Larry Yust
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Yust (L) and Isidore Mankofsky dollying from a Deux Cheveaux on the set of 'My Old Man'

Larry Yust's most significant contribution to educational film was through a finely crafted, intriguing, and intellectually stimulating series of dramatic films made for Encyclopaedia Britannica from roughly 1965-1975. Yust's 'Short Story Showcase' films are, we feel, one of the three great serial dramatic bodies of work of the 1965-1985 era of educational film, the others being the Robert Geller-produced "American Short Story" distributed by Perspective Films, and the fine continual series of dramatic films done by John Barnes from approximately 1959 through 1975.  In addition to his film work, Yust is an accomplished photographer, as evidenced by his book Salvation Mountain: the Art of Leonard Knight (1998 New Leaf Press, ISBN 0-9660778-9-X).  

wpe2.jpg (11279 bytes)Today, Yust continues to be engaged in new photography projects. His latest work involves photographic elevations, which "[are] made by moving in a line parallel to the face of the subject - walking on the opposite sidewalk of a Los Angeles street, or crouching at the rail of a Vaporetto traveling down the Grand Canal in Venice and snapping overlapping shots, with the camera always aimed directly at the subject on a line perpendicular to its face. Recording the images fifteen or thirty for each Elevation takes minutes. Fitting them together in the computer into a single image takes longer, typically two or three days of exacting work."  These powerful images can be seen at: http://www.whatinternational.com/photos/photos.html  His book, Metro: Photographic Elevations of Selected Paris Metro Stations was published by Ginko Press in 2004, where each open out into a three-foot wide panorama.  His work was exhibited in the Louvre in 2005. Visit his website for more on his photos.

 

Biographical notes and filmography

Yust, whose father Walter was the editor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, was exposed to films (and filmmakers) at an early age, when his father took him to Hollywood on a business trip for the purpose of collecting data on the film industry for the encyclopaedia. Later attending Stanford University as a drama major, he became involved with the theatre department, singing first Gilbert and Sullivan, then onto contemporary musicals.   He also developed an interest in set design, lighting, and directing. After military duty (television programming with Walter Reed Army Hospital as part of the Signal Corps' Army Pictorial Service), Yust further developed his craft at other television stations, most notably XETV, the ABC outlet in Tijuana.

Yust's film career began with a series of health and safety films for EB made in 1957, followed by a number of science shorts made in conjunction with Dr. Al Baez.  He also made academic films for Wexler Films, televison dramas for PBS, and directed three feature films. He is best known for his outstanding films on dramatic themes. We are in the process of identifying Yust's academic films. An incomplete Yust filmography would include:

EB Basic Physical Science series (Yust produced all of the films in this series and directed twelve of them. Four  were directed by Stanley Croner)

Atomic Energy: Inside the Atom (dir. Stanley Croner)
Energy and Work (1961)
Electrons at Work (1961)
Evidence for Molecules and Atoms (dir. by Stanley Croner)
Forces (1961) producer
How To Bend Light (1961)
How to Measure Time (1961)
How to Produce Current With Magnets (1961)
How to Produce Electric Current (1961)
Light and Color (1961)
Magnetic, Electric and Gravitational Fields (1962)
Vibrations (dir. Stanley Croner)
Waves and Energy (1961, dir. Stanley Croner)
What is Electric Current (1961)
What Is Space (1961)
What Is Uniform Motion (1961)

 

Other films for EB:

Airport in the Jet Age (1962)
Care of Pets (1962)
City Bus Driver (1962, produced by Yust, directed by Isidore Mankofsky)
Corn Farmer (1960)
DNA: Molecule of Heredity (1960)  Featuring Dr George W Beadle, 1958 Nobel Prize winner.
Explaining Matter: Atoms and Molecules (1958)
Explaining Matter: Chemical Change (1962)
Health in Our Community (1959)
In Case of Fire (1959)
Long Time Intervals
(1960) Made for the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC)
Maps for a Changing World (1960)
Seaport, The (1962).  An exploration of San Francisco dock life, from the work of longshoremen to cityscapes along the waterfront.   Cinematography by Isidore Mankofsky, music by Ramblin' Jack Elliott.


