Cinema / Film

Address Unknown

88 Lothian Road

Wed 29 Jul · 15:45

William Cameron Menzies · 75m · Film

About this event

Screening because We've Got A Cinema And We're Not Afraid To Use It ! We commemorate William Cameron Menzies’s 130th birthday with a screening of one his directorial efforts, the rarely played 1944, Address Unknown . Unfolding over a series of letters sent back and forth, this haunting anti-fascist noir follows two friends who are driven apart due to the rampant rise of Nazism. We open with art dealers Martin and Max, whose grown-up children are (somewhat) betrothed, as they embrace new change when Martin decides to return to his homeland of Germany to find new pieces of art. Max’s daughter, Griselle, a budding actress decides to go with Martin to seek new opportunities before settling down for an engagement. Max remains in the States with Martin’s son, Heinrich, to look after the gallery, with the two eagerly waiting for correspondence to come from Germany. At the time, none of them are overly concerned with the new regime rising in Germany, and none of them think the need to conceal any parts of their identity – the identities in question being Griselle and Max, who are Jewish - and what now of Griselle’s position whilst she is in Germany? Address Unknown has somewhat faded into the obscurity of noir canon but arguably has some of the most striking artistry that the genre has to offer… which comes as no surprise given Menzies’s background. Menzies is often regarded as the pioneer (and perhaps creator) on the art of production design, known for his acute sense of detail, understanding of colour and early special effects and how to capture spectacles on the screen. He is perhaps most well-known for his work on Gone with the Wind in which he received a Special Award from The Academy (and specifically directed the burning of Atlanta sequence) but also worked with Hitchcock on many films, including Spellbound and Rebecca , the latter of which he was responsible for directed sequences set at Manderley. When embarking on the production of this B-movie, Menzies sketched o