August Classic Film Screenings in Greater Boston

While my cinema highlight of the month will no doubt be the very special film festival of rare silents and early talkies in Rome, NY, (check out the Capitolfest website HERE), there will be again an abundance of big screen offerings locally.  I hope to take in a few.  Anyone want to join me?

Harvard Film Archive (HFA)
Great news!  Rouben Mamoulian - Reconsidered opens this month.  The HFA promises 'beautiful prints and recent preservations' to be focus of this complete retrospective of the talented studio-era director. Mamoulian worked with the best of the best, and excelled in many genres, although only directed a total of 16 films starting in the early 1930s.  His career included the stage as well, and he brought a theatrical sensibility combined with a love of and talent for technological innovations to his films.

Rouben Mamoulian

Fri Aug 12 7 PM APPLAUSE (1929)  Mamoulian's first film, an early sound musical featuring a back-stage drama.

Fri Aug 19 7 PM DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1931) This lauded film version of the classic horror film features Fredric March stunning in the lead roles, and Miriam Hopkins in a vulnerable role, with juicy elements of the 'pre-code' era.

Fri Aug 19 9 PM SUMMER HOLIDAY (1948) A 'sunny musical' starring Mickey Rooney, based on a play by Eugene O'Neill ('Ah, Wilderness!')

Sat Aug 20 7 PM LOVE ME TONIGHT (1932) Film version of the Rodgers & Hart musical, starring musical pros Jeanette MacDonald & Maurice Chevalier, with young pre-superstar Myrna Loy in a supporting role.

Sat Aug 20 9 PM THE GAY DESPERADO (1936).  This one sounds interesting a 'musical-gangster-comedy' set in Mexico. Starring Ida Lupino, Nino Martini & Leo Carrillo.

Sun Aug 21 5 PM BECKY SHARP (1935).  Film version of Thackeray's 'Vanity Fair', starring Miriam Hopkins in the lead role.  Said to be the first feature film using three-color Technicolor process.

Sun Aug 21 7 PM RINGS ON HER FINGERS (1942).  Great cast here: Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, and terrific character actor Laird Cregar.  It's Mamoulian's only screwball comedy.

Fri Aug 26 7 PM GOLDEN BOY (1939).  Those interested in seeing William Holden's first starring role will not be disappointed with this melodramatic tale of a boxer, based on a play by Clifford Odets.

Fri Aug 26 9 PM CITY STREETS (1931).  Gary Cooper & Sylvia Sidney star in this gangster drama.  I'll have had a heavy dose of Cooper at Capitolfest, so I may just need this fix a week later.

Gary Cooper & Sylvia Sidney
CITY STREETS (photo from HFA)

Sat Aug 27 7 PM QUEEN CHRISTINA (1933).  Greta Garbo stars with former lover and silent star John Gilbert in this romantic period piece.

Sat Aug 27 9 PM WE LIVE AGAIN (1934). Another romantic period piece, this time in Russia, with Anna Sten & Fredric March.



Sun Aug 28 4:30 PM SILK STOCKINGS (1957).  Mamoulian's last film and Fred Astaire's last dance film, also starring Cyd Charisse.

Sun Aug 28 7 PM THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940).  With Tyrone Power.  What else needs to be said?

Ty Power as Zorro. (photo from HFA)

Mon Aug 29 7 PM  HIGH, WIDE AND HANDSOME (1937).  Randolph Scott, Irene Dunne and Dorothy Lamour star in this musical dose of Americana, seen as a follow up to SHOWBOAT.






The Robert Aldrich retrospective continues as well in August, and here are what remain in the program:

Aug 18, 7 PM  KISS ME DEADLY (1955) closes the retrospective.  It also opened it, on June 3.  I attended that one; well worth watching this classic later noir on the big screen.

Fri Aug 5 9:30 PM:  THE ANGRY HILLS (1959) with Robert Mitchum.

Sun Aug 7 4 PM: THE FRISCO KID (1979) with Gene Wilder & Harrison Ford.

Sun Aug 7 7 PM: EMPEROR OF THE NORTH (1973) with Lee Marvin, Keith Carradine, & Ernest Borgnine.

Mon Aug 8 7 PM:  VERA CRUZ (1954) ahead of its time leaning toward a revisionist Western tone, with Gary Cooper & Burt Lancaster.

Sat Aug 13 7 PM:  WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE, the classic schlocky thriller with Bette Davis & Joan Crawford.

Sat Aug 13 9:30 PM:  THE BIG KNIFE (1955) with Jack Palance & Ida Lupino.

