UCLA FESTIVAL of PRESERVATION 03.05.15 – 03.30.15 UCLA FESTIVAL of PRESERVATION 03.05.15 – 03.30.15 1 from the DIRECTOR
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UCLA FESTIVAL of PRESERVATION 03.05.15 – 03.30.15 UCLA FESTIVAL of PRESERVATION 03.05.15 – 03.30.15 1 FROM THE DIRECTOR The year 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of UCLA Film & Television Archive In the comedy department, we are proud to be able to present the latest and so we are doubly proud to put on our biennial Festival of Preservation results in our ongoing effort to preserve the legacy of Laurel & Hardy, includ- (FOP) to kick off a series of anniversary-related events that will run through- ing the shorts, The Midnight Patrol (1933), and The Music Box (1932). We are out the year. As director of UCLA Film & Television Archive, I’m happy to also screening a new preservation of the comedy hit of last year’s Cinefest in introduce the 17th iteration of our FOP, which again reflects the broad and Syracuse, Bachelor’s Affairs (1932), a pre-Code gem, starring Adolphe Menjou deep efforts of the Archive to preserve and restore our national moving image as a die-hard bachelor who is felled by a ditzy blonde bombshell. heritage. And while the rest of the world has seemingly made the transition to As is standard operating practice, given our close working relationship with a 100 percent digital environment, the Archive is still committed to preserving the Film Noir Foundation, we have again preserved a number of rare and films on film, while we still can, even if our theater will increasingly be project- interesting film noirs, including Too Late for Tears (1949), starring Lizabeth Scott ing digital material. in a career-defining role as a housewife whose life careens out of control. Our Festival opens with the restoration of Men in War (1957), directed by John Reinhardt’s low, low budget noir, The Guilty (1948), is based on a Cornell Anthony Mann, who made a name for himself at Universal directing adult Woolrich story, while Woman on the Run (1950), another under-rated noir, westerns. This big budget war film, starring Robert Ryan and Aldo Ray, details stars Ann Sheridan as the wife of a man who has witnessed a murder. Finally, the troubles experienced by a platoon of American soldiers, trapped behind Samuel Fuller’s Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street (1977) is not exactly a noir, enemy lines during the Korean War. Unlike Hollywood’s more heroic rep- but a crime drama, produced for German television, and it constitutes the resentations of World War II, Mann’s film presages the disconnect between Archive’s first complete digital restoration. officers and enlisted men that would become systemic during the Vietnam An area of increasing interest for the Archive is exploitation films, which have War. We close with another classic war film, John Ford’s The Long Voyage Home been for the most part ignored by film historians, even though such films were (1940), starring John Wayne and Thomas Mitchell as merchant seamen trans- hugely popular at the time of their release. Our head of preservation, Scott porting ammunition to England for the European war effort against the Nazis. MacQueen, has taken the lead in preserving the Archive’s exploitation hold- Between these bookends, this year’s Festival of Preservation offers something ings, so we are proud to present a number of truly weird and wild films from for everyone, whether one is interested in film or television, comedy, drama, the early 1930s: White Zombie (1932) features Bela Lugosi in the aftermath of or documentary. Dracula in a horror film that has become a cult classic;Ouanga (1935) reprises 2 White Zombie’s Haitian setting for a tale of voodoo and miscegenation, starring Last, but not least, our newsreel preservation team of Blaine Bartell and Jef- the tragic African American actress, Fredi Washington, who could have had a frey Bickel present two programs from our Hearst Metrotone News Collec- huge career, if she had not refused to “pass” for white. Based on Edgar Allen tion, including one night dedicated to the Arab-Israeli conflict, and another Poe’s “The Premature Burial,” The Crime of Dr. Crespi stars the great Erich von celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a milestone Stroheim, after his fall from grace in Hollywood. Finally, Leslie Stevens’ directo- in the Civil Rights Movement. rial debut, Private Property (1960), is another rare find, the film straddling both As is always the case, the Archive’s internationally recognized preservationists the exploitation and art house markets. will appear in person at many Festival screenings to introduce the films and In the past two years, the Archive has stepped up its efforts under television discuss their work with audiences. All of our preservation work and public archivist Dan Einstein to preserve classic television. We begin with The