Huckleberry Finn series
(1965, for Encyclopedia Britannica) This was Yust's first venture into the world of the literature film, and consisted of three films hosted and narrated by Clifton "Kip" Fadiman: The Art of Huck Finn, Huckleberry Finn & the American Experience, and What Does Huckleberry Finn Say?

Short Story Showcase, a series of 16mm dramatic films made between 1969-1977, were released by Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corporation, fourteen of which were written, directed, and edited by Larry Yust, photographed by Isidore Mankofsky, and produced by the filmmaker in conjunction with Clifton Fadiman . Several of the following films have a companion ten minute short entitled "Discussion of __________", which provides insight into the goals of the author, objectives of the filmmaker, and an overview of the events surrounding the writing of the original story.  "Short Story Showcase" films made by Yust were:

Bartleby (1969). Also Discussion of Melville's 'Bartleby The Scrivener' by Charles Van Doren
Doctor Heidegger's Experiment (1969) Also Discussion of Hawthorne's 'Dr. Heidegger's Experiment' by Clifton Fadiman
The Lottery (1969) Also Discussion of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' by Dr. James Durbin
The Lady, or the Tiger? (1969) Also Discussion of Frank Stockton's 'The Lady, or the Tiger'  by Clifton Fadiman
My Old Man (1969) Also Discussion of" Hemingway's 'My Old Man' by Blake Nevius
The Crocodile (1972) Also Discussion of Dostoyevsky's 'The Crocodile' by Clifton Fadiman
The Secret Sharer (1973) Also Discussion of Conrad's 'The Secret Sharer' by Charles van Doren

EB's "Short Play Showcase" consisted of six films, all directed by Yust, as follows:

The Well of the Saints (1975) Also Editing a Film: Synge's 'The Well of the Saints', in which the director describes post production
The New Tenant (1975), Also Directing a Film: Ionesco's 'The New Tenant' (1975), in which Yust describes his directing techniques while filming Ionesco's New Tenant
The Long Christmas Dinner (1975), along with Acting for Film (1975), in which Yust explains acting techniques utilized in filming of Thornton Wilder's Long Christmas Dinner

Wondering About Things (1970, for the Lawrence Hall of Science, Regents of the University of California )


Yust also made a series of films on health, nutrition, and mathematics for Wexler Films.  These include:

For the Dairy Council of California:

Big Dinner Table, The (1968)
Food, Energy, and You (1968)
Food for Life (1968)
Food for a Modern World (1968)
How a Hamburger Turns Into You (1968)

Vitamins From Food (1968)
What’s Good to Eat? (1968)

For EC Brown Trust Foundation:

Family Talks Abut Sex, A (1978)
Genes and Hereditary Disorders (1990)
Family Talks About Growing Older, A
How to Be a Good Kid (1979)
Human Growth, 4th Edition (1987)
Live or Die
(1979)
Sex and Decisions: Remember Tomorrow (1985)

For AFL-CIO:

Tell Me Where to Turn (1970)
 

For Wexler's 'Metric System' series:

Kilogram, The (1974)
Liter, The : an Introduction to the Metric System (1974)
Measuring with Meters - or - How to Weigh a Gold Brick with a Meter Stick
(1974)
Meter, The (1974)
Meters, Liters, and Kilograms - or - How to Measure Water with a Stick
(1974)


For Los Angeles County Foundation:

School Readiness (1972)


For National Cancer Institute of Health:

Progress Against Cancer (1971)


Larry produced several films that were aired on PBS.  Among them are:

Requiem for a Nun (1974), written by William Faulkner, starring Sarah Miles
Mark Twain: Beneath the Laughter (1979), with Dan O'Herlihy as Twain, produced for the Foundation for American Letters

Larry Yust's feature films include:

Trick Baby (1970)
Homebodies (1974)
Say Yes! (1986) 


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