LONG LEADS 2006 - 2007 Coming Soon!
AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE
at the newly renovated Max Palevsky Theatre at the Aero
Aero Theatre
1328 Montana Avenue in Santa Monica at 14th Street
323.466.FILM | www.aerotheatre.com
February - December 2007 at The Aero Theatre: KEVIN
THOMAS’ FAVORITE FILMS, PART II
For my second series of favorites I have chosen the theme of films by friends, which encompasses pictures made by people I knew well over many years - Budd Boetticher, George Cukor, Fritz Lang and Mae Wes t-and those with whom I had warm acquaintances over the decades - Akira Kurosawa, Vincent Sherman, Billy Wilder. I interviewed Sir Carol Reed on location for FLAP, here represented by ODD MAN OUT. I did meet Dame Judith Anderson, the co-star of that Pre-Code gem, BLOOD MONEY. I must confess I never met Max Ophuls, who died while I was still in college, but his son Marcel Ophuls, the great documentarian, shared with me memories of his father. When LOLA MONTES proved unavailable for my first series I was determined that, as one of my most favorite directors, Ophuls would be represented by another of his great films, in this instance THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE… I will have plenty of stories to tell, especially of Budd Boetticher, that dashing romantic figure with a character of granite; of George Cukor, the finest mentor anyone could ever have; of Fritz Lang, who was like a father to me; and of the incomparable Mae West, who managed to sustain an 80-year career and who always knew how to enjoy life to the fullest. --- Kevin Thomas, Film Critic.
June 1 – 3:
The Bullfighter – The Films of Budd BoetticherEven in a genre known for its spare qualities, the series of westerns directed by Budd Boetticher in the late 1950’s, including THE TALL T, SEVEN MEN FROM NOW and RIDE LONESOME, are a model of utter simplicity: none more than 80 minutes long; operating and closing on the archetypal image of vengeance-seeking Randolph Scott. Within this framework, Boetticher created a brillantly authentic west of bitter violence, quiet poetry, gallows humor and dynamic, even attractive, villains. Born in Chicago, Boetticher travelled to Mexico in the late 1930’s, where he studied with the country’s finest matadors. He entered the film industry as consultant for the bullfighting sequences on BLOOD AND SAND (1941.) Boetticher soon began directing a series of terse, low-budget action pictures for Columbia and Monogram. It wasn’t until the release of THE BULLFIGHTER AND THE LADY in 1951 that Boetticher first began his obsessive, personal exploration into the traditional codes of masculinity and ritualized combat. This exploration reached its height in the "Ranown" cycle of westerns, where Boetticher worked with Scott and a team that included (variously) cinematographer Lucien Ballard, writers Burt Kennedy and Charles Lang, Jr. and producer Harry Joe Brown.
June 6 at 7:30 PM -
Director Stuart Cooper in Person with a screening of OVERLORDOVERLORD, (1975, Janus Films, 88 min.) OVERLORD was the code-name given to the plans for the Allied invasion and liberation of Europe in June 1944. It was also the greatest amphibious undertaking in the history of warfare. Using the Imperial War Museum’s unique collection of documentary and photographic records of the Second World War, director Stuart Cooper has created a monumental backdrop for the simple story of a young soldier, the quiet Tom (Brian Stirner), from induction into the British army to the invasion of the beaches at Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Winner of the Berlin Film Festival 1975 Silver Bear. "Disarmingly lyrical…deserves to join the pantheon of essential World War II combat movies!" -- A.O. Scott, The New York Times; "A different kind of war film…OVERLORD combines its newsreel and fictional footage so effectively that it has a greater impact than all fiction, or all documentary, could have achieved." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun Times; "An unbelievable forgotten film…Both a remarkable stylistically stunt and a touching, incredibly intimate drama, it’s a must-see classic." -- New York Magazine Discussion following with Stuart Cooper.
