Saul Bass, Woody Allen & Jasper Johns at Oddball

On Thursday, I went to Oddball Films for the first time.  Located in the Mission District, Oddball is located on Capp Street, a narrow street which runs parallel to Mission St. starting at 15th Street until it curves around to end on Mission around Army Street (aka Cesar Chavez St.).  Notorious for streetwalkers, I don't believe I've ever been on Capp St.  In fact, I rarely venture "East of Mission."

Not sure what I would encounter, Capp St. was a surprising mix of well tended residences and businesses included a car repair place and a business having an NFPA 704 placard.  Oddball shares its building with Sutter Furniture Manufacturing Company.  Oddball, a company specializing in offbeat films, looks like what you would expect a film archive to look like.  Housed on the top floor of an old warehouse space (with wooden beams in the middle of the floor space), Oddball has reels of film piled floor to ceiling.  The room was drafty and the well worn wood floor did not help acoustics.  The film projectors were in the middle of the audience with the whirring motor clearly audible to all.  The bathroom had a shower stall in it.  There was a makeshift bar in the corner and wall ornaments which made it looked like a cineaste's clubhouse.

A few years ago, I noted Saul Bass' distinctive title sequences from several Otto Preminger films.  When I read the title of Thursday's program (Saul Bass and the Creative Impulse), I decided to visit Oddball for the first time.  RSVP was required and I assumeed cash only payment at the door.  There were probably 20 to 25 people in the audience who took up 80% of the seats.

Four short films were screened.

Why Man Creates; directed by Saul Bass; animation and live action; 29 minutes; (1968)
Bass on Titles; directed & written by Saul Bass & Stan Hart; documentary; (1977)
Woody Allen: An American Comedy; directed by Harold Mantell; documentary; (1977)
USA Artists: Jasper Johns; documentary; (1966)

The screening  was scheduled for 8 PM, but didn't start until after 8:15 and the total program took just over two hours.  Guest curator Landon Bates operated the two projectors.  He cut short the ending credits as he switched from one film to the next.  The screening had a "vacation movie" feel; like I was a kid going to one of my parents' friends' house to watch their vacation film or slide projector photos.

Why Man Creates won an Oscar in 1969 for Best Documentary Short Film.  It looks very much like a film from the 1960s.  It reminded of some of the stuff I saw on PBS as a kid in the 1970s.  Comprised of several unrelated parts, my favorite segment from Why Man Creates was called The Edifice.  It was an animated history of civilization.  The animation reminded me of the comic strip B.C. and was clever at moments.

Bass on Titles consists of the complete title sequences from 10 films which Bass worked on.  The ten films were The Man with the Golden Arm, The Big Country, West Side Story, Walk on the Wild Side, Nine Hours to Rama, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, The Victors, In Harm's Way, Seconds & Grand Prix.  In between title sequences, Bass talks about his approach and goal regarding each title sequence.  In a nutshell, Bass started off making logos for films.  Before, during and after his foray into film-making, Bass was a graphic designer who designed the logos for United Airlines, AT&T and many other companies.

Bass' first film job was to create the film poster for Preminger's Carmen Jones. Bass quickly realized film allowed his images to move so the rose consumed by flames was integrated into the title sequence.  These animated sequences (often using geometric shapes) are my favorites.  Their aesthetics match my preferences.  In addition to numerous Preminger films, Bass titled several Hitchcock classics (Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho).

As Bass described, these title sequences foreshadowed the film.  The burning rose represents the beauty and danger associated with Carmen Jones, the sharp points in The Man with the Golden Arm are the syringes Frank Sinatra's character uses to shoot heroin, the kaleidoscopic images in Vertigo show the jumbled state of Jimmy Stewart's mind & psyche.  Once Bass moved towards live action scenes which were essentially prologues to the film, my interest in them waned.  It's purely a matter of personal preference but those animated sequence appealed to something very deep within me.  Not emotionally but rather visually hypnotic, I could watch them over and over.

Woody Allen: An American Comedy was a talking head documentary featuring Woody Allen and clips from several of his early films.  I didn't really learn much.  I had seen an American Masters two parter on Allen last year so I was familiar with the material.  I am surprised at how little Allen has changed over the years.  Certainly he has aged but his dress and mannerisms have remained constant.

USA: Artists was a program on National Educational Television, the predecessor to PBS.  Apparently profiling American artists, Jasper Johns was the subject of this particular episode.  With halting speech as he changes course in mid-answer, Johns is not an ideal interviewee.  Whatever Johns lacks in polished oration, he makes up for with the earnestness of his commitment to art.  At times appearing ill at ease in front of the cameras, John's on-screen persona is hard to imagine in today's culture of media saturation.  A successful artist would be schooled in interview skills before being allowed in front of the cameras.  That a visual artifact like this footage even exists made the trip to Oddball worthwhile.

All said, the evening at Oddball was very satisfying if not somewhat physically uncomfortable.  Many people brought food and drink with them.  The cushioned seats were all occupied when I arrived so I will attempt to arrive earlier next time.  Cold on Thursday night, I imagine the space traps heat on warm days.  Still, if I see a program which interests me in the future, I will make it a point to attend.

Noir City X

The 2012 Noir City Film Festival ran from January 20 to 29 at the Castro Theater. 2012 is the 10th year of Noir City so this year's festival was referred to as Noir City X. They had a snazzy anniversary logo in which the "y" in "City" merges into the "X." I guess the festival is like the Super Bowl - big enough that it merits Roman numerals. Certainly the crowds were gargantuan in size. The evening screenings were packed and many of the matinees filled up the main auditorium (I think the balcony was closed for the matinees). It wouldn't surprise me if they had a total attendance of over 15,000 for the 10 day festival.

