FOCUS
Films: Old,
Classic & Unknown
on Saturdays
"
... classic American films,
distinguished
foreign films,
films
you've missed,
films
you want to see again,
and
films
you
may never have had the opportunity to see."
An informal group dedicated to reviving and
sharing vintage and classic motion pictures with the folks in Milwaukee and the
surrounding region.
Film showings are scheduled at
7:00 p.m. on the 2nd and 4th
Saturdays of each month (usually*), but not on the
4th Saturday in December.
*On
occasion, there are conflicts with events in the church which,
of
course, take precedence over FOCUS operations.
Our
Location:
Showings
are at
The Church
in the City at
2648 North Hackett Avenue (a one-way street, going north), Milwaukee (the east
side, 53211) which is one block east of Downer Avenue and actually intersects with
Downer Avenue at East Belleview Avenue (There's a traffic light at this
corner.)
We
suggest entering Hackett at Belleview and proceeding north (It's a one-way
street); there's parking
on Hackett and around the corner on Park Place, heading east.
Admission is $3 .....Note
the starting time is at 7 p.m.
August
14: HIGH NOON
(1952)
Here is a genuine classic that never seems to age, or if it does it
certainly ages gracefully. Directed with skill and sensitivity by Fred
Zinneman, HIGH NOON remains one of the genuine western masterpieces of film
history. An Oscar was awarded to Gary Cooper for his portrayal of a
sheriff at the end of his tether. A solid supporting cast includes Grace
Kelly in one of her first big roles, Lon Chaney, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado and
Lee Van Cleef. Screenplay by Carl Foreman. Music by Dimitri Tiomkin.
Photographed by Floyd Crosby. Production Designed by Rudolf Sternad.
Directed by Fred Zinneman.
August
28: THE LAST TIME I SAW ARCHIE
(1961)
For those of you who think of Jack Webb as the stiff, no-nonsense
detective Joe Friday of DRAGNET fame, you may be in for a bit of a shock.
Here Webb emerges as a fine, cinematic craftsman with a great sense of humor.
In this very funny service comedy Robert Mitchum plays a Sgt Bilko-type con
artist who schemes his way through active duty during World War II. Webb
playes his hapless sidekick, an out-of-work Hollywood writer. The cast is
wonderful. In addition to two lovely ladies, Martha Hyer and France Nuyen,
we have a host of grand old televsion favorites like Louis Nye, Don Knotts, Tom
Poston, Bill Idelson, Harvey Lembeck, Joe Flynn...and STALAG 17's immortal slob,
Robert Strauss.
The role of a film
society has several elements:
to revive well-known but
little-seen classics;
to provide some
historical background related to motion pictures;
to introduce a new
audience to films that are little-known to most followers of films;
and, most of all,
to provide first-rate
entertainment suitable for mature taste.
In 1948, in
Madison, Wisconsin at the University of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Film Society
was founded with similar aims but with a broader vision: to bring back not only
the classics, but also important foreign films. These efforts were replicated,
mainly on college campuses ("campi" ?) all over the country.
In the 1950s, in Washington, D.C., a group of cinephiles founded "Friends
of Old Films", "Foofs", to revive the old classics.
FOCUS was founded in
1965 and with an uneven history has reemerged on or about February 2007.
For additional information, call Hank Landa at
(414) 258-6492
To be
placed on our e-mail reminder list, go to ficoa@milwpc.com
and drop off your e-mail address
(which
we share with no one!)
This web page is donated
by The Film Instruction Company of America (FICOA, since 1960), 5928 W. Michigan
St., Wauwatosa, WI 53213; ficoa@milwpc.com;
small press publishers
of
The Political
Handbook for Student Government Operations,
The
On-the-Job-Training Handbook,
The Solar Energy
Handbook,
The Automotive
Aerodynamics Handbook,
Theft
by Employees
&
Waste Materials
Management - an Approach to the General Theory of
To obtain detailed
information (and, ordering information) on these acclaimed books, go to ficoa@milwpc.com
*On
occasion, there are local and church events that conflict with the normal
schedule.