Suppose, for the sake of argument, a sheriff (John Wayne) is holed up in
his own jailhouse with a surly prisoner, a cantankerous old man (Walter
Brennan), a drunk (Dean Martin), a kid named Colorado (Ricky Nelson), and
a pair of legs (belonging to Angie Dickinson) looking for black tights?
Hawks had done serious Westerns . . . but here he sees the light and
realizes that the Western is a gateway to paradise. Who cares if the
circuit judge never gets to town? Who cares when there are cigarettes to
be rolled, songs to be sung, and dialogue routines to be played out. David
Thomson
Written by Jules Furthman, Leigh Brackett, from a story by Barbara Hawks
McCampbell. Photographed by Russell Harlan. With John Wayne, Dean Martin,
Walter Brennan, Angie Dickinson. (141 mins, Color, 35mm, permission Warner
Bros.)
(In conjunction with) Howard Hawks: The Measure of Man
“What one loves most about Hawks, finally, is the aliveness of so many of
his people.”—Robin Wood
This series, which began in January and continues through mid-April,
celebrates the work of one of the most-loved directors of classical
Hollywood cinema, Howard Hawks (1896–1977). Our second installment of
films includes many of his best works from the forties, fifties, and
sixties, such as To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep, both starring
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and three masterful Westerns: Red
River, often cited as one of the finest Westerns from the forties; Rio
Bravo, a favorite of many leading critics and filmmakers; and the
late-period El Dorado. We also present several restored and studio vault
prints of Hawks’s most liberating comedies, including Ball of Fire, with
an ensemble cast led by Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper; I Was a Male War
Bride, featuring Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan; Monkey Business with Cary
Grant and Ginger Rogers; plus the gaudy and glorious classic Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes, starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell.
Hawks’s oeuvre has had and continues to have a broad influence on the
history of cinema, in large part because of the remarkable unity of his
style. We are grateful to the many studios and archives that have
generously loaned 35mm prints for this major retrospective.
Susan Oxtoby, Senior Film Curator
Howard Hawks: The Measure of Man is timed to coincide with a UC Berkeley
undergraduate course on Hawks taught by Marilyn Fabe of the Department of
Film and Media. We wish to thank the following individuals and
institutions for their assistance with this major retrospective: Regina
Schlagnitweit, Austrian Film Museum; Rob Stone, Library of Congress; Anne
Morra and Mary Keene, The Museum of Modern Art; Daniel Bish, George
Eastman House; Todd Wiener and Steven Hill, UCLA Film and Television
Archive; May Haduong, Academy Film Archive; Fleur Buckley, BFI/NFTVA;
George Watson, BFI Distribution; Kristen MacDonald, Film Reference
Library, TIFF Bell Lightbox; Grover Crisp, Sony Pictures; Paul Ginsburg,
Universal; Caitlin Robertson, 20th Century Fox; Kent Youngblood, MGM; and
Marilee Womack, Warner Bros. Archival and restored prints presented with
support from the Packard Humanities Institute.
Theater Admission Prices
Single Feature
$5.50 BAM/PFA Members, UC Berkeley Students
$9.50 Adults (18-64)
$6.50 UC Berkeley faculty, staff, and retirees
Non-UC Berkeley students
Senior citizens (65 & over)
Disabled persons
Youth (17 & under
Additional Feature $4.00 All Patrons
PFA General:
2575 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, CA 92027
(510) 642-1412
