From MoMA to Film Forum, here are the 10 best films you should be seeing in New York this week.
***MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30***
KINGS ROW, Sam Wood
Film Forum
“Where’s the rest of me?” gasps Ronald Reagan (in his best and favorite role) as he wakes to a nasty surprise post-surgery by the normally likable Charles Coburn; and why does doctor Claude Rains react so strongly to daughter Betty Fields’ romance with Robert Cummings? The dark side of coming of age in late-Victorian, all-American small town, with dazzling all-studio deep focus photography by James Wong Howe, and perhaps Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s (Robin Hood) greatest score. Producer David Lewis credited Menzies with “the entire tone of the film.”
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ALIBI, Roland West
Film Forum
Back from the pen, cocky ex-gangster (or is he?) Chester Morris looks to be railroaded for a cop killing during a warehouse robbery, but he’s got a great alibi: a date with cop’s daughter Eleanor Griffith. Forgotten high stylist West shot many scenes in forced-perspective sets crafted by Menzies.
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***TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1***
THE SCREEN ILLUSION, Mathieu Amalric
FIAF
Commissioned by the Comédie-Française, Amalric’s inventive adaptation of a Corneille play follows three strict rules: no words were added to the original script, the actors had all previously played their roles onstage at the Comedie Francaise, and filming was completed outside the theater within 12 days.
Within those parameters, Amalric nevertheless reimagined the classic play set in contemporary France, transforming it from a story about wizards and generals to one about private investigators and video game designers. This artful update of a labyrinthine classic marks a rare chance to see France’s best contemporary thespians on the big screen.
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THE BELOVED ROGUE, Alan Crosland
Film Forum
John Barrymore, as 15th century beggar/poet François Villon, getting mixed up in court intrigue around Conrad Veidt’s grotesque Louis XI. But “the real star of the production was William Cameron Menzies” (James Card), crafting a Moyen Âge Paris that’s as awe-inspiring as his Bagdad (see Dec. 6). Plus Menzies-designed short The Wizard’s Apprentice (1930).
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IF YOU DON’T, I WILL, Sophie Fillières
FIAF
When their son leaves for college, Pierre and Pomme find themselves at a crossroads. After years together, they no longer share the passion or spontaneity they once did. They’re attuned to each other’s every movement, but they are not sure that they are still in love.
While on a hike, Pomme decides to stay in the woods rather than return to her lackluster life. Pierre worries about her, but he is unsure as to whether he is missing his better half, or he is relieved to be alone. In the forest, Pomme meditates, communes with goats, and contemplates her future with and without Pierre in this subtle character drama.
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***WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2***
IVY, Sam Wood
Film Forum
1909, and white-clad Joan Fontaine is annoyed to find that moneybags Herbert Marshall has scruples about dallying with married women. Looks like her broke hubbie and even her ex-lover– who “won’t give her up” – have got to go. Superbly designed reverse image of Fontaine’s Oscar-winning role in Hitchcock’s Suspicion. “The perfect Menzies movie.” – production designer Richard Sylbert.
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A FOOL THERE WAS, Frank Powell
MoMA
Unscrupulous vamp Theda Bara, in a role she was born to play, lures a man away from his wife and child, ruins him, and then casts him aside for another victim. Promoted by Fox Films as an exotic sex symbol, Bara was introduced as the Egypt-born daughter of a European actress and sculptor. In truth, she was born Theodosia Goodman in Cincinnati, Ohio, and her father was an émigré tailor. Preserved by The Museum of Modern Art with support from the National Film Preservation Foundation/Park Service, the Film Foundation. Silent, with musical accompaniment.
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THE WOMAN DISPUTED, Henry King & Sam Taylor
Film Forum
Viennese prostitute Norma Talmadge is redeemed by two friends, a Russian soldier and Austrian officer Gilbert Roland. But when the Great War begins, she realizes that she loves one, but the other controls the release of important hostages. Talmadge’s last silent is most remembered for its notorious theme song, “Woman Disputed, I Love You.”
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I KNEW HER WELL, Antonio Pietrangeli
MoMA
Pietrangeli’s best-known film stars the willowy Tuscan actress Stefania Sandrelli, who entered the movies as the 15-year-old winner of a provincial beauty contest, in a tragicomic twist on a story that might well have been her own. As the innocently sexual, minimally ambitious Adriana Astarelli, she’s a hairdresser who arrives in Rome as the protégé of a dubious promoter (Nino Manfredi) and finds herself drifting from man to man as she circles the periphery of modeling and show business. Indifferent to her own exploitation, she experiences a measure of material success without understanding what, if anything, she wants from life.
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STELLA DALLAS, Henry King
MoMA
In this drama of unconditional maternal love, Stella is a working-class girl who marries up when she falls in love with Stephen Dallas. When they separate after the birth of their daughter, Stella must sacrifice both body and soul to protect her child. The screenplay was written by two-time Oscar winner Frances Marion, one of the first women screenwriters of the 20th century. Silent with musical accompaniment.
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The post The 10 Best Films to See in New York This Week: Henry King, Mathieu Amalric, Antonio Pietrangeli + More appeared first on BlackBook.