Acdemy to Screen Original Film Version of “Chicago”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' "Lost and Found" series returns with "Chicago" (1928), starring Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart (pictured), on Wednesday, August 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. |
Beverly Hills, CA — The 1928 original film version of “Chicago,” predecessor to the 2002 Best Picture Oscar® winner, will be screened with live Jazz Age musical accompaniment by Johnny Crawford and his Orchestra at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday, August 16, at 7:30 p.m., in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The film will be presented under the banner of the Academy’s “Lost and Found” series in conjunction with the UCLA Film and Television Archive Festival of Preservation.
This new restoration of the original full-length roadshow version found on 35mm nitrate stock in the Cecil B. DeMille Family collection will reintroduce the public to the vamps from “murderess row” and the mercenary lawyer Billy Flynn. Based on Maurine Watkins’ 1926 Broadway play of the same name, “Chicago” was directed by frequent DeMille collaborator Frank Urson and stars Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart; Victor Varconi as Roxie’s husband, Amos Hart; Eugene Pallette as Roxie’s offed lover, Casely; Virginia Bradford as the maid, Katie; and Robert Edeson as Flynn.
Watkins’ play, inspired by news stories she wrote for the Chicago Tribune about real-life accused murderesses Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan, also spawned two subsequent films and a Broadway musical. In 1942, William Wellman directed Ginger Rogers in the title role of “Roxie Hart.” Rob Marshall’s “Chicago,” which was based on the 1975 Bob Fosse Broadway musical earned 13 Oscar nominations and took home six Academy Awards® in 2002.
A new print of the silent short “Movie Night” (1929), starring Charley Chase, will be screened before the feature. It has been preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the Academy Film Archive, in cooperation with Film Preservation Associates, from the incomplete 35mm nitrate original negative and a 16mm fine grain master positive. The short will be accompanied on the piano by Michael Mortilla.
“Lost and Found” is a periodic series designed to showcase archival prints of films that have been recently rediscovered or restored from new materials that improve the presentation quality of previously available versions.
Tickets for the Academy’s “Lost and Found” screening of “Chicago” are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with valid identification. They may be purchased in advance at the Academy during regular business hours, by mail, or on the night of the screening, if still available, when the doors open at 6:30. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call 310-247-3600.
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