The 23 films I saw were:

Dark Passage starring Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall; with Agnes Moorehead; directed by Delmer Daves; (1947)
The House on Telegraph Hill starring Valentina Cortese & Richard Basehart; directed by Robert Wise; (1951)
Okay, America starring Lew Ayres & Maureen O'Sullivan; directed by Tay Garnett; (1932)
Afraid to Talk starring Eric Linden; directed by Edward L. Cahn; (1932)
The Killers starring Lee Marvin & Angie Dickinson; with Ronald Reagan, John Cassavetes & Clu Gulager; directed by Don Siegel; (1964)
Point Blank starring Lee Marvin & Angie Dickinson; with John Vernon, Carroll O'Connor, Keenan Wynn & Lloyd Bochner; directed by John Boorman; (1967)
Laura starring Gene Tierney & Dana Andrews; with Clifton Webb & Vincent Price; directed by Otto Preminger; (1944)
Bedelia starring Margaret Lockwood, Ian Hunter & Barry K. Barnes; directed by Lance Comfort; (1946)
Gilda starring Rita Hayworth & Glenn Ford; with George Macready; directed by Charles Vidor; (1946)
The Money Trap starring Glenn Ford & Elke Sommer; with Rita Hayworth, Ricardo Montalban & Joseph Cotten; directed by Burt Kennedy; (1965)
Unfaithfully Yours starring Rex Harrison & Linda Darnell; directed by Preston Sturges; (1948)
The Good Humor Man starring Jack Carson; with Lola Albright, Jean Wallace & George Reeves; directed by Lloyd Bacon; (1950)
Naked Alibi starring Sterling Hayden & Gloria Grahame; with Gene Barry; directed by Jerry Hopper; (1954)
Pickup starring Hugo Haas, Beverly Michaels & Allan Nixon; directed by Hugo Haas; (1951)
Thieves' Highway starring Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese & Lee J. Cobb; directed by Jules Dassin; (1949)
The Breaking Point starring John Garfield & Patricia Neal; with Phyllis Thaxter; directed by Michael Curtiz; (1950)
Three Strangers starring Geraldine Fitzgerald, Sydney Greenstreet & Peter Lorre; directed by Jean Negulesco; (1946)
The Great Gatsby starring Alan Ladd & Betty Field; with Ruth Hussey, Barry Sullivan & Macdonald Carey; directed by Elliott Nugent; (1949)
Roadhouse Nights starring Helen Morgan & Charles Ruggles; directed by Hobert Henley; (1930)
The Maltese Falcon starring Ricardo Cortez & Bebe Daniels; directed by Roy Del Ruth; (1931)
City Streets starring Gary Coooper & Sylvia Sidney; with Paul Lukas & Guy Kibbee; directed by Rouben Mamoulian; (1932)
Mr. Dynamite starring Edmund Lowe & Jean Dixon; directed by Alan Crosland; (1935)
The Glass Key starring Alan Ladd & Veronica Lake; with Brian Donlevy, Bonita Granville & William Bendix; directed by Stuart Heisler; (1942)

I only missed three screenings - House of Bamboo (which I saw at the PFA in 2010), Underworld USA and The Maltese Falcon (which I have seen several times although not on the big screen). House of Bamboo and Underworld USA were part of a Sam Fuller double feature which I regret missing. The Maltese Falcon was the final film of the festival and capped a six film Dashiell Hammett marathon on that last day. Having caught 5/6 of the Hammett marathon, I was too exhausted to stick around.

I actually had the opportunity to see Underworld USA but passed. I had one too many Sidecars at Sauce that evening. I occasionally do things other than go to the movies. I feel like admitting inebriation is more acceptable than admitting going to the movie theater every evening. I caught a ride home. As we were driving, I was tempted to ask the driver to drop me off at the Castro Theater but my swooning head and likely snickering comments made me reconsider. Sauce has a Guinness Stout Malt on the dessert menu which put me over the top...

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Let's get a few of the miscues out of the way first. January 24 was billed as "A Night of Comedy Noir." The two films were Unfaithfully Yours and The Good Humor Man.

Unfaithfully Yours, starring Rex Harrison and written/directed by Preston Sturges, was the better film. It reminded me of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with Danny Kaye. In Unfaithfully Yours, Rex Harrison portrays a symphony conductor who suspects his wife of having an affair and fantasizes about how he will exact revenge. He fantasizes while conducting a symphony and his heightened emotions produce the most inspired work of his career. Unfaithfully Yours was a serviceable comedy. I wonder if I would like Walter Mitty now; it's been 30 years or more since I saw it. Anyway, I had a hard time seeing elements of noir in Unfaithfully Yours. Ultimately, I didn't think it was noir and its comedy was not completely to my taste.

However, Unfaithfully Yours was a masterpiece compared to The Good Humor Man. The Jack Carson comedy was slapstick at its worst (or best, depending on your tastes). The audience seemed to lick it up. The Good Humor Man can be described as a bad Bob Hope film crossed with a bad Abbott and Costello film. I found the film insufferable. It limped along for the first two thirds but a chase scene closed out the film. The scene was epically horrendous and seemed to last half an hour. Carson's character and his girlfriend were chased into a school by the bad guys but some kids come to their rescue by throwing balls, musical instruments, shop class tools and ultimately pies at them. I don't know what is about the pie in the face routine but for me, it gets old pretty quick.

Unfaithfully Yours and The Good Humor Man made me wish I had gotten sauced at Sauce that evening instead of Sam Fuller night.

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There were six films from the 1930s in this year's festival. I wouldn't consider those films "miscues" but between the rapid fire dialog, early sound recording and pre-WWII sensibilities, I can't rightly call these film noir even though many of them were based on Dashiell Hammett's works.

The definition of film noir is debatable but I always believed that post-war weariness and trauma were integral parts of the film noir protagonist and/or contemporary audiences. Several of the 1930s vintage films were quite good but didn't feel like film noir to me.

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As it happens, my favorite film of the festival was a 1930s film - City Streets based on a Hammett's story. Starring a youthful Gary Cooper and effective Sylvia Sidney as a young couple caught up with the mob, City Streets remind me of one of those cautionary tales put out by Warner Brothers during the period. Cooper plays a carny sharpshooter who is duped into joining the gang to help his girlfriend (Sidney) who refuses to testify. When she gets out of the joint, she is dismayed to learn that Cooper (simply known as The Kid) has become a big shot in the mob; he found better uses for his gun skills. As they try to navigate their way to happiness, the couple has to contend with rival gangsters and gun molls as well as Cooper's embrace of the lifestyle which Sidney is trying to distance herself from.

