October 11th 2014. Pick of the Day.
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Sadly, my journey through the CV of one Joseph L. Mankiewicz, what I've lovingly come to refer to as the Mankrospective, has come to a close. 14 films, ten days. I'm grateful for the experience, to the people who made it possible, not merely for the viewing of the work but for my first press accreditation at the New York Film Fest. It was an honor. The series has a few short steps to go before it concludes, however, with an encore of A LETTER TO THREE WIVES unspooling this Sunday, and the Rex Harrison vehicles ESCAPE and THE HONEY POT scheduled for this Tuesday. There's every chance I'll change my sked and catch those latter screenings, but should it not come to pass I'll be more than satisfied by the experience, and fully prepped for the concluding article, to be posted within the next few days. Mank, I really, truly hardly knew ye.
Ongoing series today include 1939- Hollywood's Golden Year at IFC Center, Final Girl at the Nitehawk Cinema, the career overview CAPRA! at Film Forum, the Silent Clowns Film Series at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, and Also Like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien at Museum of the Moving Image. The repertory rigmarole be thus;
IFC Center
MIDNIGHT (1939) Dir; Mitchell Liesen
Nitehawk Cinema
SPIDER-BABY (1968) Dir; Jack Hill
HALLOWEEN (1978) Dir; John Carpenter
Film Forum
LOST HORIZON (1936) Dir; Frank Capra
Library for the Performing Arts
SPARROWS (1926) Dir; William Beaudine
Museum of the Moving Image
Also Like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien
DUST IN THE WIND (1986) Dir; Hou Hsiao-hsien
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
ALIEN (1979) Dir; Ridley Scott
Today's Pick? I can't take sides against a 35mm unspooling of one of cinema's earliest superstars, as well as one of its earliest business titans. Mary Pickford came from meager beginnings, working her way through the undercarriage of showbiz, along with her siblings and mom, to pay the bills, all the while dreaming of elusive stardom. She auditioned for a pre-BIRTH OF A NATION D. W. Griffith as was put on retainer. She maintained the early traverse twixt screen and stage, then translated that succes into a contract with Famous Players-Lasky, the entity that would become Paramount Pictures. The 'teens were so good to her, and her biz savvy so acute, that she eventually began negotiating her own contracts, which ultimately led to her role in the formation of United Artists, the independent studio co-founded with Charlie Chaplin, Griffith, and matinee idol/husband Douglas Fairbanks. She was instumental in every aspect of her films from that point, handpicking scripts, directors, DP's. She may to this day still lay claim to the title of Most Powerful Female in the Film Industry. Ever. And she did it all before the advent of sound.
It's a drag that fellow silent-era titans like biz partner Chaplin, bed partner Fairbanks, and running mates Buster Keaton, Rudolph Valentino and Lon Chaney draw with scant seeming effort the attentions of the cinematically curious, while Pickford is pretty much universally granted status monumental without an actual perusal of her work. A drag because once you do view the films, your exalted esteem of the actress/businesswoman will only increase. Such is her vitality, her command of the camera, her moxie. You might look at a still photo of Pickford and wonder what the fuss was all about. It's impossible to witness a moving image of the woman and still possess the same doubt.
William Beaudine's SPARROWS (1926), starring Mary Pickford, unspools today in glorious 35mm at Lincoln Center's Library for the Performing Arts as part of the Silent Clowns Film Series. Steve Massa and Bruce Lawton will be on hand to provide the scholarly interaction, pianist Bruce Model will be on hand to verbally accompany the discussion and musically accompany the unspooling.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in October '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 safe, sound, make sure the next knucklehead is too! Excelsior!
-Joe Walsh
P. S. We're swiftly returning to the winter climate, and believe it or not some of our fellow NY'ers have still yet to be made whole in the wake of the 2012 storm. Should you be feeling charitable please visit the folks at OccupySandy.net, follow their hammer-in-hand efforts to restore people's lives, and donate/volunteer if you have the inclination and availability. Be a collective mensch, Stockahz!
