FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Joyce Linehan for ArtsEmerson, 617-282-2510, [email protected]
ArtsEmerson: The World on Stage PRESENTS OCTOBER FILM PROGRAMMING
High resolution photos available at http://bit.ly/AEOctFilm Screeners are generally available on request for premieres.
(BOSTON—August 31, 2011) ArtsEmerson: The World on Stage begins its second season of adventurous, independent and repertory films with the beginning of a three-month Katharine Hepburn retrospective, Charlie Chaplin Revisited in matinees for families, and a cinematic look at marriage, in celebration of ArtsEmerson’s presentation of You Better Sit Down: Tales From My Parents’ Divorce, on the Paramount Mainstage, Oct. 25-30. Films are screened at Emerson College’s Paramount Center (559 Washington St., Boston), in the Bright Family Screening Room. Tickets are $10, or $7.50 for members, and are available in advance at www.ArtsEmerson.org, or by calling 617-824-8400. Discounted tickets for seniors are $7.50, and $5 for all students with valid ID and children under 18. Discounted tickets are available in person at the Box Office only. For more information visit www.ArtsEmerson.org .
OCTOBER SCHEDULE
Kate the Iconoclast, Katharine the Icon is a three month, 13 film retrospective on screen legend Katharine Hepburn, who deftly designed a long career built on an iconic persona equal parts glamour and nonconformity. Beautiful, well-bred and college-educated, her on and off-screen behavior were marked by an independent style that challenged 1930s Hollywood’s ideas of femininity. She wore pants, troubled the waters with her leftist politics and hostility toward the press, inhabited characters whose willfulness undercut notions of womanly softness, and starred in the most beloved films of Classical Hollywood. She enjoyed a lifelong friendship with George Cukor, who directed her in nine films; teamed four times with the incomparably charismatic Cary Grant; and with Spencer Tracy forged a partnership in life and film remembered as one of the great romantic couplings of the Hollywood era. October highlights 1932 to 1938, during which the quick ascent of Hepburn’s star just as suddenly reversed. Proving too much for American audiences to handle, Hepburn was listed in 1938 as “Box Office Poison.” She retreated to the stage, then charmed her way back into moviegoers’ hearts with The Philadelphia Story , which roundly delivers her comeuppance via its heroine, a character playwright Philip Barry modeled after Hepburn herself. (November and December Hepburn titles to be announced soon.)
Saturday Oct. 1, 7 p.m. Saturday Oct. 1, 8:30 p.m. A Bill of Divorcement Directed by George Cukor With Katharine Hepburn, John Barrymore, Billie Burke U.S. 1932, 35mm, black and white, 70 minutes Though producer David O. Selznick feared her unconventional look and personality would not appeal to audiences, 24-year-old Katharine Hepburn so impressed George Cukor she was given her film debut in A Bill of Divorcement . Playing a young woman whose pending marriage is disrupted by the unexpected return of her mentally unstable father (Barrymore in a heartrending performance), Hepburn electrified audiences and took the country by storm. A star was born.
Saturday Oct. 1, 2p.m. Sunday Oct. 2, 2 p.m. Little Women Directed by George Cukor With Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Paul Lukas U.S. 1933, 35mm, black and white, 115 minutes Little Women reunited Hepburn with Cukor for the movie she recalls in her memoirs as one of her favorites. In the definitive screen version of Alcott’s classic story, Hepburn unforgettably inhabits the feisty tomboy Jo, a young woman at odds with the Victorian conservatism of her sisters. Cukor’s faithful depiction of the March family’s joys and sorrows became RKO's most successful film to date.
Friday Oct. 7, 6:30 p.m. Sunday Oct. 9, 2 p.m. Sylvia Scarlett Directed by George Cukor With Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Brian Aherne U.S. 1935, 35mm, black and white, 95 minutes Teamed for the first time with Cary Grant, Hepburn shaved her head and masquerades for three-quarters of Sylvia Scarlett as a boy. Swooned over by women and invited to bed by almost every male in the cast—s/he eventually falls in love and reverts to womanhood to find that femininity has to be relearned. The film’s mayhem of sexual confusion proved too much for 30s audiences—but won a devoted cult audience in the 1980s.
