Release Date: July 21, 2006

National Gallery of Art Summer Film Series Premieres Scores for Historic Silent Cinema and Features Restored Prints from European Collections, Plus Rare Works by Italian Director Luchino Visconti

Rocco and His Brothers (Rocco e I suoi fratelli)
Luchino Visconti and Suso Cecchi d'Amico series
August 13, 4:30 p.m.
Photo courtesy of PHOTOFEST

Washington, DC—Live musical performances are central to this summer's film season at the National Gallery of Art. On July 30, British composer Steve Smith will present the world premiere of his new orchestral accompaniment for Anthony Asquith's delightful silent film Underground (1928), which was filmed in the subterranean spaces of the London Tube. Another work by Asquith (son of celebrated British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith), A Cottage on Dartmoor, will be accompanied by Stephen Horne's captivating original piano score on August 20, at 4:30 p.m.

Both films are part of the Gallery's annual summer preservation festival "From Vault to Screen." The restoration of the very first cinematic spectacular—Cabiria (1914) by Italian pioneer Giovanni Pastrone—will feature original piano accompaniment by Philip Carli. Other landmark works in the preservation series are Jean Renoir's Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932), screening on August 12; Lionel Rogosin's On the Bowery (1957), screening on August 26; and a special tribute to La Cinémathèque de Toulouse, one of the most exceptional European film archives, screening August 5 through August 12. Verdun, visions d'histoire, an extraordinary recreation and restoration of the film made in honor of the tenth anniversary of the Armistice—which premiered at the Paris Opera in November 1928—features the film's original live musical score and screens on August 6. On September 10, The Sentimental Bloke, a madcap comedy that became Australia's first cinematic blockbuster in 1919, will be presented with the live orchestral music of Melbourne-based musicians Jen Anderson and the Larrikins.

Italian director Luchino Visconti, who was born in 1906, 100 years ago, will be honored from July 21 through September 4 in the series "Luchino Visconti and Suso Cecchi D'Amico," which features restored 33mm prints.

On August 26, at 2:00 p.m., legendary animator and visual effects artist Adam K. Beckett, whose films consist of complex, metamorphosing geometric and organic shapes, will be honored with screenings and a discussion.

Films with live accompaniment are indicated by an asterisk (*). The summer film series includes:

Lucino Visconti—Documentary Portrait (Luchino Visconti and Suso Cecchi d'Amico series)
July 21, 2:30 p.m. July 22, 12:00 p.m.

*Cabiria (From Vault to Screen series; premiere of new restoration; Philip Carli on piano)
July 22, 2:30 p.m.

The Innocent (L'innocente) (Luchino Visconti and Suso Cecchi d'Amico series)
July 23, 4:30 p.m.

An American in Paris
July 28 and August 11, 2:30 p.m.

*Magical Méliès (Andrew Simpson on piano)
July 28, 29, and August 11, 12, at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

Vintage Views: British Rail (From Vault to Screen series)
July 29, 2:00 p.m.

The Leopard (Luchino Visconti and Suso Cecchi d'Amico series)
July 29, 4:00 p.m. August 2, 1:30 p.m.

*Underground (From Vault to Screen series; world premiere of musical score by Steve Smith)
July 30, 4:30 p.m.

Senso (Luchino Visconti and Suso Cecchi d'Amico series)
August 3, 2:30 p.m. August 5, 4:00 p.m.

*A Boy of the Streets (Hommage à La Cinémathèque de Toulouse series; Ray Brubacher on piano)
August 5, 2:00 p.m.

*Verdun, visions d'histoire (Hommage à La Cinémathèque de Toulouse series; American premiere of restoration and original score, Hakim Bentchouala-Golobitch on piano)
August 6, 4:30 p.m.

Boudu Saved from Drowning (Boudu sauvé des eaux) (From Vault to Screen series)
August 12, 2:00 p.m.

*The Ghost That Never Returns and Au pays du roi lépreux (Hommage à La Cinémathèque de Toulouse series; composer Alexandre Wimmer on guitar)
August 12, 4:00 p.m.

Rocco and His Brothers (Rocco e i suoi fratelli) (Luchino Visconti and Suso Cecchi d'Amico series)
August 13, 4:30 p.m.

Ludwig (Luchino Visconti and Suso Cecchi d'Amico series)
August 19, 2:00 p.m.

*A Cottage on Dartmoor (From Vault to Screen series; Stephen Horne on piano)
August 20, 4:30 p.m.

Adam K. Beckett (films and discussion)
August 26, 2:00 p.m.

On the Bowery (From Vault to Screen series)
August 26, 4:00 p.m.

Rapt; preceded by Swiss actualities ca. 1930 (From Vault to Screen series)
August 27, 4:30 p.m.

Notes on Marie Menken
September 1, 12:30 p.m. September 3, 2:00 p.m.

Death in Venice (Morte a Venezia) (Luchino Visconti and Suso Cecchi d'Amico series)
September 2, 2:00 p.m. September 4, 2:00 p.m.

*The Sentimental Bloke (East Coast premiere of Australian restoration with orchestral accompaniment by Melbourne-based musicians Jen Anderson and the Larrikins)
September 10, 5:00 p.m.

*Au Bonheur des Dames (orchestral accompaniment by Octuor de France with Gabriel Thibaudeau)
September 30, 3:00 p.m.

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