Something to Live For: The Cinema of George Stevens

George Stevens with Elizabeth Taylor

[This blog post was last updated on June 22, 2021]

The retrospective Something to Live For: The Cinema of George Stevens will take place in Bologna, during the 35th edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato, July 20-27, 2021.

No other director has been credited for filming such disparate situations and figures, of such cultural and historical importance: from Laurel & Hardy's cake-throwing parties to the Crucifixion; the unique elegance of Astaire/Rogers's dance numbers and the liberation of Dachau, the latter a real-life document. This year's American master and the man behind such classics as A Place in the Sun and Shane is George Stevens, who rose from the rank of camera-cranker at Hal Roach Studios to become a filmmaking ace and comedy specialist in the 30s. However, after participating in active combat and filming some of the major atrocities of WWII, something changed in this romantic adventurer. The newly gained intellectual maturity, combined with Stevens's characteristic fluency and brio, proved fertile ground for directing an array of masterpieces which, along with a survey of his late 30s and early 40s masterpieces, are the main focus of this retrospective. — Ehsan Khoshbakht

The titles, screenings, dates & formats:

TWO TARS (1928) DCP [2021 restoration]

July 22, 11.00 Cinema Arlecchino

July 25, 17.00 Cinema Jolly

* Both screenings with live accompaniment

** The second screening along with some other silent shorts, unrelated to George Stevens

ALICE ADAMS (1935) 35mm

July 22, 11.00 Cinema Arlecchino

July 25, 16.30 Cinema Arlecchino

* The first screening preceded by Two Tars (20')

SWING TIME (1936) DCP [2019 restoration]

July 21, 16.35, Cinema Arlecchino

July 26, 21:15, Cinema Odeon

PENNY SERENADE (1941) 35mm

July 23, 11.00 Cinema Arlecchino

WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942) DCP

July 22, 16.45 Cinema Arlecchino

July 25, 21:15, Cinema Odeon

THE TALK OF THE TOWN (1942) DCP [2021 scan]

July 22, 21:15, Cinema Odeon

July 24, 11.00 Cinema Arlecchino

THE MORE THE MERRIER (1943) DCP [2019 restoration]

July 24, 16.40 Cinema Arlecchino

July 27, 21.30 Cinema Arlecchino

I REMEMBER MAMA (1948) 35mm

July 21, 21.30 Cinema Arlecchino

July 26, 10.45 Cinema Arlecchino

A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951) DCP [2014 restoration]

July 20, 21.30, Cinema Arlecchino

July 22, 21.45 LunettArena

July 25, 11.00 Cinema Arlecchino

SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR (1952) DCP

July 20, 16.30, Cinema Arlecchino

July 24, 21.30 Cinema Arlecchino

SHANE (1953) DCP [2013 restoration]

July 23, 21.30 Cinema Arlecchino 

July 27, 11.00 Cinema Arlecchino

GEORGE STEVENS: A FILMMAKER’S JOURNEY (1984) 35mm

July 19, 18.00, Sala Scorsese

July 21, 11.00, Cinema Arlecchino

GEORGE STEVENS: D-DAY TO BERLIN (1994) DCP

July 26, 17.00 Cinema Arlecchino