Gentleman in the Shadows: Dirk Bogarde august 1 - 9, 2001 photo: darling

See information about our box office sales here. film descriptions and times From August 1 to 9 we salute the subtle artistry of one of England’s finest actors: Dirk Bogarde. Few screen stars have had a more unusual career than Bogarde, born Derek Niven van den Bogaerde in Hampstead, London, in 1921. Initially a stage actor, Bogarde made his film debut in the late ‘40s, and gradually worked his way up from callow youth to romantic idol to international star. As an actor, Bogarde had a meticulous, almost novelistic sense of detail (he did in fact have a second career as a novelist and memoirist), and a willingness to leap into the unknown. His sense of adventure — he was unafraid of playing pimps, cold-blooded lovers, weak-willed fascists or even homosexuals, back when it was still a dirty word — and his finely tuned intelligence made him an ideal collaborator for several of the greatest filmmakers of his era, including Luchino Visconti, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and, above all, Joseph Losey, with whom he worked five times. Join us for this sampling of one of the most provocative, fascinating careers in movie acting. We’ll be including DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE, the first in the series of popular British comedies in which Bogarde became a star, as playboy doctor in training Simon Sparrow; John Schlesinger’s stinging DARLING, which put Julie Christie on the map and also marked the beginning of Bogarde’s mature phase as an actor, along with Losey’s THE SERVANT (which will be closing our Harold Pinter tribute in late July, as well as the rarely seen ACCIDENT). Basil Dearden’s groundbreaking VICTIM is also included. Among Bogarde’s major achievements is Visconti’s stunning adaptation of Thomas Mann’s novella DEATH IN VENICE, in which Bogarde, at the height of his powers, gave what may well be the bravest performance of his career as the fading aesthete von Aschenbach. Across a career that spanned seven decades, this phenomenal actor left the imprint of a discriminating yet restless, dissatisfied, thoroughly modern personality, always reaching further and further into the shadows. – Joanna Ney This program is dedicated to the late film historian David Grossman. Grateful thanks to Aaron and Robert Grossman for their cooperation.

cast a dark shadow so long at the fair

CAST A DARK SHADOW Lewis Gilbert, United Kingdom, 1948; 84m Bogarde is at his most ominously smooth as Edward Bare, a gigolo who roots out wealthy widows and kills them for the cash. The great Margaret Lockwood is the widow who finally gives him a run for his (or her) money in this perfectly constructed cat and mouse thriller, directed by future James Bond specialist Lewis Gilbert. With Mona Washbourne and Kay Walsh. Wed Aug 1: 4 & 8 DAMN THE DEFIANT! aka H.M.S. DEFIANT Lewis Gilbert, United Kingdom, 1962; 101m One of the finest historical dramas ever produced by the British film industry. Alec Guinness is the captain of the H.M.S. Defiant, patrolling the Atlantic during the Napoleonic wars, and Bogarde is his Claggart, whose wretched treatment of the ship’s crew has them plotting a mutiny under the leadership of Anthony Quayle. The one match up between Bogarde and Guinness is something to behold, an exciting war of nerves. Beautifully shot in Scope by the great Christopher Challis. Wed Aug 1: 6 & 9:45 SO LONG AT THE FAIR Terence Fisher and Anthony Danborough, United Kingdom, 1950; 90m An evocative, taut little mystery set in Paris during the Great Exhibition of 1889. A radiant Jean Simmons is the British girl on holiday with her brother, who suddenly disappears off the face of the earth. Bogarde, when he was at his handsomest, is the young British artist who helps her comb the city. Directed by future Hammer maestro Terence Fisher – his eye for period detail was already in good working order. With Honor Blackman, who would achieve fame and fortune 13 years later as "Pussy Galore" in Goldfinger. Thurs Aug 2: 4 & 8; Mon Aug 6: 6 THE HUNTED aka THE STRANGER IN BETWEEN Charles Crichton, United Kingdom, 1952; 84m Bogarde is a criminal on the lam — he’s committed a crime of passion and killed his wife’s lover. Jon Whiteley is the little boy who’s run away from home. Together, they go on an odyssey through the desolate, war-scarred landscape of post-war England. The beautifully drawn relationship between Bogarde and Whiteley anticipates Clint Eastwood’s moving A Perfect World. A change of pace for Ealing comedy master Charles Crichton. Thurs Aug 2: 6 & 10; Mon Aug 6: 9:45 DARLING John Schlesinger, United Kingdom, 1965; 122m John Schlesinger and Frederic Raphael’s brilliant encapsulation of swinging London through the story of a charmingly ruthless (or is it ruthlessly charming?) model named Diana (Julie Christie, in the role that put her on the map). Bogarde is Robert Gold, the married TV newsman who falls for her but proves to be just another stepping-stone in her illustrious career, as she skips ahead to sleaze king Laurence Harvey. Bogarde’s sense of anguish is palpable, his delivery of Raphael’s elegant dialogue impeccable: "Your idea of fidelity is not having more than one man in your bed at a time." Fri Aug 3: 4 & 8:30; Wed Aug 8: 4:30 VICTIM Basil Dearden, United Kingdom, 1961; 100m A very good, intelligent example of the cinema of social consciousness, tackling the then chancy subject of homosexuality. Bogarde is Melville Farr, a long-married, well-respected barrister whose locked closet suddenly starts rattling with skeletons. A male construction worker with whom Farr’s had a past affair commits suicide rather than reveal his old lover’s identity. Farr drops all pretenses and starts a one-man crusade to abolish England’s anti-sodomy laws. Bogarde brings quiet fire and genuine conviction to the role of a man who learns to care for more than his good name. A deeply controversial film when it came out, VICTIM now seems a thoughtful, intelligent, beautifully constructed drama. Fri Aug 3: 6:30; Sun Aug 5: 3

