September 16th 2013. Pick Of The Day.
New York City's premiere resource for classic film screenings in the metropolitan area. Offering reviews, recommendations, venues and a host of links keeping classic film and the silver screens alive.
Today the classic screening circuit offers Orson Welles' last directorial masterpiece, Stanley Kramer's iconic work of race relation social commentary, and Sight & Sound magazine's current crown-bearer as best film all-time. Which begs deposing. That's just me.
Ongoing series include MoMA's Auteurist History of Film Reprise and Anthology Film Archives' John Zorn Selects. The select list as follows;
Film Forum
CONTEMPT (1963) Dir; Jean-Luc Godard
MoMA
ASHES AND DIAMONDS (1958) Dir; Andrzej Wajda
THE DEFIANT ONES (1958) Dir; Stanley Kramer
Anthology Film Archives
TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) Dir; Orson Welles
VERTIGO (1958) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
Today's Pick? I'm gonna throw everybody a curveball today and choose what I esteem to be one of THE most overrated films of all time. Alfred Hitchcock partially sought and eventually won the rights to the film's source novel, penned by Pierre Boulle and Thomas Narcjeac, to beat fellow filmmaker Henri-Georges Clouzot to the punch, having watched helplessly as the duo's earlier novel SHE WHO WAS NOT reached the screen under Clouzot's direction as the classic DIABOLIQUE. His perch as Mahstah of Suspense summarily threatened by the auteur, who'd also sucked the air out of audiences lungs with THE WAGES OF FEAR, Hitch thrust himself fully into Boulle-Narcjeac's tale of phobia, obsession, and the fetishes that both may produce.
It's undeniable that Hitch also partially desired this property for the autobiographical elements it allowed him to pursue. It's no secret Big Al had a thing for blondes, cool, even icy blondes, and that his ego suffered immeasurable damage when Grace Kelly abandoned his lens for Monaco's throne and Vera Miles' pregnancy forced a career hiatus. It's well-documented that these perceived slights were later taken out onscreen on Janet Leigh and offscreen on Tippi Hedren, but inbetween THE WRONG MAN and PSYCHO Hitch filmed what critics and fans alike consider his most personal film, the PYGMALION-esque tale of a guilt-ridden detective driven to reinvent a female stranger into his ideal woman, who it so happens had recently leapt to her death. Yes, his comment on his creative process is interesting. Yes, his onscreen acknowledgement and exploration of his greatest fetish is worth examination. Yes, Robert Burks' DP work and Bernard Herrman's score are career high points for both men. My problem with this flick? It's a preposterous bore. Now you may e-mail me to tell me why I'm a cinematic troglodyte, but don't say I never gave the film a chance!
Alfred Hitchcock's VERTIGO screens tonight at Anthology Film Archives as part of the John Zorn Selects series. Whether you love this flick or you're a skeptic willing to give it another chance, 35mm projection is the only way to experience it!
For more info on these and all September's classic screenings click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. And be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter! Back tomorrow with more o' whattayoo like! Stay safe and sound til then!
-Joe Walsh
