FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: January 9, 2001
Contact: Margot Gerber
Tel.: 323.461.2020 x 115
E-mail: amcin@msn.com

Featuring Special Guests including Actresses Eva Marie Saint and Shirley
Knight; Shelley Winters
Directors Delbert Mann & Jack Garfein, and Actor Robert Forster

February 1 - 11, 2001

HOLLYWOOD - The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre presents THE
METHOD: REVOLUTION IN AMERICAN ACTING 1945 - 1970 (February 1 - 11, 2001), a
film series featuring some of our greatest American "Method Actors." The
series is highlighted by in person appearances by actress Eva Saint Marie
who will appear on opening night to discuss the 8 Academy-Award winning
picture, ON THE WATERFRONT (1954); actress Shirley Knight who will appear
with SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH (1962); director Delbert Mann who will appear with
a screening of MARTY (1955); and Robert Forster who will appear with
REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE (1967); and Shelley Winters with A PLACE IN THE
SUN (1951). Anna Strasberg, widow of Lee Strasberg will also appear for discussion at one or more of the screenings, schedule permitting. When the first generation of Method-trained actors hit American
movie screens in the late 1940's - including brooding loners like Marlon
Brando, Montgomery Clift, Rod Steiger and James Dean, and beautiful, complex
women like Eva Marie Saint, Geraldine Page, Carroll Baker, Kim Stanley,
Shirley Knight and Joanne Woodward - it must have seemed like a seismic
shock had hit the glossy, insular Hollywood studio style of acting. In
truth, the Method had been developing for nearly 50 years, descended through
Constantin Stanislavski's work with the Moscow Art Theatre, and elaborated
and Americanized by the short-lived Group Theatre in New York in the early
1930's. All screenings are at the newly renovated Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at
the historic Egyptian (6712 Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Las
Palmas) in Hollywood. All guests are subject to their availability.
The Actors Studio, founded in October, 1947 by the legendary Elia Kazan with
Cheryl Crawford and Robert Lewis, soon became the prime incubator for the
Method, a style of acting that was "rough-and-ready, instinctive,
improvisatory, proletarian, physically active and defiantly emotional"
(Foster Hirsch). The impact of the Method wasn't just limited to actors -
future directors like Martin Ritt, Delbert Mann, Arthur Penn, Mark Rydell
and others were heavily influenced by its almost-mythic appeal. Ironically,
for an approach developed mainly in the theater, the Method reached its
greatest success on film - post-war classics like A STREETCAR
NAMED DESIRE, ON THE WATERFRONT, THE HUSTLER, A PLACE IN THE SUN and others
caught Method acting at its finest, and actors like Robert DeNiro (RAGING
BULL), Al Pacino (SCARFACE) and Ellen Burstyn (REQUIEM FOR A DREAM) have
carried the Method up to the present.

Thursday, February 1, 2001
The Thursday, February 1 program begins at 8:00 PM with ON THE WATERFRONT
(1954, Columbia, 108 min). Director Elia Kazan's stunning adaptation of
Budd Schulberg's grueling account of Hoboken dock-worker life stars Marlon
Brando as a has-been fighter who falls in love with the sister (Eva Marie
Saint) of the "stool pigeon" he set up for union organizer Lee J. Cobb. Rod
Steiger delivers a wrenching performance as the older brother who helped
betray Brando's chances as a boxer, with Karl Malden as the tough,
working-class priest who serves as Brando's conscience. Winner of 8 Oscars
including Best Picture, Actor and Director. "Brando was as close to genius
as I've ever met among actors." - Elia Kazan. Discussion following with Eva
Marie Saint.

Friday, February 2, 2001
The Friday, February 2 program begins at 7:00 PM with SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH
(1962, MGM [Warners] 120 min) directed by Richard Brooks. Geraldine Page
delivers a harrowing, unstoppable performance (repeating her stage triumph
in the role) as a vodka-swilling, aging movie star who returns to a small
Southern town with young gigolo Paul Newman. Shirley Knight co-stars as
Newman's former flame, in this seething, hothouse adaptation of one of
Tennessee Williams' finest plays. Discussion following with actress Shirley
Knight.
The Friday, February 2 program continues at 9:45 PM with a Brando & Garfield
Double Feature. First on the bill is THE WILD ONE (1954, Columbia, 79 min).
Dir. Laslo Benedek. Marlon Brando roars into pop culture as one of the
first anti-hero outsiders in American cinema. His biker gang turns a small
burg upside-down when they drunkenly brawl with Lee Marvin's rival wild
bunch, only to have the tables turned when vigilante rule takes over. Based
on an actual incident in a Southern California town in 1947.
Next on the same bill is THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946, MGM [Warners]
113 min). Director Tay Garnett weaves a smooth, steamy adaptation of the
James Cain noir classic, with brooding John Garfield -- the first famous
exponent of the Method -- as the aimless drifter drawn into a net of murder,
when he falls for platinum bombshell Lana Turner at her husband's roadside
diner. This film played at the Egyptian when it was first released.