Friday Oct. 14, 8:15 p.m. Saturday Oct. 15, 7 p.m. Sunday Oct. 16, 2 p.m. Bringing Up Baby – New 35mm print! Directed by Howard Hawks With Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles U.S. 1938, 35mm, black and white, 102 minutes Howard Hawks’ masterpiece is one of the most deliriously paced Hollywood comedies ever made, driven by a charging engine fueled by the yin-yang of Grant-Hepburn’s sexual repression- aggression. Grant’s a staid paleontologist on the cusp of marriage and the completion of a four- year project assembling the skeleton of a two-story Brontosaurus. Hepburn’s the heiress whose “intricate scatterbrained schemes entrap the deep thinker in adventures that reveal his untapped humor and virility” (Richard Brody).
Friday Oct. 21, 6:30 p.m. Sunday Oct. 23, 2 p.m. Holiday Directed by George Cukor With Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Doris Nolan U.S. 1938, 35mm, black and white, 93 minutes Released just after Bringing Up Baby , Holiday again teamed Grant with Hepburn, here as Johnny Case and Linda Seton, whose initial introduction as in-laws to be more than hints at whom really belong with whom. Johnny—a self-made man who aspires to a holiday from making money, the freedom to live as he likes—and Linda, the black sheep of a wealthy family, are classic Cukor dreamers and, as such, a radically utopian pair.
Friday Oct. 28, 6 p.m. Saturday Oct. 29, 8:45 p.m. The Philadelphia Story Directed by George Cukor With Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart U.S. 1940, 35mm, black and white, 112 minutes A high-society comedy of manners, The Philadelphia Story revolves around Tracy Lord (Hepburn), a “goddess” worshipped rather than loved by her lackluster fiancée, her “unwomanly hardness” blamed for driving away her excessively drinking husband and displeasing her philandering father, whose indiscretions she does not forgive. The arrival of writer cum-tabloid reporter Jimmy Stewart, along with Tracy’s still-attached ex-husband (Grant), sets havoc—and the formation of an unexpected love triangle—in motion. ------
Little Rock – Boston Release! Friday Oct. 7, 8:30 p.m. Saturday Oct. 8, 7 p.m. Saturday Oct. 8, 8:45 p.m. Directed by Mike Ott With Atsuko Okatsuka, Cory Zacharia, Rintaro Sawamoto U.S. 2010, Digital Video, color, 83 minutes In writer-director Mike Ott’s lyrical second feature, Japanese siblings Atsuko and Rintaro are temporarily stranded in a small California town and take up with the local slackers. Ott worked with Atsuko on the script, crafting an absorbing tale that pivots on her near-silent performance as a foreigner as curious about the young American men she encounters as they are about her— attractions simultaneously complicated and enhanced by an absence of verbal communication. (Atsuko speaks no English.) ------
Charlie Chaplin Revisited Charlie Chaplin’s timeless physical comedy and beloved Little Tramp character continue to delight children; adults seeing The Circus again will be astonished by Chaplin’s remarkable, poetic wit. These are new 35mm prints—presented with synchronized orchestral scores composed by Chaplin himself—courtesy of Janus Films.
Saturday Oct. 8, 2 p.m. The Kid Directed by Charles Chaplin With Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Jackie Coogan U.S. 1921, 35mm, black and white, 54 minutes Followed by the short film A Day’s Pleasure.