Strong performances by the lead actors and pre-Code sensibilities elevated City Streets to top of my list of 2012 Noir City films.

I was also entertained by Bedelia, a British vehicle for Margaret Lockwood as a black widow trying to prey on her next soon-to-be-deceased husband. Her efforts are foiled by an insurance investigator posing as an artist who insinuates himself into the title character's life. Full of suspense and Lockwood's bravura performance, Bedelia stood out for me.

Angie Dickinson was in the house for a double feature - The Killers and Point Blank. Both films were very gritty films that were immeasurably buoyed by Lee Marvin's performances. Taciturn, merciless and single-minded in both films, Marvin was a true movie star and made for these types of roles. Dickinson's roles were most definitely secondary (even tertiary) to the plots but she made the most of her screen time. The Killers and Point Blank were among my favorites as well.

Gilda is a classic and I'd seen it before. I'm still not sure about some of the plot specifics but the film is a showcase of Rita Hayworth in every sense. When not looking sexy or singing torch songs ("Put the Blame on Mame" is a great song), Hayworth banters with Glenn Ford to great effect.

More surprising was how much I enjoyed The Money Trap. Made 20 years after Gilda, Ford plays a straight arrow cop who is induced into stealing mob money because of money problems at home. Home is where his younger, sexy, younger wife (Elke Sommer) throws parties every night. Egged on by his partner (Ricardo Montalban, in a great performance), Ford plans out the caper but he unexpectedly encounters his high school sweetheart - a ravaged looking Rita Hayworth. Hayworth was an alcoholic and perhaps suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease but it was truly depressing to see her appearance in The Money Trap. The film exploits her condition to full effect as she plays a washed up alcoholic in the film. This give the film a tragic feel which would not likely have been achieved with another actress in Hayworth's role. It puts a regretful hue on everything Ford's character does. It improves the film but I felt like I was exploiting Hayworth just by watching her at this stage of her life.

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The Breaking Point which was based on Hemingway's To Have and Have Not and The Great Gatsby had the benefit of great source material. I read both novels in high school and recall being greatly impressed by them. I re-read both novels in my twenties and was relieved that I still thought highly of them as that is not case with all the books I re-read.

However, neither film really captured the full greatness of their respective source novels. That's a shame because both films were "near misses." John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Alan Ladd & Betty Field gave strong lead performances in the two films. Certainly, I thought more highly of these films than their well known cousins - To Have and Have Not with Bogie and Bacall and directed by Howard Hawks and the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby with Redford and Mia Farrow.

I was particularly impressed by Neal's performance which captured her sexiness and intelligence better than anything else I've seen her in.

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Pickup also entertained me. Hugo Haas is tremendous as a man who fakes deafness to collect his pension early only to find out his wife (Beverly Michaels in a great role) not only doesn't love him but also want her boyfriend to kill him. The scenes where Michaels talks openly with her boyfriend about her disgust with her husband while he is within earshot but feigning deafness were incredible.

Afraid to Talk also stood out as one of the most cynical films of the festival. A bellhop witnesses the murder of a mob boss. Crooked politicians and the mob conspire to frame him for the murder. Another pre-Code film, Afraid to Talk was very dark and intense; it surprised me by the way its plot forced the everyman protagonist to suffer.

Naked Alibi and Thieves' Highway were potboilers helped by strong performances by Sterling Hayden and Richard Conte in the lead roles, respectively. Gloria Grahame, who is great in everything I've seen her in, added her screen appeal to Naked Alibi as did Gene Barry as the villain.

I'm fairly certain that the Coen Brother's Miller's Crossing (1990) is based on The Glass Key, either the film or Hammett's novel. Albert Finney played the Brian Donlevy role and Gabriel Byrne in the Alan Ladd role. Miller's Crossing is one of my favorite films of all time so once I picked up on the similarities, there was no way I could The Glass Key in anyway except in comparison to Miller's Crossing. The Glass Key held its own but ultimately couldn't displace Miller's Crossing in my estimation. That's unfair to The Glass Key but I can only watch watch a film from the perspective of my past experiences.

All the other films were a step below the ones mentioned above.

I'd like to write more but I'm pressed for time...too busy watching films to make time to write about them.

Otto Preminger at PFA

I also caught a very enjoyable Otto Preminger series called Anatomy of a Movie at the PFA in December. I watched 10 of the 14 films in the series. The series is one of my favorites since I have started frequenting PFA on a habitual basis.

Anatomy of a Murder starring Jimmy Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara and George C. Scott; (1959)
Whirlpool starring Gene Tierney, Richard Conte and Jose Ferrer; (1950)
Advise and Consent starring Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Walter Pidgeon, Franchot Tone, Gene Tierney and Peter Lawford; (1962)
The Moon Is Blue starring William Holden, David Niven and Maggie McNamara; (1953)
Saint Joan starring Jean Seberg, Richard Widmark and John Gielgud; (1957)
The Man with the Golden Arm starring Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak and Darren McGavin; (1955)
Exodus starring Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint & Sal Mineo; (1960)
Carmen Jones starring Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte and Pearl Bailey; lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein; music by Georges Bizet; (1955)
Bonjour Tristesse starring Jean Seberg, David Niven and Deborah Kerr; (1958)
Skidoo starring Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Frankie Avalon, Cesar Romero, Mickey Rooney, Groucho Marx, Frank Gorshin and George Raft; (1968)

In addition, Film on Film Foundation sponsored a screening at the PFA of Preminger's The Cardinal starring Tom Tryon, John Huston and Ossie Davis (1963).

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With the exception of Anatomy of a Murder, I had not previously seen any of the films in their entirety. I had watched portions of Advise and Consent and Exodus on television. Somehow, Carmen Jones and The Man with the Golden Arm had completely escaped my viewing history. The rest were completely new to me.

