Frank Borzage season of restored films at MOMA

[Swithin]

The Museum of Modern Arts in NYC (MOMA) will be presenting Frank Borzage and Man's Castle, a series of Borzage's films that have been restored. These include Man's Castle, Bad Girl, History Is Made at Night, Moonrise, and No Greater Glory. A detailed schedule (April 18-24) will be posted soon.

https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/5676

[cmovieviewer]

Not sure if it is related, but TCM is featuring Frank Borzage films on 3 separate evenings in May on the 2nd, 9th, and 16th (some of the specific titles are still TBA). It would be great if TCM is planning to show some of the restored films.

[Swithin]

I just noticed that the MOMA series will be taking place during his 130th birthday. He was born on April 23 (like Shakespeare allegedly was).

[Swithin]

MOMA's schedule of Frank Borzage's films has been posted. Here's the description of the "Rebuilding Man's Castle" program.

"Columbia Pictures reissued Man’s Castle in 1938 to take advantage of Spencer Tracy’s two consecutive Best Actor Oscars (for Captains Courageous in 1937 and Boys Town in 1938). But major adjustments had to be made for this quintessential pre-Code film, with its depictions of premarital sex, casual prostitution, joyful sensuality, and even a flash of male nudity. Entire scenes, mostly involving the licentious nightclub entertainer played by Glenda Farrell, were deleted, a marriage ceremony was moved from the end of the film to an early reel to “legitimize” Tracy and Young’s relationship, and many individual shots were squelched. Because those edits were made to the camera negative, it was thought the original version had been definitively lost until Rita Belda, VP of asset management, film restoration, and digital mastering at Sony Pictures Entertainment, got on the case and located most of the missing material. In this presentation, she’ll lead us through her process of tracking down prints and comparing versions in an effort to best recreate Borzage’s original vision."

https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/5676

[cmovieviewer]

MOMA's schedule of Frank Borzage's films has been posted. Here's the description of the "Rebuilding Man's Castle" program.

"Columbia Pictures reissued Man’s Castle in 1938 to take advantage of Spencer Tracy’s two consecutive Best Actor Oscars (for Captains Courageous in 1937 and Boys Town in 1938). But major adjustments had to be made for this quintessential pre-Code film, with its depictions of premarital sex, casual prostitution, joyful sensuality, and even a flash of male nudity. Entire scenes, mostly involving the licentious nightclub entertainer played by Glenda Farrell, were deleted, a marriage ceremony was moved from the end of the film to an early reel to “legitimize” Tracy and Young’s relationship, and many individual shots were squelched. Because those edits were made to the camera negative, it was thought the original version had been definitively lost until Rita Belda, VP of asset management, film restoration, and digital mastering at Sony Pictures Entertainment, got on the case and located most of the missing material. In this presentation, she’ll lead us through her process of tracking down prints and comparing versions in an effort to best recreate Borzage’s original vision."

https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/5676

The restored version of Man's Castle was first shown on TCM in November of 2023. It now has a runtime of about 79 minutes, which is 10 minutes more than the previous version. Man's Castle is currently scheduled to be shown again on TCM as part of the Frank Borzage tribute on the evening of May 2nd at 9:30 pm ET.

[nakanosunplaza]

Thanks good to know as I recorded the film then but not watched it yet, thanks again for your info.

[LostHorizons]

Okay, so this probably explains why the Circle was on yesterday. I didn’t notice if it were a restoration or anything.

[cmovieviewer]

Okay, so this probably explains why the Circle was on yesterday. I didn’t notice if it were a restoration or anything.

The Circle (1925) is one of the films that is also scheduled for the Frank Borzage Special Theme in May. TCM has been showing a nice print for several years now. It could be cleaned up some to make it pristine but overall it is good.

[Swithin]

Here's the schedule for the Frank Borzage films at MOMA. Of course it's nice that TCM is showing a few of his films, but there's no substitution for seeing them on the big screen (if you're in the neighbourhood).

Man's Castle: April 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Bad Girl: April 18, 22

Moonrise: April 19, 24

Rebuilding Man's Castle: April 20

No Greater Glory: April 20, 25

History Is Made at Night: April 21

[txfilmfan]

Here's the schedule for the Frank Borzage films at MOMA. Of course it's nice that TCM is showing a few of his films, but there's no substitution for seeing them on the big screen (if you're in the neighbourhood).

Man's Castle: April 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Bad Girl: April 18, 22

Moonrise: April 19, 24

Rebuilding Man's Castle: April 20

No Greater Glory: April 20, 25

History Is Made at Night: April 21

One of his Screen Directors Playhouse episodes was on TCM at some point in the last few weeks. My DVR picked it up. This was a 1950s anthology show that was the TV version of an old radio program. I looked up the show and he's credited with 3 episodes.

The radio show adapted films for its programming (especially the one hour episodes), but the TV series was largely made up of original scripts with occasional adaptations from literature (mostly short stories), as they ran just 30 minutes in length.

[Swithin]

Here's the schedule for the Frank Borzage films at MOMA. Of course it's nice that TCM is showing a few of his films, but there's no substitution for seeing them on the big screen (if you're in the neighbourhood).

Man's Castle: April 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Bad Girl: April 18, 22

Moonrise: April 19, 24

Rebuilding Man's Castle: April 20

No Greater Glory: April 20, 25

History Is Made at Night: April 21

One of his Screen Directors Playhouse episodes was on TCM at some point in the last few weeks. My DVR picked it up. This was a 1950s anthology show that was the TV version of an old radio program. I looked up the show and he's credited with 3 episodes.

The radio show adapted films for its programming (especially the one hour episodes), but the TV series was largely made up of original scripts with occasional adaptations from literature (mostly short stories), as they ran just 30 minutes in length.

Thanks, I see one of Borzage's episodes ("Day Is Done") is on YouTube.

[Swithin]

In The American Cinema, Andrew Sarris classifies Frank Borzage in "The Far Side of Paradise" group, which also includes Cukor, Capra, DeMille, McCarey, Preminger, Sturges, Vidor, and many others.

Sarris also notes that Borzage's film History Is Made at Night (1937) has "the most romantic title in the history of cinema." TCM will be showing it on May 9. It is a great and stylish film, starring Charles Boