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“Worked with Billy Wilder, who paces constantly, has over-extravagant ideas, but is stimulating. He has humor – a kind of humor that sparks with mine.” - excerpt from Charles Brackett’s diary (1936)
To celebrate one of Hollywood’s most famous creative partnerships, the Academy and Film Forum host Jim Moore, biographer and grandson of writer-producer Charles Brackett, as he introduces three films written by the legendary team of Brackett and Wilder. The recipients of two Academy Awards for writing and five nominations, Brackett and Wilder began their collaboration on the 1938 comedy Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife and worked together on such classics as Midnight, The Major and the Minor and A Foreign Affair. Following the screenings of The Lost Weekend and Sunset Blvd., Mr. Moore will present a reel of additional Brackett and Wilder collaborations. Clip reel provided courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
Special thanks to Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein.
All screenings held at Film Forum, 209 W. Houston Street, New York, NY 10014.
Sunday, May 15:
NINOTCHKA (1939)
Cast Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire, Bela Lugosi, Sig Rumann, Felix Bressart, Alexander Grenach, Gregory Gaye, Rolfe Sedan, Edwin Maxwell, Richard Carle.
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Screenplay by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Walter Reisch. Story by Melchior Lengyel.
Academy Award nominee: Actress (Garbo), Outstanding Production, Writing – Original Story (Lengyel), Writing – Screenplay (Brackett, Wilder, Reisch)
35mm print provided by Warner Bros. 5:10 p.m. TICKETS
THE LOST WEEKEND (1945)
Cast Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard da Silva, Doris Dowling, Frank Faylen, Mary Young, Anita Bolster, Lilian Fontaine, Frank Orth, Lewis L. Russell.
Directed by Billy Wilder. Produced by Charles Brackett. Screenplay by Brackett, Wilder.
Academy Award winner: Actor (Milland), Directing (Wilder), Best Motion Picture, Writing – Screenplay (Brackett, Wilder)
Academy Award nominee: Black-and-White Cinematography (John F. Seitz), Film Editing (Doane Harrison), Music – Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Miklos Rozsa)
35mm print courtesy of Universal Studios. 7:30 p.m. TICKETS
Monday, May 16:
SUNSET BLVD. (1950)
Cast William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Fred Clark, Lloyd Gough, Jack Webb, Franklyn Farnum, Larry Blake, Charles Dayton.
Directed by Billy Wilder. Produced by Charles Brackett. Screenplay by Brackett, Wilder, D.M. Marshman, Jr.
Academy Award winner: Black-and-White Art Direction (Hans Dreier, John Meehan; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer), Music – Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Franz Waxman), Writing – Story and Screenplay (Brackett, Wilder, Marshman, Jr.)
Academy Award nominee: Actor (Holden), Actor in a Supporting Role (von Stroheim), Actress (Swanson), Actress in a Supporting Role (Olson), Black-and-White Cinematography (John F. Seitz), Directing (Wilder), Film Editing (Arthur Schmidt, Doane Harrison), Best Motion Picture
35mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive and Paramount Pictures. 8:20 p.m. TICKETS