They were a mixed bag to be sure but Preminger clearly seemed more of a master craftsman than inspired artists. His films were eminently watchable with the exception of Skidoo.

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In my opinion, Anatomy of a Murder is his best film. The professor who introduced it said it was perhaps the best courtroom drama ever. 12 Angry Men also gets frequent mention. Anatomy of a Murder benefits greatly from a ferocious courtroom rivalry between Jimmy Stewart & George C. Scott as the defense lawyer and prosecutor, respectively. Scott plays his character like an aggressive animal looking to tear into anything that moves. Stewart is all corn pone as a small town lawyer whose country bumpkin acts hide a sharp legal mind and highly competitive personality. Lee Remick is as slutty as a 1959 film would allow and Ben Gazzara plays Remick's husband and the accused murderer with a mean, deceitful streak. Actually, the whole plot must have been groundbreaking in 2009. Remick is raped and Gazzara kills the alleged rapist but is charged with murder. Joseph Welch of Army-McCarthy Hearing fame (Have you no sense of decency, sir?), played the judge as an experience judge who has seen every trick in the book but yet not completely jaded on the process. I can't really add anything to the many reviews of this film except to say this is one of my favorite films of all time. Did I mention Duke Ellington provided the soundtrack?

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A step below Anatomy of a Murder is Carmen Jones which benefits greatly from Bizet's canonical opera and Hammerstein inventive lyrics. Carmen Jones takes the Carmen story and sets it during WWII in the Deep South with an all African American cast. The plot lends itself well to the film; the major revision being the substitution of a prize fighter for the bull fighter. If you are not familiar with the plot...well, it's like a lot of operas - boy loves good girl, boy meets bad girl, bad girl leads boy to ruin, boy kills bad girl. That summarizes at least 30% of all operas. Another frequent variation is the good girl selflessly hides a secret to protect the boy's feelings or social standing. Frequently, the girl is deathly ill too but I digress.

Carmen Jones shines because Dorothy Dandridge sings and shimmies her way into Belafonte's heart and other body parts. Preminger was rumored to have an affair with Dandridge during the film and I can't say I don't envy him. How wonderfully scandalous it must have been for an Austrian Jew to be cavorting with an African American woman in 1955. Pearl Bailey contributes the blues influenced “Beat Out Dat Rhythm on a Drum” and Joe Adams sings “Stan’ Up and Fight” to the Toreador Song.

Dat's love
You go for me
And I'm taboo
But if you're
hard to get
I go for you

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Another film I enjoyed was the flawed and dated Bonjour Tristesse. Jean Seberg and David Niven liven up the film about a spoiled, rich girl (the delicious Jean Seberg) and her randy and immoral father. Niven flouts his mistresses in front of his 17 year old daughter (Seberg) to the point where she doesn't blink an eye. In fact, father & daughter have formed a symbiotic relationship that crosses the line into perverse. The film did not suggest incest but rather a lax attitude towards sexuality but other people's feelings. This attitude eventually drives Deborah Kerr to suicide although she is generous enough to not leave a note and make it look like a car accident. Daughter & father are equally complicit. French actress Mylène Demongeot stands out as Niven's ditzy paramour while Kerr plays a more mature and serious love interest. Seberg & Niven are decadent Eurotrash with expensive tastes and exquisite late 1950's fashion. PFA curator Steve Seid said that Jean-Luc Godard greatly admired this film and cast Jean Seberg in Breathless (1960) on the basis of her this performance. Godard envisioned Seberg character in Breathless as an extension of her character in Bonjour Tristesse - hollowed out by three years of immorality, apathy and alcohol; washed up and prematurely jaded by age 20.

The film looks rather quaint 50 years after the fact but Niven's cavalier attitudes regarding his paternal duties still is disquieting and Seberg youthful exuberance is still intoxicating.

An aside - when my mother passed away, I looked through her belongings and she had a small magazine photo cutout of a blonde woman with a pixie haircut that looked a lot like Jean Seberg. My mother never mentioned Jean Seberg to me and I'm not even aware if she knew who Seberg was. I believe she liked the haircut and wore her hair in a similar style for many years. It lends a vaguely oedipal color to my attraction to Seberg. Seberg seemed to live up to her Bonjour Tristesse role - an affair with Clint Eastwood while married to another man (the husband challenged Clint to a duel), under surveillance by the FBI, suicidal, addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs, married to an Arab playboy and finally a questionable death in Paris which was ultimately ruled a suicide.



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Advise and Consent and The Cardinal were two films that explored the inner workings of two powerful and august organizations - the US Senate and the Catholic Church. They both had their moments but of the two, I slightly preferred Advise and Consent.

The Cardinal told the story of Stephen Fermoyle from the time of his ordination to his elevation to cardinal about 20 years later. The film is set 1920's and 30's so Fermoyle (Tom Tryon) has encounters with Jim Crow attitudes in the Deep South and Nazis in Austria. In addition, viewers get a glimpse of the inner workings, politics and rivalries at the Vatican. The film never drags (it is 175 minutes) but it feels like an epic film which it was intended to be. It seemed overly melodramatic with Fermoyle's sister dying during childbirth, his parish priest suffering a slow but brave death, his crisis of faith and subsequent romance in Austria, his being whipped by the Ku Klux Klan and finally confronting a Nazi enabling priest as well as the Nazis themselves. I didn't really get a feel for what drove Fermoyle. He was intelligent, brave and devout but he overcame every crisis and indeed seemed to be stronger for it. Fermoyle received the short end of the stick when it came to character development. Instead, it was the events of the first half of the 20th century and internal politics of the Catholic Church that were the true stars of the film.

