Fade to Black US premiere in Sept

[smartone]

Hustons 75 years of Filmmaking at Moma


8:30 Fade to Black. 2006. UK. Directed by Oliver Parker. Written by Parker and Davide Ferrario. With Danny Huston, Paz Vega, Christopher Walken. As famed director Orson Welles, Danny is caught in a web of political intrigue when an actor is murdered on his Italian film set. 104 min. North American premiere.

[The Voice of Cornstarch]

McBride is the keynote speaker at the Huston Centenary conference, Thanksgiving week, at the Huston Film School in Galway, Ireland.

[Glenn Anders]

Thank you, smartone.

A very interesting program.

It should give some re-evaluated currency to both Welles and the Hustons.

I keep thinking of how much pleasure there is in John Huston's films, including some of the off-beat ones to be shown at MOMA. He was, in his quiet way, almost as revolutionary as Welles.

As for Walter Huston, I would certainly pay to see A HOUSE DIVIDED, a first collaboration of father and son, which I've never seen; and THE SHANGHAI GESTURE, one of the most interesting, bizarre, and amusing pictures ever made in Hollywood.

And of course, FADE TO BLACK, which the retrospective features, will be riding a trend. I've just seen the trailer for HOLLYWOODLAND, a period picture about a reporter (Adrien Brody) investigating the 1959 death of the first Superman, George Reeves (Ben Affleck). The picture posits the notion that Loews Theaters Chief Eddie Mannix, played by Bob Hoskins, had him murdered because of an affair Reeves had had with his wife, Toni Mannix (Diane Lane). Robin Tunney and Molly Parker add to a strong female side of the cast. An unknown actress named Veronica Watt plays Rita Hayworth in the film -- a link to our man Welles.

And of course, Brian De Palma's THE BLACK DAHLIA will be out soon, based on James Elroy's novel, with Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson, and another a new actress, Mia Kirshner, playing Elizabeth Short. No word if a Welles-look-a-like is hidden in the cast, but we have read the improbable stories, and the 1947 date of Elizabeth Short's murder and the 1959 apparent suicide of Reeves provide a time bracket for Welles' departures from Hollywood.

An added footnote: Scarlett Johansson will soon be seen starring in a film, THE PRESTIGE, about a Wellsian obsession: magic. That, too, may be part of a mini-trend. I've recently seen THE ILLUSIONIST, a film set in the same time period, around the turn of the 20th Century, with Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, and Jennifer Biels. I highly recommend it.

Glenn

[ClassicBri]

Has anyone seen the pictures from Fade to Black yet? Haven't seen much, but there are a few pictures of the movie here:

http://www.ealingstudios.com/news/Film/Fadetoblack.html

Includes two of them of Danny Huston doing his best Welles

[Le Chiffre]

FADE TO BLACK appeared to be all set for release last month, mteal, just like THE HOAX. The message board on the IMDb was filled with excited messages from people who had seen sneaks or worked on the film all over Europe. Suddenly, the release date was pulled, the cast was changed (or at least, moved around), and the message board was stripped.

WHOOPS!

I just checked the IMDb. FADE TO BLACK is back in business. It premiered in Mexico on October 6, 2006.

They evidently took the release information and messages down, then put up the Mexican release, and restored the messages. There is nothing new on them except an inquiry about the music used.

Ealing is releasing it.

Thanks, Glenn. I was wondering if anybody had seen that MOMA premiere or if it had even happened.

[Glenn Anders]

Thank you for those pictures from FADE TO BLACK, ClassiBri. I was not able to open them up from here, but someone, perhaps yourself, put some photos up on the IMDb message board. Did anyone else have better luck than I?

And mteal: Gordon sent me a link this morning which suggests that the ubiquitous Weinsteins (maybe, thank goodness for them) have taken over American distribution of FADE TO BLACK. MGM will handle Worldwide rights.

Due in the spring, like THE HOAX.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news06/061103n.php

Glenn

[Le Chiffre]

Sounds good. If the film turns out well, I'll be glad they took their time and did it right.