FILM

Boot To The Head

By Bryan VanCampen

The rst images we see in Sierra Pettengill’s new documentary “Riotsville, USA” (Magnolia—Field of Vision—Canal & the Gallery, Arch + Bow Films—XRM Media—LinLay Productions, 2022, 91 min.) are grainy 16 mm shots of an anonymous small American town. Looks like a nice place. A sign in the window of the local grocery store advertises bread, four for a dollar. But then a helicopter whips through the frame, and now we’re seeing the town from the chopper’s POV, and the small American town is revealed to be nothing but a backlot, the buildings nothing but three-sided facades. is was all happening in the mid-60’s, when rioting broke out in Selma, Watts and more than a hundred other American cities. LBJ went on TV and told us that something had to be done. And so he approved a new committee to undertake a study and gure out some way to quell all that American unrest. is odd backlot, dubbed “Riotsville” by the military folk that built it, was one of the results. ere, lmed by military or broadcast cameras, soldiers playing rioters would overturn cars and break windows until the army, playing itself, showed up and tried to learn better how to clobber and quell dissent. And if that wasn’t surreal enough, an invited audience sat in bleachers and watched the action, much like you’d watch a “wild west” stunt show on some studio tour. We then see the results of that research put into action when the 1968 Democratic and Republican conventions occurred.

ere’s a lot happening here, rst with all the backlot footage which has rarely been shown, and there’s also a lot of footage from the predecessor to PBS and network coverage of the conventions and rioting. ere are no retrospective interviews with military personnel or other pundits, but occasionally Pettengill drops in a female narrator intoning “when will we ever learn?” platitudes. ere’s enough happening that I would have dropped those passages. You can feel it all, believe me.

It’s impossible to understate just how racist and condescending the general attitudes are, but then again, America has a long history of being lectured by white males. Why am I shocked how little has really changed since the Summer of Love?

Elsa Lanchester’s performance and makeup in “Bride of Frankenstein” helped make it a classic. (Photo: Provided) “Riotsville, USA” documents a surreal chapter in the turbulent 1960s. (Photo: Provided)

ere was a spot of controversy this summer when a Fathom Events premium screening of John Carpenter’s “ e ing” (1982) turned out to be a bit of a asco. Fathom showed a poor-quality digital lm of the lm in the incorrect aspect ratio, and basically mucked the whole thing up. For the record, I attended two Fathom events some years back, a “Ri rax” movie interruption and a screening of David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) and I had no issues with picture quality, aspect ratio or audio quality. Fathom really did get a lot of bad press for their poor presentation of the Carpenter lm— lmmaker and screenwriter Mick Garris read his own letter of protest on the popular “Post Mortem” podcast—so we can hope that Fathom has learned a lesson and is showing better prints of classic lms correctly.

Just in time for Halloween, Fathom is showing a double feature of James Whale’s TOMPKINS COUNTY QUILTERS GUILD QUILT SHOW

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Women’s Role In Silent Films Highlighted

October has been Silent Movie Month in Ithaca since 2012. is year, e Finger Lakes Film Trail, Wharton Studio Museum and Historic Ithaca, are together presenting a series of events called “Lit. Women of Silent Film.”

“Lit. Women of Silent Film” examines the critical creative roles three Ithaca women authors played in the early lm industry through discussions, guided walking tours, a screening of Tess of the Storm Country (1922) starring Mary Pickford, and two self-guided headphone walking plays produced by the Cherry Arts and Wharton Studio Museum (WSM).

Diana Riesman, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Wharton Studio Museum in Ithaca, said, “We’re thrilled to continue our exploration of Ithaca’s contribution to the early movie industry during October’s Silent Movie Month. is year we’ve planned the “Lit. Women of Silent Film” weekend around the work of three Ithaca women authors whose writing got translated to the silver screen.”

“It’s a natural t for Historic Ithaca to be a partner in presenting the “Lit. Women of Silent Film” weekend," says Historic Ithaca's Executive Director Susan Holland. " e downtown theater tours we give, and our co-production with Wharton Studio Museum of the “Biggest Little Movie City” exhibit this past spring at the Tompkins Center for History and Culture, give people a chance to connect with historic preservation in a fun and meaningful way.”

On Friday, October 14 there will be a free launch party for the series of events at the Odyssey Bookstore (115 West Green Street, Lower Level) from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

On Saturday, October 15, a guided tour ($12) will start at “ e Biggest Little Movie City” panel at Harold Square on the Ithaca Commons at 10:30 a.m. Attendees will be able to explore some of these sites—a few still extant and others captured only by photographs and memories—on a guided downtown tour with historic preservationists to recapture the heyday of Ithaca’s movie-palace era.

Later that a ernoon there will be free presentations titled “From Novel to Screen: Ithaca’s Literary Women of Silent Film” at Marcham Hall (836 Hanshaw Road) from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Film scholar Barbara Tepa Lupack, playwright Aoise Stratford, and local historian Patricia Longoria will discuss the extraordinary lives of three Ithaca women writers— Grace Miller White, Maude Radford Warren, and Ruth Sawyer—whose books were adapted into silent lms at a time when the political and social roles of women were undergoing dramatic changes.

