The Official Blog of Laemmle Theatres.

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The official blog of Laemmle Theatres

LOUIS ARMSTRONG’S BLACK & BLUES: Experience an unprecedented look into the life of the founding father of jazz.

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We are honored to open Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, the new bio-doc that offers an intimate and revealing look at the world-changing genius musician. Presented through a lens of archival footage and never-before-heard home recordings and personal conversations, this definitive documentary, directed by Sacha Jenkins, honors Armstrong’s legacy as a founding father of jazz, one of the first internationally known and beloved stars, and a cultural ambassador of the United States. The film shows how Armstrong’s own life spans the shift from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement, and how he became a lightning rod figure in that turbulent era. Screenings begin Friday, October 28 at the NoHo.
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“Sacha Jenkins is undaunted by the complexity of his subject, plunging ahead with swagger and not worrying if we have unanswered questions at the end. A delightful experience for jazz buffs and more than an eye-opener for any youngsters who barely know who Armstrong was.” ~ John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter
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“A doc that will make you appreciate Armstrong, the man. Someone far too complex to reduce to any one thing.” ~ Christian Blauvelt, indieWire
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“Like one of Armstrong’s great solos, it feels packed with dynamics, sprinkled with astonishing high notes, and immensely pleasurable.” Leslie Felperin, The Guardian
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“The magical sounds Satchmo created gave people joy and so will this deeply affecting bio/doc.” ~ Dwight Brown, DwightBrownInk.com
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“The director’s spelunking of the film archives is amazing.” Ty Burr, Ty Burr’s Watch List

Ingmar Bergman’s PERSONA 55th Anniversary screenings December 13 at Laemmle Glendale, Newhall & Royal

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Abroad Series present the 55th anniversary of Ingmar Bergman’s Persona (1967) on December 13 at three Laemmle locations. The intense, provocative psychological drama was one of the keystone films of the late-period golden age of the art-house in the 1960s and energized the “Film Generation” that came of age in that seminal decade.

The story concerns an actress (Bergman newcomer Liv Ullmann) who stops speaking in the middle of a performance and refuses to communicate. She is placed in the care of a nurse (Bergman regular Bibi Andersson) and they retreat to the isolation of a beach house for her recovery. As their relationship progresses, it takes fascinating twists and turns. Some have compared their relationship to that of a psychiatrist and patient, with Ullmann paradoxically playing the role of the psychoanalyst whose silence prods the nurse into revealing some of her innermost secrets and deep-seated anxieties. Andersson’s confessions include one vivid memory of an uninhibited sexual encounter that critic Pauline Kael described as “one of the rare truly erotic sequences in movie history.”

Swedish auteur and all-time film titan Bergman was one of the directors at the center of the international film explosion that captivated moviegoers during that era. College students and engaged moviegoers debated long into the night, trying to decipher all the mysteries of this utterly compelling but sometimes puzzling film, not unlike the reaction to Alain Resnais’ enigmatic Last Year at Marienbad earlier in the decade. Andrew Sarris, the influential film critic of The Village Voice, noted that the film “seems to bewitch audiences even when it bewilders them.” Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune cited it as “one of the screen’s supreme works and perhaps Ingmar Bergman’s finest film.” Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian called it “sensually brilliant, an endlessly questioning and mysterious disquisition on identity. Persona is a film to make you shiver with fascination, or incomprehension, or desire.”

Persona plays one night only, Tuesday, December 13 at 7:00 PM at three Laemmle locations: the Royal (West Los Angeles), Glendale, and Newhall (Santa Clarita).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu_Jvil6ToY

“A genre work of superior, silken craftsmanship, so sinister, serpentine and sexy as to be downright swoon-worthy,” DECISION TO LEAVE opens Friday.

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What happens when an object of suspicion becomes a case of obsession? Winner of the Best Director prize earlier this year at Cannes, Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden) returns with Decision to Leave, a seductive romantic thriller that takes his renowned stylistic flair to dizzying new heights. As of this writing the film’s Rotten Tomatoes’ score is 93%, with the most sophisticated critics kvelling about the film’s artistry and suggesting repeat viewings. We open the film Friday at the NoHo and Glendale with additional engagements planned in the subsequent weeks around town.