June 7 at 7:30 PM:
Sneak Preview! BROKEN ENGLISH with director Zoe Cassavetes in personBROKEN ENGLISH, (2007, Magnolia Pictures, 96 min.). Zoe Cassavetes’ directorial debut is a romantic comedy exploring the longing for a relationship. Nora Wilder (Parker Posey), a cynical thirty-year old Manhattanite plugs away at her job in a posh downtown hotel and can't help but wonder what it is she has to do to find a relationship as ideal as her friend Audrey's (Drea De Matteo) "perfect marriage." It doesn’t help that her overbearing mother (Gena Rowlands) takes every opportunity to remind Nora that she's still unattached. After a series of disastrous first dates, she meets Julien (Melvil Poupaud) a seemingly devil-may-care Frenchman with a passion for living. She finds herself in Paris looking to break old patterns. Discussion following with Director Zoe Cassavetes, other guests to be announced. NOT ON DVD
June 8 - 14:
European Film SeriesWhen one says European Cinema, one often thinks of major film movements. German Expressionism, Italian Neorealism, the French New Wave, the Czech New Wave, the Polish Film School, the New
German Cinema, Dogme 95 - filmmaking more in the auteur tradition than American Cinema.Yet to be defined, today’s European Cinema is very much alive, although it often has difficulties finding access to American screens. Film critics travelling the festival world always talk about all the amazing films that they see never make it to LA. This is a showcase for a few of those movies that have yet to appear on the big screens of Los Angeles -- and most likely will not. With films by many acclaimed filmmakers: from Ireland’s THE TIGER’S TAIL, directed by John Boorman, is a smart black comedy thriller with the "haves" and the "have-nots" on center stage; to the Nolland’s Alex van Warmerdam's WAITER, a delightfully deadpan comedy on a writer and his character, to France’s Claire Denis who is represented by TOWARD MATHILDE, a documentary "pas de deux" and an exploration of dance; Greece’s Theo Angelopolous’ TRILOGY: WEEPING MEADOW, a historical tableau of the 20th century with the resonance of a classic Greek tragedy; and a few discoveries like Belgium’s first time director Fien Troch's SOMEONE ELSE'S HAPPINESS, a dramatic portrait of human loneliness in post-industrialized civilization; Germany’s Stefan Krohmer’s second feature SUMMER ‘04, a Rohmerien tale of a family summer vacation and Poland’s Michal Rosa’s WHAT SUN HAS SEEN, a patchwork that captures the texture of life in Poland today as ordinary people struggle for dignity. And not to be missed LA TERRA, an astonishing Italian Noir, the eighth film of Sergio Rubini.June 15 – 17:
It was 25 Years Ago Today, 1982 – A Salute to Geek Greatness1982 was arguably the greatest year for genre cinema ever. Geek Monthly is pleased to pay tribute to this seminal benchmark in science fiction, fantasy and horror storytelling by presenting some of the most acclaimed films of that era, along with cast and crew from many of these groundbreaking movies, including TRON, STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, CAT PEOPLE, THE THING THE DARK CRYSTAL, POLTERGEIST and CREEPSHOW (other films that year included BLADE RUNNER and E.T.. among others). Every attendee will receive a free collectible souvenir program book from Geek Monthly (geekmonthly.com).
June 20 at 7:30 PM:
Sneak Preview of EVENING
EVENING, (2007, Focus Features, 119 min.). Award winning cinematographer Lajos Koltai’s second feature as a director offers a truly extraordinary cast! Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Vanessa Redgrave, Patrick Wilson, Hugh Dancy, Natasha Richardson, Mamie Gummer, Eileen Atkins, Meryl Streep and Glenn Close, breathe life into Susan Minot and Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham's adaptation of the beloved novel Evening. A timeless, universal, and deeply emotional story about the secrets we share and the defining moments of connection between mothers and daughters, family and friends, and the loves of our lives. Opening in theatres on June 29.
June 21 at 7:30 PM: 50 Years Ago Double Feature screening of 12 ANGRY MEN and WITNESS TO THE PROSECUTION
12 ANGRY MEN, (1957, MGM, 96 min.). Reginald Rose’s 1954 Studio One teleplay is brought to the screen by director Sydney Lumet (NETWORK; DOG DAY AFTERNOON) in his debut behind the camera. Henry Fonda produces and stars as juror number 8, the lone hold-out in a racially-charged jury deliberation. The all-male cast includes stunning performances by Jack Klugman, Lee J Cobb (as Fondas number one foil) E. G. Marshall, Robert Webber, Jack Warden and Ed Begley Sr. Nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. A near perfect film, a true American masterpiece, championed by wonderful characters and dialogue. Sweeny and Voskovec reprise their roles from the 1954 TV broadcast.