Advise and Consent is a similar film that centers on the confirmation hearings of Robert A. Leffingwell, theS ecretary of State-Designate (Henry Fonda). The proceedings are rife with intrigue and personal rivalries. A Dixiecrat (Charles Laughton in his last role) opposes the nomination due to personal animosity with the nominee. The Senate Majority leader (Walter Pidgeon) tries to shepherd the nomination along even though he was blindsided by the President (Franchot Tone). Leffingwell has Communist ties in his past which ratchet up the tension. Don Murray plays Brig Anderson, the committee chair who opposes the nomination on principle despite the President and Majority Leader's urgings to the contrary. Evenetually, an unscrupulous senator (George Grizzard in a memorable performance) blackmails Anderson by threatening to expose his past homosexual behavior. Lew Ayres plays the affable but ineffectual, Gene Tierney (in her comeback role after a 7 year absence due to mental healt problems) plays the premier Washington socialite and Burgess Meredith, Peter Lawford and Betty White have small roles as well.

This film must have been one of the most anticipated films of the period with its all star cast and sensational subject matter. I recall seeing a documentary on PBS (perhaps The Celluloid Closet) that featured the scene where Murray goes to gay bar in Greenwich Village to confront his former lover. The scene draws guffaws now but I can only imagine how it was received in 1962. Imagine this - a bunch of men, dressed like preppies, crowded around a bar, with a Frank Sinatra song playing while closeted Murray has to make his way past a couple of queens guarding the doorway. The entrance is elevated so when the bartender sees Murray, he yells and waves for him to come in. This is too much for Murray so he runs away as fast as he can with his ex in pursuit, calling out his name. Murray flags a taxi just in a nick of time while his ex lunges for the taxi door, apologizing profusely and eventually stumbling into a puddle. This encounter was enough to drive Murray to suicide. Actually, this plot line was based on the real events involvings Senators Lester Hunt and Styles Bridges.

Several scenes stood out for me in Advise and Consent. In particular, I enjoyed the scenes as Don Muuray's mounting angst become apparent as he becomes more desperate to avoid having his secret exposed. Another memorable scene involves Larry Tucker as an obese, effeminate (swishy is the term they used) gay man that treats Murray like an anxious gay man looking to find a lover. The final roll call vote was also tense. Any scene with the horn rimmed Gizzard playing the manipulative senator with his gaggle of sycophants in tow was a treat. Franchot Tone gave a strong performance as the supremely skilled President who bullies, cajoles and guilts others into doing what he wants.

The performances all around were strong and after writing these paragraphs, I can't recall why I didn't think more highly of the film when I saw it. I definitely recall thinking the film had missed the mark slightly when the credits rolled but now I can't recall why I felt that way. Instead, I recall enjoyable performances from the entire cast.

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Several of the film from the series were less than enjoyable. Two stage adaptations failed badly - The Moon Is Blue and Saint Joan.

The Moon Is Blue was quite risque at the time and Preminger had to fight censors to get it released. A rather forward woman (Maggie McNamara channeling Audrey Hepburn) encounters Wiliam Holden at the Empire State Building. After some surprisingly frank dialogue about their love lives, the woman stops at Holden's apartment (so he change I believe). Holden has recently broken up with his girlfriend (the beautiful Dawn Addams) who lives upstairs with her father (David Niven). Niven's performance is essentially the same as he will give in Bonjour Tristesse five years later. Anyway, the whole plot is unbelievable even by modern standards. I guess this was some playwright's vision of sophisticated urbanites' liberated sexuality was in the middle of the 20th century. I can't believe many people behaved this way in 1953. I also began to tire of Maggie McNamara's character and eventually found her irritating.

Saint Joan was Jean Seberg film debut. With a haircut like Falconetti
in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Seberg looked like Joan of Arc but was never believable as the Maid of Orleans. Perhaps she didn't have the gravitas but it didn't help that the dialogue was weak and she had to act opposite the silly, milquetoast portrayal of Charles VII by Richard Widmark. The film was based on a play by George Bernard Shaw and screenwriting credit was given to Graham Greene so talent was clearly present. I have read that Greene's treatment differs signficantly from Shaw's play by trying to absolve the Catholic Church of blame in Joan's death. This may explain some of the problems but to me it seemed like Preminger didn't reign in the actors or encouraged them to ham it up just enough to dilute the drama of the story.

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Skidoo takes bad filmmaking to new heights. PFA curator Steve Seid stated that the Preminger estate owned the rights to Skidoo and had pulled it from distribution due to embarrassment. Seid had convinced them to allow the film to be screened as part of the series. I wish he had been unsuccessful. Preminger is alleged to have to taken LSD in researching the film. From what I saw, it seems like he was dropping acid the filming as well. I fell asleep twice but that could only have improved matters. The plot involved a retired hitman (Jackie Gleason) coming out of retirement on the orders of the head mobster, referred to as God and played by Groucho Marx. Somehow hippies are involved and Frankie Avalon has a swinging bachelor pad with a secret bed that descends into the floor. The audience was treated to Carol Channing doing a striptease as she attempts to seduce Avalon. Groucho also smokes dope with an Indian Yogi. The grand finale has Channing singing and dancing to the eponymous song. Actually, the final credits were sung in their entirety and I think that was the highpoint of the film. Avoid Skidoo at all costs unless you are high on marijuana or some stronger narcotic.

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Preminger was infamous for being a bully on the set. Tom Tryon allegedly quit acting as a result of his experience on The Cardinal but I notice that Preminger had a stock of actor he used repeatedly - Burgess Meredith, Jean Seberg, David Niven and Gene Tierney. Preminger played the POW camp commandant in Billy Wilder's Stalag 17 (1953). On that set, he worked with William Holden (The Moon is Blue) and Robert Strauss (The Man with the Golden Arm). He must have had a rapport with several of his actors.

Two of Preminger's best known films were absent from the series - The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) starring Gary Cooper and In Harm's Way (1965) starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas. By the way, Tom Tryon who was mistreated on Preminger's set during the filming of The Cardinal (1963) accepted a role two year's later in In Harm's Way.

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Preminger must have also had a rapport with graphic designer Saul Bass. Bass made several movie posters for the biggest hits of his era including North by Northwest, Spartacus, West Side Story, Ocean's Eleven and Goodfellas.

