Clara Bow reveals all in Victor Fleming’s HULA (courtesy Photofest)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
March 5-18
212-727-8110
www.filmforum.org
For years, one of our favorite trivia questions has involved naming the director of GONE WITH THE WIND and THE WIZARD OF OZ. Not only do most people not know who made those classic films, but when we tell them that they were both credited to the same man, Victor Fleming, the answer usually is accompanied by a shrug. (Interestingly, he was called in to take over both of those epics following situations with other directors.) Fleming is among the least well known and studied filmmakers despite a resume that also includes CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS, A GUY NAMED JOE, THE VIRGINIAN, TREASURE ISLAND, JOAN OF ARC, and DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. Film Forum will be screening twenty-three of his films through March 18, from 1919’s WHEN THE CLOUDS ROLL BY to 1948’s JOAN OF ARC, with enticing double features of RED DUST (1932) and BOMBSHELL (1933), THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) and CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (1937), A GUY NAMED JOE (1943) and TEST PILOT (1938), and others. Fleming worked with the best in the business; among the stars in this series are Douglas Fairbanks, Myrna Loy, Clark Gable, Hedy Lamarr, Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, Henry Fonda, Clara Bow, John Garfield, Janet Gaynor, and Spencer Tracy.