Screening Schedule

Robert Altman

Screening Schedule

December 3, 2014 – January 17, 2015

Wednesday, December 3

7:00The Delinquents. 1957. Screenplay by Altman. With Tom Laughlin, Peter Miller, Rosemary Howard. Before his feature film career took off with MASH, Altman’s early sponsored films and television work allowed him to develop his craft in a range of traditional genres. Among them is this 1950s teensploitation picture in which a pretty girl’s rebellion against bourgeois parents leads to recklessness and violence. DCP presentation courtesy the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. 72 min.

The Perfect Crime. 1955. Screenplay by Altman. Produced by the Calvin Company. With Leonard Belove, Owen Bush, Art Ellison. This noir-style public service film on traffic safety opens with a double murder. Digital projection.Courtesy Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research. 29 min.

Thursday, December 4

4:30TELEVISION PROGRAM 1

“Survival” (from Combat!). 1963. Teleplay by John D. F. Black. With Vic Morrow, Rick Jason, Pierre Jalbert. In what is generally considered the war series’s strongest and most realistic episode, WWII American soldier Morrow wanders alone, burned and shell-shocked, behind German lines. Courtesy ABC/Disney. 47 min.

“Nightmare in Chicago” (adapted from Kraft Suspense Theatre: Once Upon a Savage Night). 1964. Teleplay by David Moessinger, based on a novel by William P. McGivern. With Charles McGraw, Robert Ridgely, Ted Knight, Barbara Turner. Shot on location in and around Chicago, this gritty crime thriller, much of it told from a serial killer’s perspective, is the best of the director’s early flirtations with classic film noir. It also features an early score by John Williams.- Courtesy Gary Huggins. 80 min.

7:30Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. 1982. Screenplay by Ed Graczyk. With Sandy Dennis, Cher, Karen Black, Sudie Bond, Kathy Bates. A fan club reunion at a fading soda-fountain shrine to James Dean on the anniversary of his death becomes a meditation on gender, power, and female identity. As with other stage adaptations made during his periods of retreat from Hollywood, Altman challenges viewers to experience the interplay of visual storytelling and the spoken word. As he often did, the director focuses on a strong cast of women, and Cher’s stellar performance launched her screen career. Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by The Film Foundation and The Hollywood Foreign Press Association. 109 min.

Pot au Feu. 1965. Cooking up a joint French-style. Digital video presentation courtesy the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. 4 min.

Introduced by Kathryn Reed Altman and David Gropman, Production Designer

Friday, December 5

4:30TELEVISION PROGRAM 2

“Silent Thunder” (from Bonanza). 1960. Teleplay by John Furia, Jr. With Michael Landon, Stella Stevens, Albert Salmi. In this episode of the long-running Western series, Little Joe (Landon) saves a deaf farm girl from a sexual predator and teaches her how to overcome alienation from her father. Digital video presentation courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. 50 min.
“All the President’s Women” (from Gun). 1997. Screenplay by Anne Rapp. With Daryl Hannah, Sally Kellerman, Jennifer Tilly, Sean Young, Randy Quaid, Tina Lifford. Bill Clinton’s presidency is the subtext for this sardonic mystery about a missing weapon and the philandering country-club set. Courtesy Multicom Entertainment.60 min.

8:00The James Dean Story. 1957. Screenplay by Stewart Stern. Narrated by Martin Gabel. Made shortly after the actor’s violent death, Altman’s first film about James Dean is a noir eulogy capitalizing on interviews with close family and friends. The use of landscape as a breeding ground for character would become an important, if overlooked, motif in his work.35mm print courtesy the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. 81 min.

Modern Football. 1951. Produced by the Calvin Company. This industrial film reviews national regulations governing high school football through the efforts of a would-be gridiron hero. Look for the director himself as a press box extra. Digital projection.Courtesy Gary Huggins. 26 min.

Introduced by Jennifer George, daughter of the film's co-producer George W. George

Saturday, December 6

2:30Corn’s-A-Poppin’. 1956. Directed by Robert Woodburn. Screenplay by Woodburn, Altman. Altman cowrote this independent musical comedy, directed and performed by colleagues from the Calvin Company in his hometown of Kansas City. This low-budget affair, about a popcorn executive, the ensemble cast of the show he sponsors, and a conniving competitor, is replete with the social satire and dramatic deadpan that would become Altman’s trademark. Restored by the Northwest Chicago Film Society, with funding from the National Film Preservation Foundation. 58 min. New York Premiere. Introduced by Kyle Westphal, Vice President, Northwest Chicago Film Society.

5:00The Player. 1992. Screenplay by Michael Tolkin. With Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Cynthia Stevenson, Margery Bond. Tim Robbins stars in this waggish Hollywood exposé as a studio executive whose attempt to track down a screenwriter sending him hate mail results in an accidental murder and a sleazy web of lies. The crime plot doubles as an indictment of a depraved industry, as satire melds with dark comedy. A box-office success packed with star cameos and industry references, The Player announced Altman’s return to Hollywood after independent projects throughout the 1980s, but Altman never got too cozy: “As for Hollywood, they sell shoes and I make gloves. So we really aren’t in the same business.”Courtesy Academy Film Archive. 124 min.

