HIGHLIGHT
HITCHCOCK’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
Celebrated for the macabre, tour-de-force plots and sublime twist endings that would come to define the very genre of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock is one of cinema’s greatest auteurs, his career spanning six decades and over sixty films. In honor of Hitchcock’s August 13 birthday, Film Movement Plus pays homage to the “Master of Suspense” with five of his classic thrillers, listed below in chronological order.
THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1934) — Bob and Jill Lawrence (Leslie Banks and Edna Best) are traveling with their daughter in Switzerland when they witness the murder of a man, who, before he dies, reveals an international plot to assassinate a foreign diplomat. The killers then capture the Lawrence’s daughter to ensure their silence. Unable to seek help from the police, they return to London, where they discover the location of the planned assassination is Royal Albert Hall. The famous climax that ensues was based on a real-life 1911 incident involving Winston Churchill known as the “Siege of Sidney Street.” Later remade by Hitchcock in 1956 with James Stewart and Doris Day, the original film is noteworthy for being Peter Lorre’s first English speaking role.
THE 39 STEPS (1935) — A prototype for what would follow in Hitchcock’s American career, The 39 Step is a pulse-pounding spy story following Richard Hannay (Robert Donat), a vacationing Canadian who
unwittingly stumbles into a conspiracy and becomes embroiled in an international spy ring. From a hectic chase across the Scottish moors to a romance with the cool Pamela (Madeline Carroll), an unwilling accomplice, The 39 Steps remains one of Hitchcock’s cleverest and most entertaining films.
SABOTAGE (1936) — Based on Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent and starring Oscar Homolka and Sylvia Sidney, Sabotage is one of Hitchcock’s most significant pre-war British films. Karl Verloc (Homolka), manager of a London cinema, is secretly involved with a gang of European saboteurs who are plotting a massive bomb attack in Piccadilly Circus. His wife (Sidney) is beginning to suspect something, though, and so is Scotland Yard Detective Sgt. Ted Spencer (John Loder). With the Can the police bring the saboteurs to justice before they perpetrate their outrage on London?
THE LADY VANISHES (1938)–In Alfred Hitchcock’s most quick-witted and devilish comic thriller, the beautiful Margaret Lockwood (Night Train to Munich), traveling across Europe by train, meets a charming spinster (Dame May Whitty, Suspicion), who then seems to disappear into thin air. The younger woman turns investigator and finds herself drawn into a complex web of mystery and high adventure. Also starring Michael Redgrave (The Browning Version), The Lady Vanishes remains one of the great filmmaker’s purest delights, and the British Film Institute ranks it as the 35th best British film of the 20th century.
JAMAICA INN (1939)–In this dark period drama, a young woman discovers her uncle heads a gang of ship-wreckers and murderers under the secret patronage of the local squire, wickedly played by Charles Laughton. Her efforts to stop their wicked ways leads her down a path filled with murder and betrayal. Jamaica Inn was the first of Hitchcock’s adaptations of Daphne Du Maurier’s novels including Rebecca and The Birds. It was also Hitchcock’s last film made in the UK before coming to America and the film that introduced the world to Maureen O’Hara.
Friday, August 7
PREMIERE
SHIRAZ: A ROMANCE OF INDIA
Based on the romance between 17th-century Mughal ruler Shah Jahan and his queen, this 1928 epic silent film is the ravishing, romantic tale behind the creation of one of the world’s most iconic structures: the Taj Mahal. A sweeping historical romance set in the Mughal Empire, Franz Osten’s SHIRAZ, a precursor to Fritz Lang’s “Indian Epic” (see August 14 premiere), was shot entirely on location in India with an all-Indian cast and features lavish costumes and gorgeous settings — all the more impressive in a 4K restoration by the BFI National Archive which features a specially commissioned score by the Grammy Award-winning Anoushka Shankar.
Selima (Enakshi Rama Rau) is a princess-foundling raised by a potter and loved by her brother, Shiraz (Indian film legend Himansu Rai). She is abducted and sold as a slave to Prince Khurram, later Emperor Shah Jehan (Charu Roy), who falls for her, to the chagrin of the wily Dalia (Seeta Devi). When Selima is caught with Shiraz, the young man is condemned to be trampled to death by an elephant. A pendant reveals Selima’s royal status and she saves her brother, marries the prince and becomes Empress Mumtaz Mahal, while Dalia is banned for her machinations against Selima. When Selima dies, the emperor builds her a monument to the design of the now old and blind Shiraz, the Taj Mahal.
“For this sumptuous fictional reworking of the romantic origins of the
Taj Mahal does not stint on scale. Blessed with a cast of literal thousands, not to mention camels, elephants and horses without number, this film
is more than set in 17th century India, it transports you back to that
time and place.”
— Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
“A startlingly ambitious epic.”
— Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Friday, August 14
PREMIERE
THE TIGER OF ESCHNAPUR & THE INDIAN TOMB
BONUS VIDEO ESSAY: DEBRA PAGET, FOR EXAMPLE
After more than two decades of exile in Hollywood, master filmmaker Fritz Lang triumphantly returned to his native Germany to direct a lavish two-part adventure from a story he co-authored almost forty years earlier: 1959’s THE TIGER OF ESCHNAPUR and THE INDIAN TOMB, which together would become known as FRITZ LANG’S INDIAN EPIC. Initially released in America as Journey to the Lost City, a radically condensed 90-minute version, these exotic masterpieces are finally presented in all their original splendor, featuring over 3 hours of breathtaking cinematography and cliff-hanging suspense, in this new 4K restored edition.
A cinematic link between the classic silent serials and the modern action/adventures of Indiana Jones and The Mummy, FRITZ LANG’S INDIAN EPIC was the director’s penultimate film, made when he was approaching 70 and fallen out of favor with Hollywood. Given more freedom and money than he had seen in years, Lang returned to his exotic adventures, originally penned in 1921, for his lavish return to the director’s chair. With extensive location shoots, a large international cast, elaborate sets and a jungle’s worth of elephants and tigers, Lang crafted a blend of color, decor, movement and montage that, in the twilight of his career, once again proved him a virtuoso of film form.
In THE TIGER OF ESCHNAPUR, German architect Harold Berger (Paul Hubschmid) crosses paths with Seetha (Debra Paget), a beautiful temple dancer, whom he saves from the jaws of a man-eating tiger. The two share mutual feelings for each other, but Seetha has already been promised in marriage to Chandra, the Maharaja of Eschnapur. When their secret attraction is revealed, the two lovers are forced to flee for their lives into the desert. In Part Two, THE INDIAN TOMB, doomed lovers Berger and Seetha are rescued by sympathetic desert villagers, only to be later given up for ransom. Seetha is captured and sent back to Eschnapur, where she must perform a death-defying temple dance to prove her innocence. Meanwhile, Chandra’s half-brother, Ramigani, incites a revolt against the Maharaja and uses both Berger and Seetha as pawns in his plot to seize the throne.
Further, to commemorate Debra Paget’s birthday on August 19, Film Movement Plus also presents DEBRA PAGET, FOR EXAMPLE (2016, 37 minutes). Paget was a contract player for 20th Century Fox, whom they groomed and coached for stardom. This video essay from acclaimed filmmaker Rappaport looks at Paget’s ten-year run in the ’50s as an above-the-title star and her abrupt exit from the movie business.
PLEASE NOTE: This 4K restoration of FRITZ LANG’S INDIAN EPIC presents the films THE TIGER OF ESCHNAPUR and THE INDIAN TOMB as they were originally created in 1959. These films are a product of their time and contain cultural and racial depictions that viewers may find offensive.
“A sweeping adventure filled with tigers, snakes, romance and the
camp-connoisseur favorite Debra Paget… More than three hours of expressionistic color and wild plot developments await.”
— Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times
“A clear precursor to the Indiana Jones series…Perhaps Lang’s most
open-aired use of color, and wonderful, late-period entertainment.”
— Jeffrey Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
“An utterly glorious late testimonial and summative work from one of cinema’s titans.”
— Roderick Heath, Film Freedonia
Friday, August 21
PREMIERE
DOGS ON THE INSIDE
National Dog Day, which is celebrated on August 26, celebrates all breeds, pure and mixed and serves to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year, either from public shelters, rescues and pure breed rescues. National Dog Day honors family dogs and dogs that work selflessly to save lives, keep us safe and bring comfort. To help mark the occasion for man’s best friend, Film Movement Plus premieres the uplifting documentary DOGS ON THE INSIDE.
Directed by Brean Cunningham and Douglas Seirup, DOGS ON THE INSIDE follows the relationships between abused stray dogs and prison inmates working towards a second chance at a better life. In an attempt to rebuild their confidence and prepare for a new life outside, these prisoners must first learn to handle and care for a group of neglected strays. This heartwarming story reconfirms the timeless connection between man and dog, showing the resiliency of a dogs’ trust and the generosity of the human spirit in the unlikeliest of places.
“Filmmakers Brean Cunningham’s and Douglas Seirup’s approach is straightforward, but the prisoners’ desire to make a better life for the
dogs – and themselves – is what will stick in your memory and your heart.”
— Kathryn Laskaris, Toronto Star
“Two parties neglected and forgotten become the powerful emotional center of [this] uplifting documentary.”
— Anthony Marcusa, Ecorazzi