Capping o a full day’s worth of events, Mary Pickford’s Tess of the Storm (1922) will be screened at Cinemapolis (120 East Green Street) at 7 p.m. (Tickets $8-11). Pickford starred in two versions of the popular Tess of the Storm Country, adapted from the novel by Ithaca author Grace Miller White. Pickford’s 1922 version, which, although not lmed in Ithaca, dramatizes the lives of people who lived in the city’s “Rhine” neighborhood centered on the Inlet and inspired by Grace Miller White’s childhood growing up on a cottage on the west shore of Cayuga Lake.

As part of the event there are also selfguided Walk is Play tours ($5 suggested donation per download) centered around Ithaca’s West End and Stewart Park. You can download the tours at https://www. thecherry.org/walk-this-play/ and follow the path of Ithaca’s movie-making era. Produced by e Cherry Arts and Wharton Studio Museum, “Storm Country” (2016) and “ e Missing Chapter” (2018) headphone walking plays allow you to listen to the audio on your own schedule. “Storm Country” is an experiential, dramatic retelling of the life and work of Grace Miller White. “ e Missing Chapter,” adapted from the Wharton Studio’s popular 1916 serial Beatrice Fairfax, leads listeners on an adventure through Stewart Park, where Wharton, Inc. Studio was located.

“Tess of the Storm Country” (1922) was adapted from the novel by Ithaca author Grace Miller White and explores the lives of people who lived in Ithaca’s “Rhine” neighborhood centered on the inlet. (Photo: Provided)

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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Lily Ling). Tender, funny, and charming in the best sense, “How To Dance In Ohio” o ers a fresh and inspiring look at the musical genre.

While these youngsters await an unknown future, e REV’s current show looks backward to celebrate the legendary Fats Waller in the 1978 musical review, “Ain’t Misbehavin’. Conceived by Richard Maltby, Jr., and Murray Horwitz, this lively tribute features ve electric performers who deliver more than 30 songs, either composed or popularized by Waller. ere’s “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Mean to Me,” and even a medley of those crossover hits, “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie,” “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love,” and “I’m Gonna Sit Write Down and Write Myself a Letter.”

Kyle Dixon’s cabaret set, alive with José Santiago’s dazzling lights, provides both glamour and intimacy––and more than a hint of nostalgia for the swing-era clubs (here, the Savoy). Ti any Howard’s costumes are, as usual, elegantly delicious, mostly glittery, graceful, and layered.

Center stage is dominated by that magical piano, with musical director Kenny M. Green (complete with derby) and his band the pulsing core of the show.

Arnold Harper II, a hearty man light on his feet, delivers a dynamite rendition of “Fat and Greasy.” Quiana Holmes exudes little-girl charm, while Crystal Sha’nae opts for voluptuous; both actors are dynamic but their vocal belt needs far more control. Brandi Chavonne Massey has robust presence and a voice to match; she and Crystal sing a hilarious “Find Out What ey Like.” ( e gender roles are de nitely out of the 1930s).

Christopher Brasfeld, svelte and conked, risks stealing the show with his version of “ e Viper’s Drag,” where, ostensibly high, he oozes through a magni cent number, including swimming belly-down on the stage. e audience was mesmerized.

With no narrative, the rst act seemed to feature overly similar pieces, but the second exploded with more diverse offerings, presented as interesting sketches. roughout, the range was cheerful to solemn, romantic to raunchy, o en comical and usually suggestive. Green’s stride piano alone was exhilarating.

Amidst all these spirited numbers, one group song brought the entire ensemble and the audience to an intense standstill. “Black and Blue,” with its painful lyrics about being black in a white-led world, was a somber and powerful reminder of the cultural context of Fat Waller’s era— and today’s.

Barbara Adams, a regional theatre and arts writer, teaches writing at Ithaca College.

“How to Dance in Ohio,” directed by Sammi Cannold, is at Syracuse Stage through Oct. 9; tickets at www.syracusestage.org/ or 315-443-3275. “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” directed by Tyrone L. Robinson, is at Auburn’s Merry-Go-Round Playhouse through Oct. 11; tickets at THEREVTHEATRE.COM or 1-800-457-8897.

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groundbreaking horror lm “ e Bride of Frankenstein” (1935) and Karl Freund’s “ e Mummy” (1933). Featuring highstyle black-and-white photography, Boris Karlo as the iconic creature, in make-up created by the legendary Jack Pierce, “Bride of Frankenstein” is the rare sequel that is even better than the original. Whale introduced a blackly camp sense of humor in Ernest esiger’s amboyant performance as the father of the Bride (Elsa Lanchester), if you will. If you want to know where Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder got their ideas for “Young Frankenstein” (1974), it’s all here.

Likewise, if you’re only familiar with the Brendan Fraser “Mummy” series, catch Karlo in the title role here sporting another legendary Hollywood make-up job. “ e Mummy” is more of a starcrossed lovers tale than a horror movie, but you can see the beginnings of another long-running Universal monster series.

“Riotsville, USA” opens at Cinemapolis on October 7. “Bride of Frankenstein” and “ e Mummy” screen at Regal Stadium 14 at 1 p.m. on October 1.

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