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Cinematheque broadens viewers' world with films -- and TV shows
Quick, name a 1950s TV show. If you said "Howdy Doody" or "Leave it to Beaver," time to get your consciousness expanded.
What about "World of Giants," a pilot about a six-inch-tall spy? Or "East Side, West Side," a series starring George C. Scott as a social worker in a New York City ghetto?
Look no further than 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave., on the UW campus. That's where you can find Cinematheque shows on Thursday and Friday evenings throughout the summer. For the 10th year now, Cinematheque has been plumbing the archives of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR) to bring free screenings of the finest, wackiest or most ground-breaking cinema in its original form.
Cinematheque usually keeps the focus on film, but the programmers occasionally put together a series of interesting television shows, like this summer's "Teletek: T.V. Treasures from the WCFTR," running on Fridays at 7 p.m. from July 18 to Aug. 8.
This is television that's not readily available on DVD, and yet it's from the "golden age" of the medium, according to Cinematheque programmer Heather Heckman, a graduate student studying film at the UW.
The pacing is a lot different than today's shows. Goodyear Television Playhouse's "Visit to a Small Planet," for example, was filmed live and is "like watching a play," said Heckman.
When "ER" has a special live episode, it's the "biggest TV event of the year," added Tom Yoshikami, another film studies student who programs for the Cinematheque. "Back in the day, they were doing that week in and week out."
Besides pacing, some of the shows were way ahead of their time, like "East Side, West Side," which took on taboo social issues and had a jazz score.
Each Friday evening centers around a different theme. On July 18, the series will highlight the best of the golden age with a Goodyear Television Playhouse episode written by Gore Vidal and a Ed Sullivan show set in Belgium. On July 25, it's a celebration of producer Frederic Ziv. On Aug. 1, it's a tribute to "two of early TV's most socially committed talents," Edward R. Murrow and producer David Susskind. The series will end on Aug. 8 with a trio of campy cult classics out of Los Angeles.
Cinematheque is also reprising its summer tradition of African films. This year, the series focuses on the lengthy career of Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene, who died last year at age 84.
The films span more than 35 years, from 1964's "Borom Sarret" to 2000's "Faat-Kine." While his earlier films took inspiration from European art cinema, he developed his own personal style in his later years.
"He took a lot of cues from African storytelling tropes," said Heckman.
Sembene's films will be introduced by UW professors, and based on experiences from past African film series, Heckman expects a "really lively discussion afterwards."
Before the Sembene and "Teletek" series start next week, Cinematheque is offering a season kickoff this Friday, July 11, at 7 p.m. with "Johnny Guitar," an unconventional 1954 Western starring Joan Crawford as a saloon keeper who wages a sexually taut battle with a cattle baroness (Mercedes McCambridge). The film will be projected from its original mega-colorful, extra-widescreen CinemaScope reels and is the pick of new Cinematheque projectionist Mike King.
"It's very colorful. It's not something you'd usually think of for a Western," said Yoshikami.
Both he and Heckman wax reverently when talking about the experience of watching films in their original format, not on video or DVD.
"Nothing compares to the beautiful 35mm or 70mm projection of a movie," said Yoshikami. "It's like artwork. If you saw a painting or a photograph in a museum, you wouldn't want to see a digital reproduction."
Still, in an adaptive move to include newer formats, Heckman says Cinematheque is soon starting a project tentatively called "Videotheque," which will highlight a variety of digital and video footage from the archives.
To find out more about Cinematheque and see details on its summer season, visit online at cinema.wisc.edu.
The summer Cinematheque series kicks off Friday with a screening of the offbeat 1954 Western "Johnny Guitar" with Joan Crawford.
