ATLRetro

Lucas Hardwick
Contributing Writer

Welcome to Apes on Film! This column exists to scratch your retro-film-in-high-definition itch. We’ll be reviewing new releases of vintage cinema and television on disc of all genres, finding gems and letting you know the skinny on what to avoid. Here at Apes on Film, our aim is to uncover the best in retro film. As we dig for artifacts, we’ll do our best not to bury our reputation. What will we find out here? Our destiny.

RED SUN (ROTE SONNE) – 1970
3.5 out of 5 Bananas
Starring: Uschi Obermaier, Marquand Bohm, Sylvia Kekulé, Gaby Go, Diana Körner
Director: Rudolf Thome
Rated: Not Rated
Studio: Radiance Films
Region: A, B, C
BRD Release Date: June 20, 2023
Audio Formats: German 2.0 PCM Mono – English Subtitles
Video Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.75:1
Run Time:  89 minutes
CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Dating is hard, but it’s especially intimidating when instead of an evening ice skating or at the movies, you find yourself tied up with a gun to your head on the second date.

The premise of Rudolf Thome’s 1970 film RED SUN (Rote Sonne) is the confounding tale of four women who, each after courting random men for five days, task themselves with murdering their dates for fear of falling in love with them; this is their relentless mission to rid the world of chromosomes that end with Y. It’s a long shot, but the Godard-esque style of storytelling Thome employs definitely works in favor of the girls’ diabolical long-game.

Trouble occurs when drifter Thomas (Bohm) enters the lives of the women after retiring to their communal living arrangement with bartender Peggy (Obermaier). Thomas happens to survive beyond the five-day lifespan of this pseudo-cult’s dastardly charge, but is it because Peggy’s in love and wants to keep him around? Will she be forced to give in to the demands of the murderous pact she shares with her roomies?

It’s hard to say exactly what’s so appealing about Thomas. He’s lazy, he bums cigarettes, he constantly talks about scoring improbable exotic employment like Himalayan Mountain expeditions to get out of Germany. He sleeps a lot, drinks a lot, and didn’t even drive himself to the bar to meet Peggy in the first place. His driver even laments his disappointment that Thomas failed to entertain him and that that was the only reason he gave him a ride. Thomas, it seems, is the exact opposite of any self-respecting man attempting to properly date a woman. Is it Thomas’ lack of motivation that’s keeping him safe? Safe is exactly the case -Thomas is a safe bet. His lethargic disposition keeps him from being a societal threat to women everywhere. And it’s also what disarms Peggy and her aim – to a point – as she finds herself in a traditional ironic arrangement with her own hubris. Hubris is as hubris does.

The relationships these women share with the men they choose are only ever of surface value. Peggy and Thomas never discuss anything important and fail to ever express that they want to know one another better. They live in the superficial realm of an eternal first date. In fact, none of the women in this film express passion beyond their making a bomb out of a coffee can. Isolde (Gaby Go), arguably is the most capable of expressing her feelings as she is unable to stomach committing cold-blooded murder, requiring Peggy to do her dirty work on a man who’s met the end of his five-day shelf-life.

After Thomas witnesses one of the girls pick off a man in public, in broad daylight, he goes to roommate Isolde to get the scoop. Isolde tearfully reveals the ferocious game the girls have agreed to, and suddenly Thomas knows he’s on the short list for murder. Isolde again exhibits emotions the rest of the girls seem incapable of; she’s regretful of this brutal arrangement and by that virtue is also considered the weakest of the group. It’s only fitting that these two outliers, Thomas the Lazy and Isolde the Weak, would eventually find one another and advance the story through their unique and extreme qualities.

Thomas and Peggy eventually achieve a more meaningful and perilous place in their relationship, which culminates in a bleak message regarding the dangers of falling in love and giving in to those big emotions beyond superficiality. Perhaps Peggy and the girls were onto something?

The film is a classic European slow burn, yet it never drags (unlike the pace of some of those snoozy Godard films Thome was emulating). And nothing ever happens that’s weird enough to describe this film with the old threadbare adjective “surreal,” but the movie is certainly imbued with a dreamlike quality. One could easily categorize the mood of this film as a troubling dream that never quite gets to the nightmare stage. There’s no suspense to speak of, but rather an apprehensive tension that underscores the lives of these people with their odd living arrangement and spooky contract.

