Robert Wiene’s Expressionistic masterpieceThe Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari will screen Sunday October 30 at Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeies. Robert Clark will accompany the film live on the massive organ. I have been wanting to hear that instrument since it was built and here is the perfect chance. Frank Gehery’s design was nicknamed the Box Of French Fries and you can see why.
Fritz Lang was supposed to direct this film but it didn’t work out. Robert Wiene did an excellent job.
Fritz was busy directing Die Spinnen. Conrad Veidt starred as Cesare the somnambulist. He later played Nazis in Hollywood films like Casablanca where he was Major Strasser.
It’s very cool that a film that influenced film design so strongly , cited by many as a major influence on Film Noir with it’s painted shadows and highlights, should screen at a Temple of Artistic Design, the Disney Concert Hall.
The only drag about this whole thing is that the tickets are too expensive. Halloween is a children’s holiday and what kids can afford tickets to this. They really should have free recitals of organ music for children and underprivileged people here. Music is a gift to all humanity not just rich patrons. Exposing youngsters to sound like this can only improve the quality of life for all denizens of our globe. Let’s hope it can happen.
Here is another Netflix find,The Libertine. An Italian sex film from 1968, directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile (writer of such classics as Rocco and His Brothers and The Leopard) starring the lovely Cathrine Spaak and Jean-Louis Trintignant, it features a wonderful jazzy score by Armando Trovaioli. The sets are super groovy 60’s Italian style modernity. Frank Wolf appears as a dentist and Phillippe LeRoy as a tennis instructor, both of these actors were in a lot of Italian films from that period. Wolf’s most noteworthy role is in Once Upon A Time in the West as the doomed patriarch. LeRoy is featured in Fernando DiLeo’s Milano Calibro 9 as a killer out for revenge. Check it out for some super cool 60’s fun.
Continuing my Netfliix streaming discovery theme today I present for your delectation two Westerns by the Ultra Violent, Ex cartoonist Sergio Corbucci. The Mercenary starring Django himself, Franco Nero, Tony Musante, in a semi Tomas Milian role as a Mexican revolutionary and Jack Palance as the evil fop, Curley.
Featuring a score by Morricone and his frequent collaborator Bruno Niccolai, and some of the best most operatic whistling by Alessandro Alessandroni, a must see for fans of the genre.
Also my favorite Corbucci western { That’s right I prefer it to Il Grande Silencio) Navajo Joe.
Spoiler Alert! This is the end of the movie! Don’t watch it!
Burt Reynolds at his best, another incredible score and for me one of the greatest endings ever! See it now! I warn you it is violent but hey that’s part of the other Sergio’s charm.
Dear Fans Of Film Forno I have decided to post interesting films I come across while rummaging around the Netflix streaming archive. Here’s an easy way to see films that were very hard to see for a long time and to start off my list I choose the films of Jean Rollin.
Unfortunately M. Rollin died last year, he had languished in relative obscurity for a while but was on the verge of a re-discovery when he passed. His semi- erotic fantasy/vampire films are worth checking out. even if it’s only to see what one can do with a castle, a beach, nude girls and very little money.
These films are unique and charming, the violence is underplayed and the erotic, fantastic aspects of these tales takes the fore.I recently watched Shiver Of The Vampire which feels like it may have inspired The Rocky Horror Picture Show. They share a lot of similar elements. Last night I watched Rollin’s first vampire movie,The Rape Of The Vampire, shot in glorious B&W, it was interesting, but I must confess I prefer Shiver with it’s garage band psychedelic score.
Netflix also has Lips Of Blood by Rollin, I haven’t checked it out yet but I will. So here’s your chance to view the work of a semi-obscure independent filmmaker, an obsessed visionary that returned to the very same beach to shoot the climax for almost all his films. Check them out.
See The skinny hippie vampire chick emerge from a Grandfather’s Clock at Midnite!
