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Island in the Sun
Sun, Nov 20 | 2pm | TMT
Dorothy Dandridge’s third and final film with Harry Belafonte is a slow-burning tropical melodrama of star-crossed romance by black- listed director Robert Rossen. Belafonte plays David Boyeur, a charismatic activist native to the fictional British colony of Santa Marta who is competing against immoral landowner Maxwell Fleury (James Mason) in upcoming elections while also having a tryst with the wealthy Mavis Norman (Joan Fontaine). Meanwhile, drugstore clerk Margot Seaton (Dandridge) strikes up a romance with English civil servant Denis Archer (John Justin). Stunningly filmed by Scope expert Freddie Young ( Lawrence of Arabia ), Island in the Sun ’s depiction of interracial coupling, now tame, led to the film being vehemently protested throughout the American South.
DIRECTOR: Robert Rossen.
WRITTEN BY: Alfred Hayes.
CAST: James Mason, Dorothy Dandridge, Joan Fontaine, Harry Belafonte. 1957. 119 min. USA. Color. Scope. English. 35mm.
American Gangster
Fri, Nov 25 | 2pm | TMT
In a role that earned her a nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 80th Academy Awards, Ruby Dee provides American Gangster ’s moral backbone as the mother of an East Coast drug kingpin (Denzel Washington) who has turned a blind eye to her son’s illegal activities for long enough. This sweeping biographical epic, based on real-life Harlem-based heroin trafficker Frank Lucas, was shot on-location in all five boroughs of New York City using handheld cinematography to lend an authentic vibe to this well-received, true-life story.
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott.
WRITTEN BY: Steven Zaillian.
CAST: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ruby Dee. 2007. 157 min. USA. Color. English. Rated R. 35mm. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
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