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Wednesday: Sidney Lumet

The Master from New York


September 28 • 7:00, 9:00 • 96m
12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet, 1957 • Lumet’s directorial debut, adapted from a teleplay of the same name by Reginald Rose, follows the deliberations of a jury of 12 men as they determine the fate of an accused murderer from the slums of New York City. Henry Fonda leads an exciting ensemble cast of unnamed jurors from what appears to be a clear-cut consensus through ambiguous twists and turns, all on the basis of a reasonable doubt. 12 Angry Men is a compelling and tense look at how we are able to make claims to knowledge. 35mm
October 5 • 7:00, 9:15 • 112m
Fail-Safe
Sidney Lumet, 1964 • Adapted from the 1962 novel of the same name, Fail-Safe tells the story of a fictional nuclear crisis during the height of the Cold War. Henry Fonda returns to work with Lumet as the President of the United States in a gripping story about world powers pushing each other towards the edge of oblivion. Fail-Safe received high critical praise upon its release, but suffered from a poor box office performance in the shadow of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, released earlier that year. Despite its initial struggles, Lumet’s response to the Cuban Missile Crisis has come to be regarded as one of the finer, more intense dramas about the Cold War. 35mm
October 12 • 7:00, 9:15 • 116m
The Pawnbroker
Sidney Lumet, 1966 • The first American film to tackle the Holocaust from a survivor’s perspective, Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker (adapted from the novel by Edward Lewis Wallant) is a groundbreaking work that earned international acclaim for Rod Steiger’s performance as Sol Nazerman. The story follows Nazerman’s life in East Harlem after the war, interwoven with flash- backs to his time spent in a concentration camp in Germany. Lumet and cinematographer Boris Kaufman present a rough, gritty, and true depiction of New York City from the perspective of a man searching for life in the slums of upper Manhattan. Archival 35mm Print Courtesy of the Academy Film Archive
October 19 • 7:00, 9:00 • 95m
The Deadly Affair
Sidney Lumet, 1966 • James Mason plays the classic George Smiley character (renamed for legal purposes) in The Deadly Affair, based on John le Carré’s first novel. Dobbs investigates the fishy circumstances surrounding the suicide of a government official in a film packed with espionage genre staples: conspiracy theories, double-crossings, and bossa nova tunes. Lumet keeps the plot from being overly complicated, focusing more on the characters. A must-see film for spy enthusiasts. Featuring a soundtrack composed by the legendary Quincy Jones, of Michael Jackson, Eddie Van Halen, and Will Smith production fame. 35mm
October 26 • 7:00, 9:30 • 115m
Child’s Play
Sidney Lumet, 1972 • A rivalry between two Catholic boarding school teachers (played by James Mason and Robert Preston) - one popular among the students, one despised - quickly brings out the dark side of the all-boys school. Violence overtakes the student body and runs rampant in this adaptation of Robert Marasco’s 1970 play. Lumet creates an eerie, creepy ambience, where caustic personalities clash and demonic possession takes hold. A rare film, Child’s Play has effectively disappeared from the movie universe, and has not been available on home video in the United States in any format. Will Lucifer win? 35mm.
November 2 • 7:00, 9:15 • 130m
Serpico
Sidney Lumet, 1973 • In Al Pacino’s finest hour, he plays Frank Serpico—an honest New York cop who goes undercover to bring corrupt officers to justice. The film spans twelve years in the life of Serpico as an NYPD officer, from his naive police recruit days in the late 50’s through his bearded undercover days of the early 70’s, following him throughout the streets of New York (in every borough except Staten Island). Serpico has become established as an iconic piece of American cop-film drama that has influenced myriad films in and out of the cop-film genre, from Rushmore to Boogie Nights. 35mm
November 9 • 7:00, 9:30 • 125m
Dog Day Afternoon
Sidney Lumet, 1975 • Al Pacino gives one of his most memorable performances as Sonny Wojtowicz, a Vietnam veteran who stages a bank robbery in Gravesend, Brooklyn with his friend Sal Naturile. A robbery that should have been a simple job goes awry and quickly turns into a television spectacle of a police standoff, as Sonny becomes a symbol of righteous rebellion to the crowd of people at the scene. Based on the true story of a Brooklyn bank robbery fiasco in August of 1972, Dog Day Afternoon is a raw and poignant story set in the dog days of summer in New York City. Archival 35mm Print Courtesy of the Academy Film Archive
November 16 • 7:00, 9:30 • 121m
Network
Sidney Lumet, 1976 • Lumet’s masterpiece of media satire stars one of the most impressive ensemble casts of the 1970s, featuring standout performances from Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, and Robert Duvall. Network tells the outrageous story of a fictional television network and its struggles with poor ratings, culminating in Finch’s iconic “mad as hell,” breakdown in the middle of a live news broadcast. Network received four Academy awards in 1976, and continues to receive critical recognition as one of the finest American films ever made. 35mm
November 23 • 7:00, 9:45 • 134m
The Wiz
Sidney Lumet, 1978 • Dorothy (Diana Ross), a shy schoolteacher from Harlem, finds herself magically transported to the Land of Oz—a fantasy version of New York City. The film version of The Super Soul Musical Wizard of Oz follows Dorothy’s adventures as she befriends a Scarecrow, a Tin Man, and a Cowardly Lion along the way to seek audience with the mysterious “Wiz”. Despite featuring Michael Jackson as Scarecrow, The Wiz was a critical and commercial flop upon its original release; some film theorists call it the final nail in the coffin of the 1970’s Blaxploitation movement. Doc presents this rarely-screened film for you to judge. 35mm
November 30 • 7:00, 9:45 • 132m
Q & A
Sidney Lumet, 1990 • Al Reilly (Timothy Hutton), a young district attorney, is handed a homicide case inquiry into a shooting by NYPD detective Mike Brennan (Nick Nolte), a tough, hardened legend of an officer who also happens to have ties to organized crime. Q&A is one of Lumet’s boldest films, acting as a return to Serpico-form for the director after a string of second-tier films in the 80’s. There is a sense of urgency, as well as of immediacy, in Lumet’s stark tale of corruption. Nick Nolte is a force to be feared with a big paunch and fat walrus moustache. When the questions are dangerous, the answers can be deadly. 35mm

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