Fassbinders epic SciFi filmWorld On A Wire will screen at LACMA , Saturday August 20th at 7:30 pm. The recently restored 3 1/2 hour movie screened for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art last year, now it’s here in LA, being shown at the endangered LACMA film series. It looks like classic Fassbinder, check out the trailer. All the info can be found here.
Here as promised is a scan of a great article from an old issue of The Velvet Light Trap. Mark Robson describing his early days at RKO, where he worked his way up in the editorial department and eventually was given a shot at directing by Val Lewton. Those were the days, Robson’s accomplishments as an editor should not be overlooked, his work on I walked wih a Zombie and Cat people is nothing short of genius. He invented an amazing optical trick that is used in both films and I’ve never heard anyone discuss, it’s a transitional wipe that creates an undercurrent of fear and unease in the audience, I described it in my piece on Cat People. Robson and Robert Wise formed a production company after they left RKO , Lewton was supposed to be a part of it but was kicked out by his former proteges, two men he had raised up from editor to director. I don’t know all the details but Robert Wise said he regretted not telling Val in person. I guess they got rid of him by messenger. Too bad, Lewton’s wife said it devastated him and he passed away soon after. If anyone knows the true story write in and let us all know, set the record straight on what seems, on the surface at least, to be a grave injustice or business as usual in Hollywood, U.S.A. Click here for the article.Velvet Light Trap Robsen
I just scored a copy of Liberty magazine from 1946 that has an extensive article about the great Val Lewton, I’ll be posting scans of it soon, along with scans from a Life magazine article of similar vintage, I also got a copy of The Velvet Light Trap, a wonderful magazine that specialized in film history, interpretation, appreciation,and criticiscm. This issue features an interview with Mark Robson about his RKO days. Coming Soon to a computer near you! Look For It!
Well I went to Badlands, I was able to get out of work on time and rushed over to LACMA, they’re screening all of Malick’s work, sort of a build up to the release of Tree Of Life. It was pretty amazing to watch the film on 35mm with a large audience, it made me feel like I was at the 11th New York Film Festival where Badlands premiered. It was a beautiful print and the use of natural light was stunning, I can understand when Sissy said the shoot went on longer than planned, if you want to get those magic hour shots, it takes time, you barely have an hour each day.
Sissy spoke after the screening and was really gracious and beautiful. Such a natural performance, she was the first person cast and spent a lot of time with Malick before they began shooting, when he found out she was a baton twirler he put that in the script, Sissy described walking down to Hollywood Blvd. from Malick’s house to buy a baton after their first meeting. I asked her about the voice over in the film, was it scripted before they shot? She said Malick had two versions of the script, one for investors and one for shooting and a lot of the VO was present in the shooting script. She also told of recording the VO in Malick’s bedroom after he nailed up a lot of blankets on the walls. I still think it is one of the best uses of voice over ever done. As I said everytime you watch this film you pick up on different ideas, themes, etc. This time I was struck by the idea of Heaven and Earth, the characters are always trying to get to Heaven, sending their dreams up in a balloon, standing in a field with a full moon prominent in the frame, like you can reach out and touch it, living in nature away from civilization.
Their quest for happiness, love, that elevates them then disappears like smoke from between their fingers, Earthly existence in a nutshell. Malick said that a gun was like a magic wand to Kit Carruthers, it could make his troubles (in the form of other people) disappear. But isn’t this the legacy of the Western? Solve your problems by letting some daylight through an adversary, blasting them with a Colt 45 or a Winchester. Another thing I noticed at this screening was how the end of the film reminded me opf the begining of Reifenstahl’s Triumph Of The Will. Hitler appears in the clouds like a god descending from Olympus, the airplane lands and he gets out the god who fell to Earth. The reverse is Badlands, the serial killer exalted to a Movie Star (contemporary god level) . “I’ll kiss your ass if he don’t look like James Dean.” Elevated in an airplane to the cloudscapes of Heaven, two sociopaths raised on high by mechanical means, contemporary Deii Ex Machinae.