I noticed and admired Bass' distinctive style on several of the opening credits during the Preminger series. There is something aesthetically pleasing in Bsss' style that I cannot articulate.

Previewing the Rest of 2009

As I mentioned, the 3rd Annual Chinese American Film Festival is currently running at the 4 Star. Originally scheduled for November 12 to 19, I was informed (by Frank Lee Jr.) that the festival has been extended through Sunday, November 22. The schedule for November 20 to 22 has yet to be announced

They are screening 8 films at the festival. I've previously seen two of them - Red Cliff at last month's Mill Valley Film Festival and The Equation of Love and Death at this year's San Francisco Asian American Film Festival. This festival is referring to the film as Red Cliff II but I'm certain that there is only one English subtitled version. Confusion arises because in China, the film was released in two parts but the English subtitled version is an abridged version of the two Chinese films. I think it is referred to as Red Cliff II because most of the footage in English subtitled version is taken from the second Chinese film.

Of course I shouldn't be so quick to assume subtitles because the 4 Star did it again. What exactly did they do? They screened a Chinese language film without English subtitles. The program guide states "All films are presented in Chinese with English subtitles at 4-Star Theatre unless specified otherwise" and nowhere was it specified that Sophie's Revenge was not subtitled. The 4 Star did this last year with Shanghai Red.

I sat through the first 10 minutes of Sophie's Revenge wondering if I could catch the gist of the Ziyi Zhang comedy but there was too much dialogue.

As I left, I asked Frank if "future screenings" will be subtitled. He said yes. I was referring to future screening of Sophie's Revenge but I wonder if he thought I was referring to future screenings of all the other films at the festival. I didn't realize there may have been a confusion until I was driving home.

Among the films I want to see at the festival are:

The Founding of A Republic - Filmed for the celebration of the country’s 60th birthday, this offering from China Film Board chairman Sanping Han tells the story of the founding of the PRC. The movie talks about a series of stories from 1945 up until 1949 when the PRC was founded. Chinese megacelebrities Chen Kaige, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Chen Daoming star.

Turning Point 1977 - a ground-breaking drama that won critical and box office acclaim when it opened in China earlier this year. Set at the close of the Cultural Revolution, it tells the story of a group of young people on a remote state-run farm who must fight for the right to determine their own futures.

Sophie's Revenge - Sophie (Ziyi Zhang) is a talented cartoonist who seems to have it all - a successful career, great friends, and the perfect, handsome, fiancé, Jeff (Ji-seob So), a surgeon who her mother adores. So when Jeff is stolen away by Anna (Bingbing Fan), a beautiful actress, Sophie wants revenge. This assumes that an English subtitled version is screened.

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The PFA has two series that interest me.

A Woman’s Face: Ingrid Bergman in Europe run from November 4 to December 19.

While many viewers will always remember her for American films like Casablanca and Notorious, there is much more to the work of Ingrid Bergman (1915–1982) than her Hollywood heyday. Bergman’s radiant looks and her distinctive combination of sensual directness and exquisite sensitivity were already evident in the films she made in Sweden in the 1930s; it was her work in Intermezzo (1936) that inspired David O. Selznick to sign her to MGM. The American career that followed was abruptly derailed when she had an extramarital affair with Roberto Rossellini and became pregnant with his child during the production of Stromboli in 1949, causing an international uproar and tainting the reception of the fascinating films the director and actress made together. Bergman eventually returned to the United States, but continued working in Europe on occasion; her last big-screen performance was for that other Swedish Bergman, Ingmar, in Autumn Sonata.

The series consists of nine films and a presentation. The highlights for me are:

A Woman’s Face (1936) - Bergman is cast very much against type in this darkly atmospheric film. Her Anna Holm is a disfigured and embittered young woman whose revenge is to blackmail illicit lovers at the peak of a happiness she can never know—because of her face. But behind her distorted visage and vicious personality crouches a little girl whose world was destroyed, and it is this role that Bergman develops most subtly. With classic soap-opera inevitability, the husband of one of her victims is a plastic surgeon, but now we have a beauty amid beasts—sinister, greedy blackmailers abound—and Anna Holm plotting a murder. In the film’s pivotal scene, a kiss from a child succeeds where a surgeon’s knife failed—and Bergman (with the help of some luminous lighting) transforms “before our eyes” in a wholly internal special effect. “A woman’s face” becomes “a woman’s place.”

Stromboli (1949) - The first of Bergman’s films for Roberto Rossellini, Stromboli was shot on the volcanic island of the title, with the townspeople playing a part in the drama. Bergman portrays a Lithuanian refugee, Karin, who, in order to escape the horrors of postwar internment camps, agrees to marry an Italian fisherman and live with him on his island. Tied to the traditions of marriage and faced with a culture whose profoundly simple way of life is incomprehensible to her, she finds that her new “security” is worse than her former existence as a displaced person. Rossellini sets his tale against stunning natural imagery, including a documentary-like tuna-catch sequence and a dramatic finale, during which Karin, trying to flee, is caught not by her husband but by the island itself.

Autumn Sonata (1978) - The warm autumnal hues of a house on a lake give a false, perhaps wished-for sense of security to the setting, the home of a pastor and his wife, Eva (Liv Ullmann). Very soon the steely tone of love avoided, attempted, and denied overrides any hope. The arrival of Eva’s mother (Ingrid Bergman), a world-traveling concert pianist, for their first meeting in seven years occasions a near-complete opening out of feelings by daughter and mother. Near complete, for Ingrid Bergman subtly portrays the mother’s love, grief, and guilt as mercurial posturings of a virtuoso performer. The better for our understanding of Eva’s sense of abandonment and loss, conveyed in Ullmann’s bruising honesty and echoed in the utterings of Eva’s disabled sister, Helena. Bergman uses a formal combination of flashback tableau and piercing close-up to answer the daughter’s worst fear—that her grief is her mother’s secret pleasure—with the reality of indifference.

