B-Noir Bonanza at the Roxie in May

16-35.net is pleased to be working in association with curator Elliot Lavine and the Roxie Theater in San Francisco for a VERY exciting series: I WAKE UP DREAMING: THE HAUNTED WORLD OF THE B FILM NOIR, beginning this coming Friday, May 15.

A total of 29 films will be screened over two weeks, each show a double feature, including some films so rare that they've barely been screened since initial release! Highlights include the astonishing bordello-themed UNDER AGE, SHACK OUT ON 101, CANON CITY, T-MEN, RAILROADED and super rarities such as VIOLENCE, THE GUILTY, WIFE WANTED and many others. This is a great series, and is a boon to Bay Area film buffs. For more information, visit the Roxie's web site: http://www.roxie.com/events/details.cfm ... 4EDF775428

update... RUTHLESS in restored 35mm print at UCLA

We reviewed Edgar G. Ulmer's RUTHLESS below from a very worn-out 16mm printdown, and are now pleased to report that the film will screen, fully restored and preserved, on Saturday April 18 in Los Angeles, during UCLA Film and Television Archive's 14th Festival of Preservation. Among the treats at this year's festival are a THE NAKED EYE (March 26), Emile De Antonio's essential document of the 1954 Army-McCarthy Hearings, POINT OF ORDER (April 3) and much more. Opening weekend showcased a fantastic restoration of John Cassavetes' A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE, which concluded with a great panel discussion with cinematographer Mike Ferris, actors Lelia Goldoni and Seymour Cassel and others. The work of UCLA in preserving cinema history is absolutely essential - go and support this series.

PHAEDRA

In the smaller back room, once again, bad weather (a snow storm this time) has forced us to while away the day with film. Today, it's another rarely screened film, Jules Dassin's PHAEDRA (1962), which was brought back to a few rep houses after Dassin's death last year but was not often shown previously. PHAEDRA was a hit in Europe but failed to make much of a dent in the US. Was it due to Dassin being blacklisted in the 50s? Probably not, as he had a hit with NEVER ON SUNDAY only a few years previous. Was it due to the star Melina Mercouri's appearance not being appealing to US audiences? Not likely, as she was also the star of NEVER ON SUNDAY (1960), for which Mercouri won best actress award in Cannes and was nominated for the Academy Awards . In fact, DP Jacques Natteau did his best to make Mercouri appear especially appealing despite her unconventional looks and character's madness and rage.

Thoughts on the panning of the film include that the subject matter was not of much interest to US film goers. An updated version of the Greek tragedy Hippolytus, set primarily in Greece, with small portions in London and Paris, the story concerns the families of wealthy shipping tycoons, subject matter to which even Dassin reportedly could not relate, although he did assist with the screenplay and may have even toned it down from the original idea. A well known scandalous affair between opera diva Maria Callas and Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis might have given the US public enough reason at the time to avoid the film. Additionally, the film is long, the version screened today lasting almost two hours, although shorter versions have been available. Movie goers might have chosen to see MUSIC MAN or GYPSY instead, or found LAWRENCE OF ARABIA more of a foreign tale worth spending the afternoon seeing.

The film itself looks and sounds wonderful. In glorious black and white, DP Natteau captures the glaring sun on the rocks, cloudy skies, choppy seas and whitewashed buildings of Greece in high contrast. Indoor shots are at times noir like, with deep shadows appropriate to the scenes of tormented machinations. One love scene in particular is quite sensual and tantalizing in its non explicit nature, with blurry close up shots of faces and skin and hands grasping each other countered with a fireplace blazing in the background and rainstorm pelting the window. Set design is believable and detailed, from the family compound in Greece to the fitting rooms at Dior in Paris, and there is a touch of neo-realism with scenes of ship building and Greek village life. Costuming ensures that Mercouri always looks stunning and stands out in the frame, notably when she pushes her way through a group of figures in all black while wearing a bright white toga-like dress. The score, by composer Mikis Theodorakis, complements the action, triumphant at times and melancholy at others. Competent editing keeps the story moving along at a brisk pace.

Besides the glimpses into life in a small impoverished Greek seaside village overtaken by ruthless shipping moguls, we also get the chance to peek into the luxurious life of the rich, not portrayed with much sympathy. In the beginning of the film, we see a ship being christened, all night party following. Below, apparently not invited to the fest, a group of black clad wives of crew members observe with thinly disguised contempt. "They are powerful. They speak many languages, and they celebrate with fire in the sky," one says as they watch the elaborate fireworks display. As this is an adaptation of a classic tragedy, we know all, rich and poor, will suffer by the end of the film, explosions in the sky foreshadowing the drama and destruction to come.

