4:10pm: Merrily We Live (1938)

I’m a fan of Constance Bennett comedies, but this movie, which co-stars Brian Aherne and Billie Burke, has eluded me. UCLA calls Merrily We Live one of the “zaniest” screwballs, and its premise, with a well-to-do man accidentally taken for a drifter by an eccentric family certainly sounds similar to My Man Godfrey (1936). I guess I’ll see how similar they actually are!  

7:30pm: The Magnificent Matador (1955)

As a big fan of Maureen O’Hara, this is one film of hers that I’m not familiar with! While I wouldn’t normally be drawn to a matador drama, the fact that it stars O’Hara and Anthony Quinn, and was directed by Mexican-trained matador Budd Boetticher, has my attention!

9:25pm: Si muero antes de despertar/If I Should Die Before I Wake (1952)

I’ve seen several Argentinian films noir at Noir City Hollywood over the years, but I don’t believe this has been one of them. According to UCLA’s notes, this was initially supposed to be included in a trilogy with No abras nunca esa Puerta/Never Open That Door, another film released the same year from director Carlos Hugo Christensen, but it was released on its own. I’ve seen that movie and enjoyed it—in fact, I’ve liked all the Argentinian noir films I’ve seen; they are frequently unnerving, moody, and menacing in the best possible ways.

Lela Swift (second from left) directing an episode of Dark Shadows.

SUNDAY 5/31

12:25pm: Lela Swift: Television Director

Focusing on the TV part of UCLA Film & Television Archive for a morning, I always adore the fest’s unique television offerings. Lela Swift is not a name I’m familiar with, but I’m excited to learn more about her groundbreaking career, which involved moving up the ladder at CBS to director in 1950 and winning three Emmys. This screening includes two new preservations, one from the anthology show The Web (1953) and the other a “Dragnet-style series,” Justice (1955).

2:30pm: The Unwanted (1975)

It’s always a pleasure hearing from creatives, which is one reason why The Unwanted caught my eye. Producer/director José Luis Ruiz will be on hand to discuss his “groundbreaking television documentary on the troubles faced by Latino immigrants in the United States” which, as the UCLA site also points out, sounds incredibly timely today.  

3:40pm: Touring California

This compilation features travelogues, home movies, newsreels, TV shows, and more all filmed by/about Californians from the 1920s-1990s.  I love a shorts program, especially one focused this great state!

4:55pm: Eight Girls in a Boat (1934)

This year’s festival concludes for me on a high note: with the world premiere restoration of a super rare pre-Code, one introduced by my friend David Stenn, at that! I had never heard of this film before, but seeing it referred to as “America’s daring reply to Mädchen in Uniform (1931)” is certainly a selling point. So is Dorothy Wilson as a star rower who has an affair and becomes pregnant, Kay Johnson as the “team’s steely coach” (!), and just the presence of Walter Connelly. Suffice it to say, I’m very excited for this one.

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Two more classics screen Sunday night: Pitfall (1948), which I’ve seen on the big screen a few times, and the Barbara Stanwyck-starrer The Other Love (1947). I normally would want to see the latter, but with a 9:35pm start time on a Sunday…  well, I don’t like getting home at midnight on a school night! But I’m very excited to get to enjoy the rest of this year’s brilliant lineup.