms of how film can affect people in that way.” (from THE TELEGRAPH JOURNAL, St. John, New Brunswick, Sept. 20, l995)
JENNY WOOLF, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, London, England…
(REG HARTT) is passionate about self-expression…His shows are brilliant.
BAREND KIEFTE, THE MUSE. St. John’s, New Foundland (July l5, l988)
SURREALISM is an art movement that requires and deserves explanation, and Hartt did that well.
DAVID BEARD, owner CINEBOOKS, quoted in THE TORONTO STAR, Nov. l, l979
“This man has devoted his whole life to bringing the film classics to the public. He treats animation-cartoons, if you will-as art. He is underfinanced, overworked and snubbed. I think we should pay tribute to him.
GREG WILLIAMS, MA (Ph, D. Candidate), President, University College Film Society, and Chairman of the Subcommittee for film, U. C. Symposium
I wish we had more time to chat together last night about our respective (and mutual) interests in film.
‘Cineforum’ has attained the status of an institution; it represents an achievement of which you should rightly feel proud.
I can only hope the ‘University College Film Society’ will someday approximate its success and that I will, personally, match your inspired delivery as a master of ceremonies.
As a newcomer to the business of arranging film programs, so far I am your equal perhaps only in enthusiasm. Thus I find your presentations to be not only exceptional in their content but also edifying in their execution. As an academic (in the field of English) I am also impressed by the high scholarly standard that pervades your informed and witty introductions,
I frequently wonder if you have ever considered writing a history…some very good books have been
written…but no text has dealt with it in a definitive way. A marshalling of your knowledge would, I am certain, produce a very fine volume indeed.
DOUGLAS ELIUK, former education officer NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA.
(REG) Hartt is acknowledged as a phenomenon in the film community. He is someone who does not rely on government grants, subsidies or institutional protection to generate his film activities. He depends entirely on his intelligence, talent and resourcefulness. His events are produced with care and good sense, in a clean and friendly atmosphere and with an almost avuncular consideration for his fans, As a film officer for the National Film Board of Canada for 30 years, I have seldom seen anyone who added so much
substance and passion to the cultural fabric of our society as he has done with his lectures and presentations.
JOHN KRICFALUSI, creator of REN & STIMPY.
I hope Reg Hartt continues to inspire young artists.
JANE JACOBS, activist, author, urbanologist.
Some time ago I attended a showing of the Nazi propaganda film, “TRIUMPH OF THE WILL,” in a program put on by Reg Hartt (who) prefaced the film with an excellent commentary on the frightening skill with which expert propagandists can manipulate and fool unwary, credulous or self-deceived viewers…I thought the program was eminently educational, indeed almost a necessary form of education in the sense that it so vividly and effectively inoculated viewers against accepting propaganda at face value. The program went way beyond the all-too-common hassle over ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ propa-
ganda because it was anti-propaganda of any sort: anti-manipulation.
Reflect on what Mr. Hartt is doing and on its educational usefulness for those who will listen and then observe the demonic illustrations of his point. Anyone who does that, I think, must forever after, be suspicious of being sold a seductive propaganda bill of goods.
JERZEY ZABORSKI, archaelogist, Egyptologist, Sumeroligist, Tibetan Lama & companion to the
Dalai Lama on his journey across Canada…
“CINEFORUM is like a university. People can learn there. Reg Hartt is a ‘Crazy-Wisdom-Yogin,’
someone who is living absolutely the life he is teaching. As a Buddhist that is the highest compliment I can pay anyone.”
JUDITH MERRIL when asked by SF writer ROB SAWYER why Reg Hartt was invited to be a member of Hydra North, the gathering of SF professionals in Canada (Reg does not write SF).
“Because Reg Hartt is THE most creative person working in film in Canada.”
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PETER MOORE, British Artist.
I am a Brit artist. I love Toronto. I have sometimes heard it said that Toronto is boring. It is a comparatively well ordered city. Maybe that is why some imperceptive people think it boring. The thing is I keep having amazing successes in Toronto. My friend Bob Welton who decided he was much happier in Warsaw than in London used to say in London everything is possible and nothing is probable. I just find in Toronto not everything is possible but lots of things, important things, are quite probable. Does this make sense?
ANYWAY, a wonderful surprise in Toronto is Reg Hartt’s Cineforum. I was walking down Bloor Street with my friend Alan, a composer, a Torontonian who, searching for fulfillment in London, has realized that everything he wanted existed in his original home, Toronto. It was my birthday. He said, “What do you want to do for your birthday?” I said, “I want to go and see that!”
I was pointing at a mysterious poster for TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, (the film of Hitler’s l934 Nuremberg
rally). I’d always wanted to see that.
So we went and I found myself in the most perfect place on earth to watch a film. With the film was an unexpected treat….a brilliant, unbiased, sensible and stimulating introduction by the amazing Reg Hartt.
So once again, in German mode, we went to see Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS. Reg had somehow spliced
on to the film his own soundtrack. Now this was interesting because a while later we went to the Art Gallery of Ontatio where the same film was shown-much bigger screen-and with piano accompaniment.
It was interesting to compare the two showings and, in my humble opinion, Reg’s came out winning.
REG HARTT and CINEFORUM add considerably to the mysterious charms of Toronto which often makes
me want to be a NEW CANADIAN!
DOUGLAS ELIUK on Reg Hartt’s score for METROPOLIS.
I have left so many cinemas looking like I’ve been smelling onions for two hours that it is a pleasure and a catharsis to alert you to a redeeming film experience I enjoyed recently. It was not exactly an epiphany, but when something brilliant comes along, it deserves comment beyond self congratulations on managing to stay awake.
