THE DRIFTER’S ESCAPE: HUGO FREGONESE
A retrospective at Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna (June 25-July 3, 2022)
Curated by Dave Kehr and Ehsan Khoshbakht
As swiftly as some directors changed studios, Hugo Fregonese (1908-87) changed countries. The perfect ‘saddle tramp’ figure, he drifted and made films about drifting and escape. A master of brisk and unsentimental westerns and crime thrillers, with a career spanning over four decades and numerous bases of production – from his home country Argentina, to America, Spain, Italy, the UK and West Germany – Fregonese’s cinema is unjustly underappreciated to the point of obscurity. This is a step in the direction of claiming him as an important figure; one whose cinema of impassioned subjectivity blends the aesthetic of low-budget films with fatalism, myth and raw violence. Fregonese’s name is often associated with the ten films he made during his five-year residency in Hollywood in the 1950s. This programme picks some of the finest from that period to screen alongside films made elsewhere. Forming one of the most coherent cinematic oeuvres that one could expect from a wandering director, this will be one of the major revelations of Il Cinema Ritrovato 2022.
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The films [All screenings at the Jolly; dates still subject to change until the official release of the programme]
JUNE 25
18:30
APENAS UN DELINCUENTE (Hardly a Criminal, Argentina/1949) RT: 88’ [35mm]
21.30
MAN IN THE ATTIC (USA/1953) RT: 86’ [35mm]
JUNE 26
11:00
APACHE DRUMS (USA/1951) RT: 75’ [4K DCP] / Introduction by Dave Kehr and Ehsan Khoshbakht
18:45
ONE WAY STREET (USA/1950) RT: 79’ [35mm]
21:30
BLOWING WILD (USA/1953) RT: 90’ [2K DCP]
JUNE 27
11:30
SADDLE TRAMP (1950) RT: 76’ [35mm]
JUNE 28
11:30
BLACK TUESDAY (USA/1954) RT: 83’ [35mm] / Introduction by Imogen Sara Smith
18:30
MAN IN THE ATTIC (USA/1953) RT: 86’ [35mm]
JUNE 29
11:00
MY SIX CONVICTS (USA/1952) RT: 104’ [35mm]
18:30
THE RAID (USA/1954) RT: 83’ [35mm]
21:30
SADDLE TRAMP (USA/1950) RT: 76’ [35mm]
JUNE 30
11:30
BLOWING WILD (USA/1953) RT: 90’ [2K DCP]
18:30
DECAMERON NIGHTS (GB-USA/1953) RT: 84’ [35mm]
JUNE 1
11:00
SEVEN THUNDERS (1957) RT: 100’ [35mm]
18:30
APENAS UN DELINCUENTE (Hardly a Criminal, Argentina/1949) RT: 88’ [35mm]
21.30
APACHE DRUMS (USA/1951) RT: 75’ [4K DCP]
JUNE 2
18:30
BLACK TUESDAY (USA/1954) RT: 83’ [35mm]
Looks excellent, Mr. Khoshbahkt. Does the inclusion of BLACK TUESDAY indicate that a restored or improved print for that film is finally available? At this point collectors and completists have been making do with a very poor quality image--this is a film that really deserves something better!
ReplyDeleteYes, a new print of BLACK TUESDAY will be screened, though perhaps not an ideal new print. (It'll be a recent "test print" but definitely better than anything else shown and seen since the 1950s.)
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