Next on the same bill is WITNESS TO THE PROSECUTION, (1957, MGM Repertory, 116 min.). Accused murderer Tyrone Power (in his final film) is defended by ailing barrister Charles Laughton in director Billy Wilder's dark, delightful courtroom nailbiter. Marlene Dietrich as Power's duplicitous spouse helps supply one of the most insanely out-of-left-field twists in any mystery. With great support from Elsa Lanchester, John Williams, Torin Thatcher, Una O’Connor and Ruta Lee. "For a courtroom melodrama pegged to a single plot device -- a device that, of course, everybody promises not to reveal -- WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION…comes off extraordinarily well…and the air in the courtroom fairly crackles with emotional electricity, until that staggering surprise in the last reel…" - Bosley Crowther, New York Times
June 22 at 7:30 PM: Memorial Tribute to Cinematographer Freddie Francis with director David Lynch in person
THE ELEPHANT MAN, (1980, Paramount, 124 min.) Based on two books about the real-life Elephant Man, John Merrick, director David Lynch recounts this severely deformed man’s perilous life in Victorian England in breathtaking black-and-white. Sir Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins), rescues Merrick from a circus freak show where he is assumed to be retarded, takes him to a hospital for tests, and discovers that Merrick, in fact, has great intellect and capacity for emotion. John Hurt’s ability to project Merrick’s humanity earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination, along with the film’s seven other nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Lynch’s use of costumes, makeup, Freddie Francis’ cinematography, and John Morris’ score remain commendably understated, allowing the sadness of the film to avoid sentimentalism. With Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller. "ELEPHANT MAN has the power and some of the dream logic of a silent film, yet there are also wrenching, pulsating sounds--the hissing steam and the pounding of the start of the industrial age. It's Dickensian London, with perhaps a glimpse of the process that gave rise to Cubism."- Pauline Kael.
Next on the same bill is THE STRAIGHT STORY, (1999, Buena Vista, 112 min.). Director David Lynch reunites with Academy Award winning cinematographer Freddie Francis. Based on a true story, this is Lynch's most straightforward film, a beautiful and poetic tale of family and American beauty. 73 year old, Alvin Straight (Richard Fansworth) from Laurens, Iowa begins his odyssey to Mt. Zion, Wisconsin after word comes that his brother has had a stroke. To mend his estranged relationship with his older sibling, Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton), and without a car, he must travel by the only vehicle he owns, an ancient lawnmower. Farnsworth is perfect in his Academy Award-nominated performance and final film. The wonderful and subtle dialogue is by screenwriters John Roach and Mary Sweeney. A great ensemble cast create many memorable characters, including the arguing twins played by Kevin and John Farley. Co-starring Sissy Spacek. "The cinematographer, Freddie Francis, who once made the vastness of Utah a backdrop for THE EXECUTIONER’S SONG, knows how to evoke a landscape without making it too comforting." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times. Director David Lynch will introduce the screening.
June 23 at 7:30 PM: Screening of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA in 70 MM
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, (1962, Sony Repertory, 216 min.). The beautiful, near-godlike Peter O’Toole stars as the tortured Man Who Would Not Be King, T. E. Lawrence, who helped the Arabs revolt against European and Ottoman hegemony. Director David Lean’s epic is an absolute masterpiece - as close to perfect as a film can get. Featuring one of the finest casts in any motion picture: Omar Sharif (in his first major English-speaking role), Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Claude Rains and Alec Guinness as Prince Faisal. Director of Photography Freddie Young’s 70mm photography is rightly considered to be a work of genius, matched by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson’s screenplay, Maurice Jarre’s stirring score and John Box’s production design. Winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. "When you’re in the desert, you look into infinity … It makes you feel terribly small, and also in a strange way, quite big." - David Lean
June 24 at 7:30 PM: Art Director’s Guild Hall of Fame Screening – A Tribute to Boris Leven with NEW YORK, NEW YORK
BORIS LEVEN’s (1908-1986) career as an art director started in 1933 as a sketch artist for Paramount, where he learned the craft from the legendary Hans Dreier. He stayed there for three years, believing this was just temporary work until he could start a career in architecture. But moving to 20th Century Fox, he finally found his calling as an art director. His first film for the studio, ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND (1938) earned him his first of nine Oscar nominations. Other nominations included THE SHANGHAI GESTURE (1941), GIANT (1956), THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), THE SAND PEBBLES (1966), STAR! (1968), THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (1971) and THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986). He frequently worked with Martin Scorsese and Robert Wise, and his assignments ranged widely from westerns to science fiction to musicals. An Academy Award? winner for his production design work on WEST SIDE STORY (1961), he was a master colorist and achieved his finest work on Technicolor dramas and musicals. He became a freelancer in the early 1950’s and, in 1956, worked on George Stevens’ GIANT, one of the first Hollywood epics to shoot primarily on location.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, (1977, MGM Repertory, 163 min.). Director Martin Scorsese called it a "film noir musical". A powerful and misunderstood tribute to musical forfathers Vincente Minelli and Stanley Donen, it melds larger-than-life soundstage musicals and kitchen sink realism. Scorsese mainstay Robert DeNiro stars as Jimmy Doyle, a WWII veteran who returns home on V-Day and attempts to pick up Francine Evans (Liza Minnelli) at a huge party. Her career as a singer is on the rise while his inventive saxophone style has not yet caught on. Often improvised, DeNiro's performance comes off like a more musical cousin of Travis Bickle while Minelli soars in the final act. The breathtaking production design is by the legendary Boris Leven, art director of numerous noir films such as CRISS CROSS and SUDDEN FEAR and the classic musicals WEST SIDE STORY and THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Cinematography by Laszlo Kovacs (EASY RIDER, FIVE EASY PIECES). Also features Mary Kay Place, Barry Primus, and Dick Miller.
