Double Indemnity Sun, Nov 5 | 7:30pm | DGT
Directed by Billy Wilder, who teamed with Raymond Chandler to adapt James M. Cain’s classic novel, this twisted tale of love and murder set the bar for film noir. Fred MacMurray stars as a hardened insurance investigator who falls for a married woman (Barbara Stanwyck). The pair conspires to get Stanwyck’s character out of her marriage and both of them into a fortune, but with disastrous results. The film received seven nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress (Stanwyck), and for the black-and-white cinematography of John Seitz ( The Lost Weekend , Sunset Blvd. ), which finds the stark visual equivalent of Wilder’s witty bleak sensibility. DIRECTED BY: Billy Wilder. WRITTEN BY: Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler. WITH: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Porter Hall. 1944. 106 min. USA. B&W. English. 35mm. New print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
ONGOING SERIES BRANCH
SELECTS EVERY WEDNESDAY* | 7:30PM
Amélie Wed, Nov 15 | 7:30pm | DGT
FARGO
Fargo Sun, Nov 19 | 7:30pm | DGT
Branches of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences represent distinct disciplines of moviemaking. Working with members of the Academy branches, the Academy Museum presents a weekly series that offers a one-of-a-kind journey through film history. Each week, a different Academy branch selects a film—from silent cinema to contemporary films—that represents a major achievement in the evolution of moviemaking and its unique disciplines. Notes by Robert Reneau. *Branch Selects screen every Wednesday, unless otherwise noted.
The Coen brothers created one of their most influential hits with this utterly fictional “true story” about an auto salesman who has his wife kidnapped in order to defraud her wealthy father, only to find his plan fall apart catastrophically. The film won Oscars for the original screenplay by Ethan and Joel Coen and for Frances McDormand’s performance as police chief Marge Gunderson, the film’s moral center. Fargo was also nominated for Best Picture, directing, supporting actor William H. Macy’s performance (unforgettable as the weaselly Jerry Lundegaard), film editing, and for cinematography by Roger Deakins, who found remarkable visual variety in the story’s unforgivingly cold landscapes. DIRECTED BY: Joel Coen. WRITTEN BY: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. WITH: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Harve Presnell. 1996. 95 min. USA. Color. English. Rated R. 35mm. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
distrust of “normal” people. Ve Neill and Stan Winston were nominated for their imaginative makeup creations, and the consistently impressive work of Burton’s regular collaborators included the costumes of Colleen Atwood, Bo Welch’s striking production design, and the delicately heartrending score by Danny Elfman. DIRECTED BY: Tim Burton. WRITTEN BY: Caroline Thompson. STORY BY: Tim Burton, Caroline Thompson. WITH: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall. 1990. 107 min. USA. Color. English. Rated PG-13. 4K DCP.
Ghost Wed, Sep 6 | 7:30pm | DGT Selected by the Marketing and Public Relations Branch. Free for Museum Members. The surprise blockbuster smash of the summer of 1990 was a romantic fantasy thriller about Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore), a young couple whose blissful relationship does not end once Sam is murdered in an apparent mugging as his spirit returns to solve the mystery of his death. The film, which helped make the Righteous Brothers’ 1965 rendition of “Unchained Melody” a hit all over again, earned five Oscar nominations including Best Picture, and won for Bruce Joel Rubin’s original screenplay and Whoopi Goldberg’s touching yet hilarious supporting performance as the psychic Oda Mae Brown. DIRECTED BY: Jerry Zucker. WRITTEN BY: Bruce Joel Rubin. WITH: Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn. 1990. 127 min. USA. Color. English. Rated PG-13. DCP. Edward Scissorhands Wed, Sep 13 | 7:30pm | DGT Selected by the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch. Director Tim Burton used the clout earned by his blockbuster smash Batman (1989) to make this original fantasy about an unusual young man, orphaned by the death of his creator (played by Vincent Price), who unexpectedly finds love in suburbia only to face the
L.A. Confidential Sun, Nov 26 | 7:30pm | DGT
JFK Wed, Sep 20 | 7:30pm | DGT Selected by the Film Editors Branch. Oliver Stone’s controversial docudrama about the
LAURA
Laura Sun, Nov 12 | 7:30pm | DGT
Two very different LA policemen (Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce in breakout performances) find themselves embroiled in a deadly conspiracy in 1950s Hollywood in this intricate mystery directed by Curtis Hanson, with nominated production designer Jeannine Oppewall making evocative use of authentic locations. The film won Oscars for Kim Basinger’s seductive supporting performance as well as Brian Helgeland and Hanson’s deft adaptation of James Ellroy’s labyrinthine novel. The film’s nine nominations also include Best Picture, Directing, Film Editing, Original Dramatic Score, Sound, and Dante Spinotti’s widescreen cinematography, which balanced the dazzling glamour of Hollywood with the encroaching darkness of the criminal underworld. DIRECTED BY: Curtis Hanson. WRITTEN BY: Brian Helgeland, Curtis Hanson. WITH: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger. 1997. 137 min. USA. Color. Scope. English. Rated R. 35mm. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
One of the most romantic of all film noirs stars Dana Andrews as a police detective who finds himself falling for a gorgeous murder victim. The top-notch cast includes Gene Tierney as the beautiful woman who may hold the key to the mystery, Vincent Price as a gigolo, and Clifton Webb, nominated for his breakout performance as the brittle newspaper columnist Waldo Lydecker. The film also received Oscar nominations for its directing, screenplay, and black-and-white art direction, and won for the black- and-white cinematography of Joseph LaShelle, whose elegantly roving camera helps sustain the swooning tension, bolstered by David Raksin’s classic score. DIRECTED BY: Otto Preminger. WRITTEN BY: Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Betty Reinhardt. WITH: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price. 1944. 88 min. USA. B&W. English. 35mm.
investigation into the Kennedy assassination is both an epic conspiracy thriller and a stylistic tour-de-force. Kevin Costner stars as crusading New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison, and the colossal supporting cast includes Sissy Spacek as Garrison’s wife, Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald, Tommy Lee Jones in an Oscar-nominated performance as suspect Clay Shaw, screen legends Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, and John Candy in a rare serious role. Joe Hutshing and Pietro Scalia earned Oscars for their kaleidoscopic editing, as did Robert Richardson for his vivid cinematography. DIRECTED BY: Oliver Stone. WRITTEN BY: Oliver Stone, Zachary Sklar. WITH: Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Sissy Spacek. 1991. 189 min. USA. Color. Scope. English. Rated R. DCP.
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