“Even the most expositional passages of this elegant, tricky murder mystery brim with quietly stunning craft.” ~ A.A. Dowd, Chron
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“The film is a box of secret compartments; just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, one more panel springs open.” ~
Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine
“A genre work of superior, silken craftsmanship, so sinister, serpentine and sexy as to be downright swoon-worthy.” ~ Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
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“[Park Chan-wook’s] perspective is unmistakable in exploring the dark and twisted ways in which people relate to each other… So sumptuous, wrong, and fun.” ~ Christy Lemire, FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
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“The ambiguity of what is really going on is what makes the film so tantalizing…. Decision to Leave is a stunning achievement that ends by deliberately raising more questions than it answers.” ~ Gary M. Kramer, Salon.com
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“If the erotic thrillers of the past explored the dangers of lust, Park Chan-wook explores the risks of longing. His take on the genre isn’t just sexy; it’s playful and mordant and convoluted — and it begs to be rewatched.” ~ Shirley Li, The Atlantic

“In a world fraught with corporate values and shareholders, this was a family business that…understood the importance of planting a tree for the next generation.” Director Raphael Sbarge on his documentary ONLY IN THEATERS.

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Only in Theaters filmmaker Raphael Sbarge kindly penned a director’s statement to share with you:

“I grew up in New York City, which at the time felt like a city filled with artists and colorful, intellectual, people. My father was an artist and a filmmaker, my mother, a Broadway costume designer. When I met the Laemmle family, they felt very familiar to me—their caring for one another, their openness and curiosity, their shared passion for art, music and culture, and their recognition that those things make life richer. 

“It was always the Laemmle family that drew me to this story. 

Greg & Tish Laemmle

“Our plan was to highlight the Laemmle family’s unbelievable legacy and impact on the motion picture industry and set it against the slowly changing landscape. What we didn’t realize was the extent to which we were poised to witness history unfold. Not long after we started, we realized the story was much bigger than we had imagined. 

“We ended up following the family for over two-and-a-half years, during which the Laemmle story became a microcosm of the macrocosm. The question was, where was it all headed? 

Greg Laemmle

“Multiple generations of a family had built a business on the core principle of celebrating artists. There was something so innate, so essential about the Laemmle family mission, which was ever more remarkable in a world that often undervalues artists, even though artists help us see the world, interpret it, and give it meaning. 

“In a world fraught with corporate values and shareholders, this was a family business that wasn’t driven only by money, but by people who understood the importance of planting a tree for the next generation. 

Greg & Tish Laemmle

“We feel quite privileged to have been there, during what was the most tumultuous 24-month period in the theater’s history. We found ourselves quite suddenly in the “hot part of the flame,” witnessing the Laemmle’s’ challenges, which were echoed over and over by theaters around the country and around the world.” ~ Raphael Sbarge

Mr. Sbarge and cast member Greg Laemmle will participate in a Q&A following the 7 o’clock screening of Only in Theaters at the Monica Film Center on November 14 as part of the Reel Talk with Stephen Farber series. The regular engagements begin November 18 at the Royal and other Laemmle venues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er1BIUWv3MA

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION 65th Anniversary screening with the fabulous Ruta Lee in person!

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 65th anniversary screening of Billy Wilder’s courtroom classic, Witness for the Prosecution, based on Agatha Christie’s popular stage play, featuring the Mistress of Mystery’s celebrated surprise ending. At the time of its release, the studio took the unprecedented step of cautioning viewers not to reveal the surprise twists of the movie’s finale. The screening is Tuesday, October 18 at the Royal at 7 pm.

The movie, adapted by Wilder, Harry Kurnitz, and Larry Marcus, was an enormous box office success in 1957 and 1958 and went on to earn six top Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor Charles Laughton, and Best Supporting Actress Elsa Lanchester (who was married to Laughton in real life). Tyrone Power, in his last completed film, and the legendary Marlene Dietrich round out the star-studded lead cast.

Laughton plays a barrister in London’s Old Bailey, who is recovering from a heart attack and advised to avoid any strenuous cases. But when he learns of a tantalizing murder trial about to begin, he cannot resist the opportunity. Power plays a former airman accused of murdering a wealthy older woman who had made him the beneficiary of her will. Dietrich plays Power’s wife, who supposedly can provide an airtight alibi for the night of the murder. But Laughton soon discovers more complexities in the case, and the challenges excite his interest.

The courtroom scenes are the heart of the movie, but Wilder’s skill keeps the film from ever seeming static. What’s more, he works wonders with the imposing cast. Writing in the Times of London, Kevin Maher said, “Marlene Dietrich was never better than she is here.” New York Times critic Bosley Crowther declared, “The air in the courtroom fairly crackles with emotional electricity, until that staggering surprise in the last reel.” Leonard Maltin hailed Witness for the Prosecution as a “fantastically effective London courtroom suspenser… Dietrich is peerless as the wife of the alleged killer, Laughton at his best as defense attorney, and Lanchester delightful as his long-suffering nurse.” Agatha Christie herself considered it the finest film derived from one of her stories.