The film is well acted, with hysteria only in appropriate places, following the story line. Husky-voiced Mercouri performs a believable seductress and madwoman, against giddy young Anthony Perkins who is as comfortable in his happy go lucky scenes as his anguished ones. Olympia Papadouka delivers perhaps the most understated great performance as personal assistant to Mercouri's character, a seer and reluctant accomplice in the tragedy. Although this film does not reach the heights of BRUTE FORCE, NAKED CITY or THIEVES' HIGHWAY, there are enough interesting elements as a whole to include it on the cinephile's Dassin to see list.

ADVENTURES OF GERARD

In the much smaller back room in an undisclosed outpost far from civilization, we had the chance on an overcast blustery day to view Jerzy Skolimowski's first English language film, ADVENTURES OF GERARD (1970). With no reference besides the fact that this film stands between Skolimowski's promising start in Poland and his international career, it became obvious that there is good reason his handful of first big budget films have slipped through the cracks.

If one had not been previously informed that this was a Skolimowski film, there is little to indicate of his influence, at first glance. Taken from a series of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories, and produced by the British Sir Nigel Films, the subject concerns the adventure of a Colonel in Napoleon's army in Spain, a far cry from the previous Skolimowski standard subject of primarily personal stories of student life in Poland. A promising Panavision intro segues into the dreaded and unfortunate pan and scan for the duration of the film. Disappointment over the pan and scan treatment becomes laughable disappointment when the dialogue starts. Although the cast is a mix of English and Italian, even the English dialogue spoken by native speakers is not properly matched in dubbing, and even the sound effects are offset by a second or two. Undaunted, we forged ahead, hoping to discover the Skolimowski beneath.

The budget for the film apparently was sizable, with large cast of fully costumed soldiers, horses, explosions, sumptuous wardrobe for Claudia Cardinale, and was shot on location in Spain and in the studios at Cinecitta. The somewhat well known British theater actor Peter Mc Enery stars as the titular Colonel Girard, with a heavily pancaked Eli Wallach as the Emperor Napoleon and Cardinale as (what else?) the pouty female attraction (Wallach and Cardinale together again, only two years after ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, you may recall.). An amusing score flits around the film, pairing tuba and harpsichord with whistling and more standard Italian spaghetti western style voice and orchestra, but doesn't add much to highlight the scenes. The story, a typical British satire of the French, of war, of love, holds no surprises.

So, where's our man, Jerzy in all this? A few 180-degree panning shots in the beginning of the film bring to mind similar scenes in early black and white Skolimowski films, and there seems to be a touch of the Skolimowski wry humor in the timing of the close ups. DP Witold Sobocinski, who also worked with Wadja and Polanski, may have been an influence, as well. There is a lack of unease and psychological distance that is found in earlier Skolimowski films, yet the film doesn't have the look of contemporary British or Italian films and is too much of a mish-mash to make a cohesive statement with the subject matter of a traditional British novel.

ADVENTURES OF GERARD holds interest mainly in bridging the gap in Skolimowski's career. While not a great find, it provided a way to pass the time on said overcast blustery day and provided a chance to contemplate the careers of directors who have stumbling blocks in their histories in the transition between independent film making and big budget film making. A non pan and scan version would have added more appeal, as the scenery and photography is perfect for the wide screen format. Proper dubbing would also have made the film more watchable, as the actors appear to have been able to carry the dialogue well.

PATTERNS of behavior sometimes seem unfair -Devo

PATTERNS (1956, Fielder Cook) is a forgotten classic of the "big business noir" sub-genre. One could point to the lesser EXECUTIVE SUITE or the brilliant SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS for poor comparisons, but a more apt one would be to NETWORK, which - peculiarly - also happens to co-star the amazing Beatrice Straight as a businessman's firebrand wife.

Rod Serling adapted his own teleplay, originally aired on the Kraft Television Theater, with Richard Kiley replaced in the lead by the always-reliable Van Heflin. Heflin is Fred Staples, a businessman from Ohio transplanted to New York for a plum job at a big manufacturing firm, headed by Everett Sloane (CITIZEN KANE) in an absolutely stunning performance. In the middle, though, is Ed Begley as the 40-year veteran of the company reduced to being the boss' whipping boy.