Saturday, February 3, 2001
The Saturday, February 3 program begins at 5:00 PM with MARTY (1955, MGM/UA,
91 min). Director Delbert Mann and writer Paddy Chayefsky expanded their
earlier, award-winning NBC-TV drama into this equally acclaimed feature
film. Ernest Borgnine delivers an Oscar-winning performance (in the role
originally played by Rod Steiger), as a blue-collar Bronx butcher who finds
love late in life with schoolteacher Betsy Blair. Winner of Oscars for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay.
Discussion following with director Delbert Mann (schedule permitting).
The Saturday, February 3 program continues at 7:30 PM with an Ultra-Rare
Method Double Feature. First on the bill is THE GODDESS (1958, Columbia,
105 min), directed by John Cromwell. Widely acknowledged as one of the
finest actresses of her day, Method-trained Kim Stanley sadly made few
films - the rarely-screened THE GODDESS is arguably her best. Inspired by
the meteoric career of Marilyn Monroe, THE GODDESS follows Emily Ann
Faulkner (Stanley) from her abused childhood to her supposedly glamorous,
booze-and-pill soaked life as a screen star. Brilliantly scripted by Paddy
Chayefsky.
Next on the same bill is THE STRANGE ONE (1957, Columbia, 99 min) directed
by Jack Garfein. Ben Gazzara has a field day in his screen debut as a
warped military school student with a brutal iron grip on his fellow
classmates. Based on THE GRADUATE author Calder Willingham's novel End As A
Man, THE STRANGE ONE is unique as one of the few projects developed by the
Actors Studio (where it began as an off-Broadway play) that made it intact
to the screen. With George Peppard, Pat Hingle. Director Jack Garfein is scheduled to come in from Paris to be present for a Q & A. He was one of the founders of the Actor's Studio on the West Coast. He was also married to Carroll Baker.

Sunday, February 4, 2001
The Sunday, February 4 program begins at 5:00 PM with THE MIRACLE WORKER
(1962, MGM/UA, 106 min). Director Arthur Penn (BONNIE & CLYDE) taught at
the Actors Studio from the 1950's on - here, he coaxes beautiful,
unsentimental performances from Patty Duke as blind, rebellious Helen
Keller, and Anne Bancroft (in an Oscar-winning role) as fiercely dedicated
teacher Annie Sullivan.
The Saturday, February 4 program continues at 7:30 PM with THE MEMBER OF THE
WEDDING (1952, Columbia, 91 min) directed by Fred Zinnemann. Based on
Carson McCullers' award-winning play, THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING stars Julie
Harris in a remarkable, introspective performance as a 12-year old Southern
girl traumatized by the approach of puberty and her older brother's
impending wedding. Ethel Waters is equally memorable as the family's cook,
with Brandon de Wilde as Harris' owlish, next-door neighbor.

Friday, February 9, 2001
The Friday, February 9 program begins at 7:00 PM with THE HUSTLER (1961,
20th Century Fox, 135 min). Paul Newman is unforgettable as the pool shark
who shakes his loser persona when heartless gambler George C. Scott teaches
him the psychology of winning. He realizes too late that obsessive victory
over the unbeatable Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) is empty, since the cost
is the destruction of his crippled alcoholic lover Piper Laurie, in this
intense, back-alley poem by director Robert Rossen.
The Friday, February 9 program continues at 10:00 PM with a method actress
double feature. First on the bill is DUTCHMAN (1966, Gene Persson Films, 56
min). Director Anthony Harvey scorches the screen with this version of
LeRoi Jones' incendiary play about the racial and sexual tensions boiling
over between anguished white woman Shirley Knight and complacent, middle class
black man Al Freeman, Jr., a couple caught in the claustrophobic confines of
a NYC subway car.
Next on the same bill is THE STRIPPER (1963, 20th Century Fox, 95 min).
Franklin Schaffner's (PAPILLON) debut film as director is probably the least
known and most underrated of William Inge's poignant studies of vulnerable
sensuality. Joanne Woodward is quietly, mesmerizing and beautiful as an
aging stripper stranded in the emotional vacuum of a small town and driven
by loneliness into the arms of her benefactor Clare Trevor's teenage son.
With Richard Beymer, Gypsy Rose Lee.

