Schedule Announced for the 2026 UCLA Festival of Preservation

In March I shared that the UCLA Festival of Preservation has been scheduled to take place from May 29th through 31st at the Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood.

The schedule for the entire weekend is now available at the UCLA Film & Television Archive website.

The schedule opens Friday evening, the 29th, with a film and TV special celebrating black performers such as Ossie Davis and Redd Foxx.

I intend to see four films on Saturday the 30th:

*ADVENTURES OF CASANOVA (1948) which I saw in a 16mm print at UCLA a dozen years ago. This is the world premiere of a new DCP restoration from a variety of elements including the original 35mm nitrate negative and a 16mm print. It stars Arturo de Cordova and Lucille Bremer.

*A new DCP restoration of the silent film LORNA DOONE (1922). It was directed by Maurice Tourneur (father of Jacques) and stars Madge Bellamy.

*The premiere of a DCP restoration of one of my favorite '30s comedies, MERRILY WE LIVE (1938), with Constance Bennett and Brian Aherne leading a top cast of players.

*The new-to-me THE MAGNIFICENT MATADOR (1955), directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Anthony Quinn and Maureen O'Hara.

As is common for this festival, on one night it runs quite late into the evening, with the last film Saturday night starting just before 11:00 p.m.

I don't anticipate being able to attend on Sunday, when the options I find especially interesting are TRAILIN' (1921) with Tom Mix; the film noir PITFALL (1948), which I reviewed in 2012; and the Barbara Stanwyck film THE OTHER LOVE (1947).

The festival is free, on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information please visit the website.

Looking back: The 2011 UCLA Festival of Preservation, The 2013 UCLA Festival of Preservation, The 2015 UCLA Festival of Preservation, The 2017 UCLA Festival of Preservation, The 2019 UCLA Festival of Preservation, The 2022 UCLA Festival of Preservation. (I did not cover the 2024 festival.)

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