Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10 - Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117
Admission: $10 - Limited Seating RSVP to programming@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117
Featuring:
You . . .
(Istvan
Szabo,B+W, 1963)
A breezy take on the New Wave sensibility. As
this stylish short attempts to capture the energy of our youthful
heroine’s busy urban revels it also becomes a study of Budapest,
seemingly this young woman’s plaything. Cecília Esztergályos
co-stars with Hungary’s capital city.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs.
Basil E Frankenweiler (a/k/a
The Hideaways) (Fielder Cook, 1973, color - excerpt)
High culture madness! Tween-age, Claudia, bored
in the ‘burbs, seeks madcap adventure in Manhattan. With kid
brother in tow, she moves into the spacious Metropolitan Museum of
Art. This excerpt finds the kids settling into life among the
treasures, bathing in the fountain and such. One night Claudia
stumbles upon a recently un-crated marble angel, whose uncertain
origin captures her imagination. Is it a Michelangelo? Madeline Kahn,
in a small role as a deliciously harried teacher, gives a comic gem
of a performance.
In the Night Kitchen (Gene
Dietch, 1975, color)
With
its Sunday comics format and flash of baby nudity, Maurice
Sendak’s In
the Night Kitchen
was groundbreaking (and censored!)
upon its 1970 publication.
Mickey tumbles into the
pantry metropolis of the night kitchen, landing in
giant bowl of batter
for the morning cake. After hours baking is overseen by a trio of
Oliver
Hardy look-a-likes, who pop
him in the oven. Freely referencing Windsor McKay’s Little
Nemo, Sendak enhanced his standing as
cool uncle to generations of kids.
Animator
Oldrich Haberle brings the
book’s
bold
illustrations to vivid
life. Angelo Michajlov's
Kitchen Sink-o-Pators
provide the appropriately swinging score.
Brooklyn Goes To Paris (Arthur
Cohen, B+W, 1956)
A comic tour by Brooklyn native Arthur Cohen,
who brings his Brooklyn-centric worldview to the City of Light. He
tours (and mispronounces) major sights such as the Louvre, Place de
l’Opera, l’Etoile, artsy Montmartre, Place Pigalle, Moulin Rouge,
an aerial view of Paris, Notre Dame cathedral, the Seine, the Left
Bank, and the Eiffel Tower, as well as the everyday. Who can really
say if the Champs Elysee is “the Flatbush Avenue of Paris” or
not?
Help, My Snowman’s Burning Down
(Carson Davidson, 1964, Color)
This Academy award-nominated short stars Bob
Larkin (later in the cult film Putney Swope) as a Beatnik who lives
on a dock off Manhattan with only bathroom furnishings. A visceral
tapestry woven together by stop motion and surreal special effects,
this film is an Oddball audience favorite. Bob Brookmeyer and Gerry
Mulligan provide additional cool.
Our Cities Must Fight
(Anthony Rizzo, 1951, B+W)
This US Defense Film from 1951 finds a newspaper
editor and shady government liaison in cahoots, as they try to
determine the best way to implore citizens to remain in cities during
an enemy attack. Planning on heading for the hills? Why that’s just
plain treason!
Find out what your rubble strewn city requires of you when your
hometown becomes the front lines of freedom!
Sunday Dinner
(Jeff Bleckner, 1975)
1970s Manhattan seems strangely quaint in this
tale of two old pals cobbling together a glorious feast on the
not-so-mean streets of the city. Heartwarming urban adventure or
patronizing look at the impoverished seniors? You can be the judge!
Features Oscar-winner Maureen Stapleton as the cheeriest bag lady
ever!
Porky's Five & Ten (Bob Clampett, 1938, B+W)
Dreams of glamour at the ocean’s floor! When a
motley gang of undersea creatures get hold of Porky’s variety store
inventory en route to Boula Boula Island, life in Davey Jones’s
locker goes Hollywood very fast. Another great movie star packed
toon the the Warner Brothers tradition.
S.F. Trips Festival: An Opening (Ben
Van Meter, 1967, color)
Experimental multi-exposure freak out documents
the 1966 Trips Festival, an acid-drenched “Happening” staged in
San Francisco at the Longshoremen’s Hall (400 North Point) in
January of 1966.
Plus! For the Early Arrivals!
Community Helpers -
Sanitation Department
(Cahill Films, 1964, color)
See Any Town USA through the eyes of Ed and
John, who have the big job of keeping it sparkling clean. The big
news in this enthusiastic and witty look at garbage collection might
have been the wondrous way trash was making cities better through the
miracle
of landfill! Those dixie cups are gonna be a park one day!
About the Curator
Lynn Cursaro is a local film
blogger. Over the past two decades, she has worked in research and
administrative positions a variety of Bay Area film organizations.