.One-Night Stands

Repertory film listings for February 12-18, 2009.

Thu., February 12

Shanghai Express The train, the Chinese countryside, and the
“notorious coaster” Shanghai Lily were all dreamt up by Josef von
Sternberg to frame Marlene Dietrich in a luxuriant cinematic setting
where soft focus and gauzy plotting (they’re detained by a warlord)
work their wonders. A cast of characters travels from Peking to
Shanghai, and nothing happens except that the whole world stops for a
woman. With Clive Brook, Warner Oland, and the wonderful Anna May Wong
(84 min., 1932). — K.V. (PFA, 6:30)

Blonde Venus Josef von Sternberg, having first created
Marlene Dietrich, constructed his own fanciful visions of New York,
Paris, and the American South for this story of a woman on the run from
her shameful past. Dietrich delivers a real acting job as the nightclub
singer who falls in with fickle playboy Cary Grant in order to finance
an operation for her husband (Herbert Marshall), then runs away with
her son through some of the most artfully lit dives in Hollywood
history (97 min., 1932). — K.V. (PFA, 8:15)

Thrillville’s Voodoo Valentine’s Show A screening of Sugar
Hill
(91 min., 1974), plus live music from Kitten on the Keys. (EC,
9:15)

Friday, February 13

Crack-Up Pat O’Brien stars as an art critic whose
investigation into a forgery puts him into an uncomfortable frame, in
Irving Reis’ 1946 film noir. Claire Trevor, Herbert Marshall, and
Wallace Ford costar (93 min.). (PFA, 6:30)

The Kill-Off Hopelessness and desperation in a run-down New
Jersey boardwalk resort town. Directed and adapted by Maggie Greenwalk
from a Him Thompson novel. With Loretta Gross, Jackson Sims, Steve
Monroe, Cathy Haase (95 min., 1989). (PFA, 8:30)

Sat., February 14

The Adventures of Prince Achmed Producer Lotte Reiniger and
director Karl Koch, along with Walther Ruttmann (Berlin: Symphony of
a Great City
) and other artists, created the first full-length
animated feature, an Arabian Nights fantasy with a flying horse, an
evil African sorcerer, and a beautiful princess from the isle of Waq
Waq — using paper cutouts silhouetted on a screen. The result is
like a wayang kulit shadow-puppet show from Bali: languid and
fantastic at the same time, and much more conducive to genuine
wonderment than any multimillion-dollar special effects you could care
to name. It took three years to produce (1923-26), and is enchanting
(62 min.). — K.V. (PFA, 3:00)

The Scarlet Empress Josef von Sternberg began his film career
as a cinematographer, and this 1934 set-bound epic of Catherine the
Great, his sixth vehicle for Marlene Dietrich, represents a culmination
of his extravagant visual style. Sternberg, aided by the great Bert
Glennon at the camera, created a cluttered and grotesque vision of
Czarist Russia and its rulers, complete with an idiot prince (Sam
Jaffe), treacherous boyars, and hundreds of leering icons. As for
Dietrich, her transformation from a backward teenager into a joyously
lusty monarch is a superior acting job. For all the technical
brilliance he was proudest of, Sternberg could shine dramatically with
the right actor, and Dietrich was always his first choice. John Lodge,
Louise Dresser, and a soundstage full of Paramount’s finest cossacks
costar. Recommended (104 min.). — K.V. (PFA, 6:30)

The Wedding Andrzej Wajda’s adaptation of a classic Polish
play in which a poet and a peasant wed (106 min., 1973). (PFA,
8:35)

Pal Joey Classic young blue eyes. Frank Sinatra plays a
swingin’ saloon crooner torn between wealthy widow Rita Hayworth and
dancehall doll Kim Novak. The pencil-thin script is kept afloat by a
quintessential Rodgers and Hart score crammed with standards like “The
Lady Is a Tramp,” “My Funny Valentine,” “(If They Asked Me) I Could
Write a Book,” and a sadly sanitized “Bewitched, Bothered, and
Bewildered.” Novak is hopelessly miscast, and Hayworth — a bit
long in the tooth from her Gilda glory days — is too
sedate as a self-proclaimed “broad with a broad, broad mind.” But, in
the end, it really doesn’t matter because this is a Frankie vehicle
after all, and he pumps his persona for all it’s worth, right down to
the trademark raincoat tossed carelessly over his shoulder (111 min,
1957). (EC, 6:00)

