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ART IN THE ARTHOUSE: More Art for the Holidays

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If you are in Claremont, Pasadena, NoHo or West Los Angeles this holiday season, check out our fine art galleries. No ticket required. Laemmle’s ART IN THE ARTHOUSE continues to connect film audiences with the visual arts all year long and our artwork is for sale.  You might be inspired to buy a memorable work of art for someone special. Our CLAREMONT ART SHOW, curated by Joshua Elias, is winding down in late January. Highlights include digital works by Ron Dunlap, florals by Kathy Leeds and dynamic images by James Miley. Or peruse the artworks of our PASADENA artists including the playful collages of Lois Keller, bold paintings by Lynn Chang, dynamic watercolors by Mitsuko Hays and bright abstracts by Alla Vilesova. Our Pasadena show runs till March 2019. Before the end of February, visit our innovative SCREENINGS show in NoHo, featuring 36 Los Angeles-based artists, commissioned to make artwork in the format of the movie screen. The artists selected represent diverse practices including painting, printmaking, conceptual art, film, and video. The show was curated by Conor Thompson. At Laemmle venues around town, we provide movie goers with the opportunity to bond with notable and emerging visual artists. We focus on local talent and the robust Los Angeles arts scene, applying high curatorial standards to long-lasting exhibits that allow for repeat visits and extended reflection. Contribute to the conversation and become a Laemmle patron of the arts. Going to the Royal any time soon? Say hello to a festival of color from the duo of HILL & STUMP, lovingly curated by Tish Laemmle. These breathtaking floral compositions will grace our walls till February 2019. Please know, we proudly donate a portion of art sales to the Laemmle Foundation which supports a variety of environmental and humanitarian non-profits doing inspired, essential work in our community.

 

Nicolas Roeg’s DON’T LOOK NOW 45th Anniversary Screening in Beverly Hills

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a tribute to director Nicolas Roeg with a screening of his eerie, atmospheric thriller, DON’T LOOK NOW, on Tuesday, December 18 at Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills.

Roeg, who began as a master cinematographer, had a distinctive visual style that received perhaps its most brilliant expression in this suspenseful film adapted from a story by Daphne Du Maurier, the author of ‘Rebecca.’ Screenwriters Allan Scott and Chris Bryant retained the basic premise of the story but embellished and expanded it under Roeg’s guidance.

Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland play a married couple whose young daughter drowns in the movie’s opening scene. A few months later, they are in Venice, where Sutherland is working to restore an old church. But they are still grief-stricken and traumatized, and when they meet two elderly sisters who claim to be able to communicate with their dead daughter, the couple embark on a supernatural journey that takes them in unexpected directions. Christie finds comfort in the sisters’ message, while Sutherland is more skeptical, though it turns out he has clairvoyant gifts that he tries to suppress.

Set in the gray of winter, the film avoids the usual Venice tourist spots and instead creates an indelible vision of a labyrinthine city cloaked in shadows and sinister portents, as a murderer also haunts the canals and byways and threatens the lives of the two lead characters.

Roeg’s fractured editing style adds to the unsettling nature of the film, but this editing also contributes to one of the most famous interludes in the film, a lovemaking scene between Christie and Sutherland that has been called one of the most erotic and influential in cinema history.

Anthony Richmond was the film’s cinematographer, Graeme Clifford was the editor, and Pino Donaggio composed the evocative score.

Pauline Kael had high praise for the performances: “Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland team up wonderfully.”

Newsweek’s Paul D. Zimmerman called the film “a dark and frightening experience unlike anything ever filmed…Roeg, a masterly technician, builds up an atmosphere of dread you can taste in your throat.”

TIME magazine’s Jay Cocks agreed, writing “this is a film of deep terrors and troubling insights—one that works a spell of continual, mounting anxiety,” and he concluded, “Roeg’s is one of those rare talents that can effect a new way of seeing.”

Roeg oversaw some of the astonishing second unit photography in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ before graduating to cinematographer of such films as ‘Fahrenheit 451,’ ‘Far from the Madding Crowd,’ and ‘Petulia’ (all starring Christie). He made his directing debut (sharing credit with screenwriter Donald Cammell) on the Mick Jagger film ‘Performance.’ His other memorable films include ‘Walkabout,’ ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ with David Bowie, and ‘Bad Timing,’ which teamed Art Garfunkel with Theresa Russell, the actress who became Roeg’s wife and the star of many of his late films.

