The Hard Way with Joan Leslie and Ida Lupino.
The Hard Way at the American Cinematheque: Director Vincent Sherman homage
On Tuesday, Aug. 8, at 7:30 p.m., the American Cinematheque in Hollywood will honor director Vincent Sherman, who died this past June 18, with a screening of the 1943 Warner Bros. movie The Hard Way.
A hard-hitting melodrama, The Hard Way follows two sisters, played by Warner contractees Ida Lupino and Joan Leslie, along their rough path to professional success and personal ruin. Ida Lupino won the New York Film Critics Circle’s Best Actress Award for her performance as the ambitious “stage sister”; but in my view, the film belongs to steely “ingénue” Joan Leslie – a talented actress who was mostly wasted by the Hollywood studio system.
Besides Lupino and Leslie, The Hard Way also features Jack Carson, Dennis Morgan, Gladys George, Faye Emerson, and Paul Cavanagh. The screenplay is credited to Daniel Fuchs and Peter Viertel (The African Queen, The Sun Also Rises – and Deborah Kerr’s husband since 1960).
The screening of The Hard Way will be preceded by “rare interview clips” with director Vincent Sherman, whose credits include Old Acquaintance (1943), starring Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins; Mr. Skeffington (1944), in which Davis is paired up with Claude Rains; and The Hasty Heart (1949), starring Oscar nominee Richard Todd, Patricia Neal, and Ronald Reagan.
Note: The Ida Lupino-Joan Leslie The Hard Way movie has absolutely nothing in common with the John Badham-directed The Hard Way, a 1991 action comedy starring Michael J. Fox, Stephen Lang, and Annabella Sciorra.
Cult and classic comedies at the Aero Theatre
Also of note, from July 5–9 the American Cinematheque’s Aero Theatre in Santa Monica will screen a series of cult/classic comedies, among them Stanley Kubrick’s still (and unfortunately) quite relevant military satire Dr. Strangelove (Wednesday, July 5, at 7:30 p.m.), and two Frank Capra classics, Arsenic and Old Lace and You Can’t Take It with You (Sunday, July 9 – 7:30 p.m.).
The former, filmed in 1941 but released in 1944, is a tad too stagy and is seriously compromised by Cary Grant’s overblown performance; the supporting cast, however, is first-rate, including Priscilla Lane, Peter Lorre, Jean Adair, Josephine Hull, John Alexander, and (shockingly) Raymond Massey (doing a spot-on Boris Karloff imitation).
The latter movie belongs to the Capra-Corn School of Filmmaking, but it has some funny moments, and apart from an actorish James Stewart, the cast – Jean Arthur, Mary Forbes, Ann Miller, Spring Byington, Donald Meek, etc. – shines.
Airport: George Seaton’s Oscar-Nominated all-star blockbuster
George Seaton’s 1970 Best Picture nominee and all-star mega-blockbuster Airport will be the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Great to Be Nominated” series. Based on Arthur Hailey’s bestselling novel, this Grand Hotel on air (as others have called it) will be screened on Monday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Actress Jacqueline Bisset, fellow cast members Damian London and Quinn K. Redeker, and publicist Robert Werden will take part in a panel discussion after the film.
Airport stars veteran Oscar winner Burt Lancaster (Elmer Gantry, 1960) as Lincoln International Airport manager Mel Bakersfeld, who is facing a severe snowstorm, irate nearby homeowners, and family problems. Besides Jacqueline Bisset, the cast includes Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Dana Wynter, Maureen Stapleton, veteran Virginia Grey, and Oscar winners Helen Hayes (The Sin of Madelon Claudet, 1931–1932) and Van Heflin (Johnny Eager, 1942).
Airport received a total of 10 Academy Award nominations, eventually earning Helen Hayes her second Oscar statuette. Its other nine nods were in the following categories: Best Picture (Ross Hunter, producer), Best Supporting Actress (Maureen Stapleton), Best Adapted Screenplay (George Seaton), Best Cinematography (Ernest Laszlo), Best Film Editing (Stuart Gilmore), Best Original Score (Alfred Newman), Best Art Direction (Alexander Golitzen and E. Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Jack D. Moore and Mickey S. Michaels), Best Costume Design (Edith Head), Best Sound (Ronald Pierce and David Moriarty).
The Oscar-nominated animated short The Further Adventures of Uncle Sam: Part Two (1970) will be shown prior to the feature.
Passes for Part III of the “Great To Be Nominated” are still available for $30. Inclusive of Airport there are seven screening dates remaining in Part III. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard.
‘The Diary of Anne Frank’: Restored Original Version Gets Academy Screening
Note: This is the restored, original 170-minute version of The Diary of Anne Frank.
Press Release: A Look Inside the Diary of Anne Frank – New York, NY – One of the first mainstream films to deal directly with the Holocaust, The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) will unspool for “Monday Nights with Oscar®” audiences on Monday, July 17, at 6:30 p.m. (earlier time) at the Academy Theater at Lighthouse International in New York City.
Presented under the banner of the Academy’s George Stevens Lecture, the event will feature a post-screening discussion with cast members Millie Perkins (Anne Frank), Diane Baker (Margot Frank) and Richard Beymer (Peter Van Daan). Robert Osborne, Hollywood Reporter columnist, host of Turner Classic Movies and official biographer of the Academy Awards®, will moderate the program.
The Diary of Anne Frank was directed and produced by two-time Academy Award® winner George Stevens, and it was adapted by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett from their 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name (which was in turn based on Anne Frank’s diaries, published in Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl). The black-and-white film tells the story of 13-year-old Anne’s life in hiding in Nazi-occupied Holland.
The Diary of Anne Frank was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won in three categories: Actress in a Supporting Role (Shelley Winters), Black-and-White Art Direction (Lyle R. Wheeler, George W. Davis; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, Stuart A. Reiss) and Black-and-White Cinematography (William C. Mellor). In addition to the nominations Stevens earned as the film’s producer and director, Ed Wynn received a nomination in the Supporting Actor category, Alfred Newman was nominated for the film’s music score, and Charles LeMaire and Mary Wills shared the nomination for Black-and-White Costume Design.
This New York screening of The Diary of Anne Frank will be the first big-screen presentation of a newly restored print of the original 170-minute version (the film was shortened by 20 minutes soon after its initial release). The print is courtesy of 20th Century Fox.
The George Stevens Lecture was established in 1982 in honor of the legendary producer-director whose films are best remembered for combining social conscience with artistic excellence. Stevens received nine Academy Award nominations, won directing Oscars for A Place in the Sun and Giant, and was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1953. He was a longtime member of the Academy’s Board of Governors and served as the organization’s 14th president. Stevens died in 1975.
“Monday Nights with Oscar” is a monthly series showcasing high-quality prints of films that have been nominated for or won Academy Awards.
The Academy Theater at Lighthouse International is located at 111 East 59th Street in New York City. Tickets for the screening are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets may be reserved by calling 1-888-778-7575. Depending on availability, tickets may be purchased in person the night of the screening. Doors open at 6 p.m.
notes
Joan Leslie and Ida Lupino in The Hard Way movie image: Warner Bros.