8:00Countdown. 1968. Screenplay by Loring Mandel, based on the novel The Pilgrim Project, by Hank Searls. With James Caan, Robert Duvall, Joanna Moore, Barbara Baxley, Charles Aidman. Altman’s first Hollywood feature follows two astronauts vying to be the first American sent the moon, and charts the ripples in their family lives in the days leading up the mission, expedited due to Soviet advancements. Anticipating the first moon landing by a year, the crew conferred with NASA experts to replicate the Apollo capsule in the Warner Bros. sound stages—with estimable results for the time—and James Caan’s character takes his first steps on “the Moon” in the Mojave Desert. Courtesy Warner Bros.101 min.

The Sound of Bells. 1952. Screenplay by Altman. Produced by the Calvin Company. With Keith Painton. Two Christmas eves bookend this primer on car dealing and parable on kindness. Courtesy Gary Huggins. 22 min.

Sunday, December 7

1:30The Delinquents. 1957. Screenplay by Altman. With Tom Laughlin, Peter Miller, Rosemary Howard. Before his feature film career took off with MASH, Altman’s early sponsored films and television work allowed him to develop his craft in a range of traditional genres. Among them is this 1950s teensploitation picture in which a pretty girl’s rebellion against bourgeois parents leads to recklessness and violence. DCP presentation courtesy the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. 72 min.

The Perfect Crime. 1955. Screenplay by Altman. Produced by the Calvin Company. With Leonard Belove, Owen Bush, Art Ellison. This noir-style public service film on traffic safety opens with a double murder. Digital projection.Courtesy Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research. 29 min.

4:30TELEVISION PROGRAM 3

“The Young One” (from Alfred Hitchcock Presents). 1957. Teleplay by Sarrett Rudley, from a story by Phillip Goodman, Sandy Sax. With Carol Lynley, Vince Edwards, Stephen Joyce, Jeanette Nolan. A teenage girl (Lynley) uses sex and violence to escape her home life in this dry run for the psychologically distressed female characters both actress and director would revisit in later work.Courtesy NBCUniversal. 30 min.

“Some of the People, Some of the Time” (from Route 66). 1961. Teleplay by Stirling Silliphant. With Martin Milner, George Maharis, Keenan Wynn, Lois Nettleton, Shirl Conway. In Wynn’s first performance for Altman, small town Pennsylvania is the setting for the Corvette-driving series regulars’ encounter with a shady beauty contest promoter. Courtesy Roxbury Entertainment. 60 min.

7:00That Cold Day in the Park. 1969. Screenplay by Gillian Freeman, adapted from the novel by Richard Miles. With Sandy Dennis, Michael Burns, Susanne Benton. In the first of several Altman films exploring the interior world of unstable anti-heroines, Sandy Dennis delivers an arresting performance as Frances, a wealthy young “spinster” who shelters an apparently homeless and mute (and handsome) young man on a rainy Vancouver day. When Frances discovers the truth about the mysterious boy, she regains control by any means necessary, bringing this modern gothic psychodrama to a climactic finish. Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive, with funding provided by The Film Foundation and The Hollywood Foreign Press Association. 113 min.

Speak Low. 1966. Produced for Color-Sonic. Burlesque star Lili St. Cyr makes herself comfortable as Frances never could. Digital projection. CourtesyJim McDonnell. 4 min.

Monday, December 8

4:30The James Dean Story. 1957. Screenplay by Stewart Stern. Narrated by Martin Gabel. Made shortly after the actor’s violent death, Altman’s first film about James Dean is a noir eulogy capitalizing on interviews with close family and friends. The use of landscape as a breeding ground for character would become an important, if overlooked, motif in his work. 35mm print courtesy the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive.81 min.

Modern Football. 1951. Produced by the Calvin Company. This industrial film reviews national regulations governing high school football through the efforts of a would-be gridiron hero. Look for the director himself as a press box extra. Digital projection.Courtesy Gary Huggins. 26 min.

Introduced by Jennifer George, daughter of the film's co-producer George W. George

8:00MASH. 1970. Screenplay by Ring Lardner Jr., based on the novel by Richard Hooker. With Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall, Corey Fischer. Set in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War, MASH chronicles the romantic escapades, after-hours tricks, and behind-the-battle-lines sports adventures of three hedonistic surgeons. Altman debuted several of his now-signature techniques—overlapping dialogue, tight close-ups, and rich performances by an ensemble cast—creating a carefully constructed sense of chaos. This antiwar dispatch earned an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Altman’s star began to rise with the arc of the counterculture. 116 min.

Ebb Tide. 1966. Produced for Color-Sonic. Lili St. Cyr lounges seaside. Digital projection.CourtesyJim McDonnell. 4 min.

Tuesday, December 9

4:00Countdown. 1968. Screenplay by Loring Mandel, based on the novel The Pilgrim Project, by Hank Searls. With James Caan, Robert Duvall, Joanna Moore, Barbara Baxley, Charles Aidman. Altman’s first Hollywood feature follows two astronauts vying to be the first American sent the moon, and charts the ripples in their family lives in the days leading up the mission, expedited due to Soviet advancements. Anticipating the first moon landing by a year, the crew conferred with NASA experts to replicate the Apollo capsule in the Warner Bros. sound stages—with estimable results for the time—and James Caan’s character takes his first steps on “the Moon” in the Mojave Desert.Courtesy Warner Bros. 101 min.

