Lola Montez
dir: Max Ophüls
France/West Germany 1955 | 35mm | color | 110 min | in German with English subtitles

Fri.5.Dec | 2008 | 7:30 pm
UW Cinematheque, 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave. | Madison | FREE

With Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov, Adolf Wohlbrück | Ophüls’s celebrated final film is arguably his masterpiece. Lavishly shot in color and CinemaScope — The New York Times called it, “an eye-expanding summation of (his) lush, romantic style” — and structured around a series of flashbacks, Lola Montez recounts the life story of a cabaret dancer who ends her career as a circus attraction. The presentation of the rarely screened German version of Lola Montez will be introduced by Stefan Drößler, Director of the Munich Filmmuseum.
Cinematheque web site

Blue Denim
dir: Philip Dunne
USA 1959 | 35mm | b/w | 89 min

Fri.12.Dec | 2008 | 7:30 pm
UW Cinematheque, 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave. | Madison | FREE

With Carol Lynley, Brandon De Wilde, Macdonald Carey | Although you won’t hear the word uttered in the film, the theme of Blue Denim is abortion. A boy and a girl find themselves about to become unwed parents. Desperate for help, they can’t turn to their own parents, who are preoccupied and out of touch. As a last resort, the teenagers decide to take extreme, and illegal, measures.
Cinematheque web site

Classic Book & Movie Club Presents:
Persuasion
dir: Roger Mitchell
UK 1995 | 107 min | DVD

Sun.19.Jan | 2009 | 1:30 pm
Wisconsin History Society, 816 State Street | Madison | FREE

with introduction and discussion by University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Emeritus of English, Joseph Weisenfarth | Persuasion is the story of a love that survives eight years of dormancy and the frustrating obstacles of class prejudice in 19th-century England. Anne (Amanda Root) is captivated when she meets the dignified naval officer Capt. Wentworth (Ciarán Hinds), but she is advised to discourage his romantic overtures because he has no fortune. They meet again eight years later, but now Captain Wentworth has become wealthy while Anne’s father is in reduced circumstances in the wake of reckless extravagance. A series of circumstances ensues that prevent Anne and Wentworth from expressing their mutual and inevitable love. The film’s success depends entirely on the subtle, superb performances of Root and Hinds. The film builds slowly, occasionally leaving you wondering if anything at all is going to happen. When it does, you realize how carefully crafted a film this is, and the final result is grandly rewarding.
   Admission to all the screenings is free to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information about the program, contact Karen Kron at 608-264-6445 or via e-mail. The series presents Hollywood movies adapted from classic books of the 19th and 20th centuries. Participants are invited to read the books, then see the movies — on the big screen!
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