The Secret Life of Hernando Cortez

John Chamberlain is primarily known as a sculptor, but starting in 1968 he made two experimental films. The plot of this film is casual, like many counterculture films of the 1960s, and was essentially about "what to do after arriving in Veracruz".{{Cite book |last=Judd |first=Donald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JuTsDwAAQBAJ |title=Donald Judd Writings |date=2016-11-22 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-941701-35-5 |pages=507 |language=en}} The film has been described in writings as "freeform," "sexually explicit," and as "hallucinatory soft porn".{{Cite book |last=Getsy |first=David J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NkptDwAAQBAJ |title=Abstract Bodies: Sixties Sculpture in the Expanded Field of Gender |date=2015-11-03 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-19675-7 |pages=116 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Beck |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1sLNDwAAQBAJ |title=Technocrats of the Imagination: Art, Technology, and the Military-Industrial Avant-Garde |last2=Bishop |first2=Ryan |date=2020-03-13 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-1-4780-0732-6 |language=en}} Chamberlain described an underlying theme of "conquest".{{Cite book |last=Janssen |first=Volker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJQkDQAAQBAJ |title=Where Minds and Matters Meet |last2=Bix |first2=Amy|author2-link=Amy Bix |last3=Nash |first3=Linda |date=2012-12-12 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-28910-9 |pages=303 |language=en}} Art critic and curator Edward G. Leffingwell helped write the screenplay,{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Roberta |date=2014-08-20 |title=Edward G. Leffingwell, Curator, Dies at 72 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/20/arts/edward-g-leffingwell-curator-dies-at-72.html |access-date=2023-02-26 |issn=0362-4331}} and fashion designer Tiger Morse served as the costume designer.{{Cite web |title=Тайгер Морс |trans-title=Tiger Morse |url=https://ua.kinorium.com/name/1362536/ |access-date=2023-02-25 |website=Кіноріум |language=uk}} It was filmed in color in the Yucatán and has a 58 minutes runtime.{{Cite news |date=1979-01-28 |title=Rochester Native's Sculpture: Art or 'Manufactory'? |pages=13 |work=Logansport Pharos-Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119718863/rochester-natives-sculpture-art-or/ |access-date=2023-02-26}}

The Secret Life of Hernando Cortez was screened in February 1967 at Hunter College, alongside Chamberlain's film Wide Point (1968), also starring Taylor Mead.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Flyer for a screening of films by John Chamberlain |url=https://www.si.edu/object/flyer-screening-films-john-chamberlain%3AAAADCD_item_13337 |access-date=2023-02-26 |website=Smithsonian Institution |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Marter |first=Joan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sPGdBxzaWj0C |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533579-8 |pages=436 |language=en}} Both films were shown at the 1968 Annual Exhibition, at Whitney Museum of American Art.{{Cite web |title=John Chamberlain |url=https://nga.gov.au/art-artists/the-kenneth-e-tyler-collection/artists/john-chamberlain/ |access-date=2023-02-26 |website=National Gallery of Australia |language=en}} It was later shown in the context of movie theaters, film festivals and international art exhibitions.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=apNUAAAAMAAJ |title=ARTnews |date=1971 |publisher=ARTnews Associates |volume=70 |pages=4 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Ali |date=2015-07-31 |title=Heavy metal: John Chamberlain's first UK exhibition takes Edinburgh |url=https://www.wallpaper.com/art/heavy-metal-john-chamberlains-first-uk-exhibition-takes-edinburgh |access-date=2023-02-26 |website=wallpaper.com |language=en}} The Secret Life of Hernando Cortez has a cult following.{{Cite web |last=Cooke |first=Lynne |date=March 2012 |title=Perfect Fit: John Chamberlain Remembered |url=https://www.artforum.com/print/201203/perfect-fit-john-chamberlain-remembered-30330 |access-date=2023-02-26 |website=Artforum.com |language=en-US}} The film is part of the Chinati Foundation collection.{{Cite web |title=John Chamberlain |url=https://chinati.org/collection/john-chamberlain/ |access-date=2023-02-26 |website=The Chinati Foundation |language=en-US}} A flyer for the 1967 film screening at Hunter College is part of the collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

• John Chamberlain, as Blackie Norton
• Taylor Mead, as Hernando Cortez
• Ultra Violet (also known as Isabelle Collin Dufresne), as 'Daughter of Montezuma'

• Hernán Cortés

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|id=tt0064951}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-IRd_iXWAY The Secret Life of Hernando Cortez (film excerpt 20 mins)] from YouTube

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Category:1968 films

Category:American avant-garde and experimental films

Category:Films shot in Mexico

Category:1968 in American cinema

Category:Counterculture of the 1960s