June 27 at 7:30 PM - Actor Farley Granger in Person with a screening of
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
An In-Person Tribute to one of the most acclaimed actors of the noir era, Farley Granger, who’ll be making a very rare Los Angeles appearance and signing his latest autobiography Include Me Out: My Life from Goldwyn to Broadway.
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, (1951, Warner Bros., 101 min.), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. A chance encounter on a train triggers an unstoppable race toward double-murder. Hitchcock’s classic thriller is a finely-tuned engine of suspense, taking barely a breath as it steams through a spine-tingling story of fate, coincidence, guilt and psychopathy -- favorite themes of noir writer Patricia Highsmith, whose novel is adapted by the legendary Raymond Chandler. Robert Walker performs in perhaps his most memorable role as the charming, rich, mama’s boy psychopath. Farley Granger is excellent as the tennis champion tormented by his shrewish, estranged wife and trapped in a bizarre murder exchange scheme with Walker. With Ruth Roman. Discussion following with actor Farley Granger. Join us for a booksigning of Include Me Out: My Life from Goldwyn to Broadway at Every Picture Tells A Story (1311-C Montana Ave., Santa Monica, CA) at 6 PM with Farley Granger.
June 28 – July 1: The Sprit of Adventure
Since the time of prehistoric man’s cave paintings to ancient Greek and Roman mythology to medieval chronicles of European Christian hegemony to the evolution of literature and theatre in the middle of the second millenium, humanity has had an all-consuming need to relate tales of adventurous deeds. Whether it be as escapist fare, cautionary fables or simple attempts at catharsis, the spirit of adventure in literature, song and theatre has carried down through the ages. From the very start of the 20th Century, it mutated into a whole new mode of expression with the revolutionary invention of film. Join us as we follow some of the finest filmmakers, including John Huston, Fritz Lang, David Lean, Robert Siodmak, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, John Sturges, John Frankenheimer, et. al. as they spin their tall tales and yarns of derring-do. From the exotic hothouse locales of THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, KING SOLOMON’S MINES, BHOWANI JUNCTION, BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, KING OF THE KYBER RIFLES to the high seas of DAMN THE DEFIANT, THE CRIMSON PIRATE, SON OF FURY to the historical period sagas of MOONFLEET, THE FLAME AND THE ARROW, KIM, THE BIG SKY, SUEZ to the hardboiled macho exploits of DARK OF THE SUN, THE TRAIN, THE GREAT ESCAPE and ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS, come along with us to walk a taut cinematic tightrope of thrills, suspense and spine-tingling action.
July 2007: Kids Festival with a special screening of THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE
July 4 –11: Disney Live Action Series
July 12 – 14: Mods and Rockers
"Are you a Mod or a Rocker?" a female reporter quizzed Beatle Ringo Starr in A HARD DAY’S NIGHT. His famous response – "I’m a Mocker" – neatly summed up the cocky, carefree spirit of the 1960’s, when every teenager with pegged pants and a shag (haircut, that is) started his weekend with "Ready, Steady, Go!" and droves of dollybirds in Twiggy/Suzy Kendall gear roamed the swinging streets of London. After a one-year hiatus – which gave us time to dig up even MORE swinging classics and rarities -- our Mods & Rockers Film Festival is back in all its day-glo glory!!!
July 19 – 26: Exclusive Engagement of David Lynch’s INLAND EMPIRE with Special In Person Guests
July 27 – 29: Special FANTASY, HORROR & SCIENCE-FICTION Weekend
Our annual festival of Fantasy, Horror and Science-Fiction returns with great classics, including more selections from the Golden Age of British Horror, B-grade sci-fi films from the 1950’s, the best from overseas as well as a few other surprises.
August 8 – 10: Tribute to Actress Julie Delpy with a sneak preview of TWO DAYS IN PARIS
August 11 – 22: An Alfred Hitchcock Retrospective
Director Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980) is widely regarded as not only the ultimate master of suspense, but also as one of the pantheon directors of the 20th century. His command of both cinematic form and content, integrating it into seamless motion picture entertainment, is virtually unrivaled. From the early joys of THE 39 STEPS, THE LADY VANISHES and SHADOW OF A DOUBT through mid-period spellbinders STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, REAR WINDOW and TO CATCH A THIEF to later suspense spectaculars NORTH BY NORTHWEST and THE BIRDS, Hitchcock delivers on all fronts, both popular and artistic. Not to mention the incomparable groundbreaking tension of his hair-raising PSYCHO, a movie still sending shock waves more than four decades after its release. Hitchcock has also been responsible for some of the most deliriously romantic, unremittingly dark depictions of amour fou ever committed to celluloid: REBECCA, NOTORIOUS, VERTIGO and MARNIE, among others. View these titles, and you begin to realize the astonishing versatility and scope of this universally-recognized virtuoso. Join us to once again marvel at just a handful of the master’s classics.
August 23 – September 2: Rock Documentaries
From the 1960’s through the present, a prodigious, steady stream of documentaries dedicated to all things rock has flowed into the public eye and ear.
Information about the Aero Theatre is available at www.aerotheatre.com
Tickets available at the door and www.fandango.com.
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General Admission: $10 Student/Senior: $8 Members: $7
A press release detailing the history of the 1940 Aero and its renovation is available upon request or see the press section of our website.
Information about the Aero Theatre is available at www.aerotheatre.com
Publicity Contact: Margot Gerber at 323.461.2020 ext. 115.
Public Information:
323.466.FILM | www.americancinematheque.com
THE AERO THEATRE:
The Aero Theatre and its adjoining retail spaces, built in the style of French Norman architecture, by Donald W. Douglas of Douglas Aircraft fame, opened for business on January 10, 1940. The theatre, designed by architect R.M. Woolpert,
operated with a small staff, seven nights per week. Aero programming consisted of double features (that changed three times weekly), Kiddie Matinees and drawings for sets of depression glass dishes prior to the Saturday night show. People walked to the Aero 65 years ago, just as they do today. The theatre remained in the Douglas family for quite some time. Jim Rosenfield, President of J.S. Rosenfield & Co, Inc., a Montana Avenue based retail real estate company specializing in renovating unique retail properties, purchased the Aero Theatre with his Chicago-based partner John Bucksbaum, from Sandy Allen in 1997, and they remain the current owners.
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Information about the Aero Theatre is available at www.aerotheatre.com
Publicity Contact: Margot Gerber at 323.461.2020 ext. 115.
Public Information:
323.466.FILM | www.americancinematheque.com
THE AERO THEATRE:
The Aero Theatre and its adjoining retail spaces, built in the style of French Norman architecture, by Donald W. Douglas of Douglas Aircraft fame, opened for business on January 10, 1940. The theatre, designed by architect R.M. Woolpert, operated with a small staff, seven nights per week. Aero programming consisted of double features (that changed three times weekly), Kiddie Matinees and drawings for sets of depression glass dishes prior to the Saturday night show. People walked to the Aero 65 years ago, just as they do today. The theatre remained in the Douglas family for quite some time. Jim Rosenfield, President of J.S. Rosenfield & Co, Inc., a Montana Avenue based retail real estate company specializing in renovating unique retail properties, purchased the Aero Theatre with his Chicago-based partner John Bucksbaum, from Sandy Allen in 1997, and they remain the current owners.
Information about the Aero Theatre is available at www.aerotheatre.com
Tickets available at the door only.
A press release detailing the history of the 1940 Aero and its renovation is available
upon request or see the press section of our website.
Publicity Contact: Margot Gerber at 323.461.2020 ext. 115.
Public Information:
323.466.FILM | www.americancinematheque.com
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The offices of the American Cinematheque are located at:
1800 N. Highland Avenue, Suite 717, Hollywood, CA 90028