UCLA Festival of Preservation

A lot of film events going on this spring in Philadelphia. Perhaps most exciting to me is a series of classic Hollywood films playing at the International House from the "UCLA Festival of Preservation." It's a chance to see hard-to-find Hollywood films on the big screen. Bonus is the strong representation from Paramount, a studio that's often slow to release its back archive on DVD.

The series starts tomorrow. Film descriptions are available at the links.

Wednesday 4/2   7:00 pm

Mantrap

dir. Victor Fleming, US, 1926, 35mm, b/w, silent, 75 min.
Silent Sinclair Lewis adaptation

Thursday 4/3    7:00 pm

Gun Crazy

dir. Joseph H. Lewis, US, 1950, 35mm, b/w, 86 min.

Freudian-infused B-noir masterpiece.

Friday 4/4     

7:00 pm

Double bill:

Double Door

dir. Charles Vidor, US, 1934, 35mm, b/w, 75 min. 

Based-on-a-true-story dynastic melodrama

Supernatural

dir. Victor Halperin, US, 1933, 35mm, b/w, 65 min.

Forgotten 30s horror film

Wednesday 4/9   7:00 pm

Midnight Madness

dir. F. Harmon Weight, US, 1928, 35mm, b/w & tinted, silent, 65 min.

Silent romantic melodrama set in Africa

Live musical accompaniment by Andrew Marsh and Kate Porter

Thursday 4/10    7:00 pm

The Chase

dir. Arthur Ripley, US, 1946, 35mm, b/w, 86 min.

Noir based on Cornell Woolrich novel

Thursday 4/17    7:00 pm

International House

dir. Edward Sutherland, US, 1933, b/w, 35mm, b/w, 68 min.

early sound comedy starring W.C Fields, George Burns, Gracie Allen and Peggy Hopkins Joyce

combined with:

Busy Bodies

dir. Lloyd French, US, 1933, 35mm, b/w, 19 min.

Laurel and Hardy short

Friday 4/18     

7:00 pm

That Cold Day in the Park

dir. Robert Altman, US, 1969, 35mm, 112 min.

early, pre-fame Altman feature

Saturday 4/5     2

:00 pm

Thirty Day Princess

dir. Marion Gering, US, 1934, 35mm, b/w, 74 min.

Paramount comedy with Sylvia Sidney and Cary Grant

(image credit DVD Beaver)

Vertigo at Rave

I've just discovered that Cinemark, the new owners of Rave Cinema in University City, has been running a classics series, culminating in this week's selection of Hitchcock's Vertigo, in digital projection.

Sunday, Sept. 29 (today), 2pm
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2pm and 7pm

Hopefully they'll continue the series in the future.

One Day Retrospective of Cleopatra

I can't say that Cleopatra (1963) has been top of the list of Classical Hollywood films I've been eager to see reissued theatrically, but that said I've not actually seen the film, and this Wednesday, May 22, the Ritz East will have a 1:00 and 7:00 screening of a digital restoration.

Kiss Me Deadly

Image: DVD Beaver

Tonight (Thursday, March 17), the International House is screening Aldrich's baroque noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955) in all it's 35mm sumptuousness. It's a cult classic that's about... well, I won't spoil the ending for those who don't already know. I'll just say it's an over-the-top and remarkable narrative.

As a bonus, Village Voice critic J Hoberman will be in person to discuss the film and to promote more generally his new book, An Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War. Screening starts at 7:00pm, with book signing to follow.

Temple Cinematheque: Trader Horn

Temple University Cinematheque Presents:

Trader Horn

1931, W.S. Van Dyke, 122m

Time: 3 PM, March 18, 2011
Location: Annenberg Hall (Room 3 - Basement), 13th and Norris St., Philadelphia, PA


"While on safari in an unexplored area of Africa, Trader Horn and Peru find missionary Edith Trent killed by natives. They decide to carry on her quest for her lost daughter Nina. They find her as the queen of a particularly savage tribe, and try to bring her back to civilization."

This pre-code era film is the first non-documentary shot in Africa and was nominated for an Academy Award (Best Picture) in 1931. Most of the crew contracted Malaria, including Director W.S. Van Dyke and actress Edwina Booth. An African crewman fell into a river and was eaten by a crocodile. Another was killed by a charging rhino (which was captured on film and used in the movie). The film will be shown on 16mm.

This screening is being programmed by Temple University Film & Media Arts ungraduate Katy Gronsbell.

Robin Hood (1938)

For some reason - I suspect a free print lent out to promote the upcoming Russell Crowe film - the Roxy (2023 Sansom) has been running a two-week engagement of the 1938 Warner Bros. Robin Hood, with Errol Flynn. That's right: a decent 35mm Technicolor print (if not perfect: the first reel has a scratch) of a film that really shines on the screen. When I went I was the only person in the cinema, so had what amounted to a private screening.

It's a famous film that probably does not need me talking it up, but if you're wondering why you should care about a fluffy classic adventure film, I'd say two reasons. One, the film does give a fun fairy-tale account but yokes it with a political message that clearly speaks to the Depression yet raises more questions than it answers (New Dealism as monarchism?). Two, the color scheme helped expand the expressive possibilities of Technicolor. As film historian Scott Higgins notes, previously Hollywood cinematographers had argued between flamboyant, thematic color (red = passion, etc) and a realistic, muted color palette. What Robin Hood does is combine them both, muting backgrounds and keeping palettes relatively controlled, but also using bright, saturated color for specific characters and thematic effects.

As a bonus, the Bugs Bunny "Rabbit Hood" screens beforehand.