Yo Film Fiends, tonite LACMA starts it’s tribute to Terrence Malick by screening his first film the seminal masterpiece Badlands. If you haven’t seen it or even if you have go to LACMA and experience it in all it’s 35mm glory. This is Poetic Cinema at it’s finest! The best use of Voice over of all time! And the person that speaks that voice over will be there in person! The incredible Sissy Spacek! One of the finest, most unique film actors ever to grace the silver screen. She is a precious gem in the crown of Cinema, Queen of the Arts.
Go Go Go! to LACMA. I got a ticket but I have to work late so I don’t think I can make it, I am bummed out but everyone else who can go should. The last time I saw Badlands I felt it was about cruelty to animals and how that spoke as to what kind of a human being you were. It’s such a wonderful work of art that every time you watch it you can discover whole new themes. The end is beautiful too, clouds, sky, music. The innocent drawl of Sissy Spacek narrating her mysterious existence in everyday terms. Here’s the info.
Yowza! What a film! Jess Franco is a genius. So rich with styles, ideas, images, acting, nudity, music! All Franco’s obsessions boil beneath the seemingly calm surface of this mirror. Lina Romay strips nude and kills herself as her sister tries on her wedding gown. The wedding is off and with her father’s blessing (Howard Vernon) Anne ( Emma Cohen) sets off for the city to be a musician. Unfortunately her sister haunts her from any nearby mirror, calls to her to come to her, puts her in a trance where she kills whatever man she’s with, and acts strangely in general. It’s like a fairy tale for adults, full of plot elements from many different genres, all pulpy! It’s like Godard, sort of improvised but not trying to be arty, instead telling a lurid tale that nonetheless pulsates with creativity. There’s a scene in a theater that reminds me of Argento’s Four Flies On Grey Velvet. Everything is grist for Franco’s mill and his unerring eye can set a mood with one or two seemingly banal shots, a flower, a seascape at dusk, home movie material yet in Franco’s capable hands they become images loaded with foreboding. I watched the Italian version of this film which has hardcore inserts cut into it. Even they didn’t ruin it for me. Did Franco cut them in himself? I don’t know. I think this film is great, I’d love to see the other versions but I really liked this one and I love Lina Romay, I don’t want to see someone else playing the dead sister. Check it out if you can find it.
I’d like to take a moment to salute the great Jess Franco. A true Alchemist of Cinema, taking the dross of genre film and turning it into Gold. Making almost 200 films, how cool is that. A multi lingual jazz musician super prolific filmmaker. He may not be wealthy, living in a mansion in the south of France but he is one of the richest men on the planet in terms of his life and his accomplishments. Like the Magus and The Alchemist of old he ignored materialism and “success” and concentrated on what was important to him, creating Pure Cinema in every moment. He has done so more than any other man.
I just watched A Bout De Souffle on TCM and I noticed something that struck me as one of the most interesting moments in the film. Jean Seberg is at the airport at a press conference for an author who has just published a book. The author is played by Jean Pierre Melville, the great director and hero to the New Wave. Seberg tries to ask him a question but is overpowered by the other reporters shouting their questions. Finally she breaks through and asks “What is your greatest ambition?” Melville looks at her through his cool aviator shades and after a beat says “To become immortal, then die.” Godard plays some film noir music on the soundtrack and Seberg breaks the fourth wall, looks directly into the camera as we dissolve to another scene. What a brilliant moment, it is the essence of filmmaking, films will live on far beyond their makers, expressing their thoughts for generations after the artist is dead. That is what Melville/Godard is saying and in a poetic way. Beautiful.
I saw this film as a kid on The Twilight Zone. Rod Serling really dug it so he made it into an episode of his show, the only time he ever did such a thing. It was made as part of an omnibus film, Chickamauga, a film comprised of three short films based on the writings of Ambrose Bierce. I’ve never seen the other two parts of this film but I will track them down one day. An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge should be studied by young filmmakers, it offers many insights into economy of style, simplicity, artistry. It’s beautifully made, a study in tension and fantasy. And thanks to the miracle of Youtube you can see it as it was presented on The Twilight Zone oh those many years ago.