Sun Aug 14 5 PM:  THE BIG NIGHT (1953).  This one was directed by Joseph Losey, but assisted by Aldrich.  Starring John Barrymore Jr., Preston Foster, & Joan Lorring.  The HFA site mentions it as an 'unsung gem', a modern-day Hamlet story, and includes Aldrich himself in a cameo.

Sun Aug 14 7 PM: HUSH ...HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964) a sort-of follow up to BABY JANE, this one pairing Olivia de Havilland with Bette Davis & Joseph Cotten.



The Coolidge Corner Theatre
On tap in their fun 'Big Screen Classics' we have THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY kicking off the month of August.  I need to see this, as one of the most iconic 'revisionist Westerns,' although the way my week is shaping up I doubt I will make it.  It's showing on TCM soon so I'll set my DVR.
Monday Aug 1, 7 PM:

Monday Aug 22, 7 PM:  Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 (1963)-- I'm super excited about this one, as I haven't yet seen it; "One of the greatest films ever made about film."  Starring the charismatic Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale.

Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Jules Dassin (right) is in trouble in his heist film RIFIFI

The MFA has a nice theater open to the public, and features classics, foreign films and often hosts film festivals.  Next month they have scheduled several screenings of a new digital release of the French film noir classic  RIFIFI, by blacklisted Hollywood director and actor Jules Dassin, who has a minor role in the film.  It's a terrific one!  Sun Aug 7, 11:30 AM; Thurs Aug 11, 5:00 PM, Sat Aug 13 2:00 PM

How cool is Paul Newman in COOL HAND LUKE?

Somerville Theatre
The Somerville has a fun Thursday evening series in August called "Play it Cool", featuring some of the best of Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and their partners in cool from the 1960s and 70s, in 35 mm prints. For a mere $10, you get two films. Almost like it was in the good old days!

Aug 4 starting at 7:30 PM it's Paul Newman night:  COOL HAND LUKE & CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (1958)

Aug 11, 7:30 PM: In GET CARTER (1971) & POINT BLANK (1967), we get Lee Marvin & Michael Caine.

Aug 18, 7:30 PM: OCEAN'S 11 (1960), with Rat Packers Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin, & THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, with Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway.

Brattle Theatre
Kudos to the Brattle for continuing their year-long celebration of Film Noir with the 6th part in the series focusing on FEMMES FATALE.  Double features presented both Mondays and Tuesdays as follows, with 'femmes fatale' highlighted:

DETOUR -- Tom Neal and Ann Savage.

Aug 1 & 2 Peggy Cummins GUN CRAZY (1950).  This movie is all kinds of crazy.  Also with John Dall.

Claire Trevor BORN TO KILL (1946) Also with Lawrence Tierney.

Aug 8 & 9
Lizabeth Scott DEAD RECKONING (1949) Also with Humphrey Bogart.

Lizabeth Scott TOO LATE FOR TEARS (1946) Also with Dan Duryea and Burt Lancaster.  This is a recent restoration by the Film Noir Foundation--an excellent one.

Aug 15 & 16
Barbara Stanwyck: DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944).  Considered by many to be the top of the genre, in the very least, top of the early noir era.  Also with Fred MacMurray and Edward G. Robinson.
Ann Savage DETOUR A 'poverty row' noir that is held up as a good example of what innovative direction (Edgar Ulmer) and inspired acting can do with a low budget.  Also with Tom Neal.

Aug 22 & 23
Rita Hayworth GILDA Also with Glenn Ford.  See it for Rita Hayworth's luscious hair and her 'Put the Blame on Mame' musical number.
Rita Hayworth THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI Also with Orson Welles.  Welles directed his then-wife Rita in this superior noir.  Rita's hair here is controversially blond and short, compared with her long red locks in GILDA.

Aug 29 & 30
Gene Tierney LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN  Lovely Gene Tierney isn't such a lovely person in this noir melodrama.
Rosamund Pike GONE GIRL  This neo-noir was a big hit in 2014.  Also with Ben Affleck and Neil Patrick Harris.

Rarely Screened Treasures at the Harvard Film Archive

Last night I had the pleasure to attend a special 'Members' Weekend' screening of two rarely shown classic Hollywood romps in 35mm:  DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939), and HOLLYWOOD OR BUST (1956) at one of our best local arthouse cinemas, the Harvard Film Archive.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening with friends, old and new alike.