RED SUN comes to us in high definition on Blu-ray Disc from Radiance Films. Special features include a select scene commentary with Thome and Rainer Langhans (actress Uschi Obermaier’s boyfriend at the time who served as inspiration for the film and was present during the shoot), the visual essay Rote Sonne between Pop Sensibility and Social Critique by scholar Johannes von Moltke, and the visual essay From Oberhausen to the Fall of the Wall by academic and programmer Margaret Deriaz. The limited edition also comes with a 52-page booklet featuring new essays by film writer Samm Deighan. The disc comes packaged with reversible sleeve art that showcases designs based on the film’s original posters.

The movie definitely doesn’t take place on the planet Krypton and obviously isn’t connected to the 1971 Charles Bronson / Toshirô Mifune film of the same name. And other than the red sun that illuminates the movie’s final, forlorn moments, it’s difficult to estimate the title’s objective beyond the viewer’s own interpretation. While the film’s assertion is something to do with the power of superficiality, RED SUN demands that the audience pry beyond the rather purposefully flat execution of the narrative and get to know it a little better. Recommended.

When he’s not working as a Sasquatch stand-in for sleazy European films, Lucas Hardwick spends time writing film essays and reviews for We Belong Dead and Screem magazines. Lucas also enjoys writing horror shorts and has earned Quarterfinalist status in the Killer Shorts and HorrOrigins screenwriting contests. You can find Lucas’ shorts on Coverfly.

By Lucas Hardwick
Contributing Writer

Welcome to Apes on Film! This column exists to scratch your retro-film-in-high-definition itch. We’ll be reviewing new releases of vintage cinema and television on disc of all genres, finding gems, and letting you know the skinny on what to avoid. Here at Apes on Film, our aim is to uncover the best in retro film. As we dig for artifacts, we’ll do our best not to bury our reputation. What will we find out here? Our destiny.

Apes on Film also appears on Nerd Alert News. Check them out HERE!

THE KILLING – 1956
5 out of 5 Bananas
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Vince Edwards
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Rated: Not Rated
Studio: Kino Lorber
Region: Region Free UHD
BRD Release Date: 07-26-2022
Audio Formats: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Video Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Run Time: 84 minutes
CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Few things in this world are as invincible as the bulletproof bureaucracy surrounding the size regulations of carry-on luggage, specifically designed for your “comfort and safety” while flying the friendly skies. And in a narrative twist too big for an overhead compartment, Sterling Hayden’s Johnny Clay realizes where he went wrong in what was otherwise an airtight plan to knock over a horse track in Stanley Kubrick’s 1956 classic, THE KILLING.

If you’ve seen one heist movie, you’ve seen ‘em all, the only difference in most being whether bold bad guy ingenuity leads to a successful getaway, woven together with almost childlike simplicity, or the simplicity of a mistake resulting in 25 to life. Regardless, most heist movies have the same ingredients: a hefty score, a team with a diverse skillset, a little side muscle, and most importantly, a man (or woman) with a vision who can rally the whole thing together with the logistical precision of a SEAL team operation.

At face value, the title The Killing refers to specific deaths that occur later in the film, including the execution of a horse. Metaphorically, The Killing also represents the large sum of cash at stake in a textbook heist orchestrated by ex-con Johnny Clay. If Clay pulls off this heist, he’ll make a killing, a great example of a perfect title.

Fresh off a five year stint in the slammer, Clay is ready to get right back in the mess and run off with his girl Fay (Coleen Gray) and a two million dollar take from the local horse track. The mechanics of the operation are so basic that the film’s non-linear structure hardly has any bearing on the audience’s ability to follow the plot. This story is about the characters and the peculiar morality of their motives.

In spite of looking like a gang of Dick Tracy villains, none of Clay’s conscripts are actual criminals. The corrupt police officer in debt up to his eyeballs (Ted de Corsia) is the closest any of Clay’s crew comes to being morally bankrupt. It’s even difficult to judge the entire operation as malicious especially considering that horse tracks rely on people willing to blow money.

The worst thing that happens to any “victims” in the robbery is Clay waving his gun around, and wrestler Kola Kwariani tossing a few police officers. The highest cost for the job is paid in full by Red Lightning — the racehorse that makes the ultimate sacrifice at the hands of sharpshooter Nikki Arcane (Timothy Carey). To Clay’s point, is knocking off a horse even a crime? “…that’s not first-degree murder. In fact, that’s not murder at all. In fact, I don’t know what it is.” And with that, the film has only one criminal and bunch of regular joes that rip off a place that rips off people, all for the legally ambiguous price of a dead horse.

The worst indignities that occur, though, have nothing to do with stealing money, killing horses, or waving guns around, but are rather the crimes of passion exacted by Sherry Peatty (Marie Windsor) upon discovering puny husband George (Elisha Cook Jr.) is in on Clay’s deal. George is the horse track window teller tasked with putting Clay in the same room with the money. But Sherry’s mascara isn’t even dry before she’s running her mouth to lover boy Val Cannon (Vince Edwards) who plans to hijack Clay’s operation. This makes Sherry’s sin the deadliest weapon in the film and results in a pretty gnarly climax for Clay’s gang. This, however, doesn’t prevent Clay from making his score, but in a denouement that would make Larry David blush, Johnny Clay seals his own fate when it becomes apparent that he failed to read the fine print for what’s considered an acceptable size for carry-on luggage. “Eh, what’s the difference?” uttered by Clay in the final seconds of the film sums up its themes on morality.

And while the film advances on misguided morality, the key relationships within are equally as strange and circuitous. As George Peatty unloads the details of the horse track job to wife Sherry, she proceeds with putting on makeup, clearly preparing to go out for the evening in spite of feigning a stomachache. George offers no argument about why Sherry’s gettin’ dolled up or where she’s going, and only asks her why she married him. Exasperated, Sherry replies, “Oh, George, when a man has to ask his wife that, well, he just hadn’t better, that’s all.” Why doesn’t Sherry just lay it all out for him instead of waxing poetic? George doesn’t take the hint, and continues trying to win Sherry’s affection with the rented promise of loads of money from Clay’s score.

Another instance of dubious companionship is between Johnny Clay and Marvin Unger (Jay C. Flippen). Unger provides Clay a place to lay low after being released from prison, and shares his sympathy for Clay regarding the tough break he’s had. Unger also claims to think of Clay as a son, but then goes on to confess rather affectionately, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could just go away, the two of us, and let the old world take a couple of turns, and have a chance to take stock of things?” Sounds a little more romantic than a parental dynamic, doesn’t it? Later, when the gang is holed up waiting for Clay’s return from the job, Unger appears girlishly gleeful when he thinks he hears Clay outside.

If the film’s purply, hard-boiled dialogue — most being rattled off at a whip-crack pace by Sterling Hayden — isn’t fierce enough to get the viewer’s heart rate up, the claustrophobic photography and incessant, pounding score is most certainly anxiety inducing. Though Lucian Ballard is credited as Director of Photography, Kubrick himself set up the shots. Inside Unger’s and the Peatty’s apartments, the visuals are low and crowded, often obstructed by objects and furniture in the foreground, almost as if the audience is eavesdropping while being made privy to the film’s unsavory goings-on.

To add shortness of breath on top of everything else, composer Gerald Fried provides an auditory beating that doesn’t let up for the entire film. Fried would eventually compose the turbulent score to the Kirk and Spock fight-to-the-death scene in the STAR TREK episode “Amok Time.”

A pesky voice-over narration by uncredited Art Gilmore announces the whens and wheres throughout the film for anyone bothering to take notes. Viewers are likely to find it a bit unnecessary as it simply clarifies the film’s non-linear structure. It’s also a bit confounding since the narrator remains unidentified and we’re never told why it’s pertinent within the story.

Kino Lorber presents THE KILLING for the first time in beautiful 4K Ultra High Definition, with film grain intact. Special features include a brand-new commentary by author and film historian Alan K. Rode and a theatrical trailer. The disc comes packaged with reversible sleeve art and an eye-popping slipcover rendered with a rare version film’s original poster art.

