Chappaqua (film)

Chappaqua
Directed by	Conrad Rooks
Written by	Conrad Rooks
Produced by	Conrad Rooks
Starring	Jean-Louis Barrault William S. Burroughs Allen Ginsberg Swami Satchidananda Ornette Coleman
Cinematography	Étienne Becker Robert Frank Eugen Schüfftan
Edited by	Kenout Peltier
Music by	Ravi Shankar
Production company	Minotaur
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	November 5, 1967 (USA)
Running time	82 mins
Country	USA
Language	English

Chappaqua is a 1966 cult film written and directed by Conrad Rooks. The film is based on Rooks' experiences with drug addiction and includes cameo appearances by William S. Burroughs, Swami Satchidananda, Allen Ginsberg, Moondog, Ornette Coleman, The Fugs, and Ravi Shankar. Rooks had commissioned Coleman to compose music for the film, but his score, which has become known as the Chappaqua Suite was not used. Ravi Shankar then composed a score.

The film briefly depicts Chappaqua, New York, a hamlet in Westchester County, in a few minutes of wintry panoramas. In the film, the hamlet is an overt symbol of drug-free suburban childhood innocence. It also serves as one of the film's many nods to Native American culture. The word "chappaqua" derives from the Wappinger (a nation of the Algonquian peoples) word for "laurel swamp."

Cast

• Jean-Louis Barrault as Dr. Benoit
• Conrad Rooks as Russel Harwick
• William S. Burroughs as Opium Jones
• Allen Ginsberg as Messie
• Ravi Shankar as Dieu du Soleil
• Paula Pritchett as Water Woman
• Ornette Coleman as Peyote Eater
• Swami Satchidananda as The Guru
• Moondog as The Prophet
• Ed Sanders as The Fugs
• Rita Renoir

External links

• Chappaqua at IMDb
• "Conrad Rooks's 'Chappaqua' Is a Therapeutic Travelogue of the Unconscious" New York Times review, November 6, 1967
• Review of Chappaqua at Mondo Digital
• Baumann Graphik (movie poster, German theatrical release 1998)