Mark Ellinger
Biography
Mark Ellinger is an American composer raised in Ohio. Ellinger met and became friends with filmmaker Curt McDowell while studying at the San Francisco Art Institute. Between 1971 and 1987, he taught classes at the Art Institute and the Academy of Art. He worked as a recording engineer, sound designer, electronics technician, composer and actor on various independent films. In 1982, he opened the 16-track recording studio Truth and Beauty.
Known For & Full Filmography14 Titles
Movie - 1974, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
"Curt McDowell's NUDES (A Sketchbook) is a paean to the filmmaker's closest friends: a series of portraits (beginning with one of George Kuchar) based on stylized, often graphically sexual interpretations of his or her personality. The portraits also, at times, represent Curt's own sexual interests as he projects them onto the lives of others. My favorites are 'Barbara', a Pre-Raphaelite vision of woman and 'Ainslie', a musical spoof on glamour. The filmmaker's point of view ranges from compulsively erotic to light-hearted and self-debunking. A broad reading of the term 'romantic' would probably best describe the spectrum of extreme, even outrageous, possibilities which Curt embraces in this sketchbook/film." - Karen Cooper, Film Forum
Movie - 1987, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
The comings and goings of the late underground filmmaker, Curt McDowell—and the people and activities that came and went along with him—are the themes that run through this existential diary of daily life. McDowell was dying from AIDS-related illnesses during the production of the diary. “An elegy for McDowell, the videowork captures Kuchar’s mournful remembrances of his long-lasting friendship with the young filmmaker. But it also has the inquisitive charm, perverse humor, and quirky candor that places Kuchar’s visual expressions in a gritty niche all their own.”
Movie - 1975, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
A shady motel manager becomes obsessed with a neglected wife.
Movie - 1974, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Starring George Kuchar as "Hunk", Mrs. Ruby B. Davis as "Aunt Ruth", and introducing Melinda McDowell as the much-abused, sex bomb "Goldenrod".
Movie - 1972, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
An hour-long saga of Mick Terrific, rock 'n' roll star, and the cast of 50 he encounters on his search for "Mr. Wonderful." “PEED INTO THE WIND smears across the screen like one of those dirty underground comic books. It’s loaded with a lot of big scenes and unusual looking people that make this epic resemble a clogged toilet. Unfortunately, since several of the performers were not as loyal as Ainslie Pryor and John Thomas, the plot is difficult to follow but in no way hinders the sewer-like sequences. It’s quite enjoyable and possesses the releasing power of an enema.” –George Kuchar. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2016.
Movie - 1972, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
"Just as outrageous is Curt McDowell's CONFESSIONS. McDowell, a graduate student at San Francisco Art Institute, opens his film with a confession to his mother and father, listing in exhausting detail his sins of the flesh."
Movie - 1973, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Two brothers are stood up and lament through song. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2015.
Movie - 1973, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Ainslie Pryor in two miniature dramas, utilizing wind sound effects, canned laughter, and "I Love Lucy" lighting.
Movie - 1970, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Ted Davis is everyone's favorte Master of Ceremonies for the following performances: Peckernose Act, The Cooking and the Washing Act, Spin Your Little Clothes Off Act, Tea Break, The Spinning Nuns, Balancing Prick Act, The Dirty Hummers, Spanish Dancer Act, The Whora, Picking a Winner, The Poop Chute Act, Waiting and Worrying Nude Act, The Tapping Tennis, The Disappearing Milk and Sandwich Act, The Flower Magician, Fart Chorus, The Whirlwinds, The Paper Bags on the Heads Act, The Belly Dance, Cheek to Cheek, Head Job Act, Tweeting Prick Act, Fanny Dancer, Back Words Act, Betsy the Cussing Doll, And… The Singing Twat
Movie - 1973, 2h 15m • as Mean Brother
A musical for the whole family. A rural operette starring Ainslie Pryor and Geore Kuchar, told through song and rhme.
Movie - 1974, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
A real and favorite dream of mine, preserved on film to be relived over and over.
Movie - 1972, 2h 15m • as Dave Powers
A San Francisco bohemian deadbeat sits around his apartment and fantasizes about women.
Movie - 1975, 2h 15m • as Charlie Hammond
An eccentric and alcoholic widow hosts a motley assortment of travelers - four men, three women and one gorilla - who arrive one eventful night to get out of a torrential rainstorm.
Movie - 1973, 2h 15m • as Swinger
Memories of Eve's childhood torment slowly give way to the optimism of young adulthood, and a chance at happiness with successful DJ Frank Paradise, but everything changes in a near-fatal instant when a car crash leaves her disfigured. While her new face emerges and her scars start to heal, the chains of conformity begin to strain as she learns the value of overcoming her deep-rooted guilt and repression.