The Harvard Film Archive (HFA) houses over 25,000 items in its collection supporting film research and education in partnership with Harvard University.  They have regular public screenings of films in their collection in their 200-seat no-frills auditorium, and often program director retrospectives, sometimes with the director in attendance.  Guy Maddin was a recent guest speaker, although I missed him. In late 2014 I was privileged to attend Dame Angela Lansbury's fascinating in-person remarks after a screening of one of her lesser-known films with Warren Beatty, ALL FALL DOWN.  Among other things, she described what it was like to work with George Sanders in two films she made with him:  "George loved beautiful women.  He never made a pass at me."  And "George was often bored because he was so much brighter than everyone else around."  She was beyond lovely, and an inspiration, still working hard to entertain us at 90 years young.  And last spring I was introduced to the films of Polish auteur Wojciech Has at a multiple film retrospective. His surrealist epic THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT is not to be missed. Net, the HFA is a great place to indulge a budding film buff's thirst for discovery.  As a member, I received a special invitation to attend their 'Members' Weekend' screenings yesterday, which offered not only the films, but a reception to meet HFA staff and other members.  The event did not disappoint.

DESTRY RIDES AGAIN

The satirical western DESTRY was made in that famous "best" of Hollywood years, 1939, but it is rarely publicly screened and it doesn't enjoy the fame of others made that year, or even of other Westerns.  Directed by George Marshall, it's fantastic.  It's rather a western-screwball comedy, starring a young James Stewart, and Marlene Dietrich in a comeback role for her after being named 'box office poison.'  Brian Donlevy, who I had seen in some Paramount films with Alan Ladd, gained new respect from me as the villain of this one.  He has such swagger, menace, and yet a large helping of likability that keeps your eyes on him.  This film contained Non. Stop. Action in ensemble scenes that were breathtakingly gorgeous and witty.  Well-known character actors of the 30s such as Mischa Auer, Allen Jenkins, and Una Merkel, all played important roles with gusto.

As an Old Hollywood fan, I have never appreciated the popular Stewart as much as some other fans, and often find him too strident and harsh for the leading roles he played (e.g. in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, or THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER even).  Here, his characteristic 'edge' is pitch perfect in his role as the new town sheriff's deputy, who is viewed initially as a man not up to the task, but who knows that he is smarter than everyone and makes this clear at his own pace, in his own way.  He even steals the loyalty of Marlene Dietrich, as cabaret singer Frenchy, away from blustery Donlevy.  Dietrich is a force, as she usually is, and going in to the film I was skeptical of her chemistry with Stewart, even knowing that supposedly they had an affair during film.  Well, believe it -- it's there.  Anyway, the film, with plentiful witty inside jokes, raucous musical numbers, and just enough tone variation from humor to pathos, to keep you interested, is a must-see for any Old Hollywood fan.

Opening scenes of hard partying at the Bottleneck Saloon

Marlene and Brian Donlevy plot during an upstairs game of poker

Initial confrontation between Donlevy and Stewart

First encounter between Stewart and Dietrich. 

Close up of Stewart during an emotional moment

Women of the town aim to break up the shootout with various rolling pins and other household weapons

HOLLYWOOD OR BUST


The second film of the double feature, directed by Frank Tashlin, was the last major film ever to star Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis as partners, and featured Anita Ekberg as herself in an extended cameo. Pat Crowley was the ingenue love interest of Martin's.  Essentially the two men meet under somewhat suspicious circumstances surrounding a raffle ticket racket for a new convertible.  They both capture the convertible in NYC and head out on a cross-country road trip to Hollywood and their dreams.   The ride was a lot of fun, but it's a film I won't be rushing out to add to my DVD collection. I must admit, I've not been a devoted fan of this team, in fact to date have seen none of their other pairings so obviously don't have much to compare.  I will say that a little bit of Jerry Lewis goes a long way.  Also, the film is considered a 'musical', but I don't enjoy musical numbers that prominently feature bad or purposely distorted singing voices (Lewis).  On the positive side, the team had a unique chemistry and seemed to anticipate each other's actions just enough to keep the pace of the film fast.  That they supposedly were at great odds and did not speak off-screen wasn't evident in the film at least to me.  The film benefited from some recurring visual jokes and ridiculous situations that did elicit quite a few laughs from the appreciative audience.

Dean Martin opens the film by welcoming fans of Hollywood all over the world (followed by Lewis's non-PC parodies of film fans in various countries)

Dean and Jerry hit the road with Jerry's great dane "Mr. Bascomb"

The sights one apparently sees when driving through the country

An enticing Ekberg as seen by Lewis

Thanks, HFA!