December 8th 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 William Cameron Menzies crowd-surf at Film Forum, Antonio Petrangeli: A Retrospective at MoMA, and Sound and Fury:The Films of Cy Endfield and American International Pictures Part 2: Bikers, Drugs and Rock & Roll, both at Anthology Film Archives. The repertory rigmarole be thus;
Film Forum
THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1924) Dir; Raoul Walsh
THE SPIDER (1931) Dirs; William Cameron Menzies & Kenneth MacKenna
CHANDU THE MAGICIAN (1932) Dirs; William Cameron Menzies & Marcel Varnel
BAM Cinématek
A MARRIED WOMAN (1964) Dir; Jean-Luc Godard
MoMA
Antonio Petrangeli: A Retrospective
THE GIRL FROM PARMA (1963) Dir; Antonio Petrangeli
THE MAGNIFICENT CUCKOLD (1964) Dir; Antonio Petrangeli
Anthology Film Archives
Sound and Fury:The Films of Cy Endfield
JET STORM (1959) Dir; Cy Endfield
SEA FURY (1958) Dir; Cy Endfield
American International Pictures Part 2: Bikers, Drugs and Rock & Roll
THE COOL AND THE CRAZY (1958) Dir; William Witney
DRAGSTRIP RIOT (1958) Dir; David Bradley
Nitehawk Cinema
TRADING PLACES (1983) Dir; John Landis
Today's Pick? In light of the recent release of TRUMBO, which details the struggels encountered by one of the Blacklist's most famous victims, I'm sorta tempted to go with the Cy Endfield series today, as it fetes a filmaker who survived that scourge battered but not beaten, and who oversaw some of cinema's most revered cult classics. I know nothing of Antonio Petrangeli, so I'm both incredibly drawn and somewhat disinterested by MoMA's celebration of his CV. Godard, you know how I feel about you. Pistols at dawn.
Really, there's but one choice this day. One of the cinema's finest examples of fantasy cinema, and one of the best entries in the action-adventure phase of Douglas Fairbanks' career, the portion of which he remains best known for. He first found fame as a light comic romantic, utilizing his athletic skills for some silent slapstick entertainment. He soon formed his own production company, and soon after that contributed to what is still the most successful talent-controlled enterprise the film world has ever seen: United Artists, along with Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, and his wife, the great actress Mary Pickford. By the early 20's, already a megastar, he was itching to expand his artistic reach, and helped to invent the action-epic that Hollywood still reaps its greatest rewards from, if AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and the upcoming THE FORCE AWAKENS are any indication. These films were made before the advent of sound cinema, yet they still possess the power to engage, to involve, to draw the audience in like a tractor beam, thank you very much STAR WARS. It only screens once today, so clear yer skeds and hop on yer magic carpets and direct them threads toard West Houston street. Magic awaits.
Raoul Walsh's still-influential THE THIEF OF BAGDAD unspools the digitized 1's & 0's of its recently premiered DCP iteration at Film Forum, as part of that venue's fantastic series dedicated to the work of one of the most innovative production designers in Hollywood history, one William Cameron Menzies , who also helmed a couple of iconic entries in the cinematic timeline. Mars lay in the filmmaker's future, but his take on this Arabian fantasy remains one of the benchmarks of its genre. Make this one of your wishes.
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in December '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!
