Watch Swinging the Lambeth Walk

Pop art avant la lettre, SWINGING THE LAMBETH WALK remains an object lesson in "visual music." Len Lye's genius for color and geometry is everywhere-apparent in his joyous visual accompaniment of the titular swing dance number (which features Django Reinhardt on guitar and Stephane Grapelli on violin). The film was made under a commission from Britain's Tourist and Industrial Development Association (much to the consternation of the country's grey bureaucrats). - Max Goldberg