In an unbelievably harsh, nail-biting narrative, we watch as "patterns" of big business are repeated and perfected, just like the ornate tiles in the office tower's foyer (shots of which repeatedly begin key sequences) - patterns of behavior intended to do nothing but further the aims of the business at the expense of the individual. The denoument of the film is like a gut-punch - just as in NETWORK, the most extreme and tragic behavior translates into absolute normalcy.

The entire cast is on fire. Scenes which start out as slow burns suddenly explode into emotional violence with a frequency uncommon in mid-1950s drama; pain registers in silent passages, entirely unaided by a swelling musical score (the film contains not one note). Ed Begley's ongoing tragedy may be thematically predictable, but the way he plays it is not. Refusing to paint stereotypical portraits of obviously tortured characters, Serling allows him to express contradictory emotions. Every word from Everett Sloane's mouth is an outpouring of pure acid. And Heflin turns in what might be his best performance as Staples, a worker who resolutely refuses to climb over another worker as he mounts the corporate ladder, yet who, in the final analysis, never takes his eye off the ball, conscience be damned. It's an astonishing film.

Ulmer's RUTHLESS - He wasn't a man... he was a way of life

A beat-up 1949 16mm printdown of what may be Edgar G. Ulmer's masterpiece, RUTHLESS, hit our screen tonight. RUTHLESS is a terrific noir/melodrama - sharply written (by the to-be-blacklisted Alvah Bessie and Gordon Kahn), consistently beautifully photographed (by the underrated Bert Glennon), and truly adventurous in its editing and flash forward-flash backward construction. It's the tale of the rise and fall of a single-minded businessman, of two childhood friends whose relationship is marked with tragedy from the start but can't seem to let each other go, and of the women who come into their lives.

Zachary Scott is the "ruthless" title character, but the title is more a cheap shot than anything else; Scott's power and money-crazed Vendig is more an emotionally bankrupt, pathological character than a villain per se. The narrative takes pains to reveal - gradually - the series of events from childhood through adulthood which affected his perverse makeup, making for a fascinating character study. Subtle revelations and plot twists come about every fifteen minutes, but they're deliberately ambiguous when they hit the screen, forcing the viewer to pay close attention as the truth of the situation is revealed. This technique alone puts RUTHLESS way ahead of any other Poverty Row melodrama of the period and cements Ulmer's reputation as a thoughtful stylist.

Louis Hayward plays a sort of Greek chorus, an often acquiescent voice of conscience/best friend/nemesis who keeps the episodic story moving along. Diana Lynn (in two roles), Martha Vickers and Lucille Bremer
each give terrific performances as the various women who appear, disappear, and reappear in the lives of both men. All are sharply drawn, a testament to the determination of Bessie, Kahn and other blacklisted writers to put strong female characters on screen in defiance of the Production Code, obedience to which seemed to result in either submissive or predatory roles for women more than intelligent ones.

And as if all that isn't enough, Sidney Greenstreet drops in and sets the screen on fire in every sequence he appears in. A classic coiled spring, his portrayal of a similarly greedy corporate boss is perfectly slimy, and provides a genuine shock when he suddenly, uncharacteristically, grabs Lucille Bremer by the hair and jerks her backwards for a kiss. Likewise, a later sequence where Bremer drags his corpulent self in front of the mirror so she can brutally compare him to her new, younger lover is unforgettably painful.

RUTHLESS sits comfortably alongside DETOUR, THE MAN FROM PLANET X and THE STRANGE WOMAN, other Ulmer gems of note. A great movie.

Giant hand-picked batch of films for sale

The Small Back Room's sales wing is active again, and there's many great 16mm prints left to purchase. We recently took possession of a large collection from a recently-deceased film scholar, and a lot of these prints are now on offer. In order to view the bulletin board, you will need to sign up, as it's a private site with careful controls on identity and spam.

Among the very rare titles: Alexander MacKendrick's A BOY TEN FEET TALL aka SAMMY GOING SOUTH, available here in an incredibly rare IB Technicolor/'scope print (all extant 35mm prints are faded Eastman), Preminger's THE CARDINAL in an IB Tech/adapted 'scope print (and it should be noted that, incredibly, this is one of the few prints known in existence! We wouldn't sell it, but we actually have two), John Ford's brilliant DR. BULL with Will Rogers, I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE, the last film Abe Polonsky wrote before being blacklisted - a fabulous Susan Hayward drama, Borzage's THE MORTAL STORM in a near-mint print, the scarce John Alton-photographed noir THE PRETENDER, Leo McCarey's MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW, Douglas Sirk's THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW, Samuel Fuller's THE STEEL HELMET, a killer IB Tech print of Raoul Walsh's THE WORLD IN HIS ARMS and tons more. Other sellers have posted various nifty items as well.

