A collection of printed material related to the film L'Âge d'Or

1932. Five items related to presentations of the archetypal Surrealist film, which was officially suppressed for decades following its tumultuous screening at Studio 28 in Montmartre in December 1930. Religious leaders, the media and politicians fervently protested the film. Screening it was banned and it would remain censored for 51 years. All are housed loose in a custom bound volume with each item laid in separately with a protective tissue guard, housed in a slipcase. Included are the following items:

Two broadsides advertising a single screening presented by Les Spectateurs de l'Avant-Garde on 27 Avril [1932]. Each app. 8 1/4 x 10 1/2 inches. The broadsides each present a different image from the film but are otherwise identical in text. The film was shown at La Bellevilloise, a workers' cooperative theatre, and a second screening was added April 30. The private screenings were described as low-key affairs, advertised only in a few Paris bookshops. "No protests," Buñuel remarked. Despite the modest reaction, one of the viewers was the great filmmaker Jean Vigo.

Two items related to the screening at Le Club de L'Ecran in Brussels, May 10, 1932. A newsprint broadside, printed on both sides, with articles on the recto related to the film club's activities, and the verso completely given over to texts about L'Âge d'Or, with several illustrations. Also, a printed ticket for the screening, at the Cine-Casino St-Josse, with an introduction by Paul-Gustave Van Hecke.

L'Affaire de "L'Age d'Or." Single sheet, folded twice to form [4] pages, with an inserted photo-illustrated sheet printed on recto and verso. Published by Nancy Cunard on the occasion of her private screening of the film in London in January 1931. A statement describing the film's riotous initial reception, with press extracts and a questionnaire, attesting to the film's serious intentions and artistic importance, signed by Aragon, Breton, Crevel, Eluard, Tzara, and others.

Reference: Gubern, Román, and Paul Hammond. Luis Buñuel: The Red Years, 1929-1939. Wisconsin, 2012. pp. 108-109. (Inventory #: 2468)