Years ago I came across a very interesting book intitled Film as a
Subversive Art. It was written by Amos Vogel and published in 1974.
One of the movies mentioned in the book is The Man From Onan. Please
provide any availble information on this movie. I'd like to find a
copy if possible. I know very little except that the movie's director
is someone named Alan Ruskin. I admit that this request is motivated
largely by my own prurient interets - however it also is a test of
your researchers. I've been looking for additional info on the movie
since the last 1980s and haven't gotten anywhere.

Check out these links.  There is a listing for the movie at IMDB.com
but it gives little info.  One of the links suggests it may be an
"adult" film:

http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=web&cs=iso-8859-1&l=any&q=%22man+from+onan%22

Hi 99d,

I am glad to see a question of this kind on GA, being a film maker
myself and having been very interested in Amos Vogel's book. I
remember the films I had seen, like "I am curious-yellow", Andrej
Wajda's "Kanaal", Dusan Makavejev's film, "OR - Mystery of the
Organism", etc., which were also mentioned in the book.

It was more than 6 years back when I got a chance to read the book
many times over at film school. It was a very good time, and it no
longer exists today. The world seems to have dumbed up quite a bit!

I am not sure if I can find you a copy of the film but I am sure I can
find more information about it! Let me give it a try. For once, I am
not only going to enjoy my research but also get nostalgic!

warm regards
vinods-ga

sorry, I realised it can't be 'dumbed up' it has to be 'dumbed down' !!

warm regards
vinods-ga

Hey.  You gave me a reason to pull out my copy of this book and read
about the film (um, interesting photos :)

You've probably already run across this, but it looks like the guy who
is involved with Cashiers du Cinemart ( http://impossiblefunky.com/ )
is also looking for this title.  So it must be pretty hard to find!

http://www.impossiblefunky.com/masterwants.htm
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&th=8cdba219f1c76712&seekm=3D2A38A1.CF1DC7F3%40impossiblefunky.com&frame=off

Hi,

I did a search on ABEBOOKS.COM and found 10 copies priced from $95 to $250.

Regards

probonopublico-ga, I think you are referring to the book "Film as a
Subversive Art."   99d-ga is trying to locate Man From Onan, a film
that is featured in that book.

Yes ... leep-ga ... I was referring to the book. I realise that the
film was required but thought that the book might also be interesting
but it's too expensive for me!

Thanks for information. I have come across used copies of the book for
sale and I will check out the link that probonopublico listed. The
book is fascinating and I would love a copy. Those photos that Leep
mentioned  explains why I recall this specific film - however, upon
reflection, nearly every film detailed in the book seemed amazing
(vinods would very likely agree). I'm sure many are - but Vogel's
descriptions were really irresistable. He drew me in. I wish I had the
time and money to watch them all.

I had already come across the IMDB.com listing and the impossiblefunky
link. That's pretty much all I could come up with on my own. Thanks
for all your comments. I look forward to seeing if any additional info
can be provided by someone.

This won't help with the answer but the question certainly brought
back some memories.  I ordered this book from out local library as
part of a list of titles for some project research when I was maybe 13
years old (deepest Devon, early 70's) without really knowing its
content.  The librarian looked at me *very* strangely as he handed it
over and it wasn't until I got it home that I found out why!  It
wasn't much use for the project but it was certainly educational.
When the time came to give it back the same guy was on duty. I stuck
it in the middle of the stack, dumped them on the corner and ran.