September 29th 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.
Pickin's be meager this increasingly humid hurricane season end-of-September day , but they are all fine representations of the form. The lone series screening today include Vittorio De Sica: Attore, Regista, Seduttore at Film Forum, and Ingrid Bergman at BAM at BAM. Bring an umbrella;
Film Forum
Vittorio De Sica: Attore, Regista, Seduttore
SHOESHINE (1946) Dir; Vittorio De Sica
THE WITCHES (1967) Dirs; Vittorio De Sica, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luchino Visconti, Franco Rossi, Mauro Bolognini)
BAM Cinématek
ARCH OF TRUIMPH (1948) Dir; Lewis Milestone
Today's Pick? I can't let the final day of the month-long centennial celebration of the birth of one of our greatest, most luminous film stars pass without shoutin' it out one last time. She studied acting at the prestigious Royal Dramtic Theater School in her native Sweden, then left after just one semester to pursue a career in film. She was Anita in both the original and remake of INTERMEZZO, the tormented Paula in GASLIGHT, which rewarded her with her first Oscar, the compromised Alicia in NOTORIOUS, the unsure Katherine in husband Roberto Rossellini's VOYAGE TO ITALY, receiving a second Oscar for her turn as the haunted ANASTASIA, copping lil' gold guy 3 for her turn as the guilty ex-missionary in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, and finally working with like-monickered and like-talented Ingmar Bergman as mother to Liv Ullmann's conflicted author in AUTUMN SONATA. She boasted of one of the strictest work ethics in the biz, eschewed makeup for her natural look (which in turn boasted of considerable hubba untouched!). She fled a Hollywood she regarded as too commercial to work with Rossellini in his quest to explore his beloved neo-realism. She contributed to one of the greatest bodies of work any actor might pray for. But untlimately she'll always be Ilsa, and we'll always have Paris. Tonight we get to view her not as French refugee ducking amongst the convenient shadows of CASABLANCA, but as lover to and fellow conspirator with Charles Boyer, a doctor in pre-WW2 Paris working to help refugees from the Nazi threat to evade deporation and concentration camps. She shines as always, even when the character she portrays might be a little shady. It's mighty difficult for even the most gifted filmmaker to quell her kind of beam. We can only be grateful that even the best of them never succeeded.
Ingrid Bergman stars with Charles Boyer and Charles Laughton in Lewis Milestone's ARCH OF TRIUMPH, which concludes Ingrid Bergman at BAM, the centennial celebration of the actress' birth. Sorry to see this magic series come to a close, but the good news is it's never a full century between these types of tributes. Here's lookin' at you, Ingy.
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!