For a heist movie that’s not really about the heist, THE KILLING reveals the human, though heightened, backdrop of a big money score, and the fuzzy morality that makes troubled people do bad things. It also makes no bones about the consequences of the decisions its characters make, delivering a fable that’s both thrilling and thoughtful.

When he’s not working as a Sasquatch stand-in for sleazy European films, Lucas Hardwick spends time writing film essays and reviews for We Belong Dead and Screem magazines. Lucas also enjoys writing horror shorts and has earned Quarterfinalist status in the Killer Shorts and HorrOrigins screenwriting contests. You can find Lucas’ shorts on Coverfly.

by Anthony Taylor
Contributing Writer

Welcome to Apes on Film! This column exists to scratch your retro-film-in-high-definition itch. We’ll be reviewing new releases of vintage cinema and television on disc of all genres, finding gems and letting you know the skinny on what to avoid. Here at Apes on Film, our aim is to uncover the best in retro film. As we dig for artifacts, we’ll do our best not to bury our reputation. What will we find out here? Our destiny.

Apes on Film also appears on Nerd Alert News. Check them out HERE!

THE AMAZING MR. X – 1948
3.5 out of 5 Bananas
Starring: Turhan Bey , Lynn Bari , Cathy O’Donnell , Richard Carlson
Director: Bernard Vorhaus
Rated: NR
Studio: The Film Detective
Region: A, B
BRD Release Date: October 26, 2021
Audio Formats: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
Video Codec: MPEG-2
Resolution: 1080p HD
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Run Time: 78 minutes
CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Fans of Guillermo Del Toro’s recent remake of NIGHTMARE ALLEY should enjoy THE AMAZING MR. X, which explores similar territory (spiritualism and con men, but without the carny trappings) painted in the same film noir brush strokes.

Universal Studios’ stalwart Turhan Bey (THE MUMMY’S TOMB) stars as “Alexis, Psychic Consultant” – code for con man – who’s set his sights on Lynn Bari’s (THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY) Christine, a not-too-recent rich widow who’s being haunted by the spirit of her dead husband, Paul (Donald Curtis). Richard Carlson (CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON) intervenes as her sensible and skeptical lawyer/suitor. Martin and Cathy O’Donnell (THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES) plays younger sister Janet, who wants nothing more than for Christine to forget the past and move on to a happy future with Martin. As much a character in the drama as any of the actors is the cinematography of John Alton, who creates dream-like misty and sometimes even downright fog-laden environments that enhance the lighting and lens choices he makes. Shot in a gothic, film noir style, the camera’s eye is used as a narrator rather than simply as a passive window.

Bey’s inside accomplice (Christine’s housekeeper Virginia Gregg) feeds him enough information to dazzle her and point her towards him as a solution to her problem as it begins to spin out of control. Alexis remains a smooth operator until the moment Martin holds him to a seance table and dead husband Paul appears without any pre-arranged special effects. From then on, the fake spiritualist is in over his head and unable to find a way out.

The Film Detective’s release of THE AMAZING MR. X is sourced from a 4K restoration of Bey’s own print of the film, and a definite improvement over earlier home video releases. As much of the film is set at night, there are some very grainy segments, but for the most part the picture is as crisp or as sharp as the cinematographer and director decided it should be. Other artifacts pop up occasionally – there are some shots with slight lens doubling effects that stem from the original film elements. Audio is consistent with the technology of 1948, sweetened a bit for modern tastes. It’s no distraction from the imagery, but could have been more of an enhancement.

Special Features include a commentary by professor and film scholar Jason A. New; MYSTERIES EXPOSED: INSIDE THE CINEMATIC WORLD OF SPIRITUALISM, an original documentary by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures featuring author Lisa Morton and writer/producer C. Courtney Joiner, and a full color booklet with an essay, The Amazing Mr. Bey, by Dan Stradley.

If you’ve never seen this movie, or seen it only in a diminished format sourced from a bad public domain print, don’t hesitate to buy this disc. Well worth the price!

Anthony Taylor is not only the Minister of Science, but also Defender of the Faith. His reviews and articles have appeared in magazines such as Screem, Fangoria, Famous Monsters of Filmland, SFX, Video*WatcHDog, and more.

