Around Town: Classic cinema from Hitchcock, Truffaut and more
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The earliest surviving work of Alfred Hitchcock and two romantic dramas from French master François Truffaut are among the cinematic highlights screening around town in Los Angeles this week.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is presenting the recently discovered first 30 minutes of the 1923 British film “The White Shadow” on Thursday evening at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. A young Hitchcock wrote the script, designed the sets, edited the film and was the assistant director on the movie, which was directed by Graham Cutts. It’s considered the earliest surviving feature film work of the master of suspense and was one of the “lost” films recently discovered at the New Zealand Film Archive. Also screening are two comedy shorts unearthed last year at the archive -- “Won in a Closet,” starring and directed by Mabel Normand, and “Oil’s Well’ with Monty Banks. Michael Mortilla will supply live musical accompaniment. www.oscars.org
The 14th annual Arpa International Film festival kicks off Thursday evening and continues through Saturday at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The festival, which is dedicated to indie filmmakers that “cultivate understanding and global empathy,’ includes six features, 11 short films, nine documentaries, three music videos and an animated film from such countries as the U.S., Afghanistan, Canada, Australia, France and Israel. The festival’s opening-night offering is the L.A. premiere of the road movie “Here,” with Ben Foster. affma.org.
The New Beverly Cinema presents two intimate romantic dramas from Truffaut on Friday and Saturday evenings: 1964’s “The Soft Skin,” with Françoise Dorleac and Jean Desailly, and 1981’s “The Woman Next Door,” with Fanny Ardant, who was the director’s last great love, and Gerard Depardieu. www.newbevcinema.com
The Echo Park Film Center goes silent Thursday evening with the presentation of Peter Emmanuel Goldman’s 1965 wordless movie “Echoes of Silence.” www.echoparkfilmcenter.org The American Cinematheque’s Aero Theatre in Santa Monica presents the world premiere of David Peck’s rock documentary “The Hollies: Look Through Any Window,” Thursday evening. Former Hollies musicians Graham Nash and Allan Clarke will be on hand as well as the film’s producers. The Aero screens Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman” and 1992’s “Batman Returns” Friday evening. The film’s producer, Michael Uslan, who just published the book “The Boy Who Loved Batman: A Memoir,” will be on hand for a conversation with The Times’ Geoff Boucher.
Director John Carpenter will be on hand Saturday at the Aero to introduce a triple feature of his thrillers: 1982’s “The Thing,” 1995’s “In the Mouth of Madness” and 1987’s “Prince of Darkness.” On tap for Sunday at the Aero is a screening of “Frida,” the 2002 biopic of artist Frida Kahlo (Oscar-nominated Salma Hayek). The screening, co-presented by the Art Directors Guild Film Society, is a tribute to the film’s Oscar-nominated production designer Felipe Fernandez del Paso. And on Wednesday, Eric Braeden will appear at the screening of the cult 1970 sci-fi thriller “Colossus: The Forbin Project,” in which he plays scientist Dr. Charles Forbin.
The Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre continues its “A Production of the Archers: The Films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger” series Sunday with two of their classic films that feature the Technicolor cinematography of Jack Cardiff: 1948’s “The Red Shoes” and 1947’s “Black Narcissus,” for which Cardiff won an Academy Award. Screening Wednesday is Powell’s controversial 1960 thriller “Peeping Tom.” The film, starring Carl Boehm as a twisted photographer, was so widely panned at the time of its release that it basically destroyed Powell’s career; he made only one more film, nine years later. www.americancinematheque.com
Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre presents a documentary on underground filmmaking twins George and Mike Kuchar, “It Came From Kuchar,” Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Also screening will be George Kuchar’s New York City and San Francisco shorts, Mike Kuchar’s 1965 effort “Sins of the Fleshapoids” and George Kuchar’s 1965 “Corruption of the Damned.’ Later Friday evening, the Sundance Film Festival hit ‘The Oregonian’ will have its L.A. premiere. Writer/director Calvin Reeder will do a Q&A after the screening.
On tap for Sunday is presentation of Steven Spielberg’s 1979 big-budget World War II comedy, “1941.” Co-writer Bob Gale and co-stars Nancy Allen and Eddie Deezen will do a Q&A after the film. Pablo Ferro, who did the trailers for such films as Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 film “Dr. Strangelove” and 1971’s “A Clockwork Orange,” will be at the Silent Movie Theatre Tuesday evening to discuss his career. www.cinefamily.org
On Sunday, Kevin Smith returns to the New Beverly Cinema with his religious horror movie, “Red State.” Monday’s offerings are Lu Chuan’s 2009 “City of Life and Death” and Elem Klimov’s 1985 “Come and See.” The 25th anniversary screening of the 1986 buddy cop movie “Running Scared” with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines is on tap for Wednesday. Schedules permitting, director Peter Hyams and actors Darlanne Fluegel and Jon Gries will appear in person. www.newbevcinema.com
Cinespia’s final offering of the summer Saturday evening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery is Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic sci-fi “E.T.” www.cinespia.org
UCLA Film & Television Archive winds up its “Slovenia Begs to Differ” film series at the Billy Wilder Theater. On tap for Sunday evening is 1980’s “Raft of the Medusa,” followed by 2005’s “Gravehopping” and 2009’s “9:06” on Monday evening. Igor Sterk, the director of “9:06,” will appear in person. The archive is also presenting a free screening Sunday morning of the screwball-comedy classic, 1938’s “Bringing Up Baby,” directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. www.cinema.ucla.edu
The LA Filmforum presents the videos of Dani Leventhal for the first time in Los Angeles on Sunday at the Echo Park Film Center. Among the videos screening are the world premiere of “Shanye’s Rectangle” and “Tin Pressed.” www.lafilmforum.org
REDCAT presents the world premiere of Chick Strand’s “Señora con Flores (Woman with Flowers),” Monday evening. After Strand died in 2009, the Academy Film Archive completed the feature. Also screening are 1967’s “Waterfall” and 1979’s “Cartoon Le Mousse.” www.redcat.org
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Tuesday matinee series presents the 1946 film noir “Gilda,” starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. Charles Vidor directs. www.lacma.org
UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Hammer Museum present a free screening Wednesday evening at the Billy Wilder of the film, “Self Made,” which marks the directorial debut of Turner Prize-winning artist Gillian Wearing. www.hammer.ucla.edu
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-- Susan King
