More than any director of his generation, Zinnemann researched, sketched, and annotated his shots—revealing a meticulous and bold cinematic artist with a complex visual style.
For the month of April 2012, the Getty Research Institute will present a series of his films followed by conversations with noted film scholars and filmmakers who worked with Zinnemann, including Academy Award–winning film editor and sound designer Walter Murch and Academy Award–winning screenwriter Alvin Sargent, as well as Zinnemann’s son, Tim Zinnemann, who is a director, producer and photographer.
This series is curated by Getty scholar Jennifer Smyth, as part of the Getty Research Institute’s 2011–12 scholar year which is built around the theme of Artistic Practice.
Screening Schedule
The Seventh Cross (1944)
Tuesday, April 3, 2012, 7pm
Zinnemann’s first major feature film is an adaptation of Anna Seghers’s novel about a former German communist’s escape from a concentration camp in prewar Nazi Germany. Spencer Tracy stars, with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy in supporting roles. (MGM; 35mm, 110 min. From the collection of the George Eastman House.)
A conversation with Zinnemann scholars Jan-Christopher Horak (University of California, Los Angeles) and Getty scholar Jennifer Smyth (University of Warwick) follows the screening.
The Search (1948)
Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 7pm
One of the first filmmakers allowed inside postwar Germany, Zinnemann spent months interviewing child Holocaust survivors, many of whom appear in this film about one Czechoslovakian boy’s survival after the war. Ivan Jandl and Jarmila Novotna appear with Montgomery Clift in one of his earliest roles. (Praesens-Film, MGM; 35mm, 104 min. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.)
This screening is followed by a conversation with Zinnemann’s son, Tim Zinnemann, and Getty scholar Jennifer Smyth.
High Noon (1952)
Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 7pm
Zinnemann directed Gary Cooper in this classic and controversial western about a sheriff who faces the town’s former enemies alone. (Stanley Kramer Productions, United Artists; 35mm, 85 min.)
The Getty Center celebrates the 60th anniversary of High Noon with a conversation featuring the director’s son, Tim Zinnemann, Gary Cooper’s daughter, Maria Cooper Janis, and Getty scholar Jennifer Smyth.
Julia (1977)
Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 7pm
In his penultimate film, Zinnemann directed Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, and Jason Robards in one of Hollywood’s most complex and important films about women, friendship, and political commitment. (20th Century Fox; 35mm, 117 min. Print courtesy of 20th Century Fox.)
A conversation with Academy Award–winning sound designer and film editor Walter Murch, Academy Award–winning screenwriter Alvin Sargent, and Getty scholar Jennifer Smyth follows the screening.
Admission to this event is free. To attend, the public may make reservations online or by calling (310) 440-7300. Parking is $15.
About the Getty Scholars Program
Every year since 1985, the Getty Research Institute has invited scholars, artists, and other cultural figures from around the world to work in residence in Los Angeles on projects that bear upon its annual research theme. While in residence, they pursue their own research projects, make use of Getty collections, and participate in the intellectual life of the Getty Center and the Getty Villa. The 2011/2012 theme is Artistic Practice.