*Art Credit: Anthony Taylor as Dr. Zaius caricature by Richard Smith

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

NERUDA (2016); Dir. Pablo Larrain; Starring Luis Gnecco, Gael Garcia Bernal, Mercedes Moran; Opens Friday, January 27 at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema; Trailer here.

Oscar Award-nominated Director and Producer Pablo Larrain’s NERUDA released to select theatres in December 2016, after screening in the Director’s Fortnight  section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and cuts to the chase in Atlanta, January 27, at the Midtown Art Cinema. Larrain [JACKIE (2016)/dir. – His first film in English; THE CLUB (2015)/dir.; NO (2012)/dir.)] has created his niche as a filmmaker stepping outside the typical biopic box and granting his viewers a biting yet intimate and unfamiliar glimpse into the lives of prominent world-known personalities.   

NERUDA, written by Guillermo Calderon [THE CLUB (2015)] lures the viewer into a 1940s noir-ish absurd and fantastical chase into the Chilean political underground which centers on two seemingly opposite characters, Chile’s Communist “traitor,” “People’s Poet” and exiled Nobel Prize-winner Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco) and a romanticized straight-laced law enforcer Inspector Oscar Peluchonneau (Gael Garcia Bernal). Although Larrain’s film centers on a small slice of Neruda’s life, he uses Peluchonneau’s dreamy pursuit as a vigorous vehicle to carry the film from opening scene to el fin. Ever the poetic egoist and larger than life Neruda, played effortlessly by Luis Gnecco [“Narcos”/TV series (2015); NO (2012)], who exclaims, “This has to become a wild hunt!” And so the viewer is swept away on a wild imaginative goose chase from town to town as the poet gives a collective voice to his suffering Chilean Communist comrades from afar. The thrill of the chase gives Larrain’s “Neruda” ample fodder to champion his cause as he barely escapes the clutches of his mustachioed arch nemesis, played ever so movingly by Gael Garcia Bernal [THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (2004); THE LIMITS OF CONTROL (2009); NO (2012)].

Mercedes Moran as Delia del Carril and Luis Gnecco as Neruda

If Larrain’s objective is for the viewer to feel like they’ve stepped out of a time-machine into 1940s Chile and beyond, his use of antiquated yet absurdly fun film techniques unquestionably serves its purpose. His use of rear-projection during the car chase scenes for example is reminiscent of gangster and noir films of that time. Further, his unique visual style, utilized in his other works [THE CLUB (2015)] is characterized by blue and purple hues setting this story apart from the plethora of over-digitalized films that lack a distinct atmosphere, a distinct tone. Nevertheless, the genuine focus, the pure genius of NERUDA, is the cat-and-mouse chase narrative reminiscent of the film’s era, and more precisely the story that unfolds within the story. Larrain’s utilization of a mere snippet of Neruda’s flight from Chile’s brutal anti-communist crackdown constructs a vivid painting of the internal battle within a very self-aware and assured protagonist, the “People’s Poet.” In complete contrast to Neruda is Peluchonneau as the insecure, naïve and self-doubting narrator and antagonist. Calderon’s ability to depict both characters as completely separate entities with opposing personalities who could easily meld into one distinct being should one desire, gives the film a depth of character unlike most in the genre.

Gnecco

Whether you are a fan of Pablo Neruda, noir, or one who delves deeply into the land of nostalgic filmmaking, NERUDA is a film well worth checking out. Larrain dishes out an unexpected tale filled to the brim with intrigue, ambiguity and a genuine love for his characters. It is highly recommended that you catch this beautifully crafted piece of cinema, featuring standout performances, in the cinema. As Larrain conveyed to DEADLINE’s Nancy Tartaglione, “It’s less a movie about Pablo Neruda than it is like to going to his house and playing with his toys.” (Dec. 2016)

Gael Garcia Bernal as Oscar Peluchonneau

VERTIGO (1958); Dir: Alfred Hitchcock; Starring James Stewart, Kim Novak and Barbara Bel Geddes; Fri. Nov. 23 – Sun. Nov. 25; Plaza Theatre (visit Plaza Theatre Website for showtimes and ticket prices); Trailer here.

