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Check and Double Check (1930);
Pointed Heels (1929)

Check and Double Check (1930)
April 6, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Billy Wilder Theater

Preservation funded by Richard Correll

Check and Double Check (1930)

Directed by Melville Brown

By 1930, NBC's "Amos ‘n' Andy" was a radio phenomenon broadcasting six nights a week to over 30 million listeners. With interest bordering on a national craze, anticipation for the team's heavily promoted film debut was high. "Photoplay" predicted, "Fifty million 'Amos ‘n' Andy' fans [would] mob the theaters to see their idols for the first time." Viewed three-quarters of a century later, the film offers an invaluable glimpse into the complex, indelicate racial dynamics of the Depression era. The film is also notable as the Hollywood feature debut of composer and bandleader Duke Ellington.

RKO. Producer: William LeBaron. Screenplay: Bert Kalmar, J. Walter Ruben, Harry Ruby. Cinematographer: William Marshall. Editor: Claude Berkeley. Cast: Freeman F. Gosden, Charles J. Correll, Sue Carol, Irene Rich, Ralf Harolde.

35mm, 71 min.

Preservation funded by the American Film Institute/National Endowment for the Arts Preservation Grants Program

Pointed Heels (1929)

Directed by A. Edward Sutherland

A "backstage" musical of the early sound era, Pointed Heels is a must see for two reasons. The first is William Powell, displaying all his suave appeal as a dapper Broadway producer. Although he doesn't get the girl, Powell is a delight to watch. The second reason is Helen "Sugar" Kane, the Broadway singer who became the uncredited model for Betty Boop. In a rare screen role, Kane here interpolates her signature "boop-boop-a-doop" in the numbers "Ain'tcha?" and "I Have to Have You." This preservation also includes a two-color Technicolor sequence, not an uncommon occurrence at the time.

Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. Based on the short story by Charles William Brackett. Scenario: Florence Ryerson, John V. A. Weaver. Cinematographer: Rex Wimpy. Editor: Jane Loring. Cast: William Powell, Fay Wray, Helen Kane, Richard Skeets Gallagher, Phillips Holmes.

35mm, 61 min.

 

Preceded by:

Preservation funded by The Packard Humanities Institute

Amos 'N' Andy Take Part in Celebration of Circus and Wild West Parade in Palm Springs, California

Featuring Gosden and Correll speaking in character as Amos 'n' Andy.

Filmed on Feb 2, 1996.

35mm, 2min.

Part of: 
2009 UCLA Festival of Preservation