March 20th 2014. 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.
At last! The prophecy of Phil of Punxsutawney has come to pass! Let the digging for fossils begin, to prove life existed before the winter of '14! DIG, I said! Look! A recently unearthed Miata!
Today's new and continuing series include The Complete Hitchcock at Film Forum, An Auteurist History of Film at MoMA, and Auteurs Gone Wild at Anthology Film Archives. The hijinks be thus;
Film Forum
MARNIE (1964) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
WHITE SHADOW (1924) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
MoMA
THE HUSTLER (1961) Dir; Robert Rossen
BowTie Chelsea Cinemas
MILDRED PIERCE (1946) Dir; Michael Curtiz
Anthology Film Archives
THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN (1933) Dir; Frank Capra
YOU AND ME (1938) Dir; Fritz Lang
Today's Pick? Joan Crawford's lone Oscar-winning perf always tempts, and the Hitchcock bill is eternally worthy of our attendance, but how often does Fritz Lang's lone screwball comedy (yes, you read that right, Fritz LANG's screwball comedy!) unspool on the rep circuit in our movie-mad metropolis? Lang's road to Hollywood was a shaky one, having fled Germany after Goebbels offered to make him Head of Production for Third Reich Films. He made one film in France (LILLIOM) before stealing for the decidely anti-Germanic climes of sunny Hollywood. Some doubted whether the auteur's darker sensibilities could turn a profit for an American studio, fears that were allayed upon the release of his first film in his new home; 1936's FURY, a flat-out masterpiece and box office windfall.
He followed this success up with the equally downbeat YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, a depression-era tale of lawbreaking lovers on the run that influenced a little thing called BONNIE AND CLYDE 30 years later. Another dark tale proved another critical and commercial success. Then, our boy Fritz took one of the strangest left turns of his career, a career that would see more than one head-scratcher. In a fit of whimsy this Prince of Darkness embarked on that most Hollywood of subgenres, the screwball comedy, that sophisticatedly undignified forum perfected by the likes of Frank Capra (IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT), Howard Hawks (BRINGING UP BABY), Gregory La Cava (MY MAN GODFREY) and Leo McCarey (THE AWFUL TRUTH). A troubled production initially intended for Carole Lombard, it was replacement actress Sylvia Sydney who demanded Lang take over, because the bemonocled one seemed so wacky in his prior efforts, perhaps. In any event the resulting film flopped, but Lang quickly rebounded with his first western; 1940's THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES. It remains a largely if not completely forgotten film in Lang's CV, and remains unseen by yours truly, so for that reason above all I make it my Pick today. Did I mention it's a Fritz Lang screwball comedy?!?!?
Fritz Lang's YOU AND ME unspools tonight at Anthology Film Archives as part of their Auteurs Gone Wild series. If you're lucky you can compare notes with the guy who brings his own mattress.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in March '14 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. And be sure to follow me on both Facebook, where I provide further info and esoterica on the rep film circuit and star birthdays, and Twitter, where I provide a daily feed for the day's screenings and other blathery. Back tomorrow with a brand new Pick, til then I ask; how long until the Williamsburg hipsters bring back the monocle? HOW LONG?
-Joe Walsh
P. S. Should you be feeling charitable during this harsh weather period please remember to check in with the good folks over at Occupy Sandy. Some of our NY neighbors are still feeling the effects of last year's hurricane. Be a mensch.