If the film noir is defined by its most typical set-up—that of a doomed man swept up in events outside his control, often by a manipulative female figure—then Alfred Hitchcock’s towering VERTIGO is that most rare of films noir. It trades the genre’s high-contrast black-and-white for rich Technicolor. It places its characters not in the dimly-lit nightshade world of seedy bars, backrooms and private dicks’ offices; but in art museums, redwoods forests and the sunny streets of San Francisco. In the world of VERTIGO, the shadows of night may still hold mysterious threats, but the stark light of day reveals their constant presence all too clearly. There is, truly, no escape.

In this film, James Stewart paired with Hitchcock for their final collaboration. Stewart had long been one of Hitch’s archetypal actors. Whereas Cary Grant represented the Idealized Man in his cinematic world, Stewart was the Everyman. Grant was the go-to guy when Hitch needed a lead that viewers would either want to be or want to bed. Stewart was the guy next door, bringing a down-to-earth sensibility to his roles, and much of the attraction of him as a lead in Hitch’s films was in seeing this average Joe rise above his limitations to triumph at the end.

In VERTIGO, however, Stewart’s average Joe is taken far away from next door; his obsessions and fears exposed as he is broken beyond repair.

Stewart stars as former police detective John “Scottie” Ferguson, whose vertigo and fear of heights manifest in a rooftop police chase and result in the death of a fellow officer. Stricken by depression, he has retired from the force and struggles to overcome his fears. He is enlisted by an old college acquaintance, Gavin Elster, to trail his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), whom he claims has been possessed by the spirit of the long-dead suicide victim Carlotta Valdes. Scottie witnesses Madeleine attempt to kill herself by jumping into San Francisco Bay and rescues her. They then become ensnared in an obsessive and doomed romance that can only result in death, a break with sanity, or both…

James Stewart and Kim Novak in VERTIGO. Paramount Pictures, 1958.

Kim Novak perfectly essays the role of a most unusual femme fatale: manipulative without being forceful, cool and reserved yet with a barely-concealed sexuality, strong yet fragile. However, Barbara Bel Geddes (whom viewers would later come to know as “Miss Ellie” Ewing on the TV series DALLAS) is perhaps the most overlooked character in the film: Scottie’s long-suffering ex-girlfriend Midge, a bohemian clothing designer, who represents the polar opposite of Madeleine. Where Madeleine is cool, Midge is warm. Where Madeleine is perfectly poised and elegant, Midge is natural and almost frumpily grounded. And where Madeleine represents everything that will tear down Scottie, Midge represents that lost potential for true happiness. Madeleine may be an impossible ideal, but Midge is real, there, now. And her love and devotion to Scottie may be the only path for his salvation, but how can he see that path with the dream that is Madeleine beckoning him from just beyond his reach?

The film was a critical and commercial failure upon release. Some felt it was too long and too complicated for a simple psychological mystery. Hitchcock believed that James Stewart’s age was a factor in the film’s failure, and replaced him with Cary Grant in the following year’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST (four years older than Stewart, true, but eternally youthful). Many, however, were disappointed that this movie was not another romantic mystery along the lines of 1956’s THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. In fact, the mystery is practically subservient to the film’s depiction of obsession—it’s solved two thirds of the way through the movie. Hitchcock often referenced the term “MacGuffin”: the mechanical element that sets a story into motion, yet which is ultimately unimportant to the plot’s progression. In John Huston’s 1941 film THE MALTESE FALCON, for instance, it’s the titular sculpture. In NORTH BY NORTHWEST, it’s a cache of microfilm. In the case of VERTIGO, it’s the mystery itself. The whys and wherefores of how Scottie has become obsessed with Madeleine are not important; his fears and obsessions are, instead, the focal point, and how they emerge and re-emerge during the course of the story are what carries us along the inevitable path to the film’s particularly noir conclusion.

