Pound for pound, he’s a funny man

W.C. FIELDS may have been the ultimate curmudgeon who never gave a sucker an even break, but he was also an extraordinary juggler and a comedian of the highest order.

On Friday the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is paying tribute to the slapstick legend with an “evening of splendiferous salutations and convivial colloquy recollecting the life and times of an elephantine talent” -- try to say that twice without taking a breath -- with a screening of his rollicking 1934 farce “The Old Fashioned Way.” In it, Fields plays the bulbous-nosed Great McGonigle, the fast-talking manager of a downtrodden 19th century acting troupe.

Leonard Maltin hosts the festivities, which include the comic’s grandson Ron Fields, historian Joe Adamson, veteran writer Hal Kanter and four of Field’s costars -- Gloria Jean, Jane Withers, Delmar Watson and Jean Rouverol Butler.

Also at the academy this week, as part of its “Great to Be Nominated” series on Monday, is 1980’s “Raging Bull.” When the curtain rang down on the 1980s, the majority of critics agreed that Martin Scorsese’s operatic biopic about pugilist Jake LaMotta was the greatest film of the decade.

Robert DeNiro won the best actor Oscar for his bravura performance as LaMotta -- he took Method acting an extra level by gaining 60 pounds to play the older boxer; and Thelma Schoonmaker received the Academy Award for her poetic editing. Scheduled to appear for a discussion are producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler and makeup artist Michael G. Westmore.

This Wednesday the academy is throwing A Centennial Tribute to Barbara Stanwyck, which features a heavy dose of clips from several of her films, as well as special guests Kirk Douglas, Army Archerd and Nina Foch. (The evening also kicks off UCLA’s Film and Television Archive festival of Stanwyck films that begins May 18.)

Stanwyck, who was born Ruby Stevens and had a hard-knock early life, could do it all -- tough, tender, wild, comedic and occasionally demure. She made a name for herself in the early 1930s in a series of ribald pre-Code films including “Baby Face,” was the muse of director Frank Capra (“Miracle Woman,” “The Bitter Tea of General Yen”), excelled in such comedies as Preston Sturges’ “The Lady Eve” and Howard Hawks’ “Ball of Fire,” and was the ultimate femme fatale in Billy Wilder’s landmark 1944 film noir “Double Indemnity.”

Tonight the American Cinematheque is bringing back the thought-provoking 2005 film “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu,” which despite glowing reviews met a quick demise at theaters last year. Romanian director Cristi Puiu’s dark comedy about a man’s last night alive is receiving a four-day engagement at the Egyptian Theatre.

Ion Fiscuteanu plays the title role -- a hard-drinking older man who lives with his cats in an old apartment. He’s taken from overcrowded hospital to overcrowded hospital by an eager ambulance driver (Luminita Gheorghiu) until he finally dies.

“Mr. Lazarescu” received more than 20 awards, including the 2005 Un Certain Regard at Cannes and best supporting actress for Gheorghiu from the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.

Elsewhere: The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival ends tonight with a screening of “The Rebel”; and the Silver Lake Film Festival closes out on Saturday with “X: The Unheard Music.”

susan.king@latimes.com

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Screenings

Motion Picture Academy

* “The Old Fashioned Way”: 7:30 p.m. Friday

* “Raging Bull”: 7:30 p.m. Monday

* A Centennial Tribute to Barbara Stanwyck: 8 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Samuel Goldwyn Theater, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills

Info: (310) 247-3600, oscars.org

American Cinematheque

* “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu”: 7:30 p.m. today and Friday, 6 and 9 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday

Where: Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

Info: (323) 466-3456, americancinematheque.com

Also

Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival: www.vconline.org

Silver Lake Film Festival: www.silverlakefilmfestival.org