Outtakes

The cinema is Nicholas Ray

There was theatre (Griffith), poetry (Murnau), painting (Rossellini), dance (Eisenstein), music (Renoir). Henceforward there is cinema. And the cinema is Nicholas Ray."
Thus French New Wave founder Jean-Luc Godard immortalized the American filmmaker in his review of 1957's Bitter Victory.
According to Godard, Ray reinvented cinema with his unique visual sense and gift for attaining fluid motion on the screen. As a tribute to a man who lived and died as passionately as his art, Cinematheque Ontario is presenting The Cinema is Nicholas Ray from February 7 to March 11.
Born in Michigan, Ray studied architecture with Frank Lloyd Wright, and then drama with John Houseman for whom he directed several plays and propaganda movies during World War II. His first directorial effort was an adaptation of Edward Anderson's They Live by Night (Feb. 7), originally titled Thieves by Night, about the doomed love between emotionally scarred fugitives (Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell) from justice.
Other important Ray films include 1950's In a Lonely Place (February 13 & 15), about a screenwriter (Humphrey Bogart) suspected of murder and his bizarre relationship with an actress (Ray's wife, Gloria Grahame); 1954's Johnny Guitar (Feb. 8), a kinky Western starring Joan Crawford and Sterling Hayden; the groundbreaking 1955 Rebel Without a Cause (Feb. 18 & 22), which sky-rocketed the career of James Dean as the alienated modern-day youth; and 1956's Bigger Than Life (Feb. 16 & 20), about a seemingly perfect teacher (James Mason) who slowly begins to turn into a monster.
Ray's last significant film was 1963's 55 Days at Peking (Mar. 8), with Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner and David Niven, following which he found himself unable to get any projects off the ground. After lecturing on the university circuit, and increasingly fallen victim to drugs and alcohol, he was able to complete We Can't Go Home Again (Mar. 7) in 1973 with his Harpur College students. Ray would have a major role in Wim Wenders' The American Friend (Mar. 4), with whom he would make Lightning Over Water (Mar.7), a documentary about his final days before succumbing to cancer in 1979.
All screenings take place at AGO's Jackman Hall, 317 Dundas St. W. For more information call 416-968-FILM.

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Andre Heller and Othmar Schmiderer's chilling documentary Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary is being screened on February 12 as part of the Doc Soup documentary series. The film focuses on Traudl Junge, Hitler's personal secretary who stayed by the Führer's side up until his suicide. The screening takes place at the Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor St. W., at 7pm. For more details call 203-2155.

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The 23rd annual Genie Awards take place Thursday, February 13, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The evening's host will be actors Arsinee Khanjian (Ararat) and Peter Keleghan (Ginger Snaps). Films nominated for best feature include Ararat, Bollywood Hollywood, Quebec-Montreal, Rare Birds and Suddenly Naked. The awards will be aired live on CBC television.

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Saturday Movie Matinees are back on the big screen at the Cinematheque Ontario with films for all ages. On February 8 it's Norman McLeod's Horse Feathers, starring the Marx Brothers. 2pm. All screenings take place at AGO's Jackman Hall, 317 Dundas St. W. For more information call 416-968-FILM.

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Recently out on DVD is M. Night Shyamalan's spooky Signs, starring Mel Gibson as a pastor trying to protect his family from an alien invasion. The disc includes a DVD diary by Shyamalan, deleted sequences, the storyboard process, and a childhood home movie. Very cool.

Publication Date: 2003-02-09
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=2335