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| Barbara Stanwyck in a studio publicity photograph (n.c.) for Paramount Pictures. |
BARBARA STANWYCK/MITCHELL LEISEN
No Man of Her Own (US 1950)
MITCHELL LEISEN
Cradle Song (US 1933)
Death Takes a Holiday (US 1934)
Hands Across the Table (US 1935)
Easy Living (US 1937)
CINEMALIBERO
... Et vint la liberté / ...And Then Freedom Came (Sékoumar Barry, GN 1967)
Oghneyet-Touha-Al-Hazina / The Sad Song of Touha (Atteyat Al Abnoudy, EG 1972)
Lintizae Alkahraman / The Dislocation of Amber (Hussein Shariffe, SD 1975)
Dayereh-ye mina / The Cycle (Dariush Mehrjui, IR 1976)
Amma ariyan / Report to Mother (John Abraham, IN 1986)
DAISUKE ITO
Osho / The Chess Master (JP 1948)
Oborokago / The Inner Palace Conspiracy (JP 1951)
Oedo gonin otoko / Five Men from Edo (JP 1951)
RECOVERED & RESTORED
La Dérive / The Drift (Paula Delsol, FR 1964)
POST FESTUM: TOP OF THE POPS
MY FAVOURITE
Amma ariyan / Report to Mother (John Abraham, IN 1986)
MAJOR DISCOVERY
THE REVELATION
Tsumasaburo Bando (1901–1953), the legendary kabuki and chanbara actor appeared in 220 films yet remains little known outside Japan (correct me if I'm wrong). I discovered him in Bologna in 2020 in the restored version of The Rickshaw Man / Muhomatsu no issho (JP 1943) and rediscovered him this year in three films directed by Daisuke Ito, Osho / The Chess Master (JP 1948), Oborokago / The Inner Palace Conspiracy (JP 1951) and Oedo gonin otoko / Five Men from Edo (JP 1951). More than a unique actor, he is a mediator of an ancient wisdom of the spirit. Maybe the secret of life.
THE MYSTERY
A twin mystery in retrospectives I followed. What is the truth about the nitrate legacies of Mitchell Leisen and Daisuke Ito? Has hope been lost of seeing their nitrate era films in good prints? Or are there still nitrate source materials from which decent copies, even restorations, can be crafted? I heard that Midnight (1939) was screened in June at Rochester's Nitrate Picture Show. According to the Internet Movie Database, a nitrate print of The Cradle Song survives at UCLA.
HEAT WAVE
Extreme weather and record temperatures struck Europe in 2026. Successive heatwaves led to unheard-of wildfires and fire clouds. A red alert heatwave hit even Bologna during Il Cinema Ritrovato, putting us in danger.
As a Bologna stalwart, I am used to heat and have even guided newcomers (avoid the sun, stay in the shadow, wear a UV proof hat, drink too much, avoid a heavy lunch, get your exercise in the morning).
This year when the sun was down, the heat hit me in the evening from below. After weeks of heat, the city streets and buildings had turned hot. I felt suffocated.
An engineer acquaintance had taken the measure of the Piazza Maggiore street-level temperature in the evening. It was 41 grades Centigrade.
I got a heatstroke, and it took weeks to recover. The air-conditioning in the cinemas was good, but I was no longer capable of viewing films or writing about them. The last six days of the festival I was forced to a siesta in my room. With one exception: La Dérive.
I am used to heat but not extreme heat. I realize that 35 grades is my limit to stay in focus. I am an avid sauna goer and can stand 100 grades – if I can swim and cool down after 20 minutes in the heat.
GLOBAL WARMING
We have been aware of global warming and the fact that there is no future in the way we live now since the 1950s (in Nordic countries since the 1890s), but we live in denial.
In the age of mobile devices, the world has started to resemble a bad science fiction movie, in which people are less present in their own lives and increasingly absent in cyberspace, algorithm-controlled by Silicon Valley oligarchs.
This summer I started to think that there may be a connection. If we lose hope in the real world, we escape from it through the virtual portal in our pocket.
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| "Heat Wave" in There's No Business Like Show Business (US 1954, D: Walter Lang). Starring Marilyn Monroe. Words and music: Irving Berlin. Choreography: Jack Cole. Costume: Travilla. |
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| The fire cloud of Bordeaux observed by vacationers on the beach of Lacanau. Photo: Maximilien Lamy / Ritzau Scanpix. |
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