The Duke Ellington Centennial Film Festival Co-Produced with Jazz at Lincoln Center October 28--31, 1999

calendar | walter reade theater box office and ticket information Opening Night / October 28 will be hosted by special guests. 100 years ago, one of our greatest artists was born. Duke Ellington produced a body of work during his five-decade-long career that was so extensive, so innovative, so rich in invention and so varied that it puts most other artists working in any medium to shame. So, along with our friends at Jazz at Lincoln Center, we are honoring his indelible contribution to the medium that was born right beside him, the motion picture. Our program includes two films that Ellington scored, the delightful PARIS BLUES, with Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier as American jazz musicians in Paris romancing Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll, and Otto Preminger's brilliant ANATOMY OF A MURDER, probably the most exciting courtroom melodrama ever produced, aided in no small measure by Duke's evocative score. (Jimmy Stewart, Ben Gazzara, George C. Scott, Lee Remick et al. make ANATOMY one of the juiciest of actors' movies.) We are also presenting a program of shorts featuring Duke performing at various stages of his career, and Robert Drew's wonderful documentary ON THE ROAD WITH DUKE ELLINGTON. So join us in celebrating one of the true geniuses in America's pantheon, Duke Ellington. PARIS BLUES (Martin Ritt, 1961; 98m) Thurs Oct 28: 6:30 & 9 Fri Oct 29: 1 Sat Oct 30: 3:30 ANATOMY OF A MURDER (Otto Preminger, 1959; 160m) Fri Oct 29: 3 & 8 Sun Oct 31: 2 & 7 ON THE ROAD WITH DUKE ELLINGTON (Robert Drew, 1195; 58m) Sat Oct 30: 7 Sun Oct 31: 5:30 Shorts Fri Oct 29: 6:30 Sat Oct 30: 2, 5:30 & 8:30