Reel life: Woodstock's Welles festival coming to a close
Film critics notebook:
• It's almost over. The Orson Welles Festival in Woodstock goes out with a party this weekend. On Friday, May 22, “The Magnificent Ambersons: Tainted Masterpiece” will be presented by Joseph McBride and Roger Ryan at 7 p.m. followed by a screening of Welles' 1942 movie at 9 p.m.
On Saturday, May 23, “Orson Welles as Artist & Illustrator” is presented by Welles scholar Vincent Longo at 10 a.m. followed by a discussion of Welles' unfinished movie “The Other Side of the Wind” at 1 p.m. Check out the festival wrap party and dance at 7:30 p.m.
Go to welleswoodstock.com for a complete schedule and info.
Pssst! Only two shows left at the Park Ridge Public Library Classic Film Series! Mark your calendar to see Jacques Tourneur's 1950 Civil War drama "Stars in My Crown" at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 28, at the Park Ridge Public Library, 20 S. Prospect Ave., Park Ridge. Free admission! (Yes, Tourneur is the famed director of classic horror films such "Cat People." See what he does with war veterans.)
Go to parkridgeclassicfilm.com.
• The Silent Film Society of Chicago presents Billy Wilder's 1950 classic “Sunset Boulevard” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 22, at the historic Patio Theater, 6008 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago. (No, it's not a silent film, but it's about a silent film star, played by the great Gloria Swanson.) The society's in-house organist Jay Warren hits the keyboard at 7:15 p.m. for preshow music. Go to silentfilmchicago.com.
• Dann Gire's column runs Fridays in Time out!