Wexner Center summer film series spotlights rarely screened gems by Hollywood icons

On Thursday, July 6, the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University debuts its summer film series for 2017, The New Hollywood: Deep Cuts 1967–78. The 16-film program, which runs through August 24, highlights under-seen and underappreciated gems from “The New Hollywood” era of American studio filmmaking that began in the mid-1960s with the demise of the studio system and ended in the late 1970s with the rise of the blockbuster approach to moviemaking, following the box office success of films such as Jaws and Star Wars. Most films will be screened in 35mm.

“The period was distinguished, in part, by an unusual measure of freedom given to filmmakers and the creation of iconic masterpieces such as Easy Rider, The Godfather, The French Connection, Chinatown, Taxi Driver, and more,” explains David Filipi, the Wex’s Director of Film/Video, who curated the program with Chris Stults, Associate Curator of Film/Video.

“As much as the era produced a rich vein of American classics, it also included many films that were directed by leading filmmakers, or featured some of our best-known actors and actresses, that are not as well remembered,” Filipi adds. “The series aims to round out our understanding of this vibrant era. Even people familiar with ‘The New Hollywood’ through films such as Bonnie and Clyde or Mean Streets will be surprised by the number of significant directors and star performers in this collection of relatively unknown films.”

Among the highlights are Leadbelly, a biopic of the eponymous blues singer by the legendary artist Gordon Parks; Reflections in a Golden Eye, a sexually charged southern drama directed by John Huston and starring Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando; The Beguiled, the Civil War-era thriller starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Don Siegel that was recently remade by Sofia Coppola; Sisters, Brian De Palma’s first major foray into Hitchcockian suspense; and The Fortune, a period comedy directed by Mike Nichols and starring Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson.

The Wex series is complemented by The New Hollywood: Classic Hits, playing July 3–September 3 at Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse in Clintonville. The seven-film series offers more familiar films from the era and features several made by directors included in Deep Cuts, such as Jaws and The Graduate.

“I am very excited to partner with the Wexner Center for the Arts for this slate of movies, but more importantly, for movie lovers across the city to see these amazing films,” says Eric Brembeck, owner of Studio 35. 

Tickets for Deep Cuts screenings are $8 general admission; $6 for Wexner Center members, students, and senior citizens. For double features, one ticket purchase covers admission to both films. Tickets for all Wexner Center events also include free same-day gallery admission. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, June 1, at the Wexner Center box office and online at wexarts.org.

Tickets for Classic Hits screenings are $5 general admission and are available at the Studio 35 box office or online at studio35.com.

The full schedules for both series are below.

 

The New Hollywood: Deep Cuts 1967–78

Thu, July 6 | 7 pm

Leadbelly

(Gordon Parks, 1976)

Set in the segregated South of the early 1900s, Leadbelly depicts the good times and bad times in the life of legendary blues and folk musician Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter, who found in his music a way to ultimately overcome a troubled childhood and regular run-ins with the law. Starring Roger Mosley. (126 mins., 35mm)

 

Fri, July 7 | 7 pm

Reflections in a Golden Eye

(John Huston, 1967)

Based on the novel by Carson McCullers, Reflections in a Golden Eye exposes the sexual repression and obsessions among married couples on a southern military base, including an army major played by Marlon Brando and his frustrated wife (Elizabeth Taylor). Directed by John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen), the film was to star Montgomery Clift in the Brando role, but he died before production began. (108 mins., 35mm)

 

Sat, July 8 | 7 pm

The Sugarland Express

(Steven Spielberg, 1974)

Steven Spielberg’s first theatrical feature stars Goldie Hawn as a mother who busts her husband (William Atherton) out of a Texas jail so they can retrieve their son before he’s placed in foster care. (110 mins., 35mm)

 

Thu, July 13 - Double feature!

The Beguiled | 7 pm

(Don Siegel, 1971)

Girlfriends | 8:40 pm

(Claudia Weill, 1978)

In The Beguiled, Clint Eastwood stars as a wounded Union soldier whose life is saved when he’s taken in at an all-girl school in Mississippi. As the soldier mends, jealousies begin to stir among the school’s inhabitants. A remake by Sofia Coppola will be released this summer. Directed by Don Siegel (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dirty Harry). (105 mins, 35mm)

A favorite of Stanley Kubrick’s, Claudia Weill’s Girlfriends stars Melanie Mayron as a rising photographer in New York whose career and life take a detour when her best friend and roommate (Anita Skinner) moves out to marry her boyfriend. (88 mins., 35mm)

 

Thu, July 20 | 7 pm

Model Shop

(Jacques Demy, 1969)

One of the great films about Los Angeles, Model Shop stars Gary Lockwood (2001: A Space Odyssey) as a down-and-out architect who falls for French knockout Lola, played by Anouk Aimée (in a reprisal of her role in French director Demy’s first feature, Lola) and tracks her down at a shop where men can photograph the models of their choice. (95 mins., 2K DCP)

 

Thu, July 27 - Double feature!

