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“A REAL MASTER… He invented his own Paris, which is better than recording it.” — Orson Welles |
MARCH 21 – APRIL 3 (TWO WEEKS) AT FILM FORUM RENÉ CLAIR OVER 20 SILENT AND SOUND FILMS BY THE PIONEERING DIRECTOR OF MUSICALS AND COMEDIES, OFTEN CALLED “THE MOST FRENCH OF ALL FILMMAKERS” U.S. Premieres of New Restorations, including THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT, UNDER THE ROOFS OF PARIS, LE MILLION, À NOUS LA LIBERTÉ, and more Silent films feature live piano accompaniment by STEVE STERNER |
RENÉ CLAIR, a two-week festival of rarely-seen comedies, musicals and fantasy films by one of the cinema’s greatest innovators, will run at Film Forum from Friday, March 21 to Thursday, April 3. The festival includes new restorations of Clair’s silent and early sound masterworks, the latter including the screen’s first truly cinematic musicals. Silent films in the festival feature live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner.
After short stints as a journalist, actor and assistant director, René Clair (1898-1981) made his filmmaking debut with the Dadaist short ENTR'ACTE (1924), with music by Erik Satie and a cast including Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray. He made his feature debut in 1924 with the surrealist science fiction PARIS QUI DORT (aka THE CRAZY RAY), in which a mad scientist paralyzes the French capital with a ray gun. It would be the first of many fantasy films the director would create over five decades.
He next made a series of fantasies including VOYAGE IMAGINAIRE (1925), LE FANTÔME DU MOULIN ROUGE (1926), and TWO TIMID SOULS (1928), then established his international reputation with the more conventional THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT (1928), an updating of a 19th century Boulevard comedy.
Clair was recognized for his innovative use of sound in the early 1930's with his two enchanting comedies UNDER THE ROOFS OF PARIS (1930) and LE MILLION (1931). He followed these with the film considered his masterpiece, À NOUS LA LIBERTÉ (1932), a musical (music by Georges Auric) about a tramp who becomes a captain of industry. Its factory scenes were said to inspire Chaplin’s MODERN TIMES.
Though often called “the most French of all directors,” Clair would go to Britain to make both THE GHOST GOES WEST (1936), starring Robert Donat, and BREAK THE NEWS (1938), starring Jack Buchanan and Maurice Chevalier. During the war, he went to Hollywood to make I MARRIED A WITCH (1942), a screwball fantasy starring Veronica Lake and Fredric March (inspiration for the TV series Bewitched), IT HAPPENED TOMORROW (1944), with Dick Powell, and AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (1945), with Walter Huston, Barry Fitzgerald, and Judith Anderson, one of the best Agatha Christie adaptations ever made.
Following the war, he returned to France to make LE SILENCE EST D’OR (1947), with Maurice Chevalier, followed by LA BEAUTÉ DU DIABLE (1950), with Gérard Philipe and Michel Simon, LES BELLES DE NUIT (1952), with Philipe, Martine Carole, and Gina Lollobrigida, LES GRANDES MANOEUVRES (1955), with Philippe and Brigitte Bardot, and PORTE DES LILAS (1957), with Pierre Brasseur.
Says Bruce Goldstein, Film Forum’s Repertory Artistic Director, “I first wanted to do a Clair series in the early 90s, but it was impossible to do then, because of a lack of prints and rights issues. After 35 years, we’re finally able to do a comprehensive festival thanks to the new restorations now available.”
Films in the series have been provided by Janus Films (distributor of most of the new restorations), La Cinémathèque Française, Institut Français, Library of Congress, UCLA Film & Television Archive, TF1, Gaumont, and Pathé.
Presented with support from The George Fasel Memorial Fund for Classic French Cinema.
"I am never so grateful to a creator than when he has succeeded in making me laugh. To laugh is to dream, to laugh is to be free, to laugh is to take revenge, to laugh is to possess everything we lack in reality."
— Rene Clair
"Clair's artistic vision is one of the most affirmative the screen has ever known. A Clair film can give the spectator a sense of joy, for Clair believes in love, in the ability and desire of a friend to help a friend, and in the essential goodness of humanity."
