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Ritz at the Bourse
400 Ranstead Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19106
Duchess of Langeais (Ne touchez pas la hache)
Not Rated, 2 hr 17 min
12:20, 3:20, 6:20, 9:20
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Mauckingbird Theatre Company . Moliere's The Misanthrope.
Movies:
Charles Boyer and the Art of Seduction (May 23-27) at the Film Society of Lincoln Center
This series, screening at the Walter Reade Theater, salutes the Gallic star with the unmistakable voice whose enduring career made him an international star. Among the classics screening in the series are Le Bonheur, directed by Marcel L’Herbier; The Earrings of Madame de…, directed by Max Ophüls; Gaslight, directed by George Cukor; and History is Made at Night, directed by Frank Borzage.
Le Bonheur
Marcel L’Herbier, France, 1934; 115m
Fri May 23: 8:15pm; Sun May 25: 5:30pm
A prominent member of the French 1920s avant-garde, Marcel L’Herbier co-founded La Cinémathèque Francaise in 1936. Many of his films were made for Gaumont, beginning with Rose-France in 1918 and L’Homme du large in 1920, with a 21-year-old Charles Boyer making his screen debut. The duo teamed up again fourteen years later for the political romance drama Le Bonheur, based on a play by prolific 1930s playwright Henri Bernstein. Boyer stars as a fervent anarchist who vows to kill anyone who represents the establishment. As a result, he ends up shooting and wounding a music hall singer (Gaby Morlay) during a performance. Despite this mishap, the two become romantically involved. During his attempted murder trial he refuses Morlay’s testimony, preferring to be a martyr to his cause. In this offbeat romance, events work out in an unexpected fashion. Co-starring Michel Simon. Special thanks to the French Cultural Services.
Gaslight
George Cukor, US, 1944; 114m
Sat May 24: 9:00pm; Sun May 25: 1:00pm
A more lavish production than Thorold Dickinson’s 1939 British original based on Patrick Hamilton’s moody period melodrama, George Cukor’s Gaslight is equally well-acted by a sterling cast that stars Boyer as the slimy but elegant husband trying to drive his beautiful wife mad. Ingrid Bergman is affecting as the newlywed totally in the thrall of her tyrannical husband, and Angela Lansbury rings Oscar bells in her unforgettable screen debut as a surly, insolent parlor maid whom Boyer cunningly uses to add insult to his wife’s injuries. Cukor directs with consummate skill, planting an indefinable sense of unease during the couple’s Italian honeymoon, followed by the beautifully orchestrated crescendo of tension and terror in a claustrophobic London townhouse enveloped in nightly fog. The fog seems internal as well as external, reflecting the deteriorating state of the mistress of the house. A Victorian chiller that makes a lasting cinematic impact.
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Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2007-2008
The 45th New York Film Festival
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