THE SERENGETI RULES Dr. Jim Estes, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCSC and subject of the film with Dr John Terborgh, Professor of Environmental Sciences, Duke University also subject of the film will participate in a Q&A moderated by David Guy Elisco, Executive Producer, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios following the 7:50 pm show on Friday, 5/17.
Q&A with WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY Filmmaker Tomorrow in Pasadena.
WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY writer-director Madeleine Olnek will participate in a Q&A after the 3:20 PM screening at the Playhouse on Saturday, April 20.
HESBURGH Q&A’s with Filmmakers Opening Weekend at the Fine Arts and Playhouse 7.
HESBURGH Q&A’s with director Patrick Creadon following the 4:30 pm and 7:00 pm shows on Saturday, 5/4 at the Fine Arts. Producer Christine O’MAlley will Q&A after the 7:20 pm show on Friday, 5/3 at the Playhouse 7.
Marcel Pagnol’s Classic French Comedy THE BAKER’S WIFE, Restored and Back in Theaters April 26-May 2.
The warmth and wit of celebrated playwright turned auteur Marcel Pagnol (The Marseille Trilogy) shines through in the enchanting slice-of-life comedy The Baker’s Wife (1938). Returning once again to the Provençal countryside he knew intimately, Pagnol draws a vivid portrait of a close-knit village where the marital woes of a sweetly deluded baker (the inimitable Raimu, heralded by no less than Orson Welles as “the greatest actor who ever lived”) snowball into a scandal that engulfs the entire town. Marrying the director’s abiding concern for the experiences of ordinary people with an understated but superbly judged visual style, The Baker’s Wife is at once wonderfully droll and piercingly perceptive in its nuanced treatment of the complexities of human relationships.
Here’s are some fun facts about the movie:
—The story is taken from the novel Blue Boy (Jean le bleu) by Jean Giono. It was Marcel Pagnol’s fourth and final Giono adaptation, after Jofroi (1934), Angèle (1934), and Harvest (1937).
—Pagnol’s initial choice for the role of the baker was Marcel Maupi, whose frail constitution was more in keeping with Giono’s physical description of the character in Blue Boy. But the part eventually went to the burly Raimu. (Maupi plays Barnabé in the film.)
—Pagnol wrote the part of Aurélie for Joan Crawford, using minimal dialogue since she didn’t speak French. After she declined, Raimu convinced Pagnol to cast Ginette Leclerc, who would go on to star in such films as Le Corbeau (1943) and Tropic of Cancer (1970).
—Raimu refused to play his dialogue scenes outdoors. Therefore, much of the film was shot in a studio, giving many scenes a look that’s a combination of location and studio photography.
—The film’s exteriors were shot in the medieval village of Le Castellet, roughly thirty miles southeast of Marseille. Today, the area is famous for its wine production and Formula 1 racetrack.
—The film was a major critical and box office hit in France when it was released in 1938. In 1940, the film also had a successful run in the U.S., where it won best foreign film honors from both the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle.
—In the mid-forties, after the war, Orson Welles visited Pagnol and told him that he had seen The Baker’s Wife and would like to meet its star, Raimu, whose acting Welles revered. Pagnol informed Welles that Raimu had recently passed away, and Welles burst into tears.
—Pagnol adapted his script for The Baker’s Wife into a theatrical production but only staged one performance. In 1976, a musical adaptation of the same name, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Joseph Stein, embarked on a six-month tour of small venues in the U.S., undergoing major retooling along the way. The musical finally premiered in the West End in 1989. Although the reviews and audience reaction were positive, the show lasted here for only fifty-six performances. It has not been produced on Broadway.
—In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, despite his own distaste for movies, mentions that his younger sister, Phoebe, likes them and knows the difference between good and bad films. He says that he took her to see The Baker’s Wife and she found it hysterical.
We will screen The Baker’s Wife daily at the Ahrya Fine Arts April 26-May 2 and April 29 at the Laemmle Glendale, April 30 at the Playhouse 7, May 1 at the Town Center and Claremont, and May 2 at the Royal.
BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ Q&A’s with Filmmakers and Guests Opening Weekend at the Monica Film Center
BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ Q&A details below:
April 19th – after the 7:10 pm show
Filmmakers Pamela B. Green (director) and Joan Simon (co-writer) with Kathy Bates, Kiernan Shipka and Catherine Hardwicke. Moderated by Evan Kleiman.
April 20th – after the 1:40 pm show
Filmmakers Pamela B. Green (director) and Joan Simon (co-writer) with Cari Beauchamp, Teri Shropshire and Patricia Riggen.
April 21st – after the 1:40 pm show
Filmmaker Jon Wilkman, film archivist Dino Everett, and film historian Anthony Slide. With David Kipen serving as moderator.
TIME STANDS STILL Q&A with Star Sandor Soeth at the Town Center.
TIME STANDS STILL Q&A with star Sandor Soeth following the 7:30 pm show on Thursday, 4/25.
LOST & FOUND Q&A’s with Cast and Crew Opening Weekend at the Monica Film Center.
LOST & FOUND Q&A’s with filmmaker Liam O. Mochain and star Norma Sheahan following the 7:10 pm show on Friday, 4/19 and Saturday, 4/20 and after the 1:10 pm show on Sunday, 4/21. Friday’s Q&A will be moderated by Nathaniel Bell, film critic, LA Weekly.
BARDO BLUES Q&A’s with Cast & Crew at the Monica Film Center.
BARDO BLUES Q&A’s with filmmaker Marcia Kimpton after the 5:30 pm and 7:40 pm shows on Friday, 5/3; with star Natalie Sperl after the 7:40 pm show on Saturday, 5/4 and Sunday, 5/5 and with star Stephen McClintic following the 7:40 pm show Monday, 5/6 through Wednesday, 5/8.
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