Saturday, February 10, 2001
The Saturday, February 10 program begins at 5:00 PM with SOMETHING WILD
(1961, MGM/UA, 112 min), directed by Jack Garfein. Rarely-screened,
claustrophobically intense drama of a traumatized rape victim (Carroll
Baker, in one of her most fearless performances) and the blue-collar garage
mechanic (1950's thug supreme Ralph Meeker) who tries to draw her out of her
confused, isolated shell of existence. Expressionist photography by the
legendary Eugen Shuftan (METROPOLIS), with a score by noted composer Aaron
Copland. Director Jack Garfein is scheduled to come in from Paris to be present for a Q & A. He was one of the founders of the Actor's Studio on the West Coast. He was also married to Carroll Baker.
The Saturday, February 10 program continues at 7:45 PM with a Tennessee
Williams Double Feature. First on the bill is THE FUGITIVE KIND (1959,
MGM/UA, 135 min). Director Sidney Lumet conjures a sensual fever dream from
Tennessee Williams' intoxicating southern gothic Orpheus Descending.
Itinerant hustler Marlon Brando is the ultimate snakeskin-clad loner who
drifts into a redneck backwater town and falls into a torrid affair with
fellow outcast Anna Magnani, the middle-aged immigrant wife of hate-crippled
Victor Jory. Sparks fly from a pyrotechnic cast that also includes Joanne
Woodward and Maureen Stapleton.
Next on the same bill is SUMMER AND SMOKE (1961, Paramount, 118 min).
Geraldine Page glows with feverish intensity as the lonely spinster who has
a spiritual affinity for next-door doctor and libertine Laurence Harvey, in
director Peter Glenville's torrid adaptation of Tennessee Williams' drama of
inhibitions being swept aside in turn-of-the-century Mississippi. With Una
Merkel, John McIntire, Rita Moreno, Thomas Gomez.

Sunday, February 11, 2001
The Sunday, February 11 program begins at 5:00 PM with A PLACE IN THE SUN
(1951, Paramount, 122 min). Montgomery Clift delivers arguably his finest
performance as a tormented young man in love with socialite Elizabeth
Taylor, but still weighed down by his past fling with factory girl Shelley
Winters. Superb, heartbreaking adaptation by director George Stevens of
novelist Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy. Discussion following with
actress Shelley Winters (schedule permitting).
The Sunday, February 11 program continues at 7:45 PM with REFLECTIONS IN A
GOLDEN EYE (1967, Warner Bros., 108 min). Carson McCullers' novel becomes,
in director John Huston's hands, a perversely perceptive study of how
repression cultivates poisonous emotional fetishes. Marlon Brando is the
rigid southern military officer married to volatile Elizabeth Taylor. but
obsessed with studly soldier Robert Forster. With Julie Harris, Brian Keith.

Separate admission for each program, except those listed as double features.
There will be a 5-10 minute intermission between films presented as double
features. Tickets: $5 Cinematheque Members and $7 general admission. Please
check our website for updates regarding additional guests.

BLACK & WHITE DIGITAL IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE.
If you would like artwork e-mailed to you please send an e-mail to
amcin@msn.com before 1/17/01 or after 1/29/01. Call Jasmine at 323 461 2020 ext. 116 for hard copies of Black and White photos. 

WE DO NOT HAVE GUARANTEED PRESS PASSES TO PUBLIC SCREENINGS. IT IS
RECOMMENDED
THAT YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE ADVANCE PRESS SCREENINGS ON TAPE.

NO FILMS ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON VIDEOTAPE (NTSC) IN OUR OFFICES. THE
VIDEO STORES MENTIONED BELOW MAY HAVE SOME OF THESE TITLES. LOCAL COMMERCIAL
VIDEO STORES MAY ALSO HAVE SOME OF THESE TITLES. CALL IF YOU ARE INTERESTED
IN PRESS SCREENING TITLES INDICATED THEATRICALLY.

The following video stores may have copies of the films we are showing in
this series:
Eddie Brandt's Saturday Matinee (Burbank) Walk in only no phone.
Jerry's Video (1904 Hillhurst, Los Feliz - 323.666.7471)
Rocket Video (726 N. La Brea - 323.965.1100)
Cinefile (11280 Santa Monica Blvd. - Corner of Sawtelle Ave. - 310.312.8836)
Vidiots (302 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica - 310/392-8508)

REQUESTS FOR PRESS TICKETS TO PUBLIC SCREENINGS MUST BE IN WRITING. FAX TO
323.461.9737 ATTN: MARGOT GERBER, 24 HOURS PRIOR TO SHOW TIME. FRIDAY AT
NOON IS THE ABSOLUTE DEADLINE FOR WEEKEND OR HOLIDAY SCREENINGS. JOURNALISTS
WISHING TO AUDIO OR VIDEOTAPE DISCUSSIONS MUST ALSO SEND A WRITTEN REQUEST.
IF WE DON'T KNOW YOU PLEASE FAX CLIPS AND BACKGROUND ABOUT YOUR OUTLET.

THE PROGRAM IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

#  #  #

Our permanent daily attraction film FOREVER HOLLYWOOD is now open. For press
passes to see it for review purposes, please call Margot Gerber at
323.461.2020, ext. 115.

American Cinematheque, 1800 N. Highland Avenue, Suite 717, Hollywood, CA
90028
(tel) 323.466-FILM (fax) 323.461.9737 On the web:
http://www.egyptiantheatre.com

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