Cinematheque Film Schedule

United States | 1978 | Richard Myers

This key shot-in-northeast Ohio feature by the dean of Ohio filmmakers, Richard Myers, won first prize at the 18th Ann Arbor Film Festival. According to Myers, “Floorshow is a self-reflexive dream-filled parable, in which the protagonist is making a movie, speaks about where the movie is going, builds sets for the movie and shows movies…Floorshow contains images that move back and forth, through past and present, dream and reality held together by threads or irrational...

United States | 2016 | Bill Morrison

The latest found-footage assemblage from the maker of Decasia continues Bill Morrison’s fascination with the archaeology of early cinema. Dawson City, in the Yukon territory just south of the Arctic Circle, was the destination of thousands of prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 19th century. It was also the final resting place for hundreds of nitrate prints of silent movies that were shipped there (the last stop on a film distribution...

United States | 1992 | Quentin Tarantino

In 1993 (a year before Pulp Fiction) we wrote the following: “Mark our words: first-time writer/director Quentin Tarantino made one for future film history books with this savage, stylish, tightly-plotted thriller about the bloody aftermath of a bungled jewel heist. Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Madsen will live for years as Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, and Mr. Blonde.” If you didn’t believe us then, then don’t miss seeing Reservoir Dogs...

United States | 1990/2002 | David Lynch

Two little-known works by David Lynch, neither made for theatrical release. Industrial Symphony No. 1 is a film version of an avant-garde musical play by Lynch and composer Angelo Badalamenti; it constitutes something of a bridge between Wild at Heart and Twin Peaks. When a guy (Nicolas Cage) dumps his gal (Laura Dern), her shattered “dreamself” (Julee Cruise) sings a series of aching lovesongs. Sometimes she’s floating above a stage littered with junk; sometimes she’s...

United States | 1939 | Edward Buzzell

The Marx Bros try to save a bankrupt circus from conniving creditors in this three-ring comedy that co-stars Eve Arden and Margaret Dumont. Groucho sings “Lydia the Tattooed Lady.” Archive print! 87 min.

Italy, Mexico | 1989 | Alejandro Jodorowsky

Set in a world of circus freaks and religious fanatics, Alejandro (El Topo) Jodorowsky’s surreal, sensational south-of-the-border tale concerns an insane young man who becomes the arms—and does the nefarious bidding—of his mutilated, armless mother. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive. No one under 18 admitted! Subtitles. 123 min.

United States | 1992 | Quentin Tarantino

In 1993 (a year before Pulp Fiction) we wrote the following: “Mark our words: first-time writer/director Quentin Tarantino made one for future film history books with this savage, stylish, tightly-plotted thriller about the bloody aftermath of a bungled jewel heist. Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Madsen will live for years as Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, and Mr. Blonde.” If you didn’t believe us then, then don’t miss seeing Reservoir Dogs...

United States | 2016 | Bill Morrison

The latest found-footage assemblage from the maker of Decasia continues Bill Morrison’s fascination with the archaeology of early cinema. Dawson City, in the Yukon territory just south of the Arctic Circle, was the destination of thousands of prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 19th century. It was also the final resting place for hundreds of nitrate prints of silent movies that were shipped there (the last stop on a film distribution...

Germany | 1922 | Fritz Lang

Prior to directing Metropolis and M, the great Fritz Lang exploited the fear, social unrest, and decadence of post-WWI Germany (and foreshadowed Hitler) with this famous, visually stunning silent epic about a criminal genius, hypnotist, and master of disguise (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) who wreaks economic havoc and plots to take over the world. Comprised of two parts (The Great Gambler and The Inferno) that were released one month apart, this seminal crime drama was recently restored...

United Kingdom | 1967 | Joseph Losey

The second collaboration between screenwriter Harold Pinter and director Joseph Losey stars Dirk Bogarde—just like their first one, 1963’s The Servant. But this is a color movie—in which a placid Oxford summer is disrupted by the arrival of a pretty Austrian student who ignites sexual, social, and intellectual conflicts among two middle-aged professors and another student. “A cleverly barbed comedy of depravity.” –Pauline Kael. With Stanley Baker, Michael York, Jacqueline Sassard, and Delphine Seyrig....

Japan | 2016 | Kōji Fukada

In this compelling, unsettling new drama from the maker of 2011’s striking Hospitalité, a married couple’s suppressed tensions rise to the surface when a mysterious former acquaintance (Tadanobu Asano), just released from prison, goes to work in the husband’s metal shop and begins living with him and his family. “Proclaims the arrival of a major talent in Japanese films.” –Japan Times. Adults only! Subtitles. DCP. 118 min.

