Loving
This screening has been postponed.
Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 50th anniversary screening of the incisive marital drama, Irvin Kershner’s 'Loving,' which features outstanding performances by Oscar-nominated actor George Segal and Oscar-winning actress Eva Marie Saint. Both stars will join us to remember a film that was highly acclaimed by many top critics in 1970 and deserves to be rediscovered by discerning moviegoers today.
Screenwriter Don Devlin adapted the novel by J.M. Ryan, which dissects the dissatisfactions of Brooks Wilson (Segal), who longs to revitalize his career and his marriage. Brooks works as a commercial artist, but he harbors regrets about abandoning the idealistic goals that he once envisioned. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Connecticut, but also has a mistress in New York who pressures him to leave his wife. Overwhelmed by these personal and professional crises, Brooks comes close to a breaking point by the end of the story.
Kershner was a favorite of many critics for his early low-budget movies 'The Hoodlum Priest,' starring Don Murray and Keir Dullea, and 'The Luck of Ginger Coffey,' starring Robert Shaw and Mary Ure. In Hollywood he worked on a wide variety of projects, including 'The Flim-Flam Man' with George C. Scott, 'Up the Sandbox' with Barbra Streisand, 'Return of a Man Called Horse' with Richard Harris, and 'Never Say Never Again,' the James Bond movie that brought Sean Connery back to the 007 franchise in the 1980s. But Kershner is probably best remembered today for directing 'The Empire Strikes Back,' the first sequel to 'Star Wars' that is now regarded as one of the very best in the franchise’s history.
'Loving' found Kershner working in a more intimate arena and remains one of the most admired of all the films he made. Roger Greenspun of the New York Times called it “a fine and gratifying film.” Writing in Interview magazine, Molly Haskell paid tribute to the “brilliance of Kershner’s direction and George Segal’s performance.” Pauline Kael called 'Loving' “a beautifully sustained piece of moviemaking… There’s a decency—almost a tenderness—in the way that Kershner is fair to everyone.” Kael added that “Eva Marie Saint gives a stunning performance.” In a retrospective review in the L.A. Weekly in 2006, Scott Foundas declared that the movie had stood the test of time: “Beautifully played by Segal and Saint, and filmed by Kershner with a freedom of form reminiscent of Cassavetes and Altman, 'Loving' ranks among the boldest of 70s movies.”
The supporting cast includes Keenan Wynn, Sterling Hayden, Janis Young, David Doyle, Roy Scheider, and future studio chief Sherry Lansing during her early career as an actress. The film marked one of the very first credits for master cinematographer Gordon Willis, who went on to earn raves for his work on 'The Godfather' and its sequels, 'All the President’s Men,' 'Annie Hall,' and several other Woody Allen movies.
George Segal earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in 'Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' His other memorable films include 'Ship of Fools,' 'Where’s Poppa?,' 'The Owl and the Pussycat,' Paul Mazursky’s 'Blume in Love,' Robert Altman’s 'California Split,' and 'A Touch of Class' opposite Oscar winner Glenda Jackson. He also scored successes in such TV series as 'Just Shoot Me!' and the current comedy hit, 'The Goldbergs.'
Eva Marie Saint won an Academy Award for her very first feature film, 'On the Waterfront,' in which she played opposite Marlon Brando. She is also well known for her roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s 'North by Northwest,' 'Raintree County,' 'A Hatful of Rain,' 'Exodus,' 'All Fall Down,' 'Grand Prix,' 'The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!,' and 'Nothing in Common.'