Saturday Oct. 15, 2 p.m. A Dog’s Life Directed by Charles Chaplin Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Dave Anderson U.S. 1918, 35mm, black and white, 33 minutes with
Sunnyside Directed by Charles Chaplin U.S. 1919, 35mm, black and white, 30 minutes
Saturday Oct. 22, 2 p.m. The Circus Directed by Charles Chaplin With Charles Chaplin, Merna Kennedy, Al Ernest Garcia U.S. 1928, 35mm, black and white, 72 minutes
Saturday Oct. 29, 2 p.m. Sunday Oct. 30, 2 p.m. Modern Times Directed by Charles Chaplin With Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman U.S. 1936, 35mm, black and white, 87 minutes ------
Friday Oct. 14, 6 p.m. Emerson Presents Emerson Presents—Director Kathryn Ramey in Person Filmmaker, anthropologist and Emerson College faculty member Kathryn Ramey’s award winning films operate at the intersection of experimental film and socio-cultural research. Ramey presents a program of her work, including her recent video Yanqui WALKER and the OPTICAL REVOLUTION, an exploration of the obscure American expansionist and military dictator William Walker, who through force and coercion became president of Nicaragua in 1856. ( Emerson Presents! is a monthly program celebrating the work of Emerson’s vibrant Visual and Media Arts Faculty.)
Crazie Cult Classics A recurring series highlighting cult classics
Saturday Oct. 15, 9:15 p.m. The Crazies (aka Code Name: Trixie) Directed by George A. Romero With Lane Carroll, W.G. McMillan, Harold Wayne Jones U.S. 1973, 35mm, color, 103 minutes Romero’s epidemic thriller may be “the horror maestro's most provocative exploration of his great theme: the collapse of social order” (Dennis Lim). Virus victims, infected by a tainted water supply, turn homicidally insane as parents turn on children and the nuclear family’s bonds are shattered. A cult classic, The Crazies brilliantly elucidates a critical contagion-movie quandary: how to tell who is sick when even the uninfected are driven mad by paranoia? ------
The Marriage Circle While You Better Sit Down: Tales From My Parents’ Divorce, The Civilians’ hysterical account of marriage and divorce, plays on the Paramount Mainstage Oct. 25-30, this program samples cinematic depictions of the comedy—and the awfulness—of marital strife.
Friday Oct. 21, 8:30 p.m. Saturday Oct. 22, 8:45 p.m. Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana)— New 35mm Print! Directed by Pietro Germi With Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli Italy 1961, 35mm, black and white, 105 minutes, Italian with English subtitles Mastroianni’s down-at-the-heels Sicilian baron needs a way to get rid of his wife that sidesteps divorce (unthinkably embarrassing!) and avoids murder (too much jail time). An international smash, Germi’s caper won Best Comedy at Cannes as well as several Oscar nominations, a nod to what Dave Kehr describes as the satire’s “terrific entertainment, a European corollary to Preston Sturges.”
Saturday Oct. 22, 7 p.m. Divorce Iranian Style Directed by Kim Longinotto, Ziba Mir-Hosseini U.K. 1998, Digital Video, color, 80 minutes, English and Farsi with English subtitles Under Islamic law, a man can divorce his wife at will, whereas a woman must have her husband's consent—or be able to prove impotence, insanity, or financial instability. Longinotto—a pre-eminent documentarist acclaimed for creating extraordinary human portraits and tackling controversial topics—collaborated with Islamic feminist scholar Mir-Hosseini on this hilarious, tragic and stirring fly-on-the-wall chronicle of six Iranian women’s struggle in Iran’s Family Law courts.
Friday Oct. 28, 8:15 p.m. The Palm Beach Story Directed by Preston Sturges With Joel McCrea, Claudette Colbert, Rudy Vallee U.S. 1942, 35mm, black and white, 90 minutes In Sturges’ most complicated take on the Production Code-taboo subject of sexual relations, romantic leads Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert are sort of married at the start, and sort of married at the end. In between, mistaken identities and comic misadventures fly by at a frantically funny pace as cunning Colbert leaves impoverished-inventor husband McCrea for greener financial pastures and meets an eccentric billionaire (Vallee), and his man-crazy sister Mary Astor.