Mexico, United States | 1973 | Alejandro Jodorowsky

Jodorowsky’s follow-up to his midnight hit El Topo (see 8/18 at 7:00) is perhaps the strangest and most visually splendiferous of his career. The film charts a spiritual quest toward enlightenment in which an alchemist (Jodorowsky) leads a Christ-like thief and seven other disciples (each representing one of the planets) to the Holy Mountain. There they will overthrow the immortal beings who secretly rule the universe. “This is an extraordinary visual concoction, loaded with stunning...

France | 2015 | Cyril Dion, Mélanie Laurent

The new film by actress turned director Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) is a documentary about global climate change that foregoes doom and gloom prophecies to focus on the good things that countless individuals around the world are doing to combat the problem. “It’s refreshing to see concrete solutions at work, many of them at the grass-roots level. And the optimism of those countering ineffective politicians and big business is infectious.” –NY Times. “Required viewing for...

United States | 1940 | Edward Buzzell

Groucho, Harpo, and Chico head West to become rich, but instead become embroiled in a crooked land-grab scheme. Lots of musical numbers and some hilarious sequences—especially the train chase climax (which includes gags concocted by an uncredited Buster Keaton). 81 min.

France | 2015 | Cyril Dion, Mélanie Laurent

The new film by actress turned director Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) is a documentary about global climate change that foregoes doom and gloom prophecies to focus on the good things that countless individuals around the world are doing to combat the problem. “It’s refreshing to see concrete solutions at work, many of them at the grass-roots level. And the optimism of those countering ineffective politicians and big business is infectious.” –NY Times. “Required viewing for...

Mexico, United States | 1973 | Alejandro Jodorowsky

Jodorowsky’s follow-up to his midnight hit El Topo (see 8/18 at 7:00) is perhaps the strangest and most visually splendiferous of his career. The film charts a spiritual quest toward enlightenment in which an alchemist (Jodorowsky) leads a Christ-like thief and seven other disciples (each representing one of the planets) to the Holy Mountain. There they will overthrow the immortal beings who secretly rule the universe. “This is an extraordinary visual concoction, loaded with stunning...

United Kingdom | 1967 | Joseph Losey

The second collaboration between screenwriter Harold Pinter and director Joseph Losey stars Dirk Bogarde—just like their first one, 1963’s The Servant. But this is a color movie—in which a placid Oxford summer is disrupted by the arrival of a pretty Austrian student who ignites sexual, social, and intellectual conflicts among two middle-aged professors and another student. “A cleverly barbed comedy of depravity.” –Pauline Kael. With Stanley Baker, Michael York, Jacqueline Sassard, and Delphine Seyrig....

United States | 1940 | Edward Buzzell

Groucho, Harpo, and Chico head West to become rich, but instead become embroiled in a crooked land-grab scheme. Lots of musical numbers and some hilarious sequences—especially the train chase climax (which includes gags concocted by an uncredited Buster Keaton). 81 min.

Japan | 2016 | Kōji Fukada

In this compelling, unsettling new drama from the maker of 2011’s striking Hospitalité, a married couple’s suppressed tensions rise to the surface when a mysterious former acquaintance (Tadanobu Asano), just released from prison, goes to work in the husband’s metal shop and begins living with him and his family. “Proclaims the arrival of a major talent in Japanese films.” –Japan Times. Adults only! Subtitles. DCP. 118 min.

Argentina, United States | 2016 | Matías Piñeiro

The latest Shakespeare-inspired film from Argentinian director Matías Piñeiro (his first in English) focuses on a young Buenos Aires theater director translating A Midsummer Night’s Dream while living in New York. The text resonates with her romantic and family life, which we come to know via a series of lyrical scenes and flashbacks. “A cogently realistic yet gloriously imaginative vision of youthful ardor in love and art.” –The New Yorker. “A sunny Shakespearean pleasure.” –Village...

United States | 1941 | Charles Reisner

The last of the Marx Bros’ MGM films follows two-bit detective Wolf J. Flywheel (Groucho) as he uncovers a department store manager’s nefarious plot to take control of the whole operation. With Harpo, Chico, and Margaret Dumont. The elaborate musical number “Tenement Symphony” is an embarrassing kitsch lowlight. DVD. 83 min.

