University News
The Dead Filmmakers Society 2008 Begins June 4
June 2, 2008
MACOMB, IL - - Western Illinois University's broadcasting department will host the annual Summer Film Series, "The Dead Filmmakers Society 2008," beginning Wednesday,
June 4.
All screening will begin at 7 p.m. in the University Union Sandburg Theatre. The films, hosted by WIU broadcasting Associate Professor Richard Ness, are from Ness's private collection. All films are open free to the public.
The series includes:
June 4 - "The 39 Steps" (Great Britain, 1959) is the lesser-known and seldom-screened 1959 remake that stars Kenneth More as the hero accused of murder, who has to elude the police while trying to expose a spy ring.
June 11 - "Tomorrow is My Turn" (France, 1960) is the 1960 Venice Film Festival Best Film Award winner, which stars Charles Aznavour and Georges Riviere as two French soldiers during WWII whose lives take different paths after they are captured and sent to work on a German farm. (In French with English subtitles.)
June 18 - "Compulsion" (1959) depicts Richard Fleischer's vivid recreation of the Leopold and Loeb murder case. Bradford Dillman and Dean Stockwell give compelling performances as the two killers; but the film is dominated by Orson Welles in a tour de force as their attorney. The film will be presented in its original widescreen format.
June 25 - "Cul-De-Sac" (Great Britain, 1966) stars Donald Pleasance, Lionel Stander, Jack MacGowran and a young Jacqueline Bisset in Roman Polanski's bizarre black comedy about a couple held hostage a in castle on a desolate island by two stranded gangsters. The film's music is by jazz great Krzysztof Komeda.
July 2 - "Huey Long" (1985) and "I.F. Stone's Weekly" (1973) are two historical documentaries part of the double feature Forth of July program. First up is Ken Burns's study of one of the most controversial figures in the history of American politics. The second feature is an acclaimed account of the crusading newsman whose small, but influential, publication set a new standard for American journalism.
July 9 - "The Nanny" (Great Britain, 1965) is a screenplay by Hammer studio veteran Jimmy Sangster, which is based on the Evelyn Piper novel, "Bunny Lake is Missing." Bette Davis plays the title character who is dusting off more than just the furniture. Or is it her disturbed young charge who is responsible for the deadly occurrences?
July 16 - "The Spirit of the Beehive" (Spain, 1973) stars a young Ana Torrent as a little girl growing up in an isolated Castilian village in 1940 who, after being deeply moved by a traveling film company's presentation of "Frankenstein" with Boris Karloff, seeks out the monster.
July 23 - "A Night of Vintage Television" presents a night of television episodes from the golden age of television, including Alfred Hitchcock's first directorial effort for the small screen; an episode of the short-lived series "Bus Stop," which Stephen King called the most frightening story ever told on TV; a classic installment of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour;" and a rare "G. E. Theatre" program, directed by film noir specialist Jacques Tourneur.
July 30 - "Teacher's Pet" (1958) includes an Oscar-nominated script created by Fay and Michael Kanin about the battle of the sexes, which stars Doris Day as the teacher, Clark Gable as the pet and Mamie Van Doren as "the girl who invented rock and roll."
Posted By: Alisha Looney (AA-Looney@wiu.edu)
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