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Specter of the Rose (1946)

Specter of the Rose (1946)
July 19, 2014 - 7:30 pm
In-person: 
Bryan Cooper, president, Hollywood Heritage; Debra Levine, dance critic.

Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by the AFI/NEA Film Preservation Grants Program and Taurus Film.

Specter of the Rose (1946)

Directed by Ben Hecht.

Celebrated screenwriter and sometime director Ben Hecht crafted this psychological melodrama set in the world of classical ballet, an unusual “prestige” offering from Republic Pictures.  An aging dance instructor and a scurrilous impresario promote the comeback of a stupendous dancer, also suspected to be mad—and possibly murderous.  With all signs pointing to doom, Hecht sardonically regards the elevating power of art, among other human institutions.

Republic Pictures Corp.  Producer: Ben Hecht, Lee Garmes.  Screenwriter: Ben Hecht.  Cinematographer: Lee Garmes.  Editor: Harry Keller. Cast: Judith Anderson, Michael Chekhov, Ivan Kirov.

35mm, b/w, 90 min.

Preceded by:

The Mike Wallace Interview: "Ben Hecht" (Excerpt)

Syndicated, 2/15/58

Directed by Rex Miller

Television correspondent Mike Wallace interviews writer Ben Hecht on the occasion of the publication of his novel The Sensualists, seeking the venerable writer’s bottom-line view of human nature and modern times, and eliciting an iconoclastic and deeply personal response.

Producer: Al Ramrus. Screenwriter: Sanford Sheldon.

DigiBeta, b/w, approx. 17 min.