— Celia McGerr
Subject to change; check web for latest LE MILLION France, 1931 Directed by René Clair With Annabella, René Lefèvre, Jean-Louis Allibert Approx. 81 min. New 4K restoration. Friday, March 21 at 12:15 and 6:10 Saturday, March 22 at 2:40 Sunday, March 23 at 7:20 Monday, March 24 at 2:30 Tuesday, March 25 at 4:40 Tuesday, April 1 at 2:20 Thursday, April 3 at 8:30 |
BASTILLE DAY France, 1933 Directed by René Clair With Annabella, George Rigaud, Raymond Cordy Music by Maurice Jaubert Approx. 92 min. New 4K restoration. Friday, March 21 at 2:00 Sunday, March 22 at 5:40 Monday, March 24 at 4:20 Wednesday, April 2 at 12:20 Thursday, April 3 at 6:30 |
À NOUS LA LIBERTÉ France, 1931 Directed by René Clair With Henri Marchand, Raymond Cordy, Rolla France Music by Georges Auric Approx. 84 min. New 4K restoration. Friday, March 21 at 4:00 Saturday, March 22 at 3:30 Sunday, March 23 at 1:10 Monday, March 24 at 8:20 Tuesday, March 25 at 12:20 Tuesday, April 1 at 4:10 Thursday, April 3 at 2:30 |
UNDER THE ROOFS OF PARIS France, 1930 Directed by René Clair With Albert Préjean, Pola Illéry Approx. 93 min. New 4K restoration. Friday, March 21 at 8:00 Saturday, March 22 at 12:30 Sunday, March 23 at 5:10 Monday, March 24 at 12:30 Tuesday, March 25 at 2:30 Tuesday, April 1 at 12:20 Wednesday, April 2 at 8:30 |
AND THEN THERE WERE NONE U.S., 1945 Directed by René Clair With Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward Based on the novel by Agatha Christie Approx. 97 min. 16mm print courtesy the UCLA Film & Television Archive (April 1st screening only). Saturday, March 22 at 7:40 Sunday, March 30 at 8:45 Monday, March 31 at 12:15 Tuesday, April 1 at 8:20 (16mm) Wednesday, April 2 at 2:10 |
PARIS QUI DORT (THE CRAZY RAY) France, 1924 Directed by René Clair With Henri Rollan, Albert Préjean, Marcel Vallée Approx. 59 min. DCP. – and – ENTR’ACTE France, 1924 Directed by René Clair With Jean Börlin, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray Music by Erik Satie Approx. 24 min. DCP. Sunday, March 23 at 3:20 ♪ Live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner |
THE PHANTOM OF THE MOULIN ROUGE France, 1925 Directed by René Clair With Georges Vaultier, Sandra Milovanoff, Paul Ollivier Approx. 90 min. DCP. Monday, March 24 at 6:20 ♪ Live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner |
LE VOYAGE IMAGINAIRE France, 1926 Directed by René Clair With Dolly Davis, Jean Börlin, Albert Préjean Approx. 80 min. DCP restoration courtesy La Cinémathèque Française. Tuesday, March 25 at 6:30 ♪ Live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner |
LE DERNIER MILLIARDAIRE France, 1934 Directed by René Clair With Max Dearly, Marthe Mellot, René Saint-Cyr Music by Maurice Jaubert Approx. 90 min. DCP restoration. Tuesday, March 25 at 8:20 Wednesday, April 2 at 6:30 |
TWO TIMID SOULS France, 1928 Directed by René Clair With Pierre Batcheff, Jim Gérald, Véra Flory Approx. 77 min. DCP restoration. Thursday, March 27 at 6:00 ♪ Live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner |
THE FLAME OF NEW ORLEANS U.S., 1941 Directed by René Clair With Marlene Dietrich, Bruce Cabot, Roland Young, Mischa Auer Approx. 79 min. 35mm. Wednesday, March 26 at 12:30 Thursday, March 27 at 7:50 Friday, March 28 at 12:30 Saturday, March 29 at 8:20 Monday, March 31 at 4:00 |
