Man, Woman and Sin. 1927. USA. Directed by Monta Bell. Screenplay by Alice D. G. Miller. With John Gilbert, Jeanne Eagels, Gladys Brockwell. Digital restoration courtesy George Eastman Museum, with funding provided by David Stenn. North American premiere. Silent. 70 min.
Unseen for nearly a century, Monta Bell’s Man, Woman and Sin is presented on January 13 by screenwriter and biographer David Stenn, who writes, “MGM contract director Monta Bell (obscure today, but once regarded on the level of Lubitsch) used his own background as a Washington, DC, cub newspaper reporter as the basis of this sophisticated psychodrama. Teaming top Hollywood romancer John Gilbert with Broadway legend-in-her-own-lifetime Jeanne Eagels ensured a hit, but the film was withdrawn due to rights issues and long thought lost. This restoration, the first in almost a century, uses original 35mm elements and original tints.”
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Screen test for Dark Victory : Adele Astaire. 1936. USA. With Adele Astaire, Edith Atwater. Digital restoration courtesy George Eastman Museum. World premiere. 5 min.
Arguably a bigger star than Fred Astaire when they performed on the vaudeville stage, Adele Astaire never made it in the movies. In this rare screen test for David O. Selznick’s Dark Victory, virtually the only film footage of Astaire known to exist, she plays a dramatic scene and performs “’S Wonderful,” the song that George and Ira Gershwin wrote especially for her. The test was shot by Rudolph Maté (Stella Dallas, Love Affair, Gilda) and directed by H. C. Potter (Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House).
Fox Movietone News story 5-246 [Abe Lyman Orchestra – outtakes]. 1930. USA. Digital preservation courtesy Moving Image Research Collections, University of South Carolina. 12 min.
Abe Lyman Orchestra is an understated title for a film that features what David Stenn describes as “raw, unreleased newsreel footage of America’s hottest Jazz Age band and teenage sensation Anita Page performing live on Hollywood Boulevard as people literally dance in the streets.” 5 min.
Program 87 min.