hell's kitchen (1939)

In Hell's Kitchen (1939) Stanley Fields and Grant Mitchell turn in some great character performances and remind me very acutely of why I love Preston Sturges films (of which this is not one). Sturges films rarely had leads that stood head and shoulders above the supporting cast. His films are typically driven by character actors, or a-list actors taking on character rolls.

And Sturges knew how to use faces - how could you ever forget any of his carefully chosen faces? It's almost as if each actor was chosen for their face, not their star power. Even in something like The Palm Beach Story the main characters never exist in a different world than the excellent supporting cast, they fit perfectly.

Hell's Kitchen is definitely not a Sturges film, but it does have some great character faces and performances - hence this tangent.

porgy and bess (1959) and today

And speaking of great things to do in St. Louis... Tonight we are heading out to see Porgy and Bess, not the 1959 film, but the actual show. It has been on my short list for a long time and I can't believe we finally get to see it! It is a joint venture between the St. Louis Black Repertory Theater and the Union Ave. Opera.

Now if only someone would save the film from the slavery of rewritten history... Let's at least be able to see it so we can learn from the past.

the webster film series

Any cinemaphile in St. Louis will be guaranteed to love September and October at the Webster Film Series. Not only do we get to see a brand new 35mm print of Ingmar Bergman's Seventh Seal, but at the end of the month we are treated to 3... thats 3 weekends of Buster Keaton films in the Kompletely Keaton festival. Among the my favorites are: Cops (1922), The Paleface (1922), The Camerman (1928) and The General (1927).

With a general shortage of classic repertory cinema in St. Louis, this is an incredible treat.

See you there.