September 4th 2015. 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.
New and continuing series this day include the director tribs to Yasujiro Ozu and WimWenders at IFC Center, Modern Matinees: Earliest Days, Ingrid Bergman: A Centennial Celebration and Scorsese Screens at MoMA, Gloria Grahame: Blonde Ambition at Lincoln Center's Film Society, Robert Ryan: An Actor's Actor at Anthology Film Archives, and See It Big: New York On Film! at Museum of the Moving Image. The emulsified espièglerie be thus;
IFC Center
TOKYO STORY (1953) Dir; Yasujiro Ozu
WimWenders: Portraits Along the Road
THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977) Dir; WimWenders
KINGS OF THE ROAD (1975) Dir; WimWenders
MAD MAX (1979) Dir; George Miller
DARKMAN (1990) Dir; Sam Raimi
MoMA
Modern Matinees: Earliest Days
UNDERWORLD (1927) Dir; Joseph von Sternberg
Ingrid Bergman: A Centennial Celebration
THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S (1945) Dir; Leo McCarey
FEAR (1954) Dir; Roberto Rossellini
THE SEARCHERS (1956) Dir; John Ford
TAXI DRIVER (1976) Dir; Martin Scorsese
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Gloria Grahame: Blonde Ambition
CROSSFIRE (1947) Dir; Edward Dmytrk
THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1952) Dir; Vincente Minnelli
IN A LONELY PLACE (1950) Dir; Nicholas Ray
HUMAN DESIRE (1954) Dir; Fritz Lang
Japan Society
CARMEN COMES HOME (1951) Dir; Keisuke Kinoshita
Anthology Film Archives
ACT OF VIOLENCE (1948) Dir; Fred Zinnemann
ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1951) Dir; Nicholas Ray
Museum of the Moving Image
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984) Dir; Sergio Leone
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
CLUE (1985) Dir; Jonathan Lynn
Today's Pick? Kinoshita's work screens so rarely in these environs that I'm very tempted to choose his musical comedy frolic, especially as alternative, or even double-bill to Ozu's somber masterpiece. Von Sternberg's classic atmospheric gangland silent comes very close to the fore, as does the Bergman double bill, both at MoMA. I know I'm going with the Gloria Grahame series mañana, so that must wait a day, and I have multiple opportunites to choose from the Wenders series at IFC. The closest competitor ultimately for my Pick is Leone's final masterpiece, which was sadly also his final film. However, a weekend trib to another of my fave actors/personalities from the final decades of the studio era is fêted this weekend, a gruff yet vulnerable figure who was as comfortable in the role of scholar as he was boxer. Indeed, he was the heavyweight champ for all 4 of his years at Darmouth College.
His style was deceptively simplistic, which explains why he's often overlooked in favor of more overtly charismatic figures from the period, iconic thesps who tackled similarly complicated characters onscreen, folks like William Holden and Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. But a closer examination proves an unshowiness, a deep and lived-in understanding of the conflicted portrayals he routinely offered, a straddling of the classical technique and the newer method style that was then coming into vogue. He was always in-demand in front of the camera, although his early dream was to become a playwright. Something about that desire for authorship never left him, it's imbedded in his acting work, the ownership of his thespian work combined with the tragedy of the road never taken. He died at the too-young age of 63 as consequence of the hard-living he chose, but the titles he left behind are as iconic and diverse as the man and his interests; Jacques Tourneur's BERLIN EXPRESS, Jean Renoir's WOMAN ON THE BEACH, Joseph Losey's THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR, Robert Wise's THE SET-UP, Sam Fuller's HOUSE OF BAMBOO, Richard Brooks' THE PROFESSIONALS, Robert Aldrich's THE DIRTY DOZEN, and Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH. And these films aren't even screening as part of the tribute! That's how many great films he made! If you're unfamiliar with his work you're in for a terrific discovery. If you are familiar with his CV, then I don't need to sell ya.
Fred Zinnemann's ACT OF VIOLENCE and Nicholas Ray's ON DANGEROUS GROUND screen tonight at Anthology Film Archives as part of their essential series Robert Ryan: An Actor's Actor. It runs from tonight til the 10th, but these two lesser-known gems are the ones you should really show some love. Wiskey and cigs not supplied. But optional.
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in September '15 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. 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 soon with new Picks 'n perks, til then safe, sound, make sure the next knucklehead is too!
P. S. The warmer, fiercer cuddle of the sun's sunnier disposition has begun its annual wane, but 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!