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The other PFA program that caught my attention is Otto Preminger: Anatomy of a Movie.

As legend would have it, Otto Preminger was a bald-headed baddy scolding helpless actors about flaws in their performance—the tyrant on the set. But Preminger’s films, some thirty-seven in all, bear no sign of this heated temperament, instead sharing a muted detachment that ironically excites our own engagement with his complex characters. A transplant from Viennese theater, Preminger proffered an overarching vision that found its way into almost every genre, whether it be mystery, melodrama, biopic, comedy, musical, or historical saga. From his earliest triumphs, a string of taut noirs like Laura, Fallen Angel, and Whirlpool, through his feisty indie films of the fifties, Saint Joan, The Man with the Golden Arm, and others, to his politically inflected epics like Exodus and Advise and Consent, Preminger promoted a cool take on human nature that simultaneously savored cinema’s expansive visual spaces; over time his eloquent way with the camera grew complex and sensuous. The willful director’s insistence on artistic autonomy compelled him to become one of the first champions of independent film. Beginning with 1953’s The Moon Is Blue, Preminger released a trove of spirited works (Anatomy of a Murder, Carmen Jones, Bonjour Tristesse) notable for their single-minded pursuit of prickly social ills like drug addiction, racism, and promiscuity. Join us for this fourteen-film survey of a director who, when he was bad, was better.

Jam packed with 14 films from November 27 to December 20, I can tell that I'll be spending a lot of time in Berkeley this December.

Advise and Consent (1962) - A riveting political thriller, Advise and Consent is also proof positive that nothing changes. This decades-old drama of Beltway intrigue reads like a contemporary playbook for political maneuvering. When an ailing president (Franchot Tone) nominates a controversial figure (Henry Fonda) to be secretary of state, the confirmation hearing becomes a blind covering cabals of conniving senators bent on achieving self-serving ends. The two camps are led by Majority Leader Bob Munson (Walter Pidgeon), a glib gladhander lining up the liberals, and Sen. Seabright Cooley (Charles Laughton), a smarmy Dixiecrat agitating for the conservative ranks. From the glitzy estates of Washington power brokers to grimy gay bars in Greenwich Village, the subterfuge and scandal never lose hold. Preminger’s screenplay retains the smart precision of Allen Drury’s novel, in which the language of innuendo is as lethal as a Luger. Compellingly caustic, Advise and Consent ends with a simple lesson: “This is a Washington, D.C., kind of lie. It’s when the other person knows you’re lying and also knows you know he knows.”

Saint Joan (1957) - In 1956, Preminger began a search for an unknown actress to play Joan of Arc in an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s flamboyant play. Eighteen-year-old Jean Seberg was selected from the pool of eighteen thousand applicants. As the Maid of Orléans, Seberg stands amidst a compact version of the stinging play, pared down by Graham Greene to a fleet rendition of the testy three-and-a-half-hour original. This handsome black-and-white production, with more circumstance than pomp, follows the cross-dressing saint-to-be as she leads the rout of the British at Orléans. Richard Widmark plays Charles VII, Joan’s patron and a true pretender to the throne in that his retardation makes him unfit to rule. Answering God’s guidance, the butch-coiffed combatant leads the French forces to further victories until she is captured by the British invaders. Joan is tried for heresy in a clerical tribunal that bears the Church’s immense weight. These scenes of theological debate are handled in sprightly fashion by the slight Seberg, who rises to the occasion like an ember in an updraft.

Carmen Jones (1955) - In Preminger’s all-black-cast feature, Dorothy Dandridge is a “hot bundle,” a first-class floozie with a fiery frame. The object of her amorous activation is Joe, played forthrightly by Harry Belafonte, a G.I. heading for flight school. A black man who has succeeded within the white confines of a military at war, Joe is all control. But Dandridge’s infectious pleasure seeker Carmen Jones has enough hormonal heft to undo legions. This darkly jubilant musical is based on an Oscar Hammerstein adaptation of Bizet’s famed opera, transported to a Florida army base and then Chicago in the forties. Except for irrepressible Pearl Bailey, the principal singers are dubbed—Dandridge by Marilyn Horne and Belafonte by Le Vern Hutcherson. But the vernacular lyrics sit surprisingly well inside Bizet’s melodies, especially Bailey’s jumpin’ “Beat Out Dat Rhythm on a Drum” and Joe Adams’s “Stan’ Up and Fight.” A hip-swirling hedonist, Carmen Jones has a flammable lust for life. And her pilot project? Joe burns, then crashes.

Bonjour Tristesse (1958) - This Jean Seberg is not the butch ascetic of Saint Joan, but a haughty teenybopper idling away her extravagant summer on the Riviera. Her closest companion is her daddy, an aging playboy flawlessly tippled by a decadent David Niven. Indulgent daughter and reckless role model languish in the posh pleasure of the moment. Then Anne (Deborah Kerr) arrives, a stately and worldly wise woman, unlike the nymphets typically trailed by Dad. Based on Françoise Sagan’s notorious novel, the film begins in the black-and-white dreariness of a wintry Paris, then effortlessly revisits the past in a profusion of widescreen Technicolor. When Daddy succumbs to the ripe charms of Anne and marriage is imminent, Seberg’s Cécile attempts to undermine their sobering relationship, to tragic ends. This restored CinemaScope print brings to the fore Preminger’s masterful use of color and composition, but it is a visual delight paradoxically tinted by sadness (the tristesse of the title), the woeful outcome of that long, hot, and ignominious summer.

Although I saw Anatomy of a Murder at a Jazz in Noir Film Festival at the Balboa a few years ago, the print was horrible. The PFA is screening a "Restored Print." I enjoyed the film so much that I've mentally committed to making the December 2 screening.

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To complement the PFA's Preminger program, Film on Film is screening The Cardinal - a 1963 film directed by Preminger. The Vatican's liaison officer for the film was the future Pope Benedict XVI. The screening takes place on December 6 at the PFA.

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The Castro Theater announced a late addition to its November schedule. On Friday, November 20 (11:59 PM), they are screening Black Dynamite in conjunction with Oakland Underground Film Festival.

