American Cinematheque honors Blake Edwards in July

[Clouseau]

American Cinematheque in Santa Monica, CA will be honoring Blake Edwards in July... notice these showings, many of which include other Panther Personnel in addition to Edwards:

• Thursday, July 10 – 7:30 PM
  
  BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S, 1961, Paramount, 115 min. "I've got to do something about the way I look. I mean a girl just can't go to Sing Sing with a green fac." – So sighs Audrey Hepburn’s girl-about-town Holly Golightly, breezing ever-so-gently through the real world with hardly a ripple. But when she meets sober, handsome, nice guy George Peppard, she begins to gradually re-think her anything-goes, high-living life style. Adapted from Truman Capote’s best-selling romance by director Blake Edwards (THE PINK PANTHER, THE PARTY) and writer George Axelrod, and featuring what is arguably Henry Mancini’s greatest score, highlighted by the lovely, bittersweet "Moon River." With Mickey Rooney.
  
  
• Friday, July 11 – 7:30 PM
  
  Double Feature:
  
  THE PINK PANTHER, 1964, MGM Repertory, 113 min. Director-writer Blake Edwards introduced one of the most beloved characters in modern cinema – Peter Sellers’ absolutely clueless Inspector Jacques Clouseau – with this effervescent, champagne-colored comedy about a notorious British jewel thief and playboy (David Niven) on a ski holiday with nephew Robert Wagner, mistress Capucine, exotic princess Claudia Cardinale and a priceless diamond in tow. With music by the great Henry Mancini.
  
  THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER, 1975, MGM Repertory, 113 min. Dir. Blake Edwards. After a ten year hiatus, Peter Sellers and Edwards re-teamed for what many consider the flat-out funniest film in the series. When the famed Pink Panther diamond of Lugash disappears again, Inspector Clouseau is called in to investigate the supposedly retired jewel thief (wonderfully suave Christopher Plummer) who’s suspected of taking it. Remember the immortal line: "I arrest you, Sir Charles Phantom, the notorious pink Lytton!" With Catherine Schell, Herbert Lom.
  
  
• Saturday, July 12 – 7:30 PM
  
  Double Feature:
  
  THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN, 1976, MGM Repertory, 103 min. Dir. Blake Edwards. Clouseau is promoted to Chief Inspector when his arch-nemesis Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) suffers a nervous breakdown. But beware: When Dreyfus gets his hand on a Disappearing Ray Machine, only Clouseau can save the world from destruction (if he doesn’t destroy it first himself …!).
  
  REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER, 1978, MGM Repertory, 99 min. Dir. Blake Edwards. Peter Sellers’ last completed film as Clouseau shows him in fine form, as he’s targeted for assassination by a drug lord. When news of Clouseau’s "death" reaches the insane Chief Inspector Dreyfus he makes a remarkable recovery – but don’t count the indestructible Clouseau out just yet …! With Dyan Cannon, Burt Kwouk.
  
  
• Sunday, July 13 – 7:30 PM
  
  Blake Edwards/Julie Andrews Double Feature:
  
  VICTOR VICTORIA, 1982, Warner Bros., 132 min. Dir. Blake Edwards. This seven-time Oscar-nominated musical took home the statuette for Best Original Song Score. It’s the 1930s in Paris, and singer Victoria Grant (Julie Andrews) finds herself struggling to make ends meet. In a moment of self-preservation, Victoria agrees to pose as a man impersonating a woman, taking on her friend and co-conspirator Toddy (Robert Preston) as her gay lover. But this perfect plan only goes so far when super-straight Chicago gangster (James Garner) senses something is amiss when he starts falling for "Victor." Co-starring Lesley Ann Warren.
  
  DARLING LILI, 1979, Paramount, 107 min. Dir. Blake Edwards. German spy Julie Andrews manipulates British pilot Rock Hudson to extract military secrets from him in this complex, ambiguous love story masquerading as a frothy musical. Under-appreciated at the time of its release, this impeccably directed and morally sophisticated spectacle now can be valued for what it is: one of Edwards’ most entertaining and accomplished films.
  
  
• Wednesday, July 16 – 7:30 PM
  
  Double Feature:
  
  S.O.B., 1981, Warner Bros., 122 min. Dir. Blake Edwards. When director Richard Mulligan's expensive musical turns out to be a flop, he decides to recut it as an erotic epic that will exploit the squeaky-clean image of star Julie Andrews. This hilarious and trenchant satire has echoes of Edwards' own experiences making DARLING LILI, but its comedy reaches beyond mere score-settling to present a mercilessly funny -- and at times surprisingly sweet – poison-pen love letter to the American cinema. The great supporting cast includes William Holden, Robert Webber, Robert Vaughn, Larry Hagman (J.R. of "Dallas") and a very young Rosanna Arquette.
  
  THE PARTY, 1968, MGM Repertory, 99 min. Dir. Blake Edwards. For most of its length, THE PARTY is a wonderfully restrained homage to Jacques Tati, with Peter Sellers in perfect pitch as an awestruck Indian actor who disrupts a chic Hollywood gathering with the help of French songbird Claudine Longet and an elephant. The final 15 minutes prove that any great joke deserves a totally outrageous punchline. Look for Steve Franken as an inebriated waiter and Denny Miller as a hilarious rhinestone cowboy. Cinematography by the great Lucien Ballard (THE WILD BUNCH). Film critic Kevin Thomas will introduce the screening.
  
  
• Thursday, July 17 – 7:30 PM
  
  Double Feature:
  
  DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, 1962, Warner Bros. 117 min. Dir. Blake Edwards. This tragic love story might come as a surprise to fans of director Edwards’ PINK PANTHER series and other comic masterpieces, but in its own way it may be one of his best films. Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick play a superficially perfect couple whose lives are shattered by alcoholism, and Edwards’ typical affection for his characters allows him to bring out both the romantic and the heartbreaking elements of their tragic story.
  
  EXPERIMENT IN TERROR, 1962, Sony Repertory, 123 min. Lee Remick is a bank teller whose teenage sister (Stephanie Powers) is kidnapped by Ross Martin, a creepy, sociopathic crook brewing an extortion plot. Glenn Ford is the no-nonsense FBI agent who steps in to help. Director Blake Edwards’ skill at creating nail-biting suspense presaged his later seemingly contradictory focus on effervescent comedy. Frequent Edwards collaborator Henry Mancini graces us with his most memorable (and sinister) score.
  
  
• Saturday, July 26 – 3:00 PM
  
  Family Matinee Festival: Happy Birthday, Mr. Edwards!
  
  THE GREAT RACE, 1965, Warner Bros. 152 min. Dir. Blake Edwards. White-suited Tony Curtis foils the schemes of villainous Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon), while wooing reporter Natalie Wood on a New York-to-Paris road race (the very concept indicates the film's zaniness!) in 1908. Edwards' love letter to the films of Chaplin, Keaton and Laurel & Hardy is a nonstop comic chase with humor that's easily accessible to adults and children alike. Join us at 2 PM at Every Picture Tells A Story for a free story hour and refreshments.

Aero Theatre
1328 Montana Ave.
Santa Monica, CA
[phone]
www.AmericanCinematheque.com.