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JULES DASSIN AT THE FILM FORUM Send This Review to a Friend
The Film Forum is one of New York's treasured haunts for movie buffs. It revives classics and premieres new art films. It is an island of film-going sophistication in the midst of the trash cluttering so many of our theaters. It is run by dedicated film lovers and its program for any given month is filled with opportunity. On the back of each seat is the name of a contributor who helped keep the theater alive in its present home. In short, the Film Forum continues to perform an outstanding service.
This was certainly underscored on the night of October 9, 2001, when the celebrated 89-year-old director Jules Dassin appeared to talk about his life in films and that of his late wife Melina Mercouri, the subject of an eight-film retrospective (October 5-18). It was clear from the start that Dassin and the audience would have a love-fest. Not only does he have an outstanding record of achievement as a director of such films as "Naked City," "Rififi," "Never on Sunday," "Topkapi" and "He Who Must Die," but he and Mercouri became patriots standing up to the Greek junta that for a time ruled Mercouri's country. Dassin's history is also a symbol of the horrendous period of Hollywood blacklisting. In Europe he found new success that wasn't available at home. He is a hero both for his brilliance as a director and his principles as a human being. As a freedom-loving couple he and Mercouri were international icons.
In a wide-ranging interview with Bruce Goldstein, the Film Forum's repertory director, Dassin exhibited considerable wit and charm. Goldstein is a good questioner with the knack of being informative and yet never trying to upstage his guest. Dassin doesn't much care for talking about his period in Hollywood, yet he was drawn into telling about working with Joan Crawford and others, and how he was almost fired for saying "cut" to end a scene with Crawford and being told "nobody says 'cut' to Crawford." The films that he made before leaving Hollywood included "Nazi Agent," "The Affairs of Martha," "Reunion in France," "The Canterville Ghost," "A Letter for Evie," "Two Smart People" and "Brute Force." Dassin had special praise for former 20th Century-Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck as a man who showed courage during the blacklist days.
Dassin recalled the blacklist period and what happened to some of his colleagues. He went further back in time to the 1930s and the thrill of seeing the play "Waiting for Lefty" in the days when so many New Yorkers were, as he put it, "lefties." He told of one theatergoer who was so moved by the play that he rushed to join the Communist Party; then Dassin delivered the kicker--he said, "The person who joined was I."
Dassin didn't say as much as audience members might have liked about Mercouri, asserting that her work as an actress was visible on screen. Indeed it was. She was luminous in the clip from 'Never on Sunday" as the effervescent prostitute who leaves men panting for her but only chooses those she likes. She also was shown in a more dramatic scene from "Stella," directed by Michael Cacoyannis.
There were some technical glitches as a result of a power failure, cutting down the number of clips shown, but the rousing clip of Dassin's "Naked City" (1948), an astonishing and pioneering location film shot in New York, emphasized a very special contribution that Dassin had made. The chase on the Williamsburg Bridge was remarkable for its time and still holds up effectively. Dassin expressed gratitude to the Film Forum for honoring him and for its role in the film community. Film buffs also have reason to be grateful to Dassin, and to the Film Forum. Its address is 209 West Houston Street, New York, N.Y. 10014. The box office number for schedule information is 212-727-8110. Its website is at www.filmforum.com.
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