the hunted the spanish gardner

DEATH IN VENICE Luchino Visconti, Italy / France,1971; 130m Luchino Visconti’s grand, voluptuous adaptation of Thomas Mann’s brilliant novella turns the dying aesthete von Aschenbach from a writer into a composer, the better to keep Mahler swelling on the soundtrack. The film fairly drips with langorous decadence, and it would be unthinkable without Bogarde’s beyond-brave performance — few actors could ever have exposed themselves the way he does here, both physically and emotionally. But the film is also Visconti’s own Proustian reverie, with echoes of his aborted attempt to bring Swann’s Way to the screen — particularly in the scenes between Tadzio (Bjorn Andresen), the beautiful boy on whom von Aschenbach projects all of his desire and passion, and his mother, played by the incomparable Silvana Mangano. Sat Aug 4: 3 & 8 DESPAIR Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany, 1978; 119m As the Nazis are rising to power in early ‘30s Germany, Russian-Jewish chocolate magnate Hermann Hermann is going slowly, oddly, black-humorously mad. Vladimir Nabokov’s ironies have not always translated so well to the screen, but they sparkle like diamonds in this funny, gorgeous nightmare of a film. And why not? Rainer Werner Fassbinder directed it (DESPAIR was his first film in English), Tom Stoppard wrote it, Michael Ballhaus shot it, and Dirk Bogarde played the lead — so brilliantly it hurts. Andréa Ferreol is Hermann’s adulterous wife, and the cast also includes Fassbinder regulars Volker Spengler, Peter Kern and "Mrs. Fassbinder," Ingrid Caven. "There is much to savor in this rich, enigmatic film." – Gavin Smith, Film Comment Sat Aug 4: 5:30; Sun Aug 5: 7:30 THE NIGHT PORTER (faded print) Liliana Cavani, Italy / USA, 1973; 86m The most controversial entry in the early ‘70s fascism/sexual perversion subgenre (if you don’t count Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks). Bogarde is Max, the former Nazi working as a porter in a Vienna hotel in the late ‘50s. Charlotte Rampling is Lucia, the former concentration camp inmate who was Max’s victim/lover. When they meet, their affair blossoms anew, in all its S& M splendor. Love it or hate it, THE NIGHT PORTER is a film to be reckoned with, and Bogarde’s continental sang-froid sends a chill down your spine, a perfect match for that gorgeous enigma called Charlotte Rampling. Sun Aug 5: 5:15; Tue Aug 7: 4 DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE Ralph Thomas, United Kingdom, 1954; 92m Bogarde is all callow charm and youthful good looks as Simon Sparrow, the young medical student who gets through his intensive five-year training at St. Swithin’s hospital on a steady regimen of jokes, skirt-chasing and liquor. This delightful, breezy film not only made Bogarde a star but also spawned a very popular series. With Kenneth More, Suzanne Cloutier, Kay Kendall, and James Robertson Justice as the infamous Sir Lancelot Spratt. Mon Aug 6: 4 & 7:50; Tue Aug 7: 6:30 THE SPANISH GARDENER Philip Leacock, United Kingdom, 1956; 95m Bogarde plays the title role, working on the estate of cold-hearted Englishman Michael Hordern on the Costa Brava. He befriends Hordern’s neglected son, played by Jon Whiteley of The Kidnappers fame and Bogarde’s co-star in THE HUNTED. When Hordern gets wind of his son’s affection for his employee, he has his valet (Cyril Cusack) plant a stolen watch on Bogarde’s clothes, in an effort to destroy him. Based on a novel by A. J. Cronin, this is a little gem of a film, shot in gorgeous Technicolor and sensitively acted by Bogarde and Whiteley. Tue Aug 7: 8:30; Thurs Aug 9: 4 & 10 Email this web page to a friend! Enter the recipient's e-mail address: