Good to know: The Trylon microcinema, home of some of the finest repretory programming in town, is launching a film series honoring the Maestro of Mod, Enrico Nicola "Henry" Mancini. Writing the score for a madcap comedy, a touching romance or a grim thriller, he displayed a versatility bordering on genius, yet his signature spirit of lounge-jazz cool was unmistakable. He was one of Hollywood's best, and he worked with the best.
The tribute kicks off Friday through Sunday with a double bill of Peter Sellers comedies, "The Party" and "The Pink Panther." In the first film, Sellers goes brownface to play an unemployed Indian actor who's mistakenly invited to an A-list Hollywood party. Mancini's groovadelic sitar music underscores extended passages of near-silent physical comedy as Sellers accidentally destroys the swanky pad. "The Pink Panther" needs no introduction; you're already hearing the theme in your head.
March 11-13, it's "Experiment in Terror," a stark black and white kidnapping drama starring Glenn Ford and Lee Remick. The creepy-swinging theme sets up the film's dour and remorseless tone.
Mancini wrote the ominous brass-and-bongos main theme for Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil," too. Just the sort of thing you'd hear in a rotten little border town cathouse. The film runs March 18-20.
"Charade" closes out the series, March 25-27. Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn race through this Paris-based comic thriller with a sophistication and grace perfectly morrored by Mancini's French-influenced love song.
Trylon Microcinema is located at 3258 Minnehaha Av. S., Minneapolis. Tickets are $8 at the door on online at http://www.take-up.org/. For showtimes and further information: (612) 424-5468.
