Friday, March 17 — Gene Siskel Film Center — 164 N State Street
Tickets: $13 at the door, or purchase in advance
☆ 6:00 PM ☆
THE WIZARD OF OZ
Directed by Victor Fleming • 1939
The wonderful, terrifying, beguiling, and marvelous film that gives a shoulder rub to the millions of Americans struggling with imposter syndrome is also one of the landmark Technicolor films. Shot in 3-strip Technicolor, The Wizard of Oz‘s transition from black-and-white to color — which occurs at a reel change — still makes our heart skip a beat. Rereleased numerous times including a digital 3D IMAX version, we’re pleased to present a 1950s Technicolor reissue print from a private collector. (JA)
101 min • M-G-M • 35mm from private collections, permission Park Circus
☆ 8:30 PM ☆
BULWORTH
Directed by Warren Beatty • 1998
Warren Beatty coproduced, cowrote, directed, and starred in this bizarre and often very moving takedown of the American political system and Clinton-era Democratic machine, in which he plays a blubbering, suicidal, lunatic senator who plans his own assassination and spends the days leading up to it doing whatever he wants. Approximately 100 of the 2,000 release prints were made using the revamped IB Technicolor process, which makes full use of cinematographer Vittorio Storaro’s expressive color palette.
108 min • 20th Century Fox • 35mm from CFS, permission Disney
Saturday, March 18 — Gene Siskel Film Center — 164 N State Street
Tickets: $13 at the door, or purchase in advance
☆ 3:00 PM ☆
TECHNICOLOR SHORTS PROGRAM
This selection of short subjects highlights some of the things Technicolor prints do best: animation (including Porky and Daffy in Chuck Jones’s My Little Duckaroo), travelogues (including Light on East Anglia, printed in England where the water was rumored to give prints even better color), and industrial films. We’ll also present some of our most beautiful Technicolor trailers, give a more in-depth overview of the printing process, and show you what Technicolor prints look like once they’ve been wet. (JA)
Approx 90 minutes • 35mm from CFS and private collections
☆ 5:30 PM ☆
GUNMAN’S WALK
Directed by Phil Karlson • 1958
Scripted by Frank Nugent (The Searchers), Gunman’s Walk stars Tab Hunter as the drunken, gunslinging son of lawless rancher Van Heflin, and James Darren as his polar opposite brother, a dark, brooding pacifist. Better known for bitter, black-and-white film noirs like 99 River Street and The Phenix City Story, Chicago-born Phil Karlson had the right idea about this widescreen color western: “When I do color, I think in terms of black and white … we know that blood’s going to be awfully red and it’s going to be pretty disgusting when they see it.” This print recently returned to the United States after spending several decades with a collector in Canada. (JA)
97 min • Columbia Pictures • 35mm from CFS, permission Sony Pictures Repertory
☆ 8:00 PM ☆
ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE
Directed by Peter R. Hunt • 1969
Naturally, the first time the Chicago Film Society shows a James Bond film, we show the most divisive one, thought by some to be the best of the series and others to be among the worst. The first and only appearance of model George Lazenby as 007 features one exquisite action sequence after another, and its reputation has only improved with time. Noted Steven Soderbergh: “Shot to shot, this movie is beautiful in a way none of the other Bond films are.” All of the pre-1970 James Bond films were printed in Technicolor, which was integral to their reputation as lush, garish works of popular cinema. (JA)
142 min • United Artists • 35mm from CFS, permission Park Circus
Sunday, March 19 — Gene Siskel Film Center — 164 N State Street
Tickets: $13 at the door, or purchase in advance
☆ 3:00 PM ☆
INTERLUDE
Directed by Douglas Sirk • 1957
An emotionally stunning Technicolor melodrama from the director who basically invented them, Interlude follows the budding romance of June Allyson and conductor Rossano Brazzi, who has a secret wife with a secret problem. At the time, Universal — who released all of Douglas Sirk’s 1950s films —printed some of their titles on Eastman stock and others on Technicolor. Luckily, this obscure and rarely revived title, beautifully shot on location in Germany and Austria, received the preferred treatment. (JA)
90 min • Universal-International • 35mm from CFS, permission Universal
☆ 5:30 PM ☆
ARTISTS AND MODELS
Directed by Frank Tashlin • 1955
Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Shirley MacLaine, and Dorothy Malone star in perhaps the strongest example of a live action film with the kinetic energy of a cartoon. Much like the Looney Tunes directed by Frank Tashlin, Artists and Models creates a world of deep, saturated colors and absolutely nutty, crazed characters that also feels a lot like a family. Watch with love as Jerry imitates a stork while Dean is in the tub. (JA)
102 min • Paramount Pictures • 35mm from CFS, permission Paramount
NEXT UP: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse on Sunday, March 26 at the Music Box Theatre