The Puzzle Within the Castro Theater's June Calendar

The June calendar is out and the puzzle wasn't too difficult.  There were only two days in June which the theater was closed which made it easier.

June 10 - I quickly recognized Alfred Hitchcock as the man in the photo.  I didn't recognize the woman
June 17 - I did not recognize the man or the woman in the photo.

After some perusal, I thought the woman looked similar in both photos. She appears to wear the same fur coat in both photos although I don't know if that is true.  She looks older in the second photo.  Guessing it was the same woman in both photos, I started to wonder if that was Hitchcock in the June 17 photo.  I correctly guessed that the woman was Hitchcock's wife, Alma.  I googled her to see what she looked like.  I mentally picture her as Helen Mirren since seeing Hitchcock.  This photo came up as a result of the Google search.  Larger and in higher definition, it definitely looks like Hitchcock in the June 17 photo.

So both photos are Alfred Hitchcock & Alma Reville.  It wasn't much of leap to think the clues pointed to the Hitchcock 9 series at the Castro which is presented by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.  The Hitchcock 9 series will be held from June 14 to 16 at the Castro.

The same series will run from August 16 to 31 at the PFA.  Judith Rosenberg will be accompanying two of the films (Champagne and Easy Virtue) at the Castro series but will be accompanying all nine films at the PFA series.  That's something to consider if you want to see all nine films but don't want to spend all day at the Castro on June 16 and 16.

Castro Theater Calendar - June 2013

Cinephilia is a Disease as Contagious as...

I often wonder how San Francisco can support so many film festivals.  More accurately, I often wonder why I feel compelled to attend so many film festivals in San Francisco.

The 56th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) started last night.  I skipped the opening night.  I typically skip the opening night film as it will likely get a distribution deal (if it doesn't already have one).  The SFIFF kicks off a busy three months of festivals I want to attend in the Bay Area and beyond.

April 25 - May 9:  SFIFF
May 9 - May 26:  Girls! Guns! Ghosts! The Sensational Films of Shintoho (YBCA)
May 10 - May 23:  I Wake Up Dreaming 2013 (Roxie)
June 6 - June 23:  DocFest (SF IndieFest)
June 14 - June 16:  Hitchcock 9 (San Francisco Silent Film Festival)
June 21 - June 30:  Sacramento French Film Festival
July 12 - July 14:  Sacramento Japanese Film Festival
July 18 - July 21:  San Francisco Silent Film Festival
July 27 - August 2:  San Francisco Japan Film Festival (New People)

I mentioned going to the movies on 60 of 73 days earlier this year.  It was exhausting.  The aforementioned lineup of film festivals looks equally daunting.  Approximately 67 days out of 100 are accounted for in the festival schedule.  That assumes I go every day which will likely not be the case.  However, it also assumes I attend no rep house/art house films which is  likely not be the case either.

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Simon Killer, one of my favorite films from the 2013 Indiefest, opens at the Landmark Opera Plaza today.  Graceland, my favorite film from the 2013 CAAMFest, also opens today and resumes Monday (April 29) at the Roxie after the San Francisco Global Vietnamese Film Festival ends its two day run.  It was foolhardy of that festival to counterprogram the SFIFF on a weekend but I suppose they are targeting a different demographic than SFIFF.  I'd like to see Norwegian Wood on Saturday at 9:30 PM but am not sure if I will be able to get there by that time.

I have been a member of the Mechanics' Institute for several years.  When I joined, their Cinema Lit series was one of the selling points but I have yet to attend a single Friday night screening.  I am tentatively targeting the May 24 screening of Marty (1955).  Ernest Borgnine won an Academy Award for his performance in the film and I have long wanted to see it.  May is Paddy Chayefsky month for Cinema Lit.  In addition to Marty, Friday night screenings include The Americanization of Emily, The Catered Affair and The Goddess.  All four films were written by Chayefsky or based on one of his (tele)plays.

I am also anxious to see Blancanieves, a modern day silent film which sets Snow White among Spanish bullfighters.  It's playing at the Landmark Embarcadero Cinemas.

The title of this post refers to a memorable sequence in The Natural in which a motivational speaker compares the New York Knights losing streak to successively fatal diseases.  The Natural is one of those films I can and have watched over and over again.

Alfred Hitchcock: The Shape of Suspense

2013 seems to be the Year of Hitchcock.  I don't know why as this year does not seem to be an anniversary of anything of significance in his life.  Hitchcock seems popular again since Hitchcock was released and The Girl aired on HBO in 2012.  Anthony Hopkins & Toby Jones portrayed The Master in those productions, respectively.  His Vertigo was named the Greatest Film of All Time in the 2012 critics' poll conducted by Sight and Sound.

The PFA is at the tail end of an ambitious program titled Alfred Hitchcock: The Shape of Suspense.  If my counting is correct, there are 28 film screenings in the program (January 11 through April 24).  The program still has two films left (Psycho and Frenzy) but I will not be able to attend either.

In addition, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival will be screening nine of his silent films from June 14 to 16 at the Castro. I will be attending that program.  I haven't decided how many of the screenings I will attend.  The films being screened (with accompaniment) will be:

Blackmail  (Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra)
Champagne  (Stephen Horne)
Downhill  (Stephen Horne)
The Ring  (Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra)
The Manxman  (Stephen Horne)
The Farmer's Wife  (Stephen Horne)
Easy Virtue  (accompaniment to be announced)
The Pleasure Garden  (Stephen Horne)
The Lodger  (Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra)

These films are collectively known as the "Hitchcock 9" and will play at the PFA from August 16 to 31.

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Way back in January, I saw my one and only film in the PFA's The Shape of Suspense program.

The Man Who Knew Too Much starring Leslie Banks, Edna Best & Peter Lorre; directed by Alfred Hitchcock; (1934)

Hitchcock remade this film under the same title with James Stewart & Doris Day in 1956.  The film is famous because Day sang Que Sera, Sera (one of her biggest hits).

The 1934 version starts off in St. Moritz during winter, not Morocco during summer.  Leslie Banks and Edna Best play the Stewart & Day roles, respectively.  The 1934 film hits all the plot points as the 1956 version which I am familiar with but doesn't quite feel right.  I should be honest and say at the time I saw the film, I was unimpressed so my notes are sketchy at best.  As this paragraph alludes to, I spent a lot of mental energy synchronizing the two versions of the film.  The assassination at the Royal Albert Hall?  Check.  The scene at the church?  Check.  In the 1934 version, the boy is held in a working class/ghetto area near the London docks.  In the 1956 version, the boy is held at a posh embassy residence where Day gets to sing her song.

The scene that sticks in my mind the most after three months is the climax which involves an extended gun battle between an army of cops & the kidnappers.  I am likely conditioned by modern films with loud gun battles but I thought the final showdown had a tinny sound which reminded me of a gallery shooting arcade.

Peter Lorre was memorable in an early role (just a few years removed from Fritz Lang's M).  All things considered, I prefer the 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much.