Mexico, Spain | 1970 | Alejandro Jodorowsky

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s trippy, sexy, underground epic was the first midnight-movie hit, and became a counterculture touchstone during the early 1970s. The film is a surreal, symbol-laden religious allegory disguised as an ultraviolent spaghetti western—about a mystical master gunfighter (Jodorowsky) who dispatches a lot of people before seeking redemption. The film is strikingly photographed in color against dramatic desert landscapes, and evokes the worlds of Buñuel and Fellini in its fascination with freaks, midgets, and the...

United States | 2015 | Daniel Cross

This new documentary takes viewers on a musical journey through the swamps of the Louisiana Bayou, the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta, and Moonshine-soaked BBQs of the North Mississippi Hill Country. The film visits longtime blues musicians, some in their 80s and 90s, who once toured the Chitlin’ Circuit and still live in the Deep South—among them, 2017 Grammy winner Bobby Rush, Barbara Lynn, Henry Gray, Carol Fran, and Little Freddie King. DCP. 106...

United States | 1941 | Charles Reisner

The last of the Marx Bros’ MGM films follows two-bit detective Wolf J. Flywheel (Groucho) as he uncovers a department store manager’s nefarious plot to take control of the whole operation. With Harpo, Chico, and Margaret Dumont. The elaborate musical number “Tenement Symphony” is an embarrassing kitsch lowlight. DVD. 83 min.

United Kingdom | 1987 | James Ivory

James Wilby, Hugh Grant, and Rupert Graves star in this meticulous Merchant/Ivory adaptation of an E.M. Forster novel—a tale of homosexuality in a less enlightened age. Set against the stifling conformity of pre-World War I English society, the film follows two Cambridge students who, for fear of humiliation and possible imprisonment, must keep their feelings for each other secret. With Denholm Elliott, Simon Callow, Billie Whitelaw, Ben Kingsley, and Helena Bonham Carter. Cleveland revival premiere....

Mexico, Spain | 1970 | Alejandro Jodorowsky

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s trippy, sexy, underground epic was the first midnight-movie hit, and became a counterculture touchstone during the early 1970s. The film is a surreal, symbol-laden religious allegory disguised as an ultraviolent spaghetti western—about a mystical master gunfighter (Jodorowsky) who dispatches a lot of people before seeking redemption. The film is strikingly photographed in color against dramatic desert landscapes, and evokes the worlds of Buñuel and Fellini in its fascination with freaks, midgets, and the...

United Kingdom | 1987 | James Ivory

James Wilby, Hugh Grant, and Rupert Graves star in this meticulous Merchant/Ivory adaptation of an E.M. Forster novel—a tale of homosexuality in a less enlightened age. Set against the stifling conformity of pre-World War I English society, the film follows two Cambridge students who, for fear of humiliation and possible imprisonment, must keep their feelings for each other secret. With Denholm Elliott, Simon Callow, Billie Whitelaw, Ben Kingsley, and Helena Bonham Carter. Cleveland revival premiere....

United States | 2015 | Daniel Cross

This new documentary takes viewers on a musical journey through the swamps of the Louisiana Bayou, the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta, and Moonshine-soaked BBQs of the North Mississippi Hill Country. The film visits longtime blues musicians, some in their 80s and 90s, who once toured the Chitlin’ Circuit and still live in the Deep South—among them, 2017 Grammy winner Bobby Rush, Barbara Lynn, Henry Gray, Carol Fran, and Little Freddie King. DCP. 106...

Argentina, United States | 2016 | Matías Piñeiro

The latest Shakespeare-inspired film from Argentinian director Matías Piñeiro (his first in English) focuses on a young Buenos Aires theater director translating A Midsummer Night’s Dream while living in New York. The text resonates with her romantic and family life, which we come to know via a series of lyrical scenes and flashbacks. “A cogently realistic yet gloriously imaginative vision of youthful ardor in love and art.” –The New Yorker. “A sunny Shakespearean pleasure.” –Village...

Italy | 1963 | Vittorio De Sica

Never before released in the U.S., this Italian classic from the exalted director/screenwriter team of Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini (The Bicycle Thief, Shoeshine, Miracle in Milan, Umberto D., et al.) is a comedy about the country’s post-WWII economic boom. Top Italian comic Alberto Sordi (The White Sheik, I Vitelloni, Mafioso) stars in the movie, playing an inept, debt-ridden contractor who struggles to maintain the high standard of living enjoyed by his frivolous wife....

