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Busby Berkeley musical to open Buffalo Film Seminars
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
“Gold Diggers of 1933,” a 1933 musical directed by Mervyn LeRoy with choreography by Busby Berkeley, will open the 16th edition of the Buffalo Film Seminars, the semester-long series of screenings and conversation sponsored by UB and the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center.
The series will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, beginning Jan. 15, in the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center, 639 Main St. in downtown Buffalo. The series is 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 English.
Christian and Jackson will introduce each film and will lead discussion at the end of the screening.
The screenings are part of “Film Directors” (ENG 413), an undergraduate course being taught by the pair. Students registered for the course are admitted free; others may attend at the Market Arcade’s regular ticket prices of $8 for adults, $6 for students with ID and $5.50 for seniors. Discount tickets for the series are available.
“Goldenrod handouts”—four to 10-page notes on each film—are available in the lobby of the Market Arcade 30 minutes before each screening, and are posted the previous day online at the Buffalo Film Seminars Web site.
Free parking is available in the fenced M&T lot across the street from the theater's Washington Street entrance. The ticket seller in the theater will reimburse patrons the $2 parking fee.
One of three films Berkeley choreographed for Warner Brothers in 1933, “Gold Diggers of 1933” features spectacular musical numbers with stylized action, extravagant sets and lavish dance numbers. The opening number showcases a young, coin-clad Ginger Rogers leading a chorus line of showgirls—in more gold-coin costumes—singing "We're in the Money."
The remainder of the schedule, with film descriptions culled from the IMDB online movie database, as well as www.filmsite.org:
Jan. 22: “Cat People,” 1942, directed by Jacques Tourner. A low-budget horror film about a frigid Serbian girl who could be transformed into a threatening, man-eating panther when aroused. It was one of the first in a series of intelligent, low-budget, moody B-movie films produced by RKO studios that suggested—more than showed—the horror
Jan. 29” “Now, Voyager,” 1942, directed by Irving Rapper. One of Bette Davis' best-acted and remembered films of the 1940s—a weeper in which Davis portrays a dowdy and repressed spinster who becomes a swan and finds self-confidence and love through a romance with an unhappily married man and a relationship with his emotionally troubled daughter. It contains the famous closing line after he has lit two cigarettes together for them to smoke: "Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars!"
Feb. 5: “Ace in the Hole,” 1951, directed by Billy Wilder. Also known as “The Big Carnival,” this insightful expose of the media stars Kirk Douglas as a cynical and immoral newsman who exploits a human interest story to the public by orchestrating a media frenzy around a man trapped in a Pueblo cliff dwelling tunnel collapse. It is considered by many to be among the best films not nominated for an Academy Award for best picture.
Feb. 12: “Witness for the Prosecution,” 1957, directed by Billy Wilder. A convoluted, twisting, courtroom murder mystery, based on Agatha Christie's 1933 short story and the hit 1947 stage play. It received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Charles Laughton) and Best Supporting Actress (Elsa Lanchester).
Feb. 19: “400 Blows,” 1959, directed by François Truffaut. Truffaut’s “New Wave” film and feature film debut, is considered by the British Film Institute to be one of the top 10 children’s movies of all time. It is a quasi-autobiographical account of a 13-year-old Parisian youth who turns to a life of small-time crime as a reaction to his derelict parents.
Feb. 26: “Hara Kiri/Seppuku,” 1962, directed by Masaki Kobayashi. In 17th-century Japan, an elder samurai requests permission to commit an honorable ritual suicide, or hara-kiri, at the home of a powerful but sadistic warlord. There, he learns of the fate of his son-in-law, a young samurai who had sought work at the house but instead was barbarically forced to commit hara-kiri in an excruciating manner with a dull bamboo blade. In flashbacks, the samurai tells the tragic story of his son-in-law and how he was forced to sell his real sword to support his sick wife and child, beginning a tense showdown of revenge against the house.
March 4: “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” 1971, directed by Robert Altman. At the turn of the century, frontier drifter/gambler John McCabe (Warren Beatty) partners with opium-smoking, British madam Constance Miller (Julie Christie) to run a successful brothel/casino in a grimy mining town. McCabe refuses to sell out to a corporation, leaving him vulnerable to hired bounty hunters, who track him down in the tragic finale.
March 18: “Being There,” 1982, directed by Hal Ashby. Subtitled "a story of chance," “Being There” is a provocative black comedy—a tale that satirizes politics, celebrity, media-obsession and television. Adapted from a 1971 novel by Jerzy Kosinski, it features Peter Sellers in a chameleon-like role in his second-to-last film.
March 25: “Tootsie,” 1982, directed by Sydney Pollack. A modern-day, classic Hollywood comedy about a New York City actor who cross-dresses to find employment.
April 1: “The Double Life of Veronique,” 1991, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. This movie is about two young women, both played by Irene Jacob. Veronique lives in France; Veronika lives in Poland. They never meet, although their paths almost cross one day. They were born on the same day. They have identical heart problems. They are both wonderful singers. When Veronika dies, Veronique's life takes a turn.
April 8: “The Piano,” 1993, directed by Jane Campion. The strange love story between a mute-by-choice, 19th-century Scotswoman—and pianist—and a New Zealand neighbor. The film won Academy Awards for Best Actress (Holly Hunter), Best Supporting Actress (11-year-old Anna Paquin in her film debut) and Best Screenplay.
April 15: “Unforgiven,” 1992, directed by Clint Eastwood. Eastwood pays tribute to his legacy in Sergio Leone's low-budget “spaghetti westerns” with a return to his most successful film genre. He portrays retired gunslinger William Munny, who reluctantly takes on one last job with the help of his old partner and a young man. The film won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Gene Hackman), Best Director and Best Film Editing.
April 22: “The Seventh Seal,” 1957, directed by Ingmar Bergman. A man seeks answers about life, death and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
For further information about the Buffalo Film Seminars, click here.