The lone surviving cast member, Ruta Lee, joins us for a Q&A. Her role is a brief but crucial one that contributes to the impact of the shattering conclusion. Lee will share memories of the four stars and of Wilder. She will also reminisce about other highlights of her long career. In the 1950s she sang and danced in several musical films, including ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,’ ‘Anything Goes,’ and ‘Funny Face.’ Her other films of that era include ‘Marjorie Morningstar’ and the popular Rat Pack vehicle ‘Sergeants 3.’ She also appeared in many of the most popular TV series of the time, including ‘Perry Mason,’ ‘Maverick,’ ‘Twilight Zone,’ ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents,’ and ‘The Fugitive.’ She was also a regular on game shows ‘Hollywood Squares,’ ‘High Rollers,’ and ‘Match Game.’ Later she performed on stage and in nightclubs, in the TV version of ‘Sweet Bird of Youth’ with Elizabeth Taylor, the hit series ‘Roseanne,’ and the movie ‘Funny Bones’ with Jerry Lewis. Expect juicy reminiscences of her lengthy career and her many costars.

Documentary about Laemmle ONLY IN THEATERS plays Saturday at the Newport Beach Film Festival.

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     This Saturday presents a chance for an advance screening of the documentary Only in Theaters at the Newport Beach Film Festival. The filmmaker and some cast members will be there for a Q&A. We’ve been in business since 1938 but this is the first time we’ve been the subject of a film. Director Raphael Sbarge started filming a few months before the pandemic started and it was an opportune moment in terms of dramatic content because of course COVID-19 shut us down for a year, but he kept on filming. Variety Magazine described the film as “2022’s most emotional theatrical experience so far…watching Greg Laemmle struggle with the fate of his family’s eponymous arthouse business.”
     Synopsis: The Laemmle Theatres, a beloved 84-year-old art house cinema chain in Los Angeles, is facing seismic change. The family members behind this multigenerational business—whose sole mission has been to support the art of film—remain determined, despite enormous challenges.
     Some of the people interviewed for Only in Theaters include Ava DuVernay, Cameron Crowe, James Ivory, Nicole Holofcener, Kevin Thomas, Leonard Maltin, Kenneth Turran, Allison Anders, and Greg Laemmle.
     If you want to wait to see Only in Theaters at a Laemmle Theatre, we’ll open it on 11/18 at the Royal and other venues.

“A much-appreciated record of resistance,” FOUR WINTERS opens Friday at the Royal, Town Center and Newhall.

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Torn from their families by the ravages of Hitler’s armies, men and women, many barely in their teens, escaped into the forests, banding together in partisan brigades; engaging in treacherous acts of sabotage, blowing up trains, burning electric stations, and attacking armed enemy headquarters. Against extraordinary odds, over 25,000 Jewish partisans courageously fought back against the Nazis and their collaborators from deep within the forests of WWII’s Belarus, Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

Sara Ginaite during the war.

The last surviving partisans relive their journey in Four Winters, sharing their stories of resistance. Director Julia Mintz shines a spotlight on their transformation from young innocents raised in closely knit Jewish communities and families, to becoming fierce partisan soldiers with enduring hope, grit, magnificent courage and deep humanity.

Featuring the photography of Faye Schulman, partisan photographer clad in her signature leopard coat, and through a fusion of inspiring and powerful first-person interviews with stunning archival footage, Four Winters uncovers secrets held for lifetimes, revealing a heartfelt narrative of heroism, determination and resilience.

Sara Ginaite being interviewed for the film.

“Four Winters offers an enduring warning amid today’s global struggle with authoritarian forces: As one speaker explains, her neighbors were already anti-Semitic before the war, but with power, they became vicious.” ~ Nicolas Rapold, New York Times

“Strikes a harrowing chord … Four Winters is an absorbing and emotional testament to a little-known aspect of the Holocaust, and a much-appreciated record of resistance.” ~ Valerie Kalfrin, AWFJ Women on Film

REEL TALK WITH STEPHEN FARBER moves to Laemmle’s Monica Film Center.

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Laemmle Theatres is pleased to announce that veteran film critic Stephen Farber’s popular REEL TALK WITH STEPHEN FARBER screening series is moving to Laemmle’s Monica Film Center this fall! See a variety of outstanding films from the U.S. and around the world, including many top awards contenders. Then meet the filmmakers for provocative and revealing discussions led by Stephen.  The first screening — CALL JANE — will be October 17 and special guests will be announced soon. Visit laemmle.com/reeltalk for updates.

Recent films and speakers at Reel Talk have included:

MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS, with director Anthony Fabian;

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN, with actors Christian Lees and Jonah Lees;

HAPPENING, with director Audrey Diwan and actress Anamaria Vartolomei;

THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, with director/co-writer Tom Gormican and co-writer Kevin Etten;

OPERATION MINCEMEAT, with screenwriter Michelle Ashford;

FIDDLER’S JOURNEY TO THE BIG SCREEN, with producer Sasha Berman and co-writer Michael Sragow;

AS THEY MADE US, with writer-director Mayim Bialik.