Rivalry in the City

Tehran’s newly built modernist buildings shown during the title sequence of Reghabat dar Shahr [Rivalry in the City] (Uncredited, 1963)

This is the censored and re-edited version of Jonob-e Shahr [South of the City] (Farrokh Ghaffari, 1958)

Monogramming#2

Monogram Pictures, 1942 | 1725 Fleming Street in East Hollywood

From an ad campaign, May 1942:

MONOGRAM'S 10th  ANNIVERSARY

Promise  vs.  Performance 

A  promise  is  a  sacred  obligation.  Monogram  Pictures  will  not  tolerate  a  promise  unfulfilled. 

A  promise  is  only  as  good  as  the  one  who  makes  it.  As men  are  judged  by  what  they  have  done  in  the  past,  so  we  of  Monogram  Pictures,  with  a  background  of  promises  fulfilled, sincerely  ask  for  your  support  in  what  we  are  offering  for  the season  1942-43. 

We  are  young  in  years,  but  old  in  showmanship.  We  have  approached  the  coming  year  with  a  determination  to  make  this MONOGRAM'S  GREATEST  YEAR! 

Never on Sunday: Under Your Skin (Mikko Niskanen, 1966)

Under Your Skin

NEVER ON SUNDAY is a series of screenings of rare classics, archive masterpieces, obscure delights and forgotten gems taking place the last Sunday of each month at Close-Up Cinema in east London. The first screening, on January 30, is dedicated to Mikko Niskanen's Under Your Skin. Tickets here.

Käpy selän alla [Under Your Skin]

Dir: Mikko Niskanen, 1966, 99 min, 35mm

Directed by Mikko Niskanen, an indispensable figure of Finnish new cinema of the 1960s, Under Your Skin is one of the most significant films in the history of Finnish cinema which, in the spirit of New Wave, embraces a whole new generation of Finns dreaming of "a universal sense of responsibility." (Peter von Bagh). The tender and real depiction of this new politically-conscious generation, as well as fresh cinematic ideas employed, were warmly welcomed by both the Finnish audiences (making the film the second box office hit of 1966) and the critics, the latter leading to the film winning six Jussi awards, the Finnish equivalent of the Oscar.