The director’s nonlinear storytelling and visual acuity had a tremendous influence on other directors, including Danny Boyle, Steven Soderbergh, and Martin McDonagh, who have all paid tribute to Roeg’s gifts.

DON’T LOOK NOW screens on Tuesday, December 18 at 7:30PM at Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills. Click here for tickets.

Format: Blu-ray

ART IN THE ARTHOUSE: Art for the Holidays

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With the holidays right around the corner, why not consider giving a meaningful gift of art or simply stop by to view our galleries. No tickets required. ART IN THE ARTHOUSE connects film audiences with the visual arts all year long and our artwork is for sale.  We proudly deliver a unique, alternative art-viewing experience at seven of our nine venues. You might be inspired to buy a memorable work of art for someone special.

Check out the bold, dynamic paintings and collages of Isabella Kelly-Ramirez at the Monica Film Center. Ramirez coopts images from fashion and art magazines, repurposing them to create surreal urban legends and ironic emblems of commercialism. Her show runs till early January, 2019. Or get on up to Glendale for Caley O’Dwyer’s modern mixed media works; we extended his NoHo show to our newest Laemmle theatre. O’Dwyer explores multiple selves through deft application of gouache and collage cutouts. His work is on display till February, 2019.

At Laemmle venues around town, we provide movie goers with the opportunity to bond with notable and emerging visual artists. We focus on local talent and the robust Los Angeles arts scene, applying high curatorial standards to long-lasting exhibits that allow for repeat visits and extended reflection. Contribute to the conversation and become a Laemmle patron of the arts.

Going to Encino Town Center any time soon?  Take a look at Kirk Mann’s colorful nature photographs. We recently moved his show over from the Royal. With an awe and reverence for the natural world, Mann presents a unique artistic convergence of Eastern philosophy and nature’s essence. His exhibit runs till February, 2019. Please know, we proudly donate a portion of art sales to the Laemmle Foundation which supports a variety of environmental and humanitarian non-profits doing inspired, essential work in our community.

GIGI 60th Anniversary Screening on December 8 at the Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series celebrate the 60th anniversary of one of the most beloved and acclaimed musicals of all time, GIGI.

The film won nine Academy Awards in 1958, including Best Picture, Best Director Vincente Minnelli, Best Adapted Screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner, and Best Scoring by Andre Previn of the original songs by Lerner and his frequent collaborator, Frederick Loewe. At the time, that was the most Oscars ever awarded to a single film, and GIGI also has the distinction of being one of only three films in cinema history to win every Oscar for which it was nominated.

GIGI was also perhaps the last great musical created for the screen. Produced by Arthur Freed for MGM, it follows in the tradition of other original musicals sponsored by the Freed unit, including ‘Meet Me in St. Louis,’ ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ ‘The Band Wagon,’ and an earlier best picture winner, ‘An American in Paris,’ which was also directed by Minnelli and written by Lerner. After GIGI, almost all the memorable Hollywood musicals were adapted from Broadway successes like ‘West Side Story,’ ‘My Fair Lady,’ ‘The Sound of Music,’ ‘Oliver!,’ and ‘Cabaret.’

GIGI came about partly as a result of the phenomenal stage success of Lerner and Loewe’s ‘My Fair Lady,’ which conquered Broadway in 1956. The pair was looking for a follow-up, and that is how they happened to strike up a partnership with Freed and Minnelli, masters of the MGM musical. It was Leslie Caron, the star of ‘An American in Paris’ along with Lili (which earned her an Oscar nomination), who suggested the idea of adapting ‘Gigi’ into a musical.

Freed had a few qualms, since the source material was not exactly wholesome family entertainment (the bedrock of most MGM musicals). The 1944 novella by French author Colette told the story of a young woman groomed by her grandmother and great-aunt to be a courtesan in turn-of-the-century Paris. Censorship was just beginning to loosen in Hollywood, and Freed and Lerner felt they could mask the sordid subject sufficiently to get by with it. Adults would understand the racy underpinnings while family audiences could remain happily oblivious and enjoy the scenery and the songs.

