This article was written by Nick Glover.
From August 22 to August 24, the CFS screens a series of films all from 35mm Technicolor prints. The films being shown are The Birds, Black Belt Jones, Lili, Arabesque, The Parallax Review, The Disorderly Orderly, and Mary Poppins.
The Technicolor process of printing created film prints used from the 1950s to 1970s that, through the use of yellow, cyan, and magenta dyes, had some of the most vivid, saturated color ever seen to date on film. These prints were supposed to be discarded after their theatrical run, but thanks to private collectors and organizations like the Chicago Film Society, some of these prints have been saved and successfully restored.
On Friday, August 22, the showings begin at 6pm with The Birds. The 1963 Hitchcock classic will kick off the weekend with a star-making Tippi Hedren performance paired with the peak of mid-century special effects. The Birds follows the beach-side town of Bodega Bay as an army of birds repeatedly attacks the provincial burg. A horror classic, this film is a must-watch for any film lover.
After The Birds, Robert Clouse’s Blaxploitation treasure Black Belt Jones will be shown at 8:30pm. Expanding on his role from Clouse’s previous film, Enter the Dragon, Jim Kelly stars as the titular Black Belt Jones who has to fend off the mafia and other local criminals to keep his friend’s karate dojo from shuttering. With a sound track by funk guitarist Dennis Coffey and the bright extravagance of Technicolor, Black Belt Jones will end the first night of the weekend with a perfect encapsulation of the mayhem of this era of films.
Saturday, August 23, begins with a 2:15pm showing of Charles Walters’ Lili. The film follows a young French girl, Lili, as she gets taken in by a traveling circus and forms magical bonds with the puppets. This now-forgotten Golden Age musical features an Oscar-winning score and was nominated for the American Film Institute’s “100 Years...100 Songs” list.
After Lili, the spy comedy Arabesque starring Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren will play at 4:45pm. Arabesque is a 1966 Stanley Donen film that follows an American hieroglyphics expert tasked with solving the murder of a star professor. Donen, who is best known for co-directing and choreographing Singin’ in the Rain, notoriously despised the script and focused on making the film as visually interesting as possible.
The second night will conclude with a 7:45pm showing of Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View. Paula Prentiss stars as a reporter hunting for a headline who witnesses a vile act; when she sees other witnesses die in more and more suspicious ways, she contacts her ex-boyfriend, a journalist in his own right, to help her. Pakula teams up with cinematographer Gordon Willis for their second of three films together—best known for the duo’s third collaboration All The President’s Men—and creates a visual conspiracy too entrancing to look away from.
The weekend will finish with a double feature of Frank Tashlin’s The Disorderly Orderly and Robert Stevenson’s classic Mary Poppins. The Disorderly Orderly follows the King of Comedy Jerry Lewis playing an orderly with a strange affliction: he psychosomatically feels all the same symptoms as his patients. In order to cure this disordered orderly, he must find out what ties keep him from moving on from his past and how he can overcome his problems and make his dream of becoming a doctor a reality.
Mary Poppins needs no introduction. The 13-time Academy Award nominee details the exploits of Julie Andrews’ Mary Poppins, a magical nanny. With beautiful set design, music that enchants, and box office success that help fund the creation of Disney World, the 4:30pm showing of Mary Poppins will be a "jolly holiday" from the real world.
Tickets for each showing are on sale now. To learn more about the event, the films being shown, or the Technicolor technology, visit the Siskel FIlm Center’s website.
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