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Kenneth Anger
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=== 1961β1965: ''Scorpio Rising'' and ''Kustom Kar Kommandos'' === [[File:Kenneth Anger (Scorpio Rising).jpg|thumb|Anger with a motorcycle on the set of ''Scorpio Rising'']] In 1961, Anger once more returned to the U.S., where he lived for a time with Marjorie Cameron.<ref>{{harvnb|Landis|1995|p=100}}</ref> He began work on a new feature, ''[[Scorpio Rising (film)|Scorpio Rising]]'', about the [[Motorcycle|biker]] subculture. For this, he employed a biker named Richard McAuley, and filmed him and some of his friends messing around, adding to it scenes of McAuley, or "Scorpio" as he became known, desecrating a derelict church. Anger incorporated more controversial visuals into the piece, including [[Nazi]] iconography, nudity, and clips of the life of [[Jesus Christ]] taken from the Family Films' ''The Living Bible: Last Journey to Jerusalem'', images of Jesus which are intercut with those of Scorpio. The film has a soundtrack of popular 1960s songs, including "[[Blue Velvet (song)|Blue Velvet]]" by [[Bobby Vinton]], "Torture" by [[Kris Jensen]], and "[[I Will Follow Him]]" by [[Little Peggy March]].<ref>{{harvnb|Landis|1995|pp=104β113}}</ref> Anger called the film "a death mirror held up to American culture ... [[Thanatos]] in chrome, black leather, and bursting jeans."<ref>{{harvnb|Landis|1995|p=112}}</ref> It immediately became popular on the underground cinema scene but was soon brought to court on obscenity charges. The jury ruled in favor of the prosecutors and ''Scorpio Rising'' was banned; the ban was overturned on appeal to the [[California Supreme Court]].<ref>{{harvnb|Landis|1995|pp=119β120}}</ref> Now living in San Francisco, Anger approached the [[Ford Foundation]], which had just started a program of grants to filmmakers. He showed the foundation his ideas for a new artistic short, ''[[Kustom Kar Kommandos]]'', which they approved of, giving him a grant of $10,000.<ref>{{harvnb|Landis|1995|p=117}}</ref> Anger spent much of the money on living expenses and alterations to some of his films, so that by the time he actually created ''Kustom Kar Kommandos'', it was only one scene long. The homoerotic film involved various shots of a young man polishing a drag strip racing car, accompanied by a pink background and [[The Paris Sisters]]' song "[[Dream Lover]]". Soon after, Anger struck a deal that allowed ''Hollywood Babylon'' to be officially published for the first time in the U.S., where it proved a success, selling two million copies during the 1960s. Around the same time Anger also translated [[Joseph-Marie Lo Duca|Lo Duca]]'s ''History of Eroticism'' into English for American publication.<ref>{{harvnb|Landis|1995|pp=122β123}}</ref>
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