celebrating the centennial of hoagy carmichael's birth photo: carmichael in CANYON PASSAGE

box office and ticket information | calendar These films are double-billed. Celebrating the centennial of actor/singer/composer Hoagland Howard Carmichael's birth-November 22, 1899-the Walter Reade Theater screens two films Carmichael graced with his presence. Taught piano by his mother-"Ragtime was my lullaby"-this easygoing, tall drink of water worked his way through the University of Indiana law school by performing with his own three-piece band (The Carmichael Syringe Orchestra!). Setting up a law practice in Florida, Carmichael discovered that a song he'd written as a student-"Riverboat Shuffle"-had become a bit of a hit, and so a lawyer was lost and a "jazz maniac" was born. In 1931 came the irresistible "Stardust"; after that, he never stopped writing American beauties like "Georgia on My Mind." His presence in movies was laconic, maximum-cool, an angular fellow with a cocked eyebrow who had been everywhere, seen everything and was beyond being surprised by much. (Ian Fleming thought his James Bond probably looked a little like Carmichael.) Jacques Tourneur's CANYON PASSAGE features Carmichael singing "Old Buttermilk Sky." ("Sky" earned him his first Academy Award nomination; he and Johnny Mercer won six years later, in 1952, for "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," which Bing Crosby sang in Here Comes the Groom.) And who can forget his rapport with sexy Lauren Bacall in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, performing terrific songs like "Hong Kong Blues" and "How Little We Know"? For full coverage of Carmichael Centennial events and much more, visit the official website: http://www.Hoagy.com CANYON PASSAGE Jacques Tourneur, USA, 1946, 92m From its opening image of a frontier street slashed with golden rain, CANYON PASSAGE is one of the most singular-we might even say most enchanted-of Westerns. Director Jacques Tourneur had already brought his delicate touch to the horror film (Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie) and would soon do the same for film noir (Out of the Past); he lends this tale of pioneer life in the Oregon Territory a remarkable beauty, while also displaying a strikingly offhand acceptance of the swiftness of death on the frontier. Produced by Walter (Stagecoach) Wanger, shot in truly glorious Technicolor by Edward Cronjager, and featuring an excellent cast: Dana Andrews, Susan Hayward, Brian Donlevy, Patricia Roc, Ward Bond, Andy Devine, Lloyd Bridges-and Hoagy Carmichael introducing "Ol' Buttermilk Sky." - Richard T. Jameson, Film Comment Sun Nov 28: 2 and 6 Mon Nov 29: 3 TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT Howard Hawks, 1944; 100m True or not, Hawks always claimed that he bet old friend Ernest Hemingway he could make a great film out of the author's worst book. The result has little to do with the novel, and everything to do with Hawks' celebration of gender dueling and style. In an atmospheric Martinique bar featuring Hoagy Carmichael, Lauren Bacall-the director's 17-year-old discovery-is the smokily sensual, husky-voiced female "no-strings-attached" Bogey would like to get out of his hair...but not really. The excuse for this classic pairing is a WWII French Resistance subplot, but all eyes are on Bogey and Bacall-with Hoagy's laid-back melodies marking the progress of their affair. ("Was you ever bit by a dead bee?") Sun Nov 28: 4 and 8 Mon Nov 29: 1