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"Thief of Bagdad" to open Buffalo Film Seminars
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
"The Thief of Bagdad," a classic adventure tale featuring "swashbuckler" star Douglas Fairbanks Jr., will open the 13th edition of the Buffalo Film Seminars, the semester-long series of screenings and discussions sponsored by UB and the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center.
The series will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, beginning Aug. 29, in the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St., in downtown Buffalo. There will be no screening on Sept. 19. The series will be hosted by Diane Christian, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of English, and Bruce Jackson, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Samuel P. Capen Professor of American Culture in the Department of American Studies and the Department of English.
Christian and Jackson will introduce each film. Following a short break at the end of each film, they will lead a discussion of the film.
The screenings are part of Contemporary Cinema (Eng 441), an undergraduate course being taught by the pair. Students enrolled in the course are admitted free; others may attend at the Market Arcade's regular admission prices of $8 for adults, $6 for students and $5.50 for those 62 and over. Season tickets are available any time at a 15 percent reduction for the cost of the remaining films.
"Goldenrod handouts"—four to eight-page notes on each film—are available in the lobby of the Market Arcade 30 minutes before each screening, and subsequently online at the Buffalo Film Seminars Web site at http://buffalofilmseminars.com.
Free parking is available in the M&T fenced lot opposite the theater's Washington Street entrance. The ticket clerk in the theater will reimburse patrons the $2 parking fee.
"The Thief of Bagdad," directed by Raoul Walsh, is the story of a roguish thief, played by Fairbanks, who uses a giant genie's magic to outwit Bagdad's evil Caliph and win the heart of his daughter, the princess. Although made in 1924, the film's imaginative special effects are still impressive. Philip Carli will accompany the silent film on the electronic piano.
The remainder of the schedule, with descriptions culled from the IMDb online movie database, as well as www.filmsite.org and www.greatestfilms.org:
Sept 5: "King Kong," 1933, directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. The original telling of the story of the spunky blonde and the 50-foot ape.
Sept 12: "Mildred Pierce," 1945, directed by Michael Curtiz. Considered to be one of the best melodramatic, "women's pictures" and film-noir classics of the 1940s—and Joan Crawford's comeback film. After her husband leaves her, Mildred Pierce becomes a successful businesswoman, but can't win the approval of her spoiled daughter.
Sept 26: "The Big Sleep," 1946, directed by Howard Hawks. One of Raymond Chandler's best hard-boiled detective mysteries transformed into a film noir, private detective film classic. Stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
Oct 3: "Aparajito/The Unvanquished," 1956, directed by Satyajit Ray. The second of three films comprising Ray's "Apu Trilogy." The films tell the story of a child growing to manhood in modern India.
Oct 10: "Le Samouraï," 1967, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Hitman Jeff Costello is a perfectionist who carefully plans his murders and never gets caught. One night, however, after killing a nightclub owner, he's seen by witnesses. His efforts to provide himself with an alibi fail and he is driven into a corner.
Oct 17: "Chinatown," 1974, directed by Roman Polanski. A superb, private-eye mystery and modern-day, film-noir thriller, the film weaves together two puzzling mysteries and tragedies—one family-related, one-water-related. Private detective Jake Gittes uncovers a vast conspiracy centering on water management, state and municipal corruption, land use and real estate—and at least one murder.
Oct 24: "M*A*S*H," 1970, directed by Robert Altman. Bawdy black comedy about the members of a freewheeling Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) during the Korean War. This film established Altman as major iconoclastic director and also inspired a long-running television series.
Oct 31: "The Day of the Jackal," 1973, directed by Fred Zinnemann. Political thriller about a professional killer hired to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle and the French police who attempt to pick up his trail.
Nov 7: "In the Year of the Pig," 1969, directed by Emile de Antonio. A hard-hitting documentary questioning U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
Nov 14: "Five Easy Pieces," 1970, directed by Bob Rafelson. A thoughtful character study of an alienated, misfit drifter and drop-out who is confronted with the past he ran away from when he returns home to comfort his dying father. The film is most famous for the classic scene of star Jack Nicholson's outburst when ordering breakfast in a diner.
Nov 21: "The Man Who Fell to Earth," 1976, directed by Nicolas Roeg. A controversial, bizarre, science-fiction film about a fragile but intelligent earthbound alien—rock star David Bowie in his feature film debut.
Nov 28: "Do the Right Thing," 1989, directed by Spike Lee. An even-handed, complex and disturbing work about racism, intolerance and violence, this controversial film is about a riot that eventually erupts on a sweltering summer day in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Dec 5: "Prospero's Books," 1991, directed by Peter Greenaway. In this retelling of Shakespeare's "The Tempest," an exiled magician finds his chance for revenge against his enemies thwarted when his daughter and the son of his chief enemy fall in love.
For further information, go to http://buffalofilmseminars.com.