What I’m referring to is a recent screening of Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS I attended at Reg Hartt’s
Cineforum. I’ve seen the film with every sort of accompaniment except organ grinder and a monkey. When organ and even the now rare orchestral accompaniments have been attached to one of the “silent” classics,it is still hard to avoid the giggle factor what with all the usual silent movie grand overwrought gestural school of acting methods. However, Reg Hartt has completely transcended the predictable approach and has presented a classic film with a brilliant multi-layered sound track that forgives the histrionic giggle factor. Hartt allows us to see a great film with a fresh perspective.
I am not Mr. Hartt’s P. R. council but as someone who has been in the film industry for decades and who celebrates cinematic excellence,I hope you will take the opportunity to experience this superb revitalization of METROPOLIS with its innovative music track.
From a letter to Ottawa’s Towne Cinema (Nov. 7, l985)
Last week I finally got a chance to see a film I have been trying to see for literally years. That film is METROPOLIS, and I don’t mean Giorgio Moroder’s head-banger version. No, I’m talking about the most complete version of the film as it was meant to be seen in a l6mm print so clear, so clean you’d think the film was made a year ago. Wow. I mean I have been hearing stories about METROPOLIS for a long time, but I never thought my expectations would be met let alone far
surpassed. And this without the “help” of Mr. Moroder. Does this mean there wasn’t a soundtrack?
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Far from it. Accompanying the film was a brilliant (and I mean brilliant) soundtrack combining
both modern music and classical pieces. This soundtrack suited the film when we all know Moroder’s didn’t. So who has this print of the film? Reg Hartt….If you know anything about
Reg Hartt you know his lectures are anything but boring. He’s thrown chairs at people, kicked
non-believers out, slandered near everyone under the sun (who usually deserves it) and started
near riots. In other words, a real entertaining guy. Honestly. Reg is a lot of fun, he knows more
about film (and the politics of film) than all of my teachers combined. And his soundtracks!
JOHN KENNEDY, fab
If you walk around Toronto at all, you probably know the name Reg Hartt. There’s hardly a lamppost, hydro pole or construction wall in the downtown area that hasn’t …Reg Hartt’s posters. They advertise screenings of THE BIRTH OF A NATION, TRIUMPH OF THE WILL, METROPOLIS, Bugs Bunny cartoons and other celluloid classics at Hartt’s theatre, Cineforum.
…Hartt’s theatre is actually his converted living room. The walls are painted black and a large movie screen hangs at the front.
…Hartt likes to talk. not just about movies…but about everything from his views on the education system to human sexuality. His voice fluctuates between that of a professional story teller and that of a crazy man. None of it comes across as pretentious because Hartt has had a remarkable life and has obviously gained an enormous amount of wisdom. I sat there equally mesmerized and terrified.
…My friend and I spent most of the night thinking about Hartt’s words-not about movies but about life and people and ourselves. His words lasted for days and we looked at our lives a little differently.
Cineforum is the oddest place in the city to see a film but there’s something to be said for being able to hear the sound of a real movie projector and to see films the way they were meant to be seen.
And there’s a lot to be said for being able to listen to Reg Hartt.
Eve said,
June 26, 2004 at 8:37 am
Why on earth would I care?
BB said,
August 1, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Putting aside his personality, his facts are off. Hartt says that DW Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation” is not racist. Not true. It was considered racist even when it first came out; Griffith’s maid went to see it, and she came back and said, “Mr Griffith, you ought to be ashamed of yourself”. Hartt says that it is not racist because, “it was blacks from the view of the white South.” If this is the case, then no movies, or any other form of media are racist. He brought us into the kitchen for a long, unsolicited monologue. He tried to argue my husband down on “Nation” not being racist. My husband and I saw at that point that we were dealing with someone who was grossly uninformed and that we should not take him seriously so we let it go. I kept looking at the time, hoping that he would get the hint that we wanted to see the films.
Also, Hartt entirely misses the point of why people still care about “..Nation”: it is NOT because of the story (which he likes, but most people reject), but because of the innovative camera work of the time. I tried to share this with Hartt, but he is not interested in hearing what others have to say, only what HE has to say: he is only interested in talking AT people, not TO people.
He also says that Marxism is “state capitalism”. Uhh, Reg, you need to read the Communist Manifesto and Das Capital before you pontificate on things you know nothing about.
Also, he cartoons that he shows he says are “banned”. We are from the states and most of these “banned” cartoons are on television all of the time.
He also makes generalizations about film professors, calling all of them “pseudo-Marxists”. I have taken film classes and I can tell you that Hartt, on this topic as well, does not know what the hell he is talking about.
We are from Baltimore and we brought up John Waters when he was talking about film censorship. He went on a tirade about how he doesn’t like Waters because he doesn’t think that a director should make his actors eat catshit. It wasn’t catshit and Waters asked ONE actor for ONE film (Pink Flamingos) to eat dog shit. We brought Waters up to discuss the history of the Baltimore Censor Board and how they hated Waters and the only reason why Waters has a career is because he was pissing off the censors. But we never got to say any of that because again, Hartt is only interested in hearing his own ill-informed rants and has no interest in hearing anyone else’s contributions.
The movies were enjoyable, but they were not worth $20 a pop. If you are going to go, show up late, as it has been suggested, because you will hear much about film in his diatribe that is not accurate, which would be okay if he wasn’t intent on speaking and not ever listening.