Nothing Sacred / The Great McGinty

Times

Fri Aug 7 at 7:30 PM

Cost

General $9; Student/Senior/Cineclub/UCLA Alum Assoc $8; Student & Senior Cineclub $7

Venue

The Billy Wilder Theater (10899 Wilshire Boulevard (intersection of Wilshire and Westwood Boulevards) Los Angeles, CA 90024 310.206.8013 )

Friday August 7 2009, 7:30PM

NOTHING SACRED
(1937) Directed by William A. Wellman
Sensationalistic reporter Wally Cook (Fredric March) — nearly fired for his exaggerated stories — is saved by a new lead: “Hazel Flagg” (Carole Lombard), a rural woman fatally infected with “radium poisoning.” Hazel already knows the misreported story is bogus. But when Wally offers her a chance to tour New York City, she jumps, and “brave” Hazel becomes the toast of the town as the public regard her tragedy with the sanctity of rubberneckers at a car crash. Screenwriter Ben Hecht skewers our tabloid-crazed culture, which gobbles and gulps every media sensation as if it were filet mignon.

Selznick International Pictures. Producer: David O. Selznick. Screenplay: Ben Hecht. Cinematographer: W. Howard Greene. Editor: James M. Newcom. Cast: Fredric March, Carole Lombard, Charles Winninger, Walter Connolly, Sig Ruman. 35mm, color, 77 min.

THE GREAT MCGINTY
(1940) Directed by Preston Sturges
Sturges’ bizarrely comedic first film as director ponders the serious question: can virtue sprout and flourish from a bed of muck? Dan McGinty (Brian Donlevy) is a Depression-era hobo, easily tempted when the local political boss invites him to take part in a voter-fraud scheme. Unhindered by scruples, McGinty excels as a cog in the political machine, rising steadily to the governorship of his state, and aided by a symbolic sham marriage to cynical clerical worker Catherine (Muriel Angelus). But when the newly powerful McGinty, softened by marriage, contemplates his ability to do good, the tide turns against him.

Paramount Pictures. Producer: Buddy G. DeSylva. Screenwriter: Preston Sturges. Cinematographer: William C. Mellor. Editor: Hugh Bennett. Cast: Brian Donlevy, Muriel Angelus, Akim Tamiroff, Allyn Joslyn, William Demarest. 35mm, B/W, 82 min.

Published

Thu Jun 25, 2009 in Screening

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