Execu- programs—including this Festival—are funded by donations from individuals, tion of Private Slovik (1974), one of the most celebrated made-for-television foundations, corporations, and government agencies. We are most thankful for movies of the 1970s, and an episode of Chevy Mystery Theatre (1960), both the generosity of these organizations and individuals. programs penned by the writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link. Dr. Jan-Christopher Horak Another program includes a classic episode from Playhouse 90, a popular omni- Director, UCLA Film & Television Archive bus show from the late 1950s, which visualizes a nuclear holocaust for Ameri- can viewers. The Archive’s efforts to preserve the work of independent filmmakers are represented by two long-neglected masterpieces, Stanton Kaye’s brilliant road movie, Brandy in the Wilderness (1969) and J.L. Anderson’s Spring Night, Summer Night (1967), an amazingly realistic film from rural Appalachia. We also contin- ue our efforts to preserve and protect the legacy of the “L.A. Rebellion,” with a program of shorts by African American women, including a new restoration of Julie Dash’s Illusions (1982), which finally corrects deficits on the soundtrack that had been present since the film’s premiere. 3 SCREENING SCHEDULE 03.05.15 | 7:30 PM | page 6 03.06.15 | 7:30 PM | page 8 03.07.15 | 3:00 PM | page 10 MEN IN WAR DEAD PIGEON ON DE BOTE EN BOTE BEETHOVEN STREET Preceded by: THE MIDNIGHT PATROL THE MUSIC BOX 03.09.15 | 7:30 PM | page 18 03.11.15 | 7:30 PM | page 20 03.13.15 | 7:30 PM | page 22 THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT NOW I’LL TELL PRIVATE PROPERTY AS SEEN THROUGH THE DISORDERLY CONDUCT HEARST NEWSREELS 03.16.15 | 7:30 PM | page 30 03.20.15 | 7:30 PM | page 32 03.21.15 | 3:00 PM | page 34 THE BIG BROADCAST BRANDY IN THE WILDERNESS THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 AND THE THE MILKY WAY HEARST NEWSREELS Preceded by: ME AND THE BOYS 03.23.15 | 7:30 PM | page 44 03.28.15 | 3:00 PM | page 46 03.28.15 | 7:30 PM | page 48 REVSITING L.A. REBELLION PLAYHOUSE 90: “ALAS, BABYLON” SPRING NIGHT, SUMMER NIGHT Preceded by: THE PASSERBY: “The Safest Place in the World” 4 03.07.15 | 7:30 PM | page 12 03.08.15 | 3:00 PM | page 14 03.08.15 | 7:00 PM | page 16 TOO LATE FOR TEARS BACHELOR’S AFFAIRS THE EXECUTION OF PRIVATE SLOVIK THE GUILTY SOCIETY GIRL CHEVY MYSTERY SHOW: Preceded by:: “ENOUGH ROPE” BED TIME 03.14.15 | 3:00 PM | page 24 03.14.15 | 7:30 PM | page 26 03.15.15 | 7:00 PM | page 28 HER SISTER’S SECRET THE FIRST LEGION MY BEST GIRL EXILE EXPRESS JOURNEY INTO LIGHT Preceded by: THE SON’S RETURN A MANLY MAN 03.21.15 | 7:30 PM | page 36 03.22.15 | 3:00 PM | page 38 03.22.15 | 7:00 PM | page 40 WHITE ZOMBIE THE CRIME OF DOCTOR CRESPI SILENT FRAGMENTS OUANGA THE DRUMS OF JEOPARDY Preceded by: WHITE ZOMBIE Original Trailer WHITE ZOMBIE Reissue Trailer 03.29.15 | 3:00 PM | page 50 03.29.15 | 7:00 PM | page 51 03.30.15 | 7:30 PM | page 52 THE ANDY WILLIAMS SHOW: WOMAN ON THE RUN THE LONG VOYAGE HOME “ROCKIN’ WITH ANDY” 5 6 03.05.15 THURSDAY | 7:30 PM OPENING NIGHT Preservation funded by The Packard Humanities Institute Directed by Anthony Mann Production: Security Pictures, Inc. Distribution: United Artists. Producers: Sidney Harmon, Philip Yordan. Based on the novel Day Without End (Combat) by Van Van Praag. Screenwriter: Philip Yordan. Cinematographer: Ernest Haller. Production Design: Lewis Jacobs. Editor: Richard C. Meyer. Music: Elmer Bernstein. With: Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray, Robert Keith, Phillip Pine, L.Q. Jones. 35mm, b/w, 102 min. MEN IN WAR 1957 Following his brutal film noirs for Eagle-Lion and a memorable series of psy- non-com, Montana, worships “The Colonel” (Robert Keith), his shell-shocked chological westerns with James Stewart, director Anthony Mann made a brace CO and father figure, refusing to acknowledge Benson’s command. Montana’s of adult chamber films for Philip Yordan’s Security Pictures, God’s Little Acre uncannily prescient soldiering runs counter to Benson’s by-the-book protocols. (1958) and Men in War. What All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and The “You’re always right, Montana,” snarls Benson through clenched teeth. Star Story of G.I. Joe (1945) were to the great world wars, Men in War is to the turns by Ryan and Ray in no way detract from the ensemble acting that is the Korean War. film’s core. An infantry platoon becomes separated from its division behind enemy lines Men in War presaged the disillusionment over the Vietnam conflict in the as their commander valiantly tries to sustain his authority and his men’s morale 1960s, making it unsurprising that the United States Army deemed the film against seemingly two enemies: unseen Korean snipers and a roustabout offensive to “the dignity of commissioned and non-commissioned officers.” It sergeant ferrying his injured CO across the war zone.