Universal Marks 100 Years Of Pleasing Crowds At The Film Center
By Steven Pate in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 12, 2012 9:20PM
It's happened so many times before, you don't even notice it any more. The final coming attractions finish, the lights go down in the theater, and on the screen an image of the spinning planet earth appears and Jerry Goldsmith's majestic French horn fanfare with punctuating hits swells up. If you're anything like us, you're instinctively reaching for a bucket of popcorn like the subject of some Pavlovian experiment: you believe you are about to watch a Universal Picture.
Careful readers of this site will not be surprised to hear that the grandaddy of all movie studios is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. In February, we discussed how Carl Laemmle parlayed a first investment in the Movie business in Chicago into the studio that was to become Universal in 1912. In celebration of that anniversary as the longest continually operating producer and distributor of motion pictures, Universal will bring a commemorative selection of films to the Gene Siskel Film Center next month. And trust us, the chances are very good that there's something that you love on the schedule.
The program, presented in association with Universal and the UCLA Film & Television Archive, features longtime favorites like The Birds, critically-acclaimed classics like 1930's All Quiet on the Western Front, monster movie source books such as Dracula, and the original blockbuster, Jaws in newly restored 35mm prints. We're also pretty keen on seeing Frank Borzage's 1934 adaptation of a best-selling novel on the subject of the struggles of Weimar between the wars, Little Man, WhatNow?, billed as one of Hollywood's first anti-Nazi films. But there isn't a rotten apple in this bunch or the second installment, slated for December.
Which makes sense, because as a studio Universal has always been strong on crowd pleasing fare that appeals to the widest possible audience. From its beloved Universal Horror triumphs of the 1930s and B-movie success, to its more recent run of franchise box office titans like the 1980's Back to the Future, the 1990's Jurassic Park and today's crop, such as The Fast and the Furious, Bourne, and Despicable MeDespicable Me, there are a lot of cultural touchstones in the catalog. Personally we are partial to Edward G. Ullmer's The Black Cat, playing on July 15th and 19th, whose art deco sets and unrelenting score perfectly complement Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi as they waltz along the border between the utterly creepy and completely campy.
Universal Pictures: Celebrating 100 Years gets underway July 8 with The Birds and Jaws and continues through August 2 at the Gene Siskel Film Center‎, 164 North State Street. Discounted admission is offered on sunday double-bills. Full schedule available online.