October 19th 2013. Pick Of The Day.

Autumn's crisp grip creeping up yer pants leg a little too soon for your tastes? I hear ya Stockahz. So let's see which venues offer not merely respite from weather confusing but choice screenings to nestle in with. Intriguing offerings today include Dennis Hopper's directorial debut (which the cast and crew miraculously survived), Howard Hawks' first "talkie", and a restored batch of shorts featuring female stars of the silent era in which they not only performed their own stunts but produced and directed as well. Take that, Buster! Continuing series include Film Forum's Jacques Demy huggery, the Film Society's Godard waterboardery, Museum of the Moving Image's massive Complete Howard Hawks, and MoMA's annual To Save and Project. Here be the goods;

IFC Center

BABY THE RAIN MUST FALL (1965) Dir; Robert Mulligan

Nitehawk Cinema

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1945) Dir; Albert Lewin

LIFE OF BRIAN (1979) Dirs; Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam

BLACK SUNDAY (1960) Dir; Mario Bava

Film Forum

TOKYO STORY (1953) Dir; Yasujiro Ozu

THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (1964) Dir; Jacques Demy

Museum of the Moving Image

THE DAWN PATROL (1930) Dir; Howard Hawks

AIR FORCE (1943) Dir; Howard Hawks

CHOCOLAT (1988) Dir; Claire Denis

BAM

EASY RIDER (1967) Dir; Dennis Hopper

MoMA

WOMEN DAREDEVILS OF THE SILENT ERA (1909-23) Various Directors

GIRL SPIES AND IRISH COLLEENS (1906-14) Various Directors

I AM SUZANNE (1933) Dir; Rowland V. Lee

Film Society of Lincoln Center

DETECTIVE (1985) Dir; Jean-Luc Godard

LA CHINOISE (1966) Dir; Jean-Luc Godard

MASCULIN/FEMININ (1966) Dir; Jean-Luc Godard

Today's Pick? I've gotta pass up some spectacular Cinegeek blue meth today, stuff like MoMA's showcasing of the silent era's female pioneers, Dennis Hopper's psychedelic acorn that begat the mighty New Hollywood oak, and the Python's sophomore and perhaps still most controversial screen comedy, because Howard Hawks' THE DAWN PATROL, what I consider the first true Hawks film, unspools in 35mm at Astoria's Museum of the Moving Image. Aside from the Hawksian woman and his occasional penchant for rat-a-tat dialogue all the themes and tropes that would become the auteur's concerns first solidified in this tale of WWI flying aces. The macho cameraderie, the theme of professional versus amateur, the idea of choosing self-sacrifice for the good of the few and the many, all came together in the director's capitalizing on the then new WWI aviation genre, begat by William Wellman's WINGS. Like Wellman, Hawks was a pilot, though he served only as instructor during the first world war and never saw actual combat. Unlike Howard Hughes, who would sue Hawks over story elements similar to his long gestating HELL'S ANGELS, Howie structured his tale not merely as sensational thrill ride but as his manhood manifesto, 1st draft. To wit, not only do aerial enemies salute the men who have shot them down and secured their demise, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is actually overjoyed to meet the German pilot who scuttled him and thought him dead. Much merry drinking ensues, because they are all Hawks' fave estimation; professionals, apolitical and non-bureauracratic. Men performing a task because they are the best equipped to do so. It was a theme created in its maker's own image (to varying degrees), and would inform such future classics as HIS GIRL FRIDAY, SGT. YORK, TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, RED RIVER, and his most personal screed RIO BRAVO. For the rare chance to see this auteur's particular disposition take its first true cinematic baby steps, all else comes in a close second. As Hawks himself would no doubt evaluate, they simply aren't good enough.

For more info on these and all NYC's classic screenings for October '13 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 a new daily sked and my Pick, til then safe, sound, and have a little heart, willya?

-Joe Walsh

joew@nitratestock.net