3 Classic Films by Otto Preminger November 16, 2007

From: The Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre / Friends of the Loew’s, Inc.
54 Journal Square, Jersey City, NJ 07306 Tel. (201) 798-6055 Fax. (201) 798-4020
A Not-For-Profit Arts Center Featuring the Art of Stage And Screen

Preminger Noir
November 16 & 17
At the Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre
54 Journal Square, Jersey City, NJ 07306
Tel. (201) 798-6055 Fax. (201) 798-4020 Email. [email protected]

Hosted By Foster Hirsch
Author of “Otto Preminger: The Man Who Would Be King”
The new biography from Random House

Where the Sidewalk Ends Friday, November 16 Book Signing Starts at 7PM; Film at 7:55PM
Starring Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Karl Malden, Tom Tully. Directed by Otto Preminger. (1950, 95mins., B&W, 20th Century Fox. Pre-dates the rating system but may not be suitable for young children.) As a follow-up to his enormously successful Laura, Otto Preminger re-teamed Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney in another classic noir screenplay, this time by legendary Ben Hecht. Set in a gritty post-war New York City, Sidewalk is a rumination on how good and bad exist in us all. Andrews is a police detective who loathes gangsters so much that he has a habit of “roughing them up”. When he accidentally kills a suspect, Andrews decides to cover up what’s happened – but complications set in, not the least being that he falls in love with the widow of the man he’s killed. The cast is all top notch, Hecht’s script has some great dialogue, and Preminger’s sense of pacing gives the proceedings a nice, tense pace. Brutish and brooding, “Sidewalk’ is a small noir gem.

Angel Face Saturday, November 17 Book Signing Starts at 3PM;
Film at 3:55PM
Starring Jean Simmons, Robert Mitchum, Mona Freeman, Herbert Marshall. Directed by Otto Preminger. (1952, 91mins., B&W, RKO. Pre-dates the rating system but may not be suitable for young children.) Long under-rated, Angel Face is now widely regarded as one of Otto Preminger’s best films. This classic film noir offers a fascinating examination of detached evil, one that captures a coolness of tone that is not so much heartless as it is simply devoid of feeling. Jeanne Simmons is one of film noir’s most intriguing femme fatales -- a wealthy, young woman with an angelic face that masks a psychotic character. Playing against type, Simmons gives one of her greatest performances. Robert Mitchum gives a nuanced performance as the “regular” guy who gets entangled with Simmons as her love interest, accomplice, fall guy – or all of the above. Excellent B&W cinematography and Preminger’s taut direction round out the production to make great noir.

Laura Saturday, November 17 Book Signing Starts at 7:30; Film at 8:25PM
Starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson. Directed by Otto Preminger. (Pre-dates the rating system but may not be suitable for young children.) At the cynical heart of “Laura” is a murder, but this elegant 1944 noir classic is more than a mere whodunit. It’s a masterfully complex – and sometimes wonderfully campy – portrait of all-consuming romantic self-delusion. Gene Tierney is a wealthy, mysterious beauty whose murder instigates an investigation by the hard-nosed detective played by Dana Andrews. He soon discovers that Tierney’s character inspired rabid devotion in two men who loved her not so much for what she really was but for what they saw her as being. Either man, plus a girlfriend of one of them, might be the murderer. And as Andrews digs deeper into the
case, he too begins falling in love with the dead woman. To say anything more about the plot would be to rob the reader of the enjoyment of watching this stylish, early noir unfold. Tierney gives what is generally acknowledged as the greatest performance of her career. Clifton Webb, one of the two men so smitten with Laura, became an overnight movie favorite based on his memorable work here. And Vincent Price gives a great pre-horror performance.

Each screening is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors, students with ID, & children 12 years old and younger. (Includes commentary/Q&A and book signing; excludes cost of book.) Combo discounts are available for multiple screenings. Call (201) 798-6055 or visit www.loewsjersey.org for more info.

Plus – Commentary, book signing and audience Q&A with Foster Hirsch.
The author of “Otto Preminger: The Man Who Would Be King” will be available to autograph copies prior to each screening, and will give commentary and take audience questions after each film.

About “Otto Preminger; The man Who Would be King”: The first full-scale life of the controversial, greatly admired yet often underrated director/producer who was known as “Otto the Terrible.” Meticulously researched with nearly 100 new interviews with family members and co-workers, this epic biography offers a multifaceted portrait of the filmmaker and reappraisal of his films. Preminger's creativity was often accompanied by an abrasive personality, says Hirsch. His explosive rows extended to censors, crew members and studio heads. But Hirsch also reveals the gentler side of Otto the Terrible, protecting fragile stars and doting on his family. With family, Otto was like a marshmallow, and capable of great love in a primal way, says Erik, his son with Gypsy Rose Lee. Film buffs will enjoy the candid looks behind his volatile productions (including Laura, Anatomy of a Murder, Hurry Sundown). Historians will appreciate Preminger's belated recognition for breaking the blacklist (he credited Dalton Trumbo for writing Exodus nine months before Kirk Douglas did the same with Spartacus) and dismantling the oppressive censorship board (he released The Moon Is Blue and Man with the Golden Arm without the Production Code's seal of approval). This is a long-overdue critical biography of the temperamental titan whose genius included movie making and self-promotion. Photos. (Oct. 21) Copyright © Reed Business Information. All rights reserved.

About the Author: Foster Hirsch is a professor of film at Brooklyn College and the author of sixteen books on film and theater, including The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir, A Method to Their Madness: The History of the Actors Studio, and Kurt Weill on Stage: From Berlin to Broadway. He is a frequent commentator and host at the Landmark Loew’s Jersey. He lives in New York City.

The Landmark Loew's Jersey Theatre is one of America’s grandest surviving Movie Palaces, and now operates as a non-profit arts center. The Loew’s screens movies on our 50 ft wide x 25 ft high screen, using carbon arc illumination for the brightest, whitest light. We run reel-to-reel, not platter, which often allows us to screen an archival or studio vault print that is the best available copy of a movie title.

The Loew's Jersey, located at 54 Journal Square, Jersey City, is directly across JFK Boulevard from the JSQ PATH Center, is minutes from the N.J. Turnpike and is easily reached by car or mass transit from throughout the Metro Area.
Half-price off-street parking is available in Square Ramp Garage adjoining the Loew's. Patrons present a coupon to garage attendant when they leave. Coupon is available at our box office.
For directions or more information, call (201) 798-6055 or visit www.loewsjersey.org.
Classic Film Weekends are presented by Friends of the Loew's, Inc., which operates the Loew's Jersey as a not-for-profit arts center.
Press inquiries call Colin Egan at (201) 798-6055 or CEL (201) 344-7477. Or email [email protected]

Official Website: http://www.loewsjersey.org