Having been a film programmer for many years, previous to my present life, I have to agree with Jessica Rossner's depressing assessment of the state of motion picture film availability. 16mm film distribution is indeed doomed, given the willingness of many university film programs to switch to video, to say nothing of libraries, schools and other venues in the traditional; non-theatrical market. At the same time, there are glimmers of hope, at least for the 35mm revival/art house market. At Universal, the New Business Initiatives Department (headed by Dick Costello) has begun an ambitious program to put 35mm film classics back into the theaters. While not all of these films are on AFI's much discussed list, many are and almost all of them should have been. Last Fall a program, "Universal Noir", began touring art houses in the United States. This program, featuring 35mm new prints specifically struck for the tour, has been highly acclaimed wherever it has been seen. It is made up of both Universal and pre-1950 Paramount titles, which Universal has owned since the late 1950s. The film noir series includes such films as Orson Welles' Touch of Evil (1958), Robert Siodmak's Phantom Lady (1944), The Killers (1946), and Criss Cross (1949), Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944), Fritz Lang's You and Me (1938) and Ministry of Fear (1944), as well as Back Angel (1946), The Big Clock (1948), The Glass Key (1942), This Gun For Hire (1942), Blast of Silence (1961), and Cape Fear (1962). The latter with Robert Mitchum's stunning performance as a psychopath, which can hold its own against Robert de Niro in Scorcese's remake any day. This Summer a second program, dedicated to "Universal Comedy", opened at Film Forum in New York. Like the previous noir series, this program features new prints of many well-known Universal and Paramount classics. Among the films circulating are Buck Privates (1941) and Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), two films starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, undoubtably Universal's most successful comedy team in the classic Hollywood era, as well as three W.C. Fields and/or Mae West comedies: She Done Him Wrong (1933), The Bank Dick (1940), and My Little Chicadee (1940). Then there are three Marx Brothers' Paramount features, the truly immortal Duck Soup (1933), Horse Feathers (1932), and Monkey Business (1931), Gregory LaCava's My Man Godfrey (1937), Ernst Lubitsch's Bluebeard's Eigth Wife (1938), as well as five Preston Sturges films in celebration of his centennial: The Palm Beach Story (1942), The Lady Eve (1941), The Great McGinty (1940), Chistmas in July (1940), and Sullivan's Travels (1941). Universal has opened a third program, "Universal Horror", which makes all the classic monsters available again in new 35mm prints: Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), The Invisible Man (1933), The Mummmy (1932), and The Wolf Man (1941), as well as several other classic horror titles: Edgar G. Ulmer's The Black Cat (1934), Dracula's Daughter (1936), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1944). Also scheduled for this year, in time for Alfred Hitchcock's centennial is "Universal Hitchcock", featuring Saboteur (1942), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Rope (1948), The Trouble With Harry (1955), Rear Window (1953), Vertigo (1958) Psycho (1959), The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964), Torn Curtain (1966), Topaz (1969), Frenzy (1972), and Family Plot (1976). The success of these programs will hopefully spawn more series, leading to an ever widening selection of films available from Universal in good 35mm prints. The newly established Archives & Collections Department, under the corporate wing of the aforementioned New Business Initiatives, has been charged with preserving and making available Universal's rich and storied history through its archive, exhibitions, and a to-be-founded museum. It is our collective goal to reintroduce the classic films of Universal to new audiences as a theatrical film experience, through exhibits, and as a home video experience. For further information about any of these series, contact Peter Langs by phone (818 763 7788) or fax (818 508 3089). Chris Horak Jan-Christopher Horak Director Archives & Collections 100 Universal City Plaza, 503-LL Universal City, Ca. 91608 1 818 777 7571 1 818 866 5120 (fax) [log in to unmask] ---- To sign off SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]