Mexico | 1968 | Alejandro Jodorowsky

Inspired by a play by Spanish writer Fernando Arrabal, Alejandro (El Topo) Jodorowsky’s first feature caused a riot when it premiered at the Acapulco Film Festival. The movie follows a young man and his paraplegic girlfriend as they journey through a desolate wasteland on their way to the mythical city of Tar, which promises them enlightenment. Along the way they have a series of dreamy, surreal encounters worthy of Buñuel, David Lynch, or John Waters....

United States | 1946 | Archie Mayo

Made five years after The Big Store (see 8/17 at 8:35), this independent production is perhaps the funniest of the late Marx Bros films. Intended as a parody of the Bogart-Bergman classic but softened into a general spoof of wartime melodramas after Warner Bros threatened a lawsuit, the film is set in postwar Casabalanca, where Groucho becomes the unwitting new manager of a hotel where his predecessors have been serially murdered. Harpo and Chico help...

Mexico | 1968 | Alejandro Jodorowsky

Inspired by a play by Spanish writer Fernando Arrabal, Alejandro (El Topo) Jodorowsky’s first feature caused a riot when it premiered at the Acapulco Film Festival. The movie follows a young man and his paraplegic girlfriend as they journey through a desolate wasteland on their way to the mythical city of Tar, which promises them enlightenment. Along the way they have a series of dreamy, surreal encounters worthy of Buñuel, David Lynch, or John Waters....

Turkey, United States | 2016 | Ceyda Torun

The picturesque city of Istanbul is home to thousands of stray cats who live independently between two worlds, neither wild nor tame. This gentle, gorgeously shot documentary, part nature film and part travelogue, profiles a handful of these felines, all with unique personalities, as well as the kind, cat-loving city residents who often care for them. “Splendidly graceful and quietly magical.” –Variety. Subtitles. DCP. 79 min.

United States | 1946 | Archie Mayo

Made five years after The Big Store (see 8/17 at 8:35), this independent production is perhaps the funniest of the late Marx Bros films. Intended as a parody of the Bogart-Bergman classic but softened into a general spoof of wartime melodramas after Warner Bros threatened a lawsuit, the film is set in postwar Casabalanca, where Groucho becomes the unwitting new manager of a hotel where his predecessors have been serially murdered. Harpo and Chico help...

Italy | 1963 | Vittorio De Sica

Never before released in the U.S., this Italian classic from the exalted director/screenwriter team of Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini (The Bicycle Thief, Shoeshine, Miracle in Milan, Umberto D., et al.) is a comedy about the country’s post-WWII economic boom. Top Italian comic Alberto Sordi (The White Sheik, I Vitelloni, Mafioso) stars in the movie, playing an inept, debt-ridden contractor who struggles to maintain the high standard of living enjoyed by his frivolous wife....

United States | 1949 | David Miller

A young Marilyn Monroe makes a brief but memorable appearance in the Marx Bros’ final film. Based on a story by Harpo and originally intended as a vehicle just for him, the film was reworked by co-writers Frank Tashlin and Ben Hecht to include parts for Groucho and Chico. It’s about a group of young actors who are trying to stage a musical revue when they become unwittingly involved with some dastardly diamond thieves. With...

Turkey, United States | 2016 | Ceyda Torun

The picturesque city of Istanbul is home to thousands of stray cats who live independently between two worlds, neither wild nor tame. This gentle, gorgeously shot documentary, part nature film and part travelogue, profiles a handful of these felines, all with unique personalities, as well as the kind, cat-loving city residents who often care for them. “Splendidly graceful and quietly magical.” –Variety. Subtitles. DCP. 79 min.

United States | 2017 | Briar Levit

This new documentary explores how graphic design production was accomplished before the advent of the desktop computer almost three decades ago. From the 1950s and into the 1990s, it took ingenious analog machines and tools, and skilled hands, to marry images and type on meticulously prepared paste-up boards that were then delivered to the printer. This fascinating overview by art instructor Briar Levit remembers this vanished moment in design history. Cleveland premiere. DVD. 85 min.

United States | 1949 | David Miller

A young Marilyn Monroe makes a brief but memorable appearance in the Marx Bros’ final film. Based on a story by Harpo and originally intended as a vehicle just for him, the film was reworked by co-writers Frank Tashlin and Ben Hecht to include parts for Groucho and Chico. It’s about a group of young actors who are trying to stage a musical revue when they become unwittingly involved with some dastardly diamond thieves. With...