The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced its fall programming lineup for both its Los Angeles Linwood Dunn Theater. A full event schedule and ticket information can be found at oscars.org/fall-at-the-academy. The schedule is an impressive one, often followed with special guests expected to be in attendance (schedules permitting). Be sure to check back to the web page often, as tickets become available closer to each event. There's enough to please everyone, but there's one film in particular that will thrill the heart of the most ardent cinephile: Detour.
In September, the Academy will be screening the 1945 gritty low-budget, Detour. This classic noir is a prime example of the genre's fatalism at its rawest. Director, Edgar G. Ulmer’s tale of a down-on-his-luck pianist who, through flashes backs, reminisces on his time hitchhiking west. Being a dark tale told by a cynical washout, it's only natural that the protagonist winds up as an accessory to murder on the open road. And of course, there's a shady woman involved. In this case the femme fatal is in the shape of wayfarer, Vera (Ann Savage). Shot over six days (!) and released by the “poverty row” studio Producers Releasing Corporation, Detour may be cinema’s most claustrophobic road movie. Roger Ebert hailed it as “haunting and creepy, an embodiment of the guilty soul of film noir,” and in 1992, the film was named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as a film deserving of preservation. You can't beat that for a solid recommendation. And to top off this perfect evening of cinematic adventure, Ulmer's daughter, Arianne Ulmer Cipes will be in attendance for an informative Q&A.
The restoration of this cinematic gem was made possible by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation in collaboration with Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, the Museum of Modern Art and the Cinémathèque Française. Restoration funding was provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation.
Also scheduled for the month of September is the retrospective program Women in Indie Animation, the insightful documentary Food, Inc, the classic docu/drama Salesman with special guest Rebekah Maysles, presented with a 35mm print restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation, presented in partnership with the International Documentary Association (IDA).