Meet Me in St. Louis. 1944. USA. Directed by Vincente Minnelli

These notes accompany the screenings of Vincente Minnelli’s Meet Me in St. Louis on July 27, 28, and 29 in Theater 2.

Over the years, I have had three close friends who were so devoted to Vincente Minnelli (1903–1986) that they wrote extensively about the Meet Me in St. Louis director. Read more

"Those Pictures at the 'Movies' started all my troubles," from a postcard series published by the SAS Company, 1914. The Museum of Modern Art, Department of Film Special Collections

Okay, they were previously 0% findable. Still, by adding the MoMA Film Department Special Collections inventory to the MoMA website, film researchers can now discover over 100 primary-source collections on film-related figures and topics.  Read more

Laura. 1944. USA. Directed by Otto Preminger

Last week I mildly berated Andrew Sarris for pretty much ignoring Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in his auteurist bible, The American Cinema. This week, with Laura by Otto Preminger (1905–1986), we have an example of just how influential Sarris was and is. Read more

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. 1943. Great Britain. Directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

These notes accompany the screenings of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp on July 13, 14, and 15 in Theater 2.

The idiosyncratic and overlapping careers of Michael Powell (1905–1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988) are arguably the strongest challenge to the auteur theory, which holds that a single artist, the director, is the primary creative force behind a film. Read more

Day of Wrath. 1943. Denmark. Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer

These notes accompany the screenings of Carl Th. Dreyer’s Day of Wrath on July 6, 7, and 8 in Theater 3.

Despite being one of the greatest film directors, Carl Th. Dreyer (1889–1968) will probably always be considered an acquired taste. His best films are much too austere and demanding for even many serious moviegoers. Read more

Ninotchka. 1939. USA. Directed bu Ernst Lubitsch

Oops! I almost left out Ninotchka. Somehow, this 1939 masterpiece slipped through the cracks. I apologize for whatever inconvenience this violation of my self-imposed chronology may cause, although I don’t think the Prime Directive has been threatened. Read more

In Heaven There Is No Beer? 1984. USA. Directed by Les Blank

Sally Berger interviews documentary filmmaker Les Blank on the occasion of his MoMA film retrospective Les Blank: Ultimate Insider Read more

Bye Bye Birdie. 1963. USA. Directed by George Sidney

As a regular contributor to Inside/Out, I endeavor to bring topics related to MoMA’s Department of Film and cinema history to you, the reader. I am always interested in talking and writing about films, debating their aesthetic merits, content, form, performances—and I am also very curious to know which films my colleagues across the Museum are seeing, and why. Read more

Air Force. 1943. USA. Directed by Howard Hawks

These notes accompany the screenings of Howard Hawks’s Air Force on June 22, 23, and 24 in Theater 3.

Howard Hawks’s Air Force and John Ford’s They Were Expendable are the cream of a very abundant crop of Hollywood World War II films. Read more

Transylvanian International Film Festival

To many of us who love the idea of vampires and Dracula, the notion of a Transylvanian International Film Festival (TIFF) sounds like something dreamed up by Mel Brooks, funny and weird. But surprise, this festival in Cluj, a city—at once medieval, Austro-Hungarian, and modern—of about 350,000 by the foothills of the Carpathian mountains, not only celebrated its 10th anniversary this week, but is a knockout of a film festival. Read more