Still, the daring subject matter undoubtedly helped to win the movie critical acclaim as well as Academy recognition. The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther wrote, “it is not only a charming comprehension of the spicy confection of Colette, but it is also a lovely and lyrical enlargement upon that story’s favored mood and atmosphere.” Leonard Maltin concurred, calling the film “exquisitely filmed, perfectly cast, with memorable Lerner & Loewe score.” Variety hailed “a very fair lady indeed… Miss Caron is completely captivating and convincing in the title role.”

Co-starring with Caron were Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevalier (who earned an honorary Oscar that year), Hermione Gingold, Eva Gabor, and Isabel Jeans. The score includes the Oscar-winning title song, the lively “The Night They Invented Champagne,” and a memorable duet by Chevalier and Gingold, “I Remember It Well.” The film also won awards for cinematography, production design, and for the elegant costumes by the brilliant Cecil Beaton.

Our 60th Anniversary Screening of GIGI screens Saturday, December 8, at 7:30 PM at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills. Click here for tickets.

Format: Blu-ray

Our 11th Annual Christmas Eve FIDDLER SING-ALONG is Just Around the Corner! Get Tickets Now!

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UPDATE! We’re pleased to announce our Fiddler Hosts for 2018!  Click here for bios.
(skip to main article)

Music Hall
Michael Schlesinger – NEW! – writer, producer, and classic film expert, appearing on behalf of The Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival – BUY TIX

Ahrya Fine Arts
Robbo – NEW! – singer, songwriter, and song leader, appearing on behalf of Shalom Institute, home of Camp JCA Shalom – BUY TIX

Playhouse
Cantor Aviva Rosenbloom – NEW! – appearing on behalf of the Jewish Federation of the San Gabriel and Pamona Valleys – BUY TIX

Glendale
Elissa Glickman – NEW! – community leader, appearing on behalf of Glendale Arts – BUY TIX

Royal
Aaron Wolf – NEW! – director of Restoring Tomorrow, appearing on behalf of Camp Hes Kramer and Gindling Hilltop Camp – BUY TIX

NoHo 7
Gustavo Bulgach – musician, bandleader of Klezmer Juice – BUY TIX

Monica Film Center
Isaac Wade – NEW! – actor, and Monica Film Center GM – BUY TIX

Claremont 5
Dr. Arthur Benjamin  – NEW! – “mathemagician” appearing on behalf of Temple Beth Israel – BUY TIX

Town Center 5
Stephen Sass (4:30pm) – of the Jewish Historical Society of Southern CA – BUY TIX
Kenny Ellis (7:30pm) – entertainer, comedian, singer of Hanukah Swings! – BUY TIX

Jump below to find out more about our hosts.

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Can you believe it’s the 11th year of our Christmas Eve FIDDLER SING-ALONG!?  Join us in coming together as a community to celebrate the song, shtick, and shenanigans of Laemmle’s legendary Christmas Eve experience.

For 2018, this ever-popular event will be occurring at eight of our neighborhood venues including our brand new theater in Glendale and the magnificent single screen, art deco AHRYA FINE ARTS in Beverly Hills (see below for full listing and ticket links).

(Jump down to watch the Sing-A-Long trailer.  For tickets, visit Laemmle.com/Fiddler).

In addition to movie and song, the evening will feature TRIVIA with PRIZES being awarded to Fiddler buffs with the quickest recall.  Dressing in COSTUME is not required, but highly encouraged! Who knows, perhaps the best costume will garner a prize?  Or perhaps this is the year you’ll be given an opportunity to do your best Tevye or Golde impression?  That will be up to the emcee.  Indeed, each location will feature its own host (to be announced).

As Greg Laemmle is fond of saying “Christmas Eve isn’t just Chinese food!”  He elaborates, “This is your once-a-year chance to be the star of the shtetl. Join with friends and neighbors and sing your heart out alongside Fiddler’s screen legends. And it’s okay if you haven’t memorized all the songs. We provide the lyrics.”

Song highlights include the iconic “TRADITION”, “IF I WERE A RICH MAN”,  “TO LIFE”, “SUNRISE SUNSET”, “DO YOU LOVE ME?” and “ANATEVKA”, among many, many more.

Don’t be late! Those who wish to attend the program are advised to purchase tickets in advance as the program has traditionally sold to capacity. We welcome all those in the community who are looking for an alternative Christmas Eve.

