By Matthew Jackson
Staff Reporter
HUNTSVILLE — So, I’m not sure how many of you keep up with this sort of thing, but for those of you that do, I’m officially announcing here that the rumors are true. I will be teaching a film class at The Wynne Home Arts Center this spring.
The class will run for five weeks, every Wednesday beginning March 24 and concluding April 14. We’ll start at 7 p.m. and stay long enough to watch one film and hear me yammer on about it for a bit.
I’m calling it “The Best Films You’ve Never Seen,” the unifying theme being that we’ll watch a series of classic films, all made by legendary directors, that have been overshadowed by some of their more major works as years have gone by.
I’ll lead off March 24 with The Master himself, Alfred Hitchcock, and his film “Rope”, starring Jimmy Stewart and John Dall. Based upon the true story of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb and their plot to murder an acquaintance for the fun of it, the film makes extensive use of long takes, a static set, and real-time plotting. Though it’s far before his Golden Age, you can see here the trademarks that would make Hitchcock a legend.
On March 31, we’ll take a gander at “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes,” a comedy co-written and directed by the great Billy Wilder and starring Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely. The film follows the premise that the Holmes we’ve read of in the stories is far different from the Holmes behind the curtain of reason and deduction. One of Wilder’s later efforts, it’s nonetheless a powerful example of his unique brand of storytelling.
On April 7, we’ll turn to westerns with “El Dorado,” one of the final films from director Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. The film is one in a trio of Hawks films dealing with old guard lawmen facing off against an outlaw invasion of sorts. Often overshadowed by another Hawks western, “Rio Bravo,” the film is prime example both of Hawks’ directorial style and the roles that made Wayne immortal.
On April 14, we’ll move east with “The King of Comedy,” directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert DeNiro and Jerry Lewis (yes, that Jerry Lewis). A darkly funny tale about a talk show host and his obsessive fan, it’s a film unlike anything else Scorsese (my favorite director ever) has ever done.
We’ll conclude the course with “Blood Simple,” written and directed by the now-legendary Coen Brothers and starring John Getz, Frances McDormand and M. Emmett Walsh. A neo-noir thriller set right here in Texas, it’s one of the great debut films ever made, and shows many of the trademarks that would define the Coen Brothers’ later work, including “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “No Country for Old Men.”
Each class will be accompanied by a program handout that I will prepare beforehand giving you background on the film as well as a little bit of my own take on why we’re watching it.
So, that about sums it up. We’re going to have a good time and watch some great movies, so if you can stand to listen to me babble from atop my cinematic soapbox, I hope to see you there. The class size is limited, so the Wynne Home is encouraging people to call them at (936) 291-5424 and register beforehand. And, it’s free.
