Wicked comedy by Lubitsch at LACMA 1
Jul
16
2011
It was pure pleasure, in the waning days of the LACMA weekend classic film series, as curator Ian Birnie trotted out yet another sublime film pairing, this time a comedy duo: the first film, Preston Sturges’ social commentary/classic, “Sullivan’s Travels,” topped by Ernst Lubitsch’s insane, zany, perfectly scripted, outrageous and brilliant “To Be or Not ...
Party on, Fay McKenzie!
Jul
13
2011
Fay McKenzie, the hard-working child actress of the prior post, now 93 years old, is perhaps best known for her uncredited appearance in the party scene of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” in which she alternately laughs, then cries, into a mirror. McKenzie’s husband, comedy writer Tom Waldman, was a frequent collaborator of Blake Edwards. He wrote ...
Fay McKenzie, child actress … in 1924! 1
Jul
12
2011
Supplementing the Academy’s “Summer of Silents” series, which last night screened the marvelous early Western feature film, “The Covered Wagon” (1923), was programmer Randy Haberkamp’s extremely delightful interview with Fay McKenzie. Born in a trunk in 1918, the still funny and alert actress was the daughter of the actors Robert McKenzie and Eva McKenzie. All ...
Celebrating classic film at LACMA 1
Jul
10
2011
We spun in classic film heaven at LACMA this weekend. The first installment of curator Ian Birnie’s final series — his last picture show — which is devoted to “audience favorites,” offered four stellar international films — one, each, by directors from Germany (Murnau), the U.K. (Powell/Pressburger), again Germany via France (Ophuls) and Italy (Antonioni). ...
Fabulous summer silent film series @ the Academy screens “The Covered Wagon”
Jul
5
2011
“The Covered Wagon” (1923) will be the next film screened in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Summer of Silents” series on Monday, July 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. I’m going. Having lived in California for 21 years, I’m fascinated by stories and images of the western expansion, ...
Ah, Ian. Ian Birnie’s swan song @ LACMA this month 1
Jul
1
2011
It’s a sad and bittersweet moment. We’re down to the last weekend film series curated by LACMA’s great film department head, Ian Birnie. The 41-year old program, a landmark of high cinephilic culture, is giving way to a new structure, delivered in tandem with Film Independent and headed by the film critic Elvis Mitchell. There ...
George Chakiris remembers West Side Story in advance of 50th anniversary screening @ Hollywood Bowl
Prior to next week’s “West Side Story” night at the Hollywood Bowl — a screening of the ten-Oscar-winning, Bernstein-Robbins-Sondheim-Laurent film celebrating its 50th year anniversary — it’s a great pleasure to post L.A. renaissance guy Tom Gregory‘s lovely interview with Bernardo, er… the wonderful George Chakiris. At the Bowl, the Los Angeles Philharmonic will play ...
Forget it, Jake, it’s China[town].
Robert Towne’s great line was my mantra on the recent China trip. At least one time every day, there was good reason to say it. Not one of the 20-something dancers on the bus knew the meme — or the film reference.
Vincent Price: “Shock” … and art
A pretty decent selection of late-night movies — just what you need when you are strangely full of energy from about one till four am — is getting me through my post-China jet lag. Last night I whiled away the hours with “Shock,” a 1946 film noir starring horror guy Vincent Price as a dicey ...
Una grandissima actrice: Sophia Loren honored at the Academy
May
5
2011
It was a cultural mash-up, a love connection, and a be-in of epic proportion as Billy Crystal, at the request of honoree Sophia Loren, hosted a fabulous and hilarious tribute to the screen love goddess Wednesday night at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. They laughed, they cried, and then they cried ...