See you in the shtetl…


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnuyNaOEBt4&feature=youtu.be

Fiddler Hosts – 2018

Michael Schlesinger at the Music Hall (Beverly Hills)
Writer, producer, and classic film expert MICHAEL SCHLESINGER will be our host at the MUSIC HALL in Beverly Hills. Known as the “the dean of classic film distributors,” Schlesinger worked for more than 25 years at MGM, Paramount and Sony, keeping hundreds of vintage movies in theatrical release. He was responsible for restoring many films, including the award-winning completion of ORSON WELLES’ 1942 documentary “It’s All True.” He has also recorded several DVD commentaries, is a “Trailers From Hell” guru and has appeared in numerous documentaries, notably the recent HBO smash “If You’re Not In The Obit, Eat Breakfast.” Behind the camera, he wrote and produced the American version of “Godzilla 2000” and co-produced such LARRY BLAMIRE comedies as “The Lost Skeleton Returns Again.” According to Schlesinger, he has “never fiddled, and avoids going up onto the roof.” His appearance at the will support our community partner, the THE LOS ANGELES JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL. BUY TIX

ROBBO at the Ahrya Fine Arts (Beverly Hills)
Singer, songwriter, and legendary Jewish camp songleader ROB ZELONKY, aka “ROBBO” will be our host at the AHRYA FINE ARTS venue in Beverly Hills. A three-time White House performer and Parent’s Choice Gold Award winner, Robbo has long been a staple of the national children’s music scene. His abundant material on Spotify and iTunes includes the stand-out album “A Kid’s Life” which features the vocal talents of Oscar and Emmy nominated celebrities including TERI GARR. Born into a musical family, Robbo began singing Yiddish and American folk songs around Chicago with his parents and sister as a young boy. ROBBO’s appearance at FIDDLER will support the SHALOM INSTITUTE. The institute operates CAMP JCA SHALOM in Malibu, one of the several Jewish camps that recently fell victim to the recent Woolsey Fire. Robbo served as the camp’s beloved songleader for over 20 years. BUY TIX

Cantor AVIVA ROSENBLOOM at the Playhouse 7 (Pasadena)
Creator of the Feminist Shabbat at Temple Israel of Hollywood and female cantor pioneer AVIVA ROSENBLOOM headlines proceedings at Laemmle’s Pasadena Playhouse. An anti-war activist and veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosenbloom’s life trajectory changed after a transformational trip to Israel. With the realization that Jewish music was her calling, her journey soon led her to become the first full-time woman Cantor in Los Angeles. She served as Cantor at Temple Israel of Hollywood for over 30 years from 1975 to 2008. She is also a songwriter, with several recordings of Jewish music to her credit, including the career retrospective “Viva Aviva: A Life in Song.” Rosenbloom’s appearance will support our community partner, the JEWISH FEDERATION OF THE SAN GABRIEL AND POMONA VALLEYS. BUY TIX

ELISSA GLICKMAN at the Laemmle Glendale
Community leader and CEO of Glendale Arts, ELISSA GLICKMAN will be our host at the brand new Laemmle Glendale. GLENDALE ARTS is the non-profit organization the operates the iconic ALEX THEATRE, a Glendale landmark since 1925 and situated just around the corner from Laemmle. Glickman presides over a dynamic array of film and live programming designed to benefit youth, patrons, artists, and the broader community. She brings more than twenty years of non-profit marketing and event planning experience to the table including stops at the NATIONAL ACADEMY OF RECORDING ARTS AND SCIENCES, AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES, and the CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF LOS ANGELES. Glickman has been awarded “Business Woman of the Year” from both the Glendale Chamber of Commerce and the CA State Assembly. Her appearance at FIDDLER will support the valuable work of Glendale Arts. BUY TIX

AARON WOLF at the Royal (West L.A.)
Award-winning actor and filmmaker AARON WOLF will be our host at the ROYAL THEATRE in West Los Angeles. A native Angeleno, Wolf’s latest film, RESTORING TOMORROW is a personal journey of rediscovery told through recounting the awe-inspiring restoration of our sacred spaces, including the synagogue of his upbringing, Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Currently, Wolf is in post-production on the thriller TAR about an ancient creature that lurks beneath the La Brea Tar Pits featuring Academy nominees Timothy Bottoms and Graham Greene. His upcoming comedy project LD UNIVERSITY, and its companion documentary “(We Are All) disAbled” tackles the important topic of learning disabilities and education. Wolf’s appearance will support the Wilshire Boulevard Temple Camps in Malibu – CAMP HESS KRAMER and GINDLING HILLTOP CAMP – both devastated in the Woolsey Fire. BUY TIX