Black Dynamite is destined for cult film status. This action-packed comedy is meticulously and lovingly rooted in the great traditions of American Blaxploitation and Kung Fu films. A fresh and outrageous remix of films like Shaft (1971), Super Fly (1972), and The Mack (1974), Black Dynamite is wrapped in a delicious and funky original soundtrack.

Directed by Scott Sanders, Black Dynamite is “...a neck-snapping orgy of martial-arts mayhem..." (Film Threat) and "...sustains the comedy while taking a nice big sucker punch at the underlying politics of our time." (Sundance Film Festival) Don’t miss your chance to see this soon-to-be classic film that “…leaves its predecessors in the dust, largely thanks to its filmmakers’ genre expertise, zany plot/sharp comedy writing, and of course, the physical prowess and deadpan hilarity of its co-writer/star Michael Jai White, who is one bad, righteous mothaf*cka.” (Marlow Stern)

Co-starring Tommy Davidson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Arsenio Hall, Byron Minns, Kym Whitley, and Richard Edson.

Comparing the film to Shaft, Super Fly and The Mack seriously raises the expectations or should I say Blaxpectations? The film also screens at 11:59 PM on Saturday, November 21 at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland.

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The Castro is screening Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) on Wednesday, November 18. Having missed every opportunity to see this film on the big screen, I'll try my best to catch this screening.

Welles' finely honed follow-up to Citizen Kane is an opulent, elegiac melodrama about a prominent family and their fall from fortune amidst social change in turn-of-the-century Indianapolis. Though heavily altered by the studio, this strikingly powerful and poignant film still possesses the magic of Welles' vision. With Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Agnes Moorehead, Tim Holt and Anne Baxter.

From November 20 to 22, the Castro is screening a restored print of Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950).

In December, the Castro screens two extended series - A Tribute to Samuel Goldwyn. from December 2 to 10 and Hitch For the Holidays: 13 Masterpieces by Alfred Hitchcock from December 16 to 23.

The Sam Goldwyn series has a few films that look interesting - Bulldog Drummond (1929), William Wyler's These Three (1936) and an Eddie Cantor double feature: Kid Millions (1934) & Strike Me Pink (1936).

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The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is holding its Winter Event on Saturday, December 12 at the Castro.

The line-up is:

Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness; filmed in present-day Thailand; (1927)
J’accuse; (1919)
Sherlock Jr. starring & directed by Buster Keaton; (1924)
The Goat starring & directed by Buster Keaton; (1921) - preceding Sherlock Jr.
West of Zanzibar directed by Tod Browning, starring Lon Chaney and Lionel Barrymore; (1928)

West of Zanzibar appeals to me the most.

Like The Unknown, West of Zanzibar is an inspired partnership between director Tod Browning and actor Lon Chaney. Chaney has never been more affecting than in this fever-pitched nightmare of betrayal and revenge. Moving from the vaudeville stage to the jungles of the Congo, West of Zanzibar tells its story of darkness and redemption with great skill and beauty, investing each of its desperate characters with depth and humanity.

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The Roxie is screening the film that gave birth to Italian Neo-Realism or at least introduced the genre to US audiences. I am referring to The Bicycle Thief. In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the US premiere, the Roxie is presenting a new 35 mm print.

I saw the film 6 or 7 years ago (at the Castro I believe) and was suitably impressed but I may try to see it again. Unfortunately, it plays from December 25 to December 31. The Roxie is open on Christmas Day? I may not be able to see the film unless it is held over.

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Three well received films from last month's Mill Valley Film Festival have gained a limited release. I have interest in seeing all three at some point.

Precious - the 2009 MVFF Opening Night Film - An illiterate high school student, pregnant by her father for the second time and subject to relentless abuse at home, she's always, "looking up...for a piano to fall." Only the beauty of her resilience tempers the unsettling nature of her harsh existence as her fantasies and aspirations come alive in vibrant vignettes. But life at school is chaos: threatened with expulsion, she transfers to an alternative school where, under the tutelage of Ms. Rain (beautifully rendered by Paula Patton), she finds the strength within herself to determine her own destiny and "tell her story." Director Lee Daniels proves himself a bold voice in contemporary cinema, tackling tough material with uplifting consciousness and insight. And with its riveting cast—newcomer Sidibe's extraordinary performance complemented with passionate commitment by Patton, Mo'Nique as her mother and a glammed-down Mariah Carey-Precious promises to be one of this year's defining films.

Skin - If Anthony Fabian's gripping and extraordinary feature debut were fiction, nobody would believe it. But it really happened to Sandra Laing, a dark-skinned girl born to white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era. With the fragile support of her family and a "white" birth certificate, Sandra faces a strictly segregated racist society that sees her as black—expelling her from her all-white school and glaring at her when she ignores the "whites only" signs. A Supreme Court expert explains, to the gasps of spectators, that "polygenic inheritance," or "throwback," is plausible since most Afrikaners have black blood in them. But this still leaves her trapped between her increasingly conflicted and disturbed father (Sam Neill) and the official color barrier, as Sandra—in an intense, deeply moving performance by Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda; The Secret Life of Bees)—literally experiences the double consciousness of a tragically divided nation.

The Maid - Spanish with English subtitles; In the 23 years Raquel has been the maid for Pilar and her upper-class Chilean family, she's developed some odd habits and even odder attachments. Fiercely territorial, she resents the introduction of new help and, even when exhausted from overwork, still finds a way to lock the new maid out of the house. A class comedy, a chamber play and a story of personal growth, this wonderful grand jury prize-winner at Sundance is as wry as it is surprising. A look at the Upstairs, Downstairs dynamic, the soft jabs at liberal guilt and conservative disinterest are a hoot, but funnier still are the childish antics Raquel employs to get her way. When a free-spirited girl from the country comes to help Raquel after a fall, her creative problem-solving and open-heartedness change Raquel's attitude and make it clear: She's given so much to the family and kept so little for herself.