New York–born actor/director John Cassavetes (1929–1989) began working in early episodic television while directing his first feature film, Shadows, which officially opened in March 1961 in New York City. Concurrent with the production of Shadows, Cassavetes starred in and directed 27 episodes of the early television crime drama Johnny Staccato (which was filmed in Los Angeles but set in a Greenwich Village jazz club), in which he played the title role, a jazz pianist/private detective.
Posts tagged ‘film’
May 28, 2014
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Collection & Exhibitions,
Film
From the Collection: John Cassavetes’s A Pair of Boots (1962)
May 27, 2014
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An Auteurist History of Film
Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Merchant of Four Seasons
Hans Hirschmueller in The Merchant of Four Seasons. 1971. West Germany. Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
These notes accompany screenings of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s </em>The Merchant of Four Seasons</a> on May 28, 29, and 30.</p>
Rainer Werner Fassbinder would have been 69 this coming Saturday. Tragically, however, he died in 1982, just days after his 37th birthday. Somehow, he managed to cram 44 directorial credits and 43 acting credits into this all-too-brief lifespan. In the process, Fassbinder managed to become Germany’s most noteworthy filmmaker since the golden age of Expressionism
May 20, 2014
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An Auteurist History of Film
Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Warren Beatty in McCabe & Mrs. Miller. 1971. USA. Directed by Robert Altman. © Warner Bros. Image courtesy Warner Bros./Photofest
These notes accompany screenings of Robert Altman’s </em>McCabe & Mrs. Miller</a> on May 21, 22, and 23 in Theater 3.</p>
Robert Altman (1925–2006) strikes me as being, on balance, the most interesting American director to come along after Orson Welles. He was obstreperous, inconsistent (one critic described his career as “rather weird”), sometimes difficult to work with (you don’t argue with a former bomber pilot), and provocatively idiosyncratic.
May 13, 2014
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An Auteurist History of Film
Eric Rohmer’s My Night at Maud’s
Jean-Louis Trintignant and Francoise Fabien in My Night at Maud’s. 1969. France. Written and directed by Eric Rohmer
These notes accompany screenings of Eric Rohmer’s </em>My Night at Maud’s</a> on May 14, 15, and 16 in Theater 3.</p>
At first glance, going from last week’s film (Night of the Living Dead) to this week’s (My Night at Maud’s) may seem like a journey from the ridiculous to the sublime, but not so fast.
May 6, 2014
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An Auteurist History of Film
George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead. 1968. USA. Directed by George A. Romero
These notes accompany screenings of George A. Romero’s </em>Night of the Living Dead</a> on May 7, 8, and 9 in Theater 2.</p>
The Wikipedia entry for Night of the Living Dead cites 126 references, not to mention extensive bibliography, external links, etc.
April 29, 2014
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An Auteurist History of Film
Milos Forman’s The Firemen’s Ball
The Firemen’s Ball. 1967. Czechoslovakia. Directed by Milos Forman
These notes accompany screenings of Milos Forman’s </em>The Firemen’s Ball</a> on April 30 and May 1 and 2 in Theater 3.</p>
The career of Milos Forman (now 82) parallels in some ways that of Roman Polanski.
April 22, 2014
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An Auteurist History of Film
Luis Buñuel’s Belle de Jour
Belle de Jour. 1967. France. Directed by Luis Bunuel
These notes accompany screenings of Luis Buñuel’s </em>Belle de Jour</a> on April 23, 24, and 25 in Theater 2.</p>
Luis Buñuel (1900–1983) led one of the most interesting lives of any director and, consequently, the flow of his career often changed channels. Thematically, however, his films seem to adhere to an idiosyncratic personal (and highly unusual) reality.
April 15, 2014
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An Auteurist History of Film
John Boorman’s Point Blank
Lee Marvin in Point Blank. 1967. USA. Directed by John Boorman
These notes accompany screenings of John Boorman’s </em>Point Blank</a> on April 16, 17, and 18 in Theater 2.</p>
John Boorman remains active at age 81, enjoying a directorial career of over half a century. He began with several documentaries, followed by Having a Wild Weekend (Catch Us If You Can), which attempted to do for the Dave Clark Five what Richard Lester had done for the Beatles with A Hard Day’s Night.
April 8, 2014
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An Auteurist History of Film
Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde
Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde. 1967. USA. Directed by Arthur Penn
These notes accompany screenings of Arthur Penn’s </em>Bonnie and Clyde</a> on April 9, 10, and 11 in Theater 2.</p>
In some ways Bonnie and Clyde was a startling revelation that might be considered the beginning of modern American cinema. Its graphic violence (and a certain candor about sex) was the immediate sensation, but it also led to a cinema that fundamentally questions basic American conservative values and capitalism itself.
March 28, 2014
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An Auteurist History of Film
Francois Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451
Julie Christie in Fahrenheit 451. 1966. Great Britain. Directed by Francois Truffaut
These notes accompany screenings of Francois Truffaut’s </em>Fahrenheit 451</a> on April 2, 3, and 4 in Theater 3.</p>
By the mid-1960s, I had already made up my mind that Francois Truffaut (1932–1984) was my favorite of the French New Wave directors, who had transcended their roots as film critics.
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