gustavositting_crop_prGUSTAVO BULGACH at the NoHo 7 (N. Hollwyood)
Accomplished Klezmer musician and bandleader GUSTAVO BULGACH will be our host at the Royal in West L.A. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Bulgach was inspired at an early age by the religious and secular life of the Argentine community. Now based in L.A., Bulgach travels the globe uplifting audiences with a vibrant, soulful Klezmer he terms the “soundtrack of the Diaspora.” Bulgach has been a longtime member of the House of Blues Foundation house band backing artist such as LITTLE RICHARD, TAJ MAHAL, and THE WAILERS. His own outfit, KLEZMER JUICE, was featured in the Hollywood mega hit movie THE WEDDING CRASHERS featuring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. BUY TIX

ISAAC WADE at the Monica Film Center (Santa Monica)
Laemmle’s very own ISAAC WADE is the General Manager of our MONICA FILM CENTER location and has been working with the company for over 16 years. He is the former GM of the storied LAEMMLE SUNSET 5 in W. Hollywood as well as the company’s signature ROYAL venue in West L.A. Additionally, the talented Wade is an accomplished thespian, working overseas and with several local companies such as the L.A. THEATRE ENSEMBLE and cARTel: THE ARTS COLLABORATIVE. During his youth in Kansas, he performed the role of TEVYE in the Galena High School production of Fiddler. Laemmle audiences who love and appreciate Wade in his role as theater manager are in for a treat as he reveals yet another facet of his dynamic persona. BUY TIX

Dr. ARTHUR BENJAMIN at the Claremont 5 (Claremont)
New this year to the Claremont 5, Dr. ARTHUR BENJAMIN brings his mesmerizing math and magic combo to host and entertain our Claremont audiences in an entirely unique way! Appearing on TV and radio on shows such as The Today Show, CNN, The Colbert Report, and NPR, Dr. Benjamin demonstrates and explains his secrets for performing rapid mental calculations faster than a calculator. He has given 3 TED Talks, one of which has been viewed over five million times. Reader’s Digest calls him “America’s Best Math Whiz”. Dr. Benjamin’s appearance will support TEMPLE BETH ISRAEL in Claremont, our Fiddler partner for the past six years. BUY TIX

STEVE SASS at the Town Center 5 (Encino, 4:30pm Show)
Community leader STEPHEN SASS currently serves as President of the JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. As founding president of the BREED STREET SHUL PROJECT, he has been instrumental in the ongoing revitalization of one of L.A’s earliest synagogues built in 1915 in Boyle Heights. He co-wrote and executive-produced “Meet Me at Brooklyn & Soto” an award-winning documentary on East L.A.’s Jewish Heritage. What’s more, Sass is the chair of the L.A. COUNTY HISTORICAL LANDMARKS AND RECORDS COMMISSION, appointed by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. In professional life, he is the Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs for HBO. Sass’ appearance will support our partner, Jewish Historical Society of Southern California. BUY TIX

KENNY ELLIS at theTown Center 5 (Encino, 7:30pm Show)
Known as “The Man Behind the Matzoh Ball,” cantor and comedian KENNY ELLIS will be our 7:30pm host in Encino. He appears in support of our partner, the JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. As a cantor and comedian, Ellis has entertained audiences all around the globe. Currently the cantor at Temple Beth Ami in Santa Clarita, you can also catch Ellis at the LAUGH FACTORY in Hollywood. His television credits include recent appearances on CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM as well as LAW & ORDER. Ellis achieved further success with HANUKKAH SWINGS! a recording that broke new ground as the first ever big band Hanukkah album. Large YouTube audiences have enjoyed “Swingin’ Dreidel” and other tracks from the hit record. BUY TIX

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PROGRAM DETAILS

DATE: Monday, December 24th

TIME: 7:30pm

PRICING:
General – $18
Senior 62 & Over / Child 11 & Under – $15
Premiere Card General – $15
Premiere Card Senior 62 & Over / Child 11 & Under – $12

LOCATIONS:
Claremont – Get Tickets
Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills- Get Tickets
Glendale – Get Tickets
NoHo – Get Tickets
Playhouse in Pasadena – Get Tickets
Royal in West L.A. – Get Tickets
Monica Film Center in Santa Monica – Get Tickets
Town Center in Encino- Get Tickets 

Angela Lansbury In Person at 40th Anniversary of DEATH ON THE NILE on November 9 in Beverly Hills

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a special evening with Angela Lansbury to celebrate the 40th anniversary of DEATH ON THE NILE, which features one of her most captivating performances. The film is adapted from Agatha Christie’s 1937 novel, which boasted one of the author’s most diabolically clever mystery plots, along with sumptuous atmosphere and a compelling cast of characters.