7:00Brewster McCloud. 1970. Screenplay by Doran William Cannon. With Bud Cort, Shelley Duvall, Sally Kellerman, René Auberjonois, John Schuck. An introverted young man hiding in the Houston Astrodome, under the protection of a guardian angel, dreams of flying on artificial wings—until he is brought down to Earth by a sexual encounter with a featherbrained girl. This Fellini-inspired comic allegory, an unlikely follow-up to the success of MASH, was among the director’s favorites. 35mm print courtesy the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive.105 min.

Behind the Scenes of Brewster McCloud [excerpt]. 1970. Footage of the director and crew working on mechanical flying effects in the Astrodome. Silent. Digital video presentation courtesy the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. 5 min.

Wednesday, December 10

4:00That Cold Day in the Park. 1969. Screenplay by Gillian Freeman, adapted from the novel by Richard Miles. With Sandy Dennis, Michael Burns, Susanne Benton. In the first of several Altman films exploring the interior world of unstable anti-heroines, Sandy Dennis delivers an arresting performance as Frances, a wealthy young “spinster” who shelters an apparently homeless and mute (and handsome) young man on a rainy Vancouver day. When Frances discovers the truth about the mysterious boy, she regains control by any means necessary, bringing this modern gothic psychodrama to a climactic finish. Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive, with funding provided by The Film Foundation and The Hollywood Foreign Press Association. 113 min.

Speak Low. 1966. Produced for Color-Sonic. Burlesque star Lili St. Cyr makes herself comfortable as Frances never could. Digital projection.CourtesyJim McDonnell. 4 min.

7:00McCabe and Mrs. Miller. 1971. Screenplay by Altman, Brian McKay. With Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, René Auberjonois, Michael Murphy. The director’s anti-Western taps into 1970s paranoia about the ruthlessness and long reach of corporate America. In the unforgiving frontier wilderness of Washington State in 1902, Christie’s cynical prostitute and Beatty’s hapless con man fall victim to deluded ambition, bravado, and despair. 120 min.

Zinc Ointment. 1971. Directed by Marianne Dolan. Footage from the set of McCabe and Mrs. Miller documents the complex production demands—and the good times—of location work in adverse conditions. Digital video presentation courtesy the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. 9 min.

Thursday, December 11

4:00Brewster McCloud. 1970. Screenplay by Doran William Cannon. With Bud Cort, Shelley Duvall, Sally Kellerman, René Auberjonois, John Schuck. An introverted young man hiding in the Houston Astrodome, under the protection of a guardian angel, dreams of flying on artificial wings—until he is brought down to Earth by a sexual encounter with a featherbrained girl. This Fellini-inspired comic allegory, an unlikely follow-up to the success of MASH, was among the director’s favorites. 35mm print courtesy the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive105 min.

7:30Images. 1972. Screenplay by Altman. With Rene Auberjonois, Marcel Bozzuffi, Hugh Millais, Cathryn Harrison, Susannah York. In a countryside cottage, a children’s book author finds herself tormented by visions of a deceased lover, which she battles with fantasies of bloody violence. Told entirely from the woman’s muddled perspective, this elliptical tale registers like a fever dream, complete with dizzying cinematography and an eerie score performed by Japanese percussionist Stomu Yamashta. While denying the viewer the genre’s usual cathartic payoff, Altman’s take on the psychological thriller—and his fragile and haunted heroine—is powerful nonetheless. Courtesy Harvard Film Archive. 101 min.

Damages. 2001. Directed by Marianne Dolan.A home movie from the set of Images.Digital video presentation courtesy the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. 9 min.

Friday, December 12

4:00Gosford Park. 2001. Screenplay by Julian Fellowes. With Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Kristen Scott Thomas, Ryan Phillippe, Clive Owen. The master of the house invites distinguished guests for a weekend shooting party—and is murdered in the dark of night. This English-manor whodunit, Altman’s most successful film since MASH, boasts a knockout cast of British stage and screen talent. Julian Fellowes’s cleverly layered script—pitting the babble of the landed against the gossip of the servants’ quarters—won an Academy Award and served as a model for Fellowes’s successful series Downton Abbey (2010–). 137 min.

7:00The Long Goodbye. 1973. Screenplay by Leigh Brackett, based on novel by Raymond Chandler. With Elliott Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson. After toying with film noir in his early film and television work, Altman made his major contribution to the genre with this sun-drenched, Technicolor Raymond Chandler adaptation. Gould’s chain-smoking Philip Marlowe is like a mumbling Rip Van Winkle awaking 30 years out of date in 1970s Los Angeles. Ceaseless, arbitrary camera movement creates a sense of uneasy voyeurism, and a jazzy John Williams/Johnny Mercer title song plays over and over as an inescapable, fatalistic motif.35mm print courtesy the Robert Altman Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive.112 min.