Saturday Oct. 29, 7 p.m. One Hour With You Directed by Ernst Lubitsch With Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Genevieve Tobin U.S. 1932, 35mm, black and white, 77 minutes A musical remake of Lubitsch’s silent hit The Marriage Circle , One Hour With You stars Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald as André and Colette Bertier, a happily married Parisian couple whose inevitable infidelities are catalyzed by the rapacious flirtations of Colette’s homewrecking friend Mitzi. With the Bertiers, the famous Lubitsch touch is more direct in its leering innuendo than any other Lubitsch comedy of the thirties.
About ArtsEmerson ArtsEmerson is the organization established by Emerson College to program the Paramount Paramount Mainstage, Cutler Majestic Theatre and other venues at Emerson’s Paramount Center. The inaugural season includes over 100 performances of 18 different productions, including world premieres, Boston debuts and works being developed in the new facilities created by Emerson College. ArtsEmerson, under the artistic leadership of Rob Orchard, will give Boston audiences a new level of cultural choice, bringing professional American and international work to its four distinct venues: the beautifully restored 590-seat Paramount Mainstage; the versatile, intimate Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre (“The Jackie”), which can seat up to 150 people; the state-of the art 170-seat Bright Family Screening Room (all located within the new Paramount Center a cornerstone in the revitalization of downtown Boston); and the beloved, historic 1,186-seat Cutler Majestic Theatre in the heart of the Theatre District, fully restored by Emerson in 2003. For more information, visit www.artsemerson.org .
About Emerson College Located in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, Emerson is the only four-year private college in the United States devoted to teaching communication and the arts in a liberal arts context. The College has 3,453 undergraduates and 837 graduate students from across the United States and 50 countries. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than 60 student organizations and performance groups, 14 NCAA teams, student publications, honor societies, television stations including the Emerson Channel, and WERS-FM, the nation’s highest rated student-run radio station. Emerson is internationally known for its study and internship programs in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., the Netherlands, China, and the Czech Republic. For more information, visit www.emerson.edu .
-30- On sale now at ArtsEmerson:
September 13–25, 2011, HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH: OUR VALUES IN QUESTION – World Premiere , Jackie Liebergott Black Box, Paramount Center September 17, CONCERT: WHY? , Paramount Center Mainstage September 24, CONCERT: Girls, Paramount Center Mainstage September 27–October 2, 2011, Laurie Anderson’s DELUSION , Paramount Center Mainstage September 29 and 30, 2011, THE INFERNAL COMEDY: CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL KILLER starring John Malkovich, Cutler Majestic Theatre October 12—16, 2011, THE SPEAKER’S PROGRESS, Sulayman Al-Bassam Theatre, Paramount Center Mainstage October 25—30, 2011, YOU BETTER SIT DOWN: TALES FROM MY PARENTS’ DIVORCE, Paramount Center Mainstage November 1—6, 2011, MABOU MINES DOLLHOUSE, Cutler Majestic Theatre November 7—12, 2011, MOBY DICK, Jackie Liebergott Black Box, Paramount Center November 15—20, 2011, ANGEL REAPERS – A Shaker musical, Cutler Majestic Theatre January 20—29, 2012, SUGAR – World Premiere, Jackie Liebergott Black Box, Paramount Center February 7 —12, 2012, 69˚S.– (The Shackleton Project), Paramount Center Mainstage February 29 —March 4, 2012, CIRCA, Paramount Center Mainstage (Co-presented with Celebrity Series of Boston) March 13—18, 2012, AMERIVILLE, Paramount Center Mainstage March 24—April 1, 2012, THE ANDERSEN PROJECT – Robert Lepage/Ex Machina, Cutler Majestic Theatre March 29—April 1, 2012, TOMÁŠ KUBÍNEK: CERTIFIED LUNATIC & MASTER OF THE IMPOSSIBLE, Paramount Mainstage April 13—22, 2012, CAFÉ VARIATIONS , Cutler Majestic Theatre
For a complete list of film programming in the Bright Family Screening Room, visit http://bit.ly/aecinema .