Around Town: ‘Mad, Mad World’ and other comedy classics
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The American Cinematheque is ringing in the New Year with some wild and crazy comedy classics.
The Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre is serving up a 70-millimeter print of Stanley Kramer’s lengthy, wacky all-star 1963 comedy, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” starring such comedy legends as Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Edie Adams, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Don Knotts, Carl Reiner, Terry-Thomas and even Spencer Tracy. They’re all embroiled in a cross-country chase to find $350,000 in stolen money. Kramer’s widow, Karen Sharpe Kramer, and his daughter, Kat Kramer, will introduce the film.
The Cinematheque’s Aero Theatre continues its annual “Screwball Comedy Classics’ with two Preston Sturges gems he made in 1941: “Sullivan’s Travels,” with Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake, and “The Lady Eve,” starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda and Charles Coburn. The genius of Carole Lombard is on display Friday evening at the Aero with the 1936 screwball classic “My Man Godfrey,” for which she received her only Oscar nomination. The film also stars her ex-husband, Willilam Powell, who also earned a lead actor nod. She’s even funnier in the second feature, the 1934 Howard Hawks’ comedy, “20th Century,” in which she matches wits and quips with John Barrymore
And the Aero goes Marxist on New Year’s Day with a Marx Brothers double bill: 1932’s “Horse Feathers” and 1930’s “Animal Crackers,” in which Groucho sings “Hooray for Captain Spaulding.” Wednesday’s screwball offerings are William Wyler’s enchanting and rarely screened 1935 comedy, “The Good Fairy,” starring Margaret Sullavan and penned by Preston Sturges, and 1936’s “Theodora Goes Wild,” with Irene Dunne in her Oscar-nominated turn as a young woman from a small town who writes sexy bestsellers. www.americancinematheque.com
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Tuesday matinee also features a Howard Hawks masterwork, 1940’s “His Girl Friday,” with a perfectly cast Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell and Ralph Bellamy. www.lacma.org
For those looking for a bit more dramatic fare, the Egyptian is presenting a 70mm print of one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most acclaimed thrillers, 1958’s “Vertigo,” with Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. Bernard Herrmann supplied the evocative score, parts of which pop up in the current hit “The Artist.” On Sunday, the Egyptian is offering a triple bill of Robert Zemeckis’ “Back to the Future” trilogy, starring Michael J. Fox as the irrepressible time traveler Marty McFly. www.americancinematheque.com
Francois Truffaut’s homages to Alfred Hitchcock, 1968’s “The Bride Wore Black” and 1969’s “Mississippi Mermaid,” screen Thursday and Friday at the New Beverly. The acclaimed “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and the documentary “Project Nim” are scheduled for Sunday through Tuesday. Werner Herzog’s documentary “Into the Abyss” and Errol Morris’ 1999 “Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter” are on tap for Wednesday. www.newbevcinema.com
The controversial 2000 Japanese film “Battle Royale,” directed by Kinji Fukasaku, continues through Tuesday at Cinefamily’s Silent Movie Theatre. Scheduled for Wednesday is the 1927 silent “The Loves of Casanova,” directed by Alexandre Volkoff. www.cinefamily.org
— Susan King
Photo: Harp Marx, center, gets his point across in ‘Animal Crackers.’ Credit: Universal.
