Sunday at the Movies
Made in Culver City, a free day-long film festival at City Hall on Sunday from 1 to 10 p.m. in association with the UCLA Film & Television Archive, will form the climax of the celebration on Sunday.
The program, celebrating golden classics produced in the Heart of Screenland, features Tom and Jerrys The Cat Concerto, Laurel and Hardys Putting Pants on Philip, Hog Wild and County Hospital, and the MGM masterpiece An American in Paris.
The 200-seat Council Chambers will be transformed into a family theatre for this anniversary event and a program of Tom and Jerrys The Cat Concerto (1946) as well as Laurel and Hardy shorts Putting Pants on Philip (1927), Hog Wild (1930) and County Hospital (1932) will be repeated throughout the afternoon at 1, 3 and 5.
What It Felt Like
Special guests will be present at every screening in the afternoon, including Jean Barker, June Caldwell and Paul Pitti. They will share their memories with the audience about filmmaking in Culver City.
William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were based at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in Culver City when the Tom and Jerry cartoon The Cat Concerto was produced.
Martha Sigall, a Culver City resident who was an inker on The Cat Concerto, will be a special guest at the 5 oclock screening. She will share her memories of creating the Academy Award-winning cartoon with Hanna and Barberas talented team of artists.
Laurel and Hardy Come Home
All three Laurel and Hardy shorts feature footage filmed on the streets of Culver City including shots of Washington Boulevard, Main Street, The Culver Hotel, the original City Hall and residential Madison Avenue. The Laurel and Hardy films were produced in Culver City by the Hal Roach Studios known as the Laugh Factory to the World. Putting Pants on Philip is a silent film. Hog Wild and County Hospital are early talkies.
The City Hall Courtyard will be transformed into an open-air theatre in the evening for a 7:30 screening of The Cat Concerto and An American in Paris (1951), which features the music of George Gershwin and starring Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron and Nina Foch.
It Was the Best
An American in Paris was choreographed by Kelly and directed by Vincente Minnelli. The film, shot on a sound stage at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in Culver City, received the Academy Award for Best Picture. Some of the memorable songs from An American in Paris include Embraceable You, Ive Got Rhythm and S Wonderful.
Culver City always has been a home for film studios.
How It Began
Founding father Harry H. Culver had observed Thomas Ince filming a western on Ballona Creek. Subsequently, he convinced Ince to move his Inceville Studios from the beach to Washington Boulevard. Culver City, incorporated in 1917, quickly became “The Heart of Screenland.”
Culver City has been the home to the Thomas H. Ince Studios, Hal Roach Studios, DeMille Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Selznick International Studios, RKO Pictures, Pathe, Desilu and currently The Culver Studios and Sony Pictures Studios.
Why Archive Is Valued
The UCLA Film & Television Archive is internationally renowned for its pioneering efforts to preserve and showcase not only classic but current and innovative film and television.
It is dedicated to ensuring that the moving image history of our time is explored and enjoyed for generations to come. The Archive seeks to contribute to the public’s media awareness and enjoyment by providing special screenings of films and television shows on an ongoing basis. Some 400 films are exhibited at UCLA each year, and hundreds of additional programs are provided to other archives, museums and film festivals in the U.S. as well as overseas. Its programming combines the best of the old, the new, the classic and the innovative. All prints for this event have been provided by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and additional permission has been granted by Warner Bros. Classics.
Helpful Guide
The program for the event will include a map for a self-guided walking tour of Downtown with listings of restaurants, film landmarks seen in the Laurel and Hardy shorts and information on some of the Citys public art pieces that pay homage to its film history.
Moving Pictures by Wick Alexander and Robin Brailsford is comprised of seven unique zoetropes celebrating the origin of cinema and Culver Citys film studio history. Inside each zoetropes drum is a series of images that can be viewed through the slots incised in the drums shell. The viewer can adjust the rate of the spin of the drum and observe an increasingly smooth progression of images. The zoetropes are placed in locations throughout Downtown, walking distance from City Hall.
Admission is free, and no reservations are required for the Made in Culver City Film Festival.
Seating for the evening screenings in City Hall Courtyard starts at 6:30. Seating is unreserved and on a first- come, first-served basis. Each person may save one additional seat and seats must be attended at all times. There will be 350 chairs. Lawn chairs are welcomed.
You may visit www.culvercity.org for more information or call the Cultural Affairs Hotline at 310.253.5716.
