2009 UCLA Festival of Preservation IV: BEHIND THE SCENES IN HOLLYWOOD, POINTED HEELS
Lena Rivers
2009 UCLA Festival of Preservation Schedule I: A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE
2009 UCLA Festival of Preservation Schedule II: THE PROWLER
2009 UCLA Festival of Preservation Schedule III: SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR
Photos: Courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archives
Click on the photos to enlarge them.
Schedule and synopses from the UCLA Film & Television Archives press release.
Sunday, April 5
7 p.m.
Preservation funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Film Preservation Foundation and the Society for Cinephiles
LENA RIVERS (top photo)
(1914, director unknown)
This version of the classic drama Lena Rivers by Cosmos Features was one of a pair released in 1914 (the other from Garrison Films) yet it appears to be the only version still in existence. What also makes the Cosmos version unique is its use of comedy — as in the portrayals of the Slovendyke siblings by actors Charlie De Forest and Carolyn Rankin—to balance out the drama’s heavy-handedness. As a result, the film offers modern audiences something more than just a window into the social mores of the past: Namely, laughs!
Cosmos Feature Film Corp. SCR: Beulah Poynter. Based on the novel by Mary Jane Holmes and the play by B. Poynter. CAST: B. Poynter, Lizzie Conway, Robert Tabor, Charlie De Forest, Charles Hutchinson.
35mm, 60 min.
Preservation funded by the National Endowment for the Arts
HE FELL IN LOVE WITH HIS WIFE
(1916, William D. Taylor)
One of the few surviving works of silent-era director William Desmond Taylor, this melodrama revolves around an unsuspecting housewife, Alida Armstrong (Florence Rockwell), who tragically finds herself a homeless social outcast when the truth about her bigamist husband is revealed. Enter widower-farmer James Holcroft (Forrest Stanley), whose need for a housekeeper compels him to propose a loveless marriage of convenience to the hapless Alida. This unlikely pair discovers their path to happiness fraught with danger, although Taylor wisely alleviates the story’s darker overtones with delightful scenes of humor and rustic charm.
Paramount Pictures Corp. SCR: Julia Crawford Ivers. Based on the novel by E. P. Roe. CAST: Florence Rockwell, Forrest Stanley, Page Peters, Lydia Yeamans Titus, Howard Davis.
35mm, 50 min.
*Live musical accompaniment by Michael Mortilla.
Monday, April 6
7:30 p.m.
Preservation funded by Rich Correll
CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK
(1930, Melville Brown)
By 1930, NBC’s “Amos ‘n’ Andy” was a radio phenomenon broadcasting six nights a week to over 30 million listeners. With interest bordering on a national craze, anticipation for the team’s heavily promoted film debut was high. Photoplay predicted, “Fifty million Amos ‘n’ Andy fans [would] mob the theaters to see their idols for the first time.” Viewed three-quarters of a century later, the film offers an invaluable glimpse into the complex, indelicate racial dynamics of the Depression era. The film is also notable as the Hollywood feature debut of composer and bandleader Duke Ellington.
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. PROD: William LeBaron. SCR: J. Walter Ruben, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby. CINE: William Marshall. ED: Claude Berkeley. CAST: Freeman F. Gosden, Charles J. Correll, Sue Carol, Irene Rich, Ralf Harold.
35mm, 71 min.
Preservation funded by the American Film Institute/National Endowment for the Arts Preservation Grants Program
POINTED HEELS
(1929, A. Edward Sutherland)
A “backstage” musical of the early sound era, Pointed Heels is a must see for two reasons. The first is William Powell, displaying all his suave appeal as a dapper Broadway producer. Although he doesn’t get the girl, Powell is a delight to watch. The second reason is Helen “Sugar” Kane, the Broadway singer who became the uncredited model for Betty Boop. In a rare screen role, Kane here interpolates her signature “boop-boop-a-doop” in the numbers “Ain’tcha?” and “I Have to Have You.” This preservation also includes a two-color Technicolor sequence, not an uncommon occurrence at the time.
Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. SCENE: Florence Ryerson, John V. A. Weaver. Based on the short story by Charles William Brackett. CINE: Rex Wimpy. ED: Jane Loring. CAST: William Powell, Fay Wray, Helen Kane, Richard Skeets Gallagher, Phillips Holmes.
35mm, 61 min.
Friday, April 10
7:30 p.m.
Preservation funded by Cecilia de Mille Presley, The Ahmanson Foundation, David Stenn, the National Film Preservation Foundation, The Packard Humanities Institute, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Joseph Drown Foundation and The Stanford Theatre Foundation
“BEHIND THE SCENES IN HOLLYWOOD”
The UCLA Film & Television Archive is home to many unusual films showing Hollywood from the inside. This program will showcase some of the more interesting items from this unique collection of screen tests, home movies, newsreel footage and industrial films. Films to be shown include a screen test from 1932 featuring Ronald Colman, home movies of Mary Pickford, a promotional film by Max Factor, newsreel footage of Cecil B. DeMille speaking at Brigham Young University, home movies of Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin’s 77th birthday party, Bob Hope joking with President Johnson and many more.
35mm, total running time of entire program: approx. 120 min.
*IN PERSON: Blaine Bartell, Senior Newsreel Preservationist, UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Saturday, April 11
7:30 p.m.
