The Melbourne Cinémathèque

7:00 – THE QUIET ONE
Sidney Meyers (1948) 67 mins

 

Meyers’ powerful, quasi-documentary film follows the rehabilitation of an emotionally disturbed African-American boy from Harlem. The film’s grainy style (shot on 16mm) & on-location New York shooting foreshadowed the independent cinema of Lionel Rogosin, Shirley Clarke & John Cassavetes in the late 1950s. For this groundbreaking film, James Agee wrote the voiceover & influential photographer Helen Levitt was one of the principal cinematographers & screenwriters. Nominated for a 1949 Academy Award.

 

Preceded by

 

In the Street

Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb & James Agee (1948) 15 mins.

 

A compassionate silent short documenting life in late 1940s Spanish Harlem.

 

Program to be introduced by film historian Deane Williams (Monash University).

 

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9:00 – THE SAVAGE EYE
Ben Maddow, Sidney Meyers & Joseph Strick (1959) 68 mins

 

This dramatised, essayistic documentary dissecting a year in the life of a young divorcee (Barbara Baxley) was made over a 4-year period by a collective of directors & cinematographers. It provides a fascinating & candid portrait of the “Hogarthian faces of Los Angeles” (The New York Times) as it takes in such scenes as wrestling matches, burlesque shows & car accidents. Vividly shot by Jack Couffer, Helen Levitt & Haskell Wexler. Winner of the 1960 BAFTA Flaherty Award.

 

Preceded by

 

Emotions of Everyday Living: The Steps of Age

Ben Maddow (1950) 20 mins.

 

Maddow’s (screenwriter of The Asphalt Jungle) moving account of the effect of retirement on an ageing crane driver & his wife. Produced by Helen Levitt.

 

All prints courtesy of the National Film & Sound Archive of Australia & ACMI.

 

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Cteq Annotation:
‘Helen Levitt’ by Dean Williams