I MARRIED A WITCH U.S., 1942 Directed by René Clair With Fredric March, Veronica Lake, Robert Benchley Based on The Passionate Witch by Thorne Smith, Norman H. Matson Approx. 77 min. 35mm print courtesy the Library of Congress. Wednesday, March 26 at 2:20 Friday, March 28 at 4:20 Saturday, March 29 at 6:30 |
THE GHOST GOES WEST U.K., 1935 Directed by René Clair With Robert Donat, Jean Parker, Eugene Pallette Cinematography by Harold Rosson Based on Sir Tristram Goes West by Eric Keown Approx. 95 min. 35mm print courtesy the British Film Institute. Wednesday, March 26 at 4:10 Friday, March 28 at 2:20 Sunday, March 30 at 2:30 |
LES BELLES DE NUIT France, Italy, 1952 Directed by René Clair With Gérard Philipe, Martine Carol, Gina Lollobrigida Written by René Clair, Pierre Barillet, Jean-Pierre Gredy Approx. 87 min. New 4K restoration courtesy Gaumont. Wednesday, March 26 at 6:10 |
LES GRANDES MANOEUVRES France, 1955 Directed by René Clair With Michèle Morgan, Gérard Philipe Approx. 106 min. New 4K Restoration. Wednesday, March 26 at 8:10 Thursday, March 27 at 1:00 Wednesday, April 2 at 4:20 Thursday, April 3 at 12:15 |
PORTE DES LILAS France, Italy, 1957 Directed by René Clair With Pierre Brasseur, Georges Brassens, Henri Vidal Based on La Grande ceinture by René Fallet Approx. 106 min. DCP restoration. Thursday, March 27 at 3:15 Monday, March 31 at 8:00 |
LA BEAUTÉ DU DIABLE France, Italy, 1950 Directed by René Clair With Michel Simon, Gérard Philipe Adapted from Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Approx. 95 min. DCP restoration. Friday, March 28 at 6:10 Saturday, March 29 at 12:30 Thursday, April 3 at 4:30 |
LE SILENCE EST D’OR France, U.S., 1947 Directed by René Clair With Maurice Chevalier, François Périer, Marcelle Derrien Approx. 100 min. 35mm print courtesy of the Institut Français, thanks to Villa Albertine. Friday, March 28 at 8:10 Saturday, March 29 at 4:20 |
BREAK THE NEWS U.K., 1938 Directed by René Clair With Jack Buchanan, Maurice Chevalier, June Knight Approx. 78 min. 35mm print courtesy the British Film Institute. Saturday, March 29 at 2:30 Sunday, March 30 at 12:50 Monday, March 31 at 2:15 |
THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT France, 1928 Directed by René Clair With Albert Préjean, Olga Chekhova Based on The Italian Straw Hat by Eugène Labiche, Marc-Michel Approx. 113 min. New 4K restoration. Sunday, March 30 at 4:30 ♪ Live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner |
IT HAPPENED TOMORROW U.S., 1944 Directed by René Clair With Dick Powell, Linda Darnell, Jack Oakie Approx. 85 min. 35mm print courtesy the Library of Congress. Sunday, March 30 at 6:50 |
THE PREY OF THE WIND France, 1927 Directed by René Clair With Charles Vanel, Sandra Milovanoff, Lillian Hall-Davis Approx. 90 min. Restored DCP courtesy La Cinémathèque Française. – and – LA TOUR France, 1928 Directed by René Clair Approx. 14 min. 35mm print courtesy of the Institut Français, thanks to Villa Albertine. Monday, March 31 at 5:50 ♪ Live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner |
TOUT L’OR DU MONDE France, Italy, 1961 Directed by René Clair With Bourvil, Alfred Adam, Philippe Noiret Written by René Clair, Jean Marsan, Jacques Rémy Approx. 90 min. Restored DCP. Tuesday, April 1 at 6:20 |
Film Forum’s Repertory Calendar is programmed by Bruce Goldstein, Repertory Artistic Director |
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