Preservation funded by The Stanford Theatre Foundation and the American Film Institute/National Endowment for the Arts Film Preservation Grants Program
WOMEN OF ALL NATIONS
(1931, Raoul Walsh)
What Price Glory, a WWI dramedy directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe, was a blockbuster for Fox Film Corporation in 1926. Three years later, the studio re-teamed the director and stars with two sound sequels, The Cock-Eyed World (1929) and the later Women of All Nations. This third installment features plenty of pre-Code salaciousness with McLaglen and Lowe reprising their roles as two randy marines, Captain Flagg and Sergeant Quirt, who spar over women (including the gorgeous Greta Nissen) in every port, from Nicaragua to Brooklyn.
Fox Film Corp. PROD: Wm. Fox. SCR: Barry Conners. CINE: Lucien Andriot. ED: Jack Dennis. CAST: Victor McLaglen, Edmund Lowe, Greta Nissen, El Brendel, Fifi D’Orsay.
35mm, 72 min.
Preservation funded by The Stanford Theatre Foundation and the American Film Institute/National Endowment for the Arts Film Preservation Grants Program
NOT EXACTLY GENTLEMEN (a.k.a. Three Rogues)
(1931, Benjamin Stoloff)
UCLA Graduate Ben Stoloff’s light-hearted comic Western centers on Ace, Bronco and Bull—three petty criminals on the run who encounter the not-exactly-guileless Lee Carleton (Fay Wray) on the eve of the Dakota land rush of 1877. Wray’s Carleton proves the perfect counterpoint to the roguish trio and their protective instincts take over when an evil saloon owner tries to steal her gold claim. The mayhem that ensues culminates in a hilariously protracted horse and wagon stampede that must be seen to be believed. Slapstick veterans Lew Cody and Eddie Gribbon provide further comic relief while Wray and Victor McLaglen share a smoldering chemistry.
Fox Film Corp. PROD: Wm. Fox. SCR: William Conselman, Dudley Nichols. CINE: Daniel Clark. ED: Clyde Carruth. CAST: Victor McLaglen, Fay Wray, Lew Cody, Robert Warwick, Edward Gribbon.
35mm, 61 min.
Feature preceded by:
Preservation funded by David Stenn
ACCENT ON GIRLS
(1936, Fred Waller)
A swing music short starring Ina Ray Hutton and her all-girl band, the MeloDears.
SCR: Milton Hockey, Fred Rath.
35mm, 7 min.
Preservation funded by the family and friends of Todd Isroelit, and The Stanford Theatre Foundation
HELPMATES
(1932, James Parrott)
Ollie enlists Stan’s help in cleaning up his house after a wild party, with predictably catastrophic results.
Hal Roach Studios. PROD: H. Roach. SCR: H. M. Walker. CINE: Art Lloyd. ED: Richard C. Currier. CAST: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Bobby Burns, Robert Callahan, Blanche Payson.
35mm, 20 min.
Wednesday, April 15
7:30 p.m.
Preservation funded by The Ford Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UCMEXUS)
RUN, TECATO, RUN (a.k.a. Run, Junkie, Run)
(1979, Efraín Gutiérrez)
Run, Tecato, Run is the last of three low-budget social problem films by Efraín Gutiérrez—all restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Gutiérrez—the first Chicano feature director—not only starred in these films, but developed a grass-roots distribution strategy that allowed him to outperform Hollywood releases in several cities. Based on true incidents, Run, Tecato, Run depicts a junkie’s efforts to get off heroin in order to reclaim and raise his daughter. Produced for $60,000, the film explores the connections between the Vietnam War, drug addiction and crime—juxtaposing these against Mexican American family, culture and spirituality.
Chicano Film Enterprises. PROD: Josephine Faz. SCR/ED: Efraín Gutiérrez. CINE: Josephine Faz, E. Gutiérrez. CAST: E. Gutiérrez, Arturo Castillo, Josie Gutierrez.
35mm, 86 min.
Friday, April 17
7:30 p.m.
Preservation funded by The Packard Humanities Institute and The Stanford Theatre
Foundation
GAMPERALIYA
(1964, Lester James Peries)
A seminal work in Sri Lankan cinema, Gamperaliya launched “a revolution, not only in the way films were made, but also in the content,” according to producer Anton Wickramasinghe. Based on the novel by Martin Wickramasinghe, the film focuses on Piyal, a teacher and member of the new rising middle class, who falls in love with the daughter of his village’s leading aristocratic clan. Defensive positions are assumed and the girl’s parents insist upon a marriage to a stuffed shirt of her own class. For its elegant style, Gamperaliya has been compared to Satyajit Ray’s “Apu Trilogy.”
Cinelanka Ltd. PROD: Anton Wickremasinghe. SCR: Regie Siriwardena. Based on the novel by Martin Wickremasinghe. CINE: William Blake. ED: Sumitra Gunawardana. CAST: Punya Heendeniya, Henry Jayasena, Wickrema Bogoda, Trelicia Gunawardena, Gamini Fonseka.
35mm, in Sinhala with English subtitles, 120 min.
2009 UCLA Festival of Preservation Schedule I: A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE
2009 UCLA Festival of Preservation Schedule II: THE PROWLER
2009 UCLA Festival of Preservation Schedule III: SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR
2009 UCLA Festival of Preservation Schedule V: RUTHLESS
UCLA Festival of Preservation 2009 – Recommendations
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It’s funny how William Powell’s image changed from the silent era to the early 1930s and then again after he went to MGM. There had always been something slimy and untrustworthy about him until MGM cleaned up his image. Or perhaps it was Myrna Loy who did it.