MIDCENTURY MADNESS 2022
FEBRUARY 20 • OCTOBER 23 / ROXIE THEATRE
Presented by Mid-Century Productions
TICKETS ON SALE NOW for August 20-21 screenings in MIDCENTURY MADNESS, moving firmly into the world of Anglo-American cruelty with its four-film weekend lineup featuring two controversial, confounding figures who made waves in the late 1960s.
On Saturday the 20th, we present the prescient cinema of Frank Perry, who captured the psychological fractures of the privileged in two incendiary films, THE SWIMMER (1968) and LAST SUMMER (1969). The underbelly of upper-class America that has only gotten uglier over the years is put fully on display by Perry in these two simmering exposés. Two contrasting paragons of physical beauty—Burt Lancaster and Barbara Hershey—lead us into our all-American heart of darkness.
On Sunday the 21st, we rescue from oblivion several key works in Patrick McGoohan's early career (prior to his meteoric rise-and-fall as a TV icon). McGoohan threw away superstardom with the baffling social allegory of THE PRISONER, but a closer look at his career reveals that he was always in search of hard-hitting social commentary. Two of his early 60s films, LIFE FOR RUTH and THE QUARE FELLOW (both 1962), capture this side of his work and present compelling cinema with multi-dimensional examinations of human frailty. McGoohan's "thousand mile stare" that was so iconic in DANGER MAN/SECRET AGENT begins here, in films where his characters' growth stems from the social conflict they witness.
MIDCENTURY MADNESS will end its '22 run with its September screenings, which have been changed to permit several French noirs previously scheduled in the series to appear in our upcoming FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT '22 (French noir) series in November. Note (in our schedule below) the three films that will appear as part of that lineup—LA MAIN DU DIABLE/CARNIVAL OF SINNERS, LA CHATTE/THE FACE OF THE CATand LUCKY JO. The full lineup for FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT '22 will appear in this space in mid-September.
Also note that we have a new, exciting finale for MIDCENTURY MADNESS that will play on Sunday, September 25. We conclude our 2022 programming with a double feature honoring the great Mexican actor Arturo de Cordova, a major star on the post-WWII "Latin circuit" (Mexico, Spain, Argentina). If you've seen films at NOIR CITY featuring him (IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND, TWILIGHT), you'll already know of his towering talent. We're thrilled to present two ultra-rare thrillers starring de Cordova, LOS PECES ROJOS/RED FISH (Spain, 1955) and EL HOMBRE SIN ROSTRO/THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE (Mexico, 1950) that will end our MID/MAD '22 series with a bang!
Links to the Roxie Theatre site and tickets will be posted here as they become available. Watch for additional updates on Facebook, Twitter and email blasts.
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FEBRUARY-APRIL 2022
MONSIEUR LA SOURIS
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
(1942) France
dir. Georges Lacombe
TEMPTATION HARBOUR
(1947) UK
dir. Lance Comfort
PLUNDER ROAD
(1957) USA
dir. Hubert Cornfield
H-8...
(1958) Yugoslavia
dir. Nikola Tanhofer
EPILOG
(1950) West Germany
dir. Helmut Kautner
VIELE KAMAN VORBEI
MANY PASSED BY
(1956) West Germany
dir. Peter Pawas
OLIVIA
(1951) France
dir. Jacqueline Audry
LES PETITS MATINS
HITCH-HIKE
(1962) France
dir. Jacqueline Audry
THE INTRUDER
(1962) USA
dir. Roger Corman
NOTHING BUT A MAN
(1964) USA
dir. Michael Roemer
LA CHATTE
THE FACE OF THE CAT
(1958) France
dir. Henri Decoin
LUCKY JO
(1964) France
dir. Michel Deville
JUNE-JULY 2022
KUROI JÛNIN NO ONNA
TEN DARK WOMEN
(1960) Japan
dir. Kon Ichikawa
ZERO NO SHÔTEN
ZERO FOCUS
(1961) Japan
dir. Yoshitaro Nomura
LES DRAGUEURS
THE CHASERS
(1959) France
dir. Jean-Pierre Mocky
LA GRANDE FROUSSE
THE BIG SCARE
(1964) France
dir. Jean-Pierre Mocky
MANNEKÄNG I RÖTT
MANNEQUIN IN RED
(1958) Sweden
dir. Arne Mattsson
VAXDOCKAN
THE DOLL
(1962) Sweden
dir. Arne Mattsson
DE DØDES TJERN
LAKE OF THE DEAD
(1958) Norway
dir. Kare Bergstrom
NI LIV
NINE LIVES
(1957) Norway
dir. Arne Skouen
KANAL
CANAL
(1957) Poland
dir. Andrzej Wajda
KOCÁR DO VÍDNE
CARRIAGE TO VIENNA
(1966) Czechoslovakia
dir. Karel Kachyna
SWEET LOVE, BITTER
(1967) USA
dir. Herbert Danska
BILLY BUDD
(1959) USA/TV
dir. Robert Mulligan
AUGUST-OCTOBER 2022
THE SWIMMER
(1968) USA
dir. Frank Perry
LAST SUMMER
(1969) USA
dir. Frank Perry
LIFE FOR RUTH
(1962) UK
dir. Basil Dearden
THE QUARE FELLOW
(1962) UK
dir. Arthur Dreifuss
L'ASSASSINO
THE LADY KILLER OF ROME
(1961) Italy
dir. Elio Petri
I GIORNI CONTATI
HIS DAYS ARE NUMBERED
(1962) Italy
dir. Elio Petri
LOS PECES ROJOS
RED FISH
(1955) Spain
dir. José Antonio Nieves Conde
EL HOMBRE SIN ROSTRO
THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE
(1950) Mexico
dir. Juan Bustillo Oro
THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS
(1960) USA
dir. Delbert Mann
TEN BLOCKS ON THE CAMINO REAL
(1966) USA
dir. Jack Landau
LE GOUT DE LA VIOLENCE
THE TASTE OF VIOLENCE
(1961) France
dir. Robert Hossein
UNE CORDE, UN COLT
THE ROPE AND THE COLT
(1969) France
dir. Robert Hossein
*All screenings begin at 12 noon
San Francisco's
Roxie Theatre is located at 3117 16th St. between Valencia & Guerrero, one block from 16th & Mission BART.
Box Office: 415.863.1087
MIDCENTURY PRODUCTIONS is a "boutique"
programming venture designing "mini film festivals, featuring films from cinema's most explosive three
decades—the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. We program original festivals and work with organizations and
individuals to craft singular programming that illuminates the hidden corners of these three decades.
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