Monday, Jan 25, 2016 • HUMPHREY BOGART, ARTIST
IN A LONELY PLACE
1950, Columbia. 94 min. Scr. Andrew Solt, Edmund H. North, Nicholas Ray (uncredited), based on the novel by Dorothy B. Hughes. Dir. Nicholas Ray
7:15 PM
Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart), a cynical, violent-tempered Hollywood screenwriter headed toward has-been status, becomes the prime suspect in the brutal murder of a young woman. His personal and professional lives take a dramatic turn when he falls in love with his alibi—Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame), a sexy but vulnerable new neighbor in his apartment court. One of the most emotionally authentic and mature films ever made about the frailty of human relationships and the glory and agony of artistic temperament.
THE TWO MRS. CARROLLS
1947, Warner Bros. 99 min. Scr. Thomas Job, from the stage play by Martin Vale Dir. Peter Godfrey
9:15 PM
Geoffrey Carroll (Humphrey Bogart), an expatriate American painter living in England, falls in love with Sally Morton (Barbara Stanwyck) while traveling in Scotland. After a whirlwind courtship, the couple settles in a quaint English village, where Sally learns that Geoff's first wife fell ill and died shortly after he had painted her portrait. When her husband becomes distant and morose, she dismisses it as fatigue from his latest project … which he keeps behind a locked door in his attic studio. Is his medium of choice … murder?
Tuesday, Jan 26 • ART COLLECTORS
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
1945, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 110 min. Scr. Albert Lewin, based on the story by Oscar Wilde. Dir. Albert Lewin
7:15 PM
One of the most famous fantasy stories of all-time is given a sumptuous and sinister telling in this classic MGM version. Renowned artist Basil Hallward paints a glorious portrait of the dashing and callow narcissist Dorian Gray (Hurd Hatfield), whose ardent wish is that the painting age in his stead. When Dorian realizes his wish has been granted, he embarks on a hedonistic lifestyle that destroys all who dare love him. Angela Lansbury was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar® for her portrayal of Sibyl Vane.
CORRIDOR OF MIRRORS
1948, Apollo Films [Cohen Media Group]. 96 min. Scr. Rudolph Cartier, Edana Romney, based on the novel by Christopher Massie. Dir. Terence Young
9:30 PM
Paul Mangin is a contemporary British artist who prefers to live in the past. As the world attempts to recover from the devastation of WWII, Mangin surrounds himself with Renaissance art, and becomes obsessed with housewife and mother Mifanwy Conway whom he seduces in his self-made dream world, convincing her they are reincarnations of lovers in a centuries-old painting. Their commitment to the fantasy spirals into insanity—and ends on the gallows for one of the lovers.
Wednesday, Jan 27 • MUSICIANS
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME
1955, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 122 min. Scr. Daniel Fuchs, Isobel Lennart, based on the life story of Ruth Etting. Dir. Charles Vidor
1:00, 7:00 PM
Packaged and sold as a musical, but as dark and disturbing as any crime film, Love Me or Leave Me tells the (mostly true) story of singer Ruth Etting's ascension during the 1920s and '30s, a fast and fabulous rise accomplished with the backing of notorious Chicago gangster Moe "The Gimp" Snyder. Daniel Fuchs provides a volatile screenplay that delves into the professional and personal ambitions, obligations, and jealousies that raged between Etting and Snyder, memorably portrayed by Doris Day and Jimmy Cagney.
YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN
1950, Warner Bros. 112 min. Scr. Carl Foreman, Edmund H. North, from the novel by Dorothy Baker. Dir. Michael Curtiz
3:30, 9:30
Rick Martin (Kirk Douglas) finds a sense of belonging in only one thing—the trumpet he bonded with as a young orphan. In his rise to artistic success, Martin struggles to maintain relationships as strong as the music he creates, and eventually he risks losing everything in a steady swirl of arrogance and alcohol. Doris Day plays the singer/savior Martin tosses aside in favor of sultry Amy North (Lauren Bacall), an ennui-ridden socialite whose bisexuality stealthily slipped past the Hollywood censors.
Thursday, January 28 • NIGHTCLUB PERFORMERS
SCREAMING MIMI
1958, Columbia Pictures. 79 min. Scr. Robert Blees, from the novel by Fredric Brown. Dir. Gerd Oswald
7:30 PM
Released from a sanitarium after surviving the attack of a psycho-stalker, Virginia Wilson (Anita Ekberg) does what any sensitive, artistically inclined young woman would do—she becomes an erotic dancer at the El Madhouse nightclub, where her sadomasochistic dance routines develop a rabid following—including another murderous stalker. Her only protectors are "Devil," an enormous Great Dane, the club's lesbian proprietress (Gypsy Rose Lee), and, maybe, a sleazy square-jawed newspaper reporter.
MICKEY ONE
1965, Columbia Pictures. 93 min. Scr. Alan Surgal. Dir. Arthur Penn
9:15 PM
A stand-up comedian (Warren Beatty) known only as "Mickey" goes on the lam after falling deeply in debt … to whom? His pursuit by "Them" assumes existential proportions, with surreal tableaus increasingly squeezing out reality. Combining familiar faces from Forties' films (Franchot Tone, Hurd Hatfield, Jeff Corey) with elliptical and ambiguous storytelling, Penn creates a unique—and perplexing—film that combines European arthouse cinema with a traditional American crime movie.
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