Producers John Brabourne and Richard Goodwin had scored a box office success in 1974 with a lush version of Dame Agatha’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express,’ featuring an all-star cast. In 1978 they decided to make a follow-up picture, with a new Hercule Poirot, played by two-time Oscar winner Peter Ustinov. Referring to its predecessor, Variety called DEATH ON THE NILE “a sequel that’s even better than the original” and praised the new picture as “a clever, witty, well-plotted, beautifully produced and splendidly acted screen version of Agatha Christie’s mystery.”

The producers recruited another dazzling cast, full of Oscar nominees and winners—in addition to Lansbury, the roster of suspects included Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, David Niven, Jack Warden, George Kennedy, along with younger actors Mia Farrow, Jon Finch, and Olivia Hussey. This time the filmmakers went all out on production values, filming on location in Egypt at many ancient historic sites. Award-winning cinematographer Jack Cardiff (‘Black Narcissus,’ ‘The Red Shoes,’ ‘The African Queen’) captured the locales in all their splendor. Anthony Powell won an Oscar for his elegant costumes, and Nino Rota (‘8 1/2,’ ‘The Godfather’) composed the score. John Guillermin directed.

Anthony Shaffer, the writer of ‘Sleuth,’ penned the screenplay, and as Pauline Kael wrote, “The script by Anthony Shaffer has wit and edge and structure…Shaffer has an ear for high-style romp, and the details are knobby and funny.” The mystery that Poirot has to solve concerns the murder of an arrogant, fabulously wealthy heiress (Lois Chiles) who finds herself with a boatload of enemies when she embarks on a honeymoon cruise down the Nile.

Lansbury has the juicy role of Salome Otterbourne, a flamboyant author of sexy romance novels. As Charles Champlin wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “Angela Lansbury very nearly commandeers the boat… Rolling her eyes and her vowels as if on the high seas, playing a vamp in some need of revamping, Lansbury is a model of pure and amusing camp.” Kael concurred: “Angela Lansbury does a superlative caricature of a wreck of a vamp… It’s a glorious piece of eccentric excess.”

DEATH ON THE NILE marked Lansbury’s return to the screen after a seven-year absence, during which she conquered Broadway. Lansbury was nominated for an Oscar for her very first film, ‘Gaslight,’ in 1944. She earned a second nomination the following year for ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray.’

Her early screen appearances encompassed a dazzling range, from Frank Capra’s ‘State of the Union’ to the Judy Garland musical ‘The Harvey Girls,’ and Cecil B. DeMille’s ‘Samson and Delilah.’ Other films included ‘The Court Jester,’ ‘The Long Hot Summer,’ ‘The Dark at the Top of the Stairs,’ and ‘All Fall Down.’ But she made perhaps her most memorable screen appearance as the villainess in John Frankenheimer’s classic 1962 thriller, ‘The Manchurian Candidate,’ earning a third Oscar nomination.

Later in the 60s Lansbury turned to the musical theater and won her first Tony Award for originating the title role in Jerry Herman’s ‘Mame.’ She won four more Tonys over the next few decades. In the 80s she changed gears again, starring in the popular TV detective series, ‘Murder She Wrote.’ In 2013 she earned an honorary Oscar for her sterling body of work.

DEATH ON THE NILE with Angela Lansbury in person screens at 7:30pm on Friday, November 9th at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills. Click here to purchase tickets.

Format: Blu-ray

WEED THE PEOPLE Premiere and Q&A on Tuesday, 10/30 at the Fine Arts. Q&A’s also at the NoHo. Details Below.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHlRTGeNO3g

 

WEED THE PEOPLE Q&A with director Abby Epstein and producer Ricki Lake following the premiere 7:30 PM show on Tuesday, 10/30 at the Fine Arts.