However it was dismissed in the past, in more recent years VERTIGO has been reevaluated. Beginning with Robin Wood’s seminal 1965 work HITCHCOCK’S FILMS, critics have paid closer attention to the film and what it attempts to accomplish. Many have come to regard the film in retrospect as Hitch’s most personal work: a fully-realized exploration of his own obsession with a particular “type” of woman, embodied in Grace Kelly, and his need to craft the images of his actresses to fit this particular model. This was an obsession, as depicted in Donald Spoto’s THE DARK SIDE OF GENIUS and the HBO original film THE GIRL, which would be ultimately destructive to his professional relationships with women. But despite the speculative personal aspect of VERTIGO, most have come to realize that as a film on its own merits, that it stands as a masterpiece. Indeed, it has topped the British Film Institute’s 2012 Sight & Sound critic’s poll as the greatest film ever made.

VERTIGO’s relative failure at the time meant that preservation wasn’t as much of an issue. Thankfully, the film was meticulously restored by film historian Robert A. Harris and his team, using materials ranging from the original camera negatives (which Harris notes “looked hideous”), to damaged black-and-white color separation masters, to fuzzy film prints as many as eight generations removed from the original negatives. Using all of the materials at their disposal (including a preserved green paint sample from a model of car featured in the film which was utilized for color timing), Harris and company worked miracles, producing an almost immaculate presentation of what many consider Hitchcock’s true masterpiece.

To see such an important film, preserved and restored so well, presented on the big screen is a treat to be savored by any film fan, whether casual or hardcore. And this treat is available at the Plaza Theatre for one weekend only. Some things simply should not be missed. Don’t let this one pass you by.

Aleck Bennett is a writer, blogger, pug warden, pop culture enthusiast, raconteur and bon vivant from the greater Atlanta area. Visit his blog at doctorsardonicus.wordpress.com

Magician Chad Sanborn is one of the many talented local and regional performers in BURLESQUE WITH A HITCH Sat. Aug. 13 at Masquerade. Photo courtesy of Chad Sanborn.

Legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock has been dubbed the “Master of Suspense,” but suspense also is the key ingredient to a great burlesque act – the tantalizing tease which has you wondering when she’s going to take it off. Leave it to Mon Cherie to have the genius to put the two together for one of the more innovative burlesque pairings in the local scene this year. In BURLESQUE WITH A HITCH, the latest in her Va-Va-Voom series at Masquerade this Sat. Aug. 13 (doors at 9 p.m.), each act will be based on a different Hitchcock film. Alabaster JuJu stars, with master of suspense and mystery Miss Mason hosting, and the line-up of top local and regional performers includes aerialist extraordinaire Sadie Hawkins (Blast-Off Burlesque), Rebecca DeShon (Hoop Essence), Stormy Knight, Fonda Lingue, Evil Sarah, The Chameleon Queen, Katarina Laveaux (Birmingham, AL), Nicolette Tesla (Charlotte, NC), and Peachz de Vine (Greensboro, NC). Before and after, DJ 313 spins alternative dance, Allison Kellar offers body-painting, and there’s also the usual RAWKIN’ RAFFLE with lots of vintage-inspired vendors donating prizes. Cover is a bargain 5 bucks, and doors open at 9 p.m., with all proceeding helping cancer patient Shawn Brown.

Of course, suspense is also the key to a successful magic trick, and all great burlesque and vaudeville shows have to have a magician. For BURLESQUE WITH A HITCH, we think Mon Cherie couldn’t have picked less of a “Wrong Man” than Chad Sanborn, who, outfitted like a ’40s noir detective complete with fedora, sets up his tricks like a crime to be solved. ATLRetro caught up with Chad to find out why he adopted his signature style, as well as gather a few clues about his Sat. night act and his other projects, including movie and TV roles and HOUDINI: DOG MAGICIAN commercials for The Cartoon Network. And Just Added: Chad sent us a short rehearsal clip for his Saturday night trick. Watch it here.

ATLRetro: How old were you when you started performing magic, and is there any fun story about that?

