Lecture and Film Series: Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture

October 20 and 27
November 4

Lecture: Robert Altman, Edward Hopper, and the Spaces of Unease
Short Cuts
Lecture: New York-Hollywood: Art, Culture, and Commerce in the 1930s
Deadline at Dawn
Lecture: Edward Hopper Goes to the Movies—Silence and Sound in Painting and Film
Little Caesar
I Was a Communist for the FBI
Edward Hopper

***All film programs are held in the East Building Auditorium except where noted***

Lecture: Robert Altman, Edward Hopper, and the Spaces of Unease

October 20 at 2:00 p.m.

Stories by American writer Raymond Carver are known for their Hopperesque narratives. Film historian Robert Kolker uses Robert Altman's film Short Cuts—a free adaptation of several Raymond Carver stories—as a springboard to probe Altman's films. Finding deeper connections between Edward Hopper and Robert Altman than one film would illustrate, Kolker goes on to discuss the overlapping spaces of their art. Robert Kolker's most widely known book is A Cinema of Loneliness, now in its third edition.
also
Short Cuts
Short Cuts is Robert Altman's portrayal of lives played out on society's margins—the working-class wards around Los Angeles. In a brilliant illustration of ensemble acting, the film's huge cast (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Waits, Lily Tomlin, Tim Robbins, Fred Ward, Robert Downey Jr., Madeleine Stowe, Andie MacDowell, and others) effortlessly spins out the epic sweep of the film's disparate stories. "But the real star here is Altman, whose fluid, clean camera style, free-and-easy editing, and effortless organization are quite simply the mark of a master"—Geoff Andrew. (Robert Altman, 1993, 35mm, 188 mins.)
Calendar of Events | Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture

Lecture: New York-Hollywood: Art, Culture, and Commerce in the 1930s

October 27 at 12:30 p.m.

The popular culture of the United Sates during the 1930s, notably the relationship between New York and Hollywood, affected the career of Edward Hopper. In this discussion, National Gallery of Art lecturer David Gariff develops three themes: radicalism, nationalism, and modernism. The Workers Theater, the Group Theater, and left-leaning actors and directors such as Lee Strasberg, Harold Clurman, Elia Kazan, and Clifford Odets were all part of this scene.
also
Deadline at Dawn
In Deadline at Dawn, "actress" Susan Hayward and cabbie Paul Lukas navigate the mean streets of Manhattan in the wee hours to help clear sailor Bill Williams of a murder rap. The sole film-directing assignment for stage legend Clurman (who at the time was moonlighting in Hollywood following the collapse of his Group Theatre), Deadline at Dawn, with its tawdry Odets dialogue and taut sets, was dismissed at the time as a minor RKO release. (Harold Clurman, 1946, 35mm, 83 mins.)
Calendar of Events | Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture

Lecture: Edward Hopper Goes to the Movies—Silence and Sound in Painting and Film

November 4 at 2:00 p.m.

Edward Hopper's paintings are often assumed to have been inspired by movies, but what, exactly, did that inspiration amount to? In his lecture, historian Charles O'Brien will relate the filmic aspects of Hopper's art to changes in the popular cinema in New York during the 1930s—a crucial time both for film and for Hopper's painting. O'Brien's discussion will encompass such films as Little Caesar (1930) as well as the theaters depicted in Hopper's canvas New York Movie (1939) and other works. Charles O'Brien is associate professor, School for Studies in Art and Culture, Carleton University.
Calendar of Events | Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture

Little Caesar

November 4 at 4:00 p.m.

Mobster Rico Bandello (Edward G. Robinson) schemes to take over Manhattan's crime empire in Little Caesar's celebrated adaptation of the W. R. Burnett novel. Warner Brothers' low budgets and even lower production values only added to the charm of the studio's Depression-era gangster films, arguably the best of the genre. Warts and all, Robinson's hoodlum was a tragic hero. (Mervyn LeRoy, 1930, 35mm, 80 mins.)
also
I Was a Communist for the FBI
Twenty years after Little Caesar, Warner Brothers released I Was a Communist for the FBI, a film in which the good guy–law enforcers do no wrong. The film's anticommunist Cold War narrative was based on the case of Matt Cvetic who, at the FBI's request, joined a Pittsburgh branch of the Communist Party USA and earned the moniker "Pennsylvania's most important mole." (Gordon Douglas, 1951, 35mm, 83 mins.)
Calendar of Events | Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture

Edward Hopper

Monday–Friday, noon–3:00 p.m.
Weekends, 1:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.
East Building Small Auditorium

Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m.
East Building Auditorium

Narrated by actor and art collector Steve Martin, this film traces Hopper's varied influences, from French impressionism to the gangster films of the 1930s. The documentary uses archival photographs and film, new footage of locations painted by Hopper in New York and along the New England coast, and interviews with artists Eric Fischl and Red Grooms, scholars, and curators. (30 mins.) A short version will be shown continuously in the exhibition. This film was made possible by the HRH Foundation. Shown in conjunction with Edward Hopper.
Calendar of Events | Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture

Film Programs | Film Series | Art Films and Events | Children's Films

	Lecture and Film Series: Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture October 20 and 27 November 4 Lecture: Robert Altman, Edward Hopper, and the Spaces of Unease Short Cuts Lecture: New York-Hollywood: Art, Culture, and Commerce in the 1930s Deadline at Dawn Lecture: Edward Hopper Goes to the Movies—Silence and Sound in Painting and Film Little Caesar I Was a Communist for the FBI Edward Hopper *****All film programs are held in the East Building Auditorium except where noted* Lecture: Robert Altman, Edward Hopper, and the Spaces of Unease October 20 at 2:00 p.m. Stories by American writer Raymond Carver are known for their Hopperesque narratives. Film historian Robert Kolker uses Robert Altman's film Short Cuts—a free adaptation of several Raymond Carver stories—as a springboard to probe Altman's films. Finding deeper connections between Edward Hopper and Robert Altman than one film would illustrate, Kolker goes on to discuss the overlapping spaces of their art. Robert Kolker's most widely known book is A Cinema of Loneliness, now in its third edition. also Short Cuts Short Cuts is Robert Altman's portrayal of lives played out on society's margins—the working-class wards around Los Angeles. In a brilliant illustration of ensemble acting, the film's huge cast (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Waits, Lily Tomlin, Tim Robbins, Fred Ward, Robert Downey Jr., Madeleine Stowe, Andie MacDowell, and others) effortlessly spins out the epic sweep of the film's disparate stories. "But the real star here is Altman, whose fluid, clean camera style, free-and-easy editing, and effortless organization are quite simply the mark of a master"—Geoff Andrew. (Robert Altman, 1993, 35mm, 188 mins.) Calendar of Events \| Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture Lecture: New York-Hollywood: Art, Culture, and Commerce in the 1930s October 27 at 12:30 p.m. The popular culture of the United Sates during the 1930s, notably the relationship between New York and Hollywood, affected the career of Edward Hopper. In this discussion, National Gallery of Art lecturer David Gariff develops three themes: radicalism, nationalism, and modernism. The Workers Theater, the Group Theater, and left-leaning actors and directors such as Lee Strasberg, Harold Clurman, Elia Kazan, and Clifford Odets were all part of this scene. also Deadline at Dawn In Deadline at Dawn, "actress" Susan Hayward and cabbie Paul Lukas navigate the mean streets of Manhattan in the wee hours to help clear sailor Bill Williams of a murder rap. The sole film-directing assignment for stage legend Clurman (who at the time was moonlighting in Hollywood following the collapse of his Group Theatre), Deadline at Dawn, with its tawdry Odets dialogue and taut sets, was dismissed at the time as a minor RKO release. (Harold Clurman, 1946, 35mm, 83 mins.) Calendar of Events \| Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture Lecture: Edward Hopper Goes to the Movies—Silence and Sound in Painting and Film November 4 at 2:00 p.m. Edward Hopper's paintings are often assumed to have been inspired by movies, but what, exactly, did that inspiration amount to? In his lecture, historian Charles O'Brien will relate the filmic aspects of Hopper's art to changes in the popular cinema in New York during the 1930s—a crucial time both for film and for Hopper's painting. O'Brien's discussion will encompass such films as Little Caesar (1930) as well as the theaters depicted in Hopper's canvas New York Movie (1939) and other works. Charles O'Brien is associate professor, School for Studies in Art and Culture, Carleton University. Calendar of Events \| Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture Little Caesar November 4 at 4:00 p.m. Mobster Rico Bandello (Edward G. Robinson) schemes to take over Manhattan's crime empire in Little Caesar's celebrated adaptation of the W. R. Burnett novel. Warner Brothers' low budgets and even lower production values only added to the charm of the studio's Depression-era gangster films, arguably the best of the genre. Warts and all, Robinson's hoodlum was a tragic hero. (Mervyn LeRoy, 1930, 35mm, 80 mins.) also I Was a Communist for the FBI Twenty years after Little Caesar, Warner Brothers released I Was a Communist for the FBI, a film in which the good guy–law enforcers do no wrong. The film's anticommunist Cold War narrative was based on the case of Matt Cvetic who, at the FBI's request, joined a Pittsburgh branch of the Communist Party USA and earned the moniker "Pennsylvania's most important mole." (Gordon Douglas, 1951, 35mm, 83 mins.) Calendar of Events \| Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture Edward Hopper Monday–Friday, noon–3:00 p.m. Weekends, 1:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. East Building Small Auditorium Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m. East Building Auditorium Narrated by actor and art collector Steve Martin, this film traces Hopper's varied influences, from French impressionism to the gangster films of the 1930s. The documentary uses archival photographs and film, new footage of locations painted by Hopper in New York and along the New England coast, and interviews with artists Eric Fischl and Red Grooms, scholars, and curators. (30 mins.) A short version will be shown continuously in the exhibition. This film was made possible by the HRH Foundation. Shown in conjunction with Edward Hopper. Calendar of Events \| Edward Hopper and American Movie Culture Film Programs \| Film Series \| Art Films and Events \| Children's Films
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