May 30th 2014. Pick of the Day.

The new June calendar in classic film is almost ready, the podcast copy nearly written. Jeezus I cannot believe this month whizzed by so fast, I hardly remember what I did these last 30 days. Lots to get excited about in the coming Summer months, including the beautiful outdoor screenings in spots like Bryant Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Hudson River Park. However, let's appreciate what May '14 has left in store for the classic film fan.

Continuing series today include Original Gangsters at IFC Center, An Auteurist History of Film and spinoff An Auteurist History of Film Reprise, Part Two at MoMA, Punk Rock Girls at BAM Cinématek, Fassbinder: Romantic Anarchist (Part One) at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and the sleek Cabaret Cinema at the Rubin Museum. The repertory wim wam as follows;

IFC Center

THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1932) Dir; William Wellmann

GODZILLA (1954) Dir; Ishiro Honda

BLUE VELVET(1986) Dir; David Lynch

PURPLE RAIN (1984) Dir; Albert Mangoli

Film Forum

SORCERER (1977) Dir; William Friedkin

MoMA

MERCHANT OF THE FOUR SEASONS (1971) Dir; Rainer Werner Fassbinder

BILLY LIAR (1963) Dir; John Schlesinger

ANOTHER SKY (1954) Dir; Gavin Lambert

BAM Cinématek

LIQUID SKY (1982) Dir; Slava Tsukerman

JUBILEE (1978) Dir; Derek Jarman

Film Society of Lincoln Center

TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES (1973) Dir; Ulli Lommel

New York Historical Society

HIGH NOON (1952) Dir; Fred Zinnemann

Landmark Jersey Loews

BRAZIL (1985) Dir; Terry Gilliam

Rubin Museum

THE LITTLE FOXES (1941) Dir; William Wyler

Nitehawk Cinema

THE BABY (1973) Dir; Ted Post

Today's Pick? Well, it is the birthday of a somewhat obscure fella who once worked in the film industry he knocked out a few good titles maybe ya heard of him mebbe not I'M TALKIN' HOWARD HAWKS! Yes, this would'a been the Grey Fox's 118th birthday today had he just listened to his physician and eaten more broccoli. Sadly, none of his films, not TWENTIETH CENTURY or BRINGING UP BABY or HIS GIRL FRIDAY or TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT or RED RIVER or GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES or RIO BRAVO okay you get the idea, nothing from his incredibly impressive CV screens today in his honor. So you'll just have to hit your DVD collection if you wanna watch THE DAWN PATROL or SCARFACE or THE BIG SLEEP right I'll stop.

There is, however, a film unspooling today that was crucial to his own body of work, a movie crafted by another production team that directly inspired the film many have and continue to consider Hawks' finest two hours, and the perfect repping of his manifesto. RIO BRAVO's very existence is due to the scorn Hawks lavished upon this earlier work, the tale of a town marshall's counting down of the clock until the man who has sworn to kill him, recently released from jail, arrives to carry out the lethal promise. Hawks' pitiable assessment of the movie, one which sees said marshall turn to his unwilling constituents for help, was the worst damnation he could ever offer; "The man's not a professional."

Actually he was too harsh on the film, but hey! Whatever contempt drove him to make RIO BRAVO is a-okay by me. I just also love the earlier film, a veiled indictment of the Hollywood blacklist made during its height. Indeed its screenwriter, the great Carl Foreman, was called to testify during the film's production but fled to the UK instead, knowing his career in the states was over (temporarily it turned out). What Hawks saw as weakness (hey, the guy saw everyone not him as weaker) was actually a call for a collective moral stand, a rallying cry for enough good men and women to stand up against a minority of bullies. It's true the marshall asks for help, knowing he's outnumbered. It's also true he doesn't run, but faces the convict and his gang (nearly) single-handedly. It's also an important distinction to make, I think, that (spolier alert) he doesn't give up on his duty by film's end, just the particluar townsfolk he swore it to. It's a masterpiece in its own right, and even though Hawks dismissed it with vehemence, I'm sure he was happy that it led him to his own best work. It's in this spirit that I dedicate a film to him that he despised on his birthday. I think he'd appreciate the irony.

Fred Zinnemann's HIGH NOON screens tonight 7pm at the New York Historical Society, as part of their Justice in Film series. The film will be intro'd by author Ted Widmer (Disunion: Modern Historians Revisit and Reconsider the Civil War). Admission is free but seats are limited. Happy Birthday Howard.

For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in May '14 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. For the monthly overview and other audio tomfoolery check out the podcast, and follow me on SoundCloud! For reviews of contemporary cinema and my streaming habits (keep it clean!) check out my Letterboxd 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 do not forsake me oh my readers.

-Joe Walsh

JoeW@NitrateStock.net

P. S. Even though we're coming into the summer months and therefore not often as mindful of the displaced, some of our fellow NY'ers are yet to be made whole since Hurricane Sandy hit nearly two years ago. Check in with the good folks at Occupy Sandy to see if you can't still volunteer/donate to our neighbors in need. Be a mensch.