Chad Sanborn: I started performing, if you could call it that back then, when I was just a kid. I’d say about 8 years old. David Copperfield would do a yearly television special. Those have inspired me greatly. When you are starting in magic, your family and friends are your guinea pigs. Mostly they are cordial and say “that’s nice,” whether you fooled them or not. Then there is my grandmother…ugh. She would tell me the truth. And it hurt. “It’s in the other hand,” “there is a string on it,” etc. What’s worse is that she would holler it out right in the middle of the show! I hated that. Mostly because she was right. Now I see that honest criticism as a good thing. It lets me know what works and what doesn’t. Positive feedback is good for the ego, but honest feedback is good for the show. It’s been tough, but I have learned to set my ego aside and do what’s best for the magic.

Photo courtesy of Chad Sanborn.

You’ve adopted a noir ‘30s/’40s Humphrey Bogart/James Cagney look instead of the top hat, tux and cape that magicians traditionally have worn. How did that come about?

Well I learned magic from old books I got from the library. They would preach about bringing your own personality into each trick. Are you funny, clever, sexy, goofy? Whatever you were, they said you should inject that into the presentation of the tricks. So who was I? That’s tough to answer at 8 years old. Heck, its tough to answer at 38 years old. As I got older, I realized that I liked vintage things -1900s-1950s clothing, music, vaudeville, etc. Everything. So it was only natural to bring those elements into the magic. I emulated Bogart because he was tops in his field. So now I wear a vintage suit and tie with a fedora and spectator shoes, instead of a tux, top hat and cape. Though I do own a tux made in 1942!

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Monday July 25

From 3 PM on, savor tropical sounds and libations, as well as a Polynesian dinner during Mai Tai Monday at Smith’s Olde Bar. Kingsized and Tongo Hiti lead singer Big Mike Geier is Monday night’s celebrity bartender at Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room and Ping Pong Parlor. Northside Tavern hosts its weekly Blues Jam.

Tuesday July 26

What’s in a name? Catchy coolness if you’re self-styled D.I.Y. rock ‘n’ roll band Swank Sinatra, playing tonight at Smith’s Olde Bar. Although their sound, fury and lyrics are inspired by Frank than “homeless people, pirates, ladies, shoes, ships, our hate of disco and breakfast.” Minor Stars and Kevin Dunbar Band open. Grab your horn and head to Twain’s in Decatur for a Joe Gransden jazz jam session starting at 9 PM. JT Speed plays the blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Notorious DJ Romeo Cologne spins the best ‘70s funk and disco at 10 High in Virginia-Highland. Catch Tues. Retro in the Metro nights at Midtown’s Deadwood Saloon, featuring video mixes of ’80s, ’90s, and 2Ks hits.

Wednesday  July 27

The Temptations and The Four Tops make it a mini-Motown reunion at Classic Chastain tonight. Get ready to rumba, cha-cha and jitterbug at the weekly Swing Night at Graveyard Tavern. Deacon Brandon Reeves bring the blues to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack and Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck blues it down at Northside Tavernrespectively. Dance to ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s hits during Retro in the Metro Wednesdayspresented by Godiva Vodka, at Pub 71 in Brookhaven.

Thursday  July 28

It’s a cinematic night of pure (& twisted) imagination for the whole family as The Atlanta Opera screens classic 1971 movie WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY starring Gene Wilder at The Atlanta Opera Center (1575 Northside Drive, NW, Bldg 300, Suite 350, Atlanta, GA 30318). Attendees may win two (golden?) tickets to the company’s production of THE GOLDEN TICKET, also based on the Roald Dahl novel, in March, 2012.

Henry Porter, named after a legendary Dylan quote, bring their Western swing on DMT to Kathmandu Restaurant & Grill in Clarkston. Or is that post-rock mindset with 70’s AOR hooks? Or songs that Iggy Pop might could sing? Or the Eagles with credibility? Or CCR meets XTC? Heck if they even know for sure, but you can find out for free and eat some tasty Asian vittles at the same time.

Classic Tulsa Sound piano man Leon Russell opens for legendary folk rocker Bob Dylan at Chastain Park Amphitheatre. Go Retro-Polynesian to Tongo Hiti’s luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as some trippy takes on iconic pop songs, just about every Thursday night at Trader Vic’s. Party ‘70s style with DJ Romeo Cologne at Aurum Lounge. Breeze King and Chickenshack bring on the blues respectively at Northside Tavern and Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.Bluegrass Thursday at Red Light Cafe features The Burning Angels.

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