LMU School of Film and Television is partnering with Cineteca di Bologna, one of Europe’s most renowned archives for film restoration and preservation, for their fourth annual Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour. The free mini-film festival will be held on the LMU campus March 13–15 and features a selection of classic restored films from acclaimed filmmakers Arthur Penn, John Murray Anderson, Malcolm St. Clair, Marlon Brando, Antonio Pietrangeli, as well as an LMU community screening of Stevan Riley’s 2015 documentary about Marlon Brando, Listen To Me Marlon.
The festival opens with Arthur Penn’s 1966 film The Chase. The thriller is about a series of events set into motion by a prison break and caught the mood of the turbulent times–a “state of the nation” tale of racism, corruption and the violence prevalent in American society. Based on the novel and play by Horton Foote, The Chase was produced by legendary Sam Spiegel and features Hollywood icons Marlon Brando, Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Although the film was largely panned when it was originally released, it has since seen a revival, and many critics and audiences alike have come to reevaluate the work.
Curated by Guy Borlée of Cineteca di Bologna, SFTV Dean Stephen Ujlaki, Dr. Richard P. Hadley, Jr., Associate Professor of Film & TV Studies, and Dr. Carla Marcantonio, Associate Professor of Film & TV Studies, the festival continues with five additional films, including Marlon Brando’s first and only directorial effort, One-Eyed Jacks.
“One-Eyed Jacks is one of my favorite Westerns and a bridge from the classic Western to those by Peckinpah and Leone. I had to stop showing it in my Western class because no good prints existed. Brando and Charles Lang’s images of the West pressed up against the ocean in Monterey are spectacular, and it also reteams two of Kazan’s favorite actors, Brando and Karl Malden, from A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront,” said Dr. Hadley.
Dr. Marcantonio remarked, “At a moment when a film like La La Land is set to potentially sweep the Oscars — a musical partly about a jazz musician — I am excited that we’ll be screening King of Jazz, showcasing bandleader Paul Whiteman after whose nickname the film takes its title. King of Jazz epitomizes what is most compelling about the festival: the revival of certain films forgotten by film history (King of Jazz entered the Library of Congress’s film registry only in 2013) and the showcasing of long-lost technologies. The film, Universal’s most expensive production at the time and a financial failure, is an entertainment spectacular, featuring the first Technicolor animation, a two-color Technicolor process, and Whiteman’s most famous symphonic jazz composition, “Rhapsody in Blue.” Janice Simpson from NBCUniversal, whose fascinating introduction to the film in Bologna is part of the reason I advocated to bring the film to LMU, will be present to talk about the film’s restoration.”
“We will not only screen six great restored films, but we will also have a chance to meet great restoration experts from studios that made film history: Grover Crisp from Sony Columbia and Peter Schade and Janice Simpson from Universal Studios,” said Borlée.
Dean Ujlaki added, “Il Cinema Ritrovato has become one of our most celebrated signature programs, largely because it gives our students and community the chance to experience these restored treasures on the big screen.”
Free screenings, open to the public; RSVP required
Mayer Theater, LMU Campus
Click here for a full line-up and to RSVP.