April seems to be film festival month here in Los Angeles. Both the French film festival COLCOA and the Indian Film Festival just ended. The Israel Film Festival is still going on and the Turner Classics Movie Festival is being held over the weekend. One of this writer’s favorite “B-movies,” 1952’s The Narrow Margin, a thriller starring a sassy Marie Windsor and a stoic Charles McGraw, will screen at the Egyptian Theatre on Friday (April 26th) at 12noon. Saturday brings Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal at 6:15pm, also at The Egyptian, with an unforgettable performance by Max Von Sydow. On a lighter note is Alfred Hitchcock’s wonderfully engaging The Lady Vanishes, a minor film to many but a real gem. Other offerings include the hilarious Libeled Lady, the rarely seen The Swimmer (starring Burt Lancaster) and one of the most influential movies of the 1970’s, Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde. More information can be found at www.tcm.com/festival. Information about the Israel Film Festival, which continues through May 2nd and presents a number of engrossing features and documentaries, can be found at www.israelfilmfestival.com (that’s Israel, not Israeli).
Opening last week but still playing at area theatres is the French film In the House, a devilishly engaging, deliciously subversive little thriller from director Francois Ozon. Starring Fabrice Luchini and Kristen Scott Thomas, In the House recently played at COLCOA. Many of the films that screened at that festival will be receiving U.S. releases. Stay tuned….