Moving image review (1988]-)

National Film Tour Continued from Page 1 On our schedule is a silent film day, Dec. 5, featuring Oscar Micheaux' Within our Gates, the earliest surviving feature by an African American director. By Maine native John Ford are two Westerns, The Searchers and My Darling Clementine, slated for Dec. 3. While the Film Tour itself has done much to boost public awareness of film preservation issues, Loughney also credits regional archives such as NHF. "It does take regional and other archives getting involved in this business, because there's still a great deal of work to be done to locate and to save these films for future generations," he says. "And Northeast Historic Film is one of the major regional archives in the country. It's a model." While NHF's presentations were still being finalized in early October, when these pages went to press, among the early confirmations is a 1919 Prizma color film of American Indians found in a fraternal hall in Maine this year. "Archival Minutes," selections from the vault, will precede each feature, a practice that has become standard at the Alamo. Loughney praises American Movie Classics for its work in raising awareness. The feeling is mutual. "We couldn't have found a partner that was more in synch with our own passion for this cause" than the Library of Congress, says Laura Masse, AMC's vice president of marketing. Along with sponsoring the Film Preservation Tour, AMC devotes a O' O Darling •'".? 1 1 rni ; Gertie the Dinosaur. Winsor McCoy, 1914. Photo courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art. weekend of programming to film preservation each year. Loughney, who has been involved with the Library's national film preservation initiative since the beginning, has attended 25 Film Preservation Tour events, pitching for the cause and fielding questions about preservation efforts. Audiences tend to be impressed by two things, he says. One is the diversity of American film and the length of its history. And the other is the sheer magic of restored film on the big screen, compared to video. "People say, 'You know, I've seen this film X number of times on video, but now I feel like I've seen it for the very first time,' " he says. Film Preservation Tour Calendar This is not the final calendar. Please see our Website at www.oldfilm.org, or call 207 469-0924 for updates. Tickets and reservations will be necessary for some programs. Saturday, December 2 Spirit of the Holidays 1 2: 1 5 pm Big Business, 1 929 (free 30 minute children's show with live music) Sunday December 3 John Ford Day Don McLean presents 4 pm My Darling Clementine, 1 946 7 pm The Searchers, 1956 Monday, December 4 6:30 pm Ninotchka, 1939 9 pm Chinatown, 1 974 Tuesday, December 5 Silent Film Day Tricia Welsch, Bowdoin College, presents — with live musical accompaniment — 7 pm The Great Train Robbery, 1903; Gertie the Dinosaur, 1914 Within Our Gates, 1919 9pm The Cheat, 1915 Wednesday, December 6 7 pm All Quiet on the Western Front, 1930 Thursday, December 7 Mary Lampson, film editor, presents 2 pm Harlan County, USA (student workshop) 7 pm On the Waterfront, 1954 Friday, December 8 Film Preservation Gala and Screening Saturday, December 9 Eric Schaefer, Emerson College, presents 7 pm Out of the Past, 1947 9 pm Raging Bull, 1980 Sunday, December 10 Festival of Shorts Eithne Johnson, Wellesley College, presents 2pmJammin'theBlues, 1944; What's Opera Doc, 1957; Duck Soup, 1933 4pm 16mm: Meshes of the Afternoon, 1943; Eaux d'Artifice, 1953; Castro Street, 1966 35mm: The March of Time, 1938; The River, 1937 7 pm Sunrise, 1927