Nicole CamposThings are looking good early in '09 for the inestimable New Beverly
Cinema, over a year into a well-deserved renaissance thanks to
consistently excellent revival programming and the frequent, unmissable
filmmaker-hosted events which have drawn faithful regulars and all-new
crowds to the theater in recent months. (The place looks better than
ever, too, thanks to the support of the crowds – a brand-new screen
plus new upholsteries, light fixtures, and most recently, a makeover to
their restrooms over the Thanksgiving holiday. Shiny.)
The New
Bev is in the midst of the first director-docented lineup of the year,
and it's a big one – the legendary (and legendarily hilarious and
irascible) Peter Bogdanovich, who dropped by on Wednesday and Friday
last week to discuss some of his own work including The Last Picture Show, What's Up Doc?, and at Friday's packed-house screening, Paper Moon and Mask. Paper Moon
screened first, in a flawless, recently-struck archival print that
demonstrably showed off the film's Midwest locations and
cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs' stunning black and white photography;
fans filing out for bathroom or cigarette breaks afterward could catch
the director arriving right as the credits were rolling. Ace timing,
P.B.
The New Bev staffers had talked up Bogdanovich's presence at
the previous Wednesday screening, and the auteur didn't disappoint;
launching directly into an anecdote about his fondness for listening to
music of the era when working on a period film, he described landing on Harold Arlen's 1933 track “It's Only a Paper Moon” and being so
taken with the image that he fought the studio to change the title from
that of the best-selling book, Addie Pray on which it was based.
Stymied by their resistance, he phoned up Orson Welles in Rome (“What
do you want?! I'm busy cutting.”) and asked for a second opinion on his
hunch. (“Paper Moon?! That title's so good you don't even have to
make the picture, just release the title!”) Never argue with a master.
Tatum O'Neal and Ryan O'Neal, Paper Moon
Besides fielding questions on everything from his favorite film of his
own (1981's They All Laughed) to how many bandanas he owns (in
reference to his ubiquitous neck accessory… and no, he doesn't upgrade
to ascots on dressier occasions), Bogdanovich talked shop about the
talent in the evening's films, from the father-daughter O'Neals to the
great Madeline Kahn (who had made her screen debut in What's Up Doc? the
year before Paper Moon.) Things took a predictably acerbic but no less
entertaining turn once the topic shifted to Mask, as his war of wills
with Cher on set and afterward has long been the stuff of legend.
(“You look at her eyes, and it's like she has all the pain and
suffering of the world in those eyes. And then you realize it's just
self-pity.”) Personality clashes aside, he spoke fondly of both her
performance and the director's cut of the film, which was about to
unspool on the big screen for the first time after being available on
DVD for a couple of years. With all the Springsteen tracks he'd
originally wanted to include restored (The Boss gave Universal an offer
they most studios can't refuse – he didn't charge them a dime) and two
key sequences edited back into the film, it's one the filmmaker feels
he can be proud of again. (“I made a sad film, certainly, but not
depressing. The one they released [in 1985] was depressing.”) A final
word of advice for aspiring filmmakers? Fight as hard as you can for
as long as you can, but whatever you do… “Never sue the studio.”
Eric Stoltz and Cher, Mask
The New Beverly's Bogdanovich series continues this week with a
selection of his favorite films, including North by Northwest and Touch
of Evil; in February, Brick director Rian Johnson programs “The
Festival of Fakery.” See their entire upcoming schedule at
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