THE MASK OF DIIJON...

... has the all-time best ending in the history of cinema. Recent screening of this charmingly mediocre thriller confirms this.

ERICH VON STROHEIM

16mm widescreen projection

As 16mm is/was the theatrical bastard stepchild of 35mm, as far as accuracy of presentation is concerned, little attention is generally paid to aspect ratio when projecting it. Purists grimace at those 16mm prints which are anamorphic, because the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio of 35mm is actually lost: as the 16mm frame is slightly wider than the 35mm frame, 16mm anamorphic prints merely lopped some of the top and/or bottom. Thus, when projected anamorphic, the image appears too wide, with not insignificant loss of the original picture on top and/or bottom.

However, when it comes to films produced in 1953 or beyond, which are photographed in "open-matte" widescreen formats, with the intention of projecting between 1.66:1 and 1.85:1, many 16mm prints are nearly frame-accurate replications of the 35mm print. Therefore, these prints are "opened up" and can be projected in a widescreen format very close to how they should look, simply by matting the image in the 16mm projector.

Interestingly, even on an archival presentation level, I have seen very few 16mm setups in theaters which are equipped for matted widescreen. So when such a film is screened in 16mm because a 35mm print is not available, more often than not it is improperly shown "opened up" top and bottom, resulting in a viewing experience which is aesthetically quite different than the original intention.

Hortson, a now defunct French manufacturer of professional 16mm projectors, manufactured several different aperture plates for their machines, including one cut to 1.66, but I have yet to find widescreen plates made specifically for Norelco, Eiki, Elmo or other common machines, and have resorted to making my own. Eiki and Elmo portable machines can easily be adapted, as the aperture plates are cut into the removable pressure plates for the projectors; heat-resistant metal tape can make a decent temporary mask, for instance.

If you crop the image accordingly, and enlarge it on screen via an appropriately shorter focal length lens, you can get a widescreen image which is pleasing, and generally pretty close to the real thing. Non-anamorphic Columbia films of the 1950s and 1960s, in particular, were often photographed with a very open aperture; I've yet to come across one which didn't perfectly crop down to 1.66 or 1.85 in 16mm. Some directors favored shooting with "hard matte", in which the image is cropped to widescreen on the camera negative, so unless 16mm prints of these titles were made "letterboxed", the image will be blown up and cropped on the sides (i.e. not much different from a pan-and-scan 'scope transfer). In these cases, the picture information is already lost in the printing stage and nothing can bring it back, or present it properly (e.g. every 16mm print I have come across of SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, which was shot hard matte). But these are the exceptions, not the rule.

The projectionist really does have final cut.

what powers the Small Back Room

We're big fans of the Philips-made Norelco projectors around here. The FP-16 16mm pedestal machine has a Geneva Movement instead of a claw, making for an astoundingly steady picture. Just like its 35mm big brother, the FP-20, it is very gentle on film and has few points of contact.

As of January, we've even got Dolby installed by way of a 1980's-era CP-55 processor: a classic workhorse, updated with an additional SR encoder for modern tracks. Is there another 8-seat cinema in the area with 35mm, 16mm and Dolby? We are guessing... no.

Here's the complete inventory of the SBM nerve center:

• Norelco/Philips FP-16 16mm projector: ORCON 1000w integrated lamphouse, Schneider and ISCO lenses for 1.37, 1.66 and 'scope
• Norelco/Philips FP-20 35mm projector: ORCON 1000w integrated lamphouse, ISCO lenses for 1.37, 1.66, 1.85 and 'scope. Suspended 6000' reel arm for extended play.
• Dolby CP-55 Surround Processor with external Dolby SR decoder
• Ultra Stereo CM-35 booth monitor
• Mackie CFX6 mixer (crap - but handy)
• Sanyo PLV-Z5 LCD video projector... which rarely gets turned on
• a variety of consumer-level power amps from 30-100W per channel
• adequate home stereo speakers for left, center, right, surround L/R
• ridiculous "double port" stairway - the projected image crosses the stairs into the cinema

Setting up a professional-grade celluloid screening room is now almost preposterously inexpensive. Considering how much this equipment cost when new, and taking into account the onset of HD in cinemas, it will only become cheaper.