Juggernaut | 7 pm

(Richard Lester, 1974)

The Driver | 9 pm

(Walter Hill, 1978)

One of numerous, star-studded disaster films of the 1970s, Juggernaut is a race-against-time thriller in which a mad man has placed bombs aboard a transatlantic ocean liner with 1200 aboard, threatening to detonate them if his ransom isn’t paid. Directed by Richard Lester (A Hard Day’s Night) and starring Richard Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Omar Sharif and Shirley Knight. (109 mins., 35mm)

Influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï—and a strong influence on Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive—The Driver stars Ryan O’Neal as a mysterious criminal who steals fast cars to use as getaway vehicles in high-stakes robberies. Also with Bruce Dern and Isabelle Adjani. Directed by Walter Hill (The Warriors). (91 mins., 4K DCP)

 

Tue, Aug 1 | 7 pm

Inserts

(John Byrum, 1975)

Set in the early sound period in Hollywood, Inserts features Richard Dreyfuss as a temperamental director whose star has fallen. He joins a constellation of desperate former stars who couldn’t navigate the transition to sound and resort to porn to keep alive hopes of returning to studio films. Rated X upon its original release (changed to NC-17 in 1996), Inserts refers to both the film technique and, um, activities contained therein. (117 mins., 35mm)

 

Thu, Aug 3 - Double feature!

A New Leaf | 7 pm

(Elaine May, 1971)

The Fortune | 8:55 pm

(Mike Nichols, 1975)

A double-feature tribute to the comedy team of Nichols and May begins with May’s black comedy A New Leaf, starring Walter Matthau as a playboy who’s squandered his fortune and is looking to marry back into money. Elaine May costars as the shy botanist who becomes the object of his intentions. (102 mins., 35mm)

Mike Nichols’s The Fortune stars Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson as inept 1920s con artists who see an easy mark when heiress Stockard Channing (in her first starring film role) enters their lives. (88 mins., 35mm)

 

Thu, Aug 10 - Double feature!

Scarecrow | 7 pm

(Jerry Schatzberg, 1973)

Emperor of the North

(Robert Aldrich, 1973) | 9:05 pm

In the road movie Scarecrow, Al Pacino stars as a homeless ex-sailor and Gene Hackman plays the ex-con he meets while hitchhiking up the California coast. The film follows the new friends as they agree to hitch together to Pittsburgh with a dream of opening a car wash together. Winner (tie) of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. (112 mins., 35mm)

Based on the writings of Jack London, Emperor of the North stars Lee Marvin as a wily hobo who takes a newcomer (Keith Carradine) under his wing while trying to evade a sadistic conductor (Ernest Borgnine), who will stop at nothing to keep hobos off his train. Directed by Robert Aldrich (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Kiss Me Deadly). (118 mins., 4K DCP)

 

Thu, Aug 17 | 7 pm

The Swimmer

(Frank Perry, 1968)

Based on John Cheever’s short story for the New Yorker, The Swimmer stars Burt Lancaster as an upper-middle-class suburbanite who stops by the neighbors’ pool party for a cocktail. He announces that he is going to swim his way home by hitting each pool along the way, and his journey forms a fascinating portrait of an empty, privileged life clouded by self-delusion. (95 mins., DCP)

 

Thu, Aug 24 - Double feature!

Assault on Precinct 13 | 7 pm

(John Carpenter, 1976)

Sisters | 8:45 pm

(Brian De Palma, 1973)

One of the great cult films of the 1970s, this loose remake of Howard Hawks’s western Rio Bravo is a harrowing tale about a soon-to-be-closed LA police precinct under siege by a bloodthirsty gang. (91 mins., 35mm)

In Sisters, Margot Kidder plays twin sisters Danielle, an aspiring actress, and Dominique, her unstable sibling. Journalist Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) is convinced she’s witnessed a violent murder in Danielle’s apartment, but when no evidence emerges after a police search, Grace becomes obsessed with proving that one of the sisters committed the crime. (92 mins., 35mm)

 

The New Hollywood: Classic Hits

All screenings at Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse

 

Mon, July 3 | 11pm

Jaws

(Steven Spielberg, 1975)

 

Sun, July 30 | 2 pm

A Hard Day’s Night

(Richard Lester, 1964)

 

Sat, Aug 12 | 11:30 pm

The Warriors

(Walter Hill, 1979)

 

Sun, Aug 20 | 2 pm

The Graduate

(Mike Nichols, 1967)

 

Fri, Aug 25 | 11:30 pm

The Thing

(John Carpenter, 1982)

 

Sun, Aug 27 | 2 pm

MASH (Robert Altman, 1970)

 

Sun, Sept 3 | 2 pm

Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)