Q&A’s at the NoHo 7 are as follows:
11/2 7:30 PM Abby Epstein & Ricki Lake, Sol Tryon & Mikki Willis
11/3 4:50 PM Tracy Ryan, Josh Ryan, Jeffrey Raber and associate producer Adam Vine
11/3 7:30 PM Dr. Bonni Goldstein, Dr. Susan Storch, AJ, Sheila and Chris Kephart
11/4 4:40 PM Angela Smith & Chico Ryder

11/5 7:30 PM Dr. Keith Heinzerling UCLA
11/6 7:30 PM Tracy Ryan and Dr. Ziva Cooper, UCLA
11/7 7:30 PM Tracy Ryan and Dr. Howard Padwa, UCLA
11/8 7:30 PM Dr. Zilara Uskrup UCLA

 

AMERICAN GRAFFITI 45th Anniversary with Screenwriters and Co-stars In-person on October 23 in Beverly Hills

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 45th anniversary screening of one the most beloved comedies of the era, George Lucas’s AMERICAN GRAFFITI.

The film earned five Oscar nominations in 1973, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress Candy Clark, and it was a box office smash, despite the studio’s nervousness about the film’s innovative structure and largely unknown cast (all of whom would go on to have extraordinary careers).

“Where were you in ’62?” was the advertising tag line for the movie, and it tapped into the nostalgia that many Americans felt for a more innocent time, before all the violent upheavals of the late 60s and 70s. Set around Lucas’s home town of Modesto, California, the film follows a group of friends on a single night before two of them are scheduled to leave for college. They cruise the main drag and have a series of wild and sometimes dangerous adventures before dawn forces them all to a reckoning with both their past and their future.

As Variety wrote, “Of all the youth-themed nostalgia films in the past couple of years, George Lucas’ American Graffiti is among the very best to date… all the young principals and featured players have a bright and lengthy future.”

Those “young principals” include Ron Howard, a former child star and future Oscar-winning director; Richard Dreyfuss, who would win a Best Actor Oscar four years later; Cindy Williams, who would star in the hit TV series, Laverne and Shirley, later in the decade; Harrison Ford, who would soon become a megastar in Lucas’ Star Wars and other films; Candy Clark, Paul LeMat, Charles Martin Smith, Mackenzie Phillips, and Bo Hopkins.

The behind-the-scenes team was equally impressive. Fresh off his triumph on The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola acted as producer, along with Gary Kurtz. The impressive night-time cinematography was by Oscar winner Haskell Wexler, credited as “visual consultant.” The film’s Oscar-nominated editors were Marcia Lucas and Verna Fields (later an Oscar winner for Steven Spielberg’s Jaws). The musical score—a non-stop medley of 1950s and early 60s hits—provided delightful punctuation to the action, with commentary by real-life deejay Wolfman Jack, who makes a memorable cameo appearance late in the film.

Many later films followed the template created by American Graffiti of having all the action take place over a single day or night. These hit films, which might never have been financed without the success of Lucas’s film, include several John Hughes movies (The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) and Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused.

Entertaining as they were, few of these later films had the same emotional depth that American Graffiti plumbed. Newsweek’s Paul D. Zimmerman called it a “brilliant, bittersweet memoir.” Writing in the New York Times, Stephen Farber said, “The stunning screenplay by Lucas, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck is rich in characterization, full of wit and surprise.” And Time’s Jay Cocks declared, “Few films have shown quite so well the eagerness, the sadness, the ambitions and small defeats of a generation of young Americans. Bitchin’ as they said back then. Superfine.”

Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz also wrote the screenplays for Radioland Murders, French Postcards, and the Lucas-Spielberg production of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Candy Clark, who earned an Oscar nomination for her engaging performance in American Graffiti, co-starred with David Bowie in Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth and also appeared in Jonathan Demme’s Citizens Band, Blue Thunder, At Close Range, and David Fincher’s Zodiac. Charles Martin Smith co-starred in The Buddy Holly Story, Never Cry Wolf, Starman, and The Untouchables. More recently, he has written and directed for both film and television.

AMERICAN GRAFFITI screens Tuesday, October 23, at 7:30PM at the Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills. Oscar-nominated screenwriters Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz and co-stars Candy Clark and Charles Martin Smith will participate in a Q&A at the screening. Click here for tickets.

Format: DCP