RICHARD FLEISCHER: CINEMASCOPE KILLERS AND THRILLERS
One of the most talented journeymen directors of the studio era, Richard Fleischer’s specialty was the crime film, whether a procedural look at a killer’s crimes, like The Boston Strangler or a multi-character thriller like Violent Saturday. These two films, plus The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, a look at the scandalous Stanford White/Evelyn Nesbitt/Harry Thaw love-murder triangle, and Compulsion, a fictionalization of the Leopold & Loeb murders, will screen in excellent 35mm CinemaScope prints from the archives of 20th Century Fox.
- Sat., Apr. 12 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
In 1906, there was no more sensational or scandalous story than the love affair between model Evelyn Nesbitt and celebrated architect Stanford White; an affair which ended when White was murdered by Nesbitt’s violently jealous husband, Harry Thaw. The true story of this deadly triangle (which was dramatized again later in the novel and film, Ragtime), is told with style and finesse by director Fleischer.
- Sat., Apr. 19 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
The notorious crimes of Leopold & Loeb, originally dramatized in Rope, are again fictionalized in this riveting adaptation of Meyer Levin’s novel. In telling this bleak but compelling story, director Fleischer makes effective use of the black and white CinemaScope format. He also has a fine cast that includes a memorable Welles as a very Clarence Darrow-like attorney. After the screening, a discussion with Jerry Hancock, former assistant attorney general and current director of the Prison Ministry Project at First Congregational Church. This program presented with the support of Madison Opera’s production of Dead Man Walking on April 25 & 27.
- Sat., Apr. 26 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Fleischer goes out on an artistic limb with this recounting of Albert De Salvo’s infamous murder spree that paralyzed the Boston area in the early '60s. A smorgasbord of split screens and sexual perversities ultimately gives way to an unnervingly intimate portrayal of madness. In a performance unique in his career, Curtis's De Salvo is delicately understated, and surprisingly naturalistic, even with the aid of some theatrical nose putty. A police procedural that is equal measures dated and daring, and featuring a stark, minimalist conclusion, The Boston Strangler will follow you home from the theater after the lights go up. (BR)
- Sat., May. 3 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
A gang of bank robbing rogues (including a particularly sadistic Marvin) roll into town all ready for their big score, only to find that this rural community has troubles all its own. The many characters also include Mature as a distressed father and lawman who refused to serve in the war, Sidney as a kleptomaniac library, and Ernest Borgnine as an Amish man with an ethical dilemma. This color CinemaScope film noir is a gem in the filmography of action film specialist Fleischer.