Sun., February 15

No Greater Love In Japanese-occupied Manchuria during World
War II, an idealistic mine supervisor (Tatsuya Nakadai) takes pity on
the Chinese-prisoner slave laborers working for him, and is punished by
being drafted into the army. Part one of the “Human Condition” trilogy
by director Masaki Kobayashi (208 min., 1959). (PFA, noon)

The Road to Eternity The second part of Masaki Kobayashi’s
anti-war “Human Condition” trilogy finds Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai)
slogging through the defeat of the Japanese arm in World War II (183
min., 1959). (PFA, 4:00)

A Soldier’s Prayer In the third part of director Masaki
Kobayashi’s “Human Condition” trilogy, Japanese army conscript Kaji
(Tatsuya Nakadai) escapes from a Russian prisoner-of-war camp in an
attempt to make it back to see his wife (Michiyo Aratama) again (190
min., 1961). (PFA, 8:00)

Pal Joey See Saturday. (EC, 5:00)

Tuesday, February 17

Trial Amateur filmmaking is popular in a village near Tehran
— at least until the government cracks down. This wry Iranian
documentary is directed by Moslem Mansouri (45 min., 2002). (PFA,
7:30)

Purple Rain This two-and-a-half hour rock vid tells us more
than we needed to know about Prince, the Little Richard of the ’80s,
who is nevertheless a talented producer-performer. His fans will want
to ignore the sexism, slow-witted lines, and slower-witted acting to
focus instead on a bevy of tunes by Prince, the Time, and Apollonia 6,
whose members look like refugees from Penthouse. Directed in a
scattershot, gimmicky style by Albert Magnoli, who also co-scripted
(111 min., 1984) — K.V. (PW, 9:15)

Wed., February 18

Shadow of a Doubt A major Hitchcock, thoroughly chilling for
all its seeming lightness. Charming Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten)
visits his namesake niece (Theresa Wright) and her all-American family
in the sweet, neat town of Santa Rosa. It seems he needs a place to
hide a while, after his most recent murder of another rich widow, and
his presence casts a shadow worse than doubt in the cool, crisp
California sun. The sharp, witty script is by Thornton Wilder, Sally
Benson, and Alma Reville (Mrs. Hitch); the casting excellent (not only
are Cotten and Wright an interesting pairing, but Hume Cronyn does a
delightful bit as a mystery fan); and the climactic scene is
delightfully dread-full (108 min., 1943). — N.W. (PFA, 3:00)

Danton Lech Walesa in a powdered wig: Poland’s leading
director, Andrzej Wajda (Ashes and Diamonds; Kanal)
presents a transparent transposition of his country’s current events to
France’s Reign of Terror, where the icy polemicism of a Left-extremist
dictatorship is pitted against the warm humanity of the populist,
democratic Left. Wajda seems to see popular hero Danton (Gerard
Depardieu) as a charmingly blowsy ham actor, orating himself
manipulatively (and symbolically) hoarse at his treason trial, while
sickly, purist Robespierre (Poland’s Wojciech Pszoniak, too-obviously
dubbed into French) suffers twinges of conscience over killing the
Revolution by trying too repressively to save it. (Terror afflicts the
perpetrators as well as the victims, is the meat of the film’s many
meaty political discussions.) An interesting revision of history,
simultaneously intellectually stimulating and emotionally cornball
(perhaps because feelings are finally foreign to a film so coolly
ideological at heart), with handsome period décor and several
incisive supporting performances (136 min., 1983). — N.W. (PFA,
7:00)

Jerusalem: The East Side Story A documentary on the recent
history of Jerusalem featuring interviews with Palestinian and Israeli
leaders, human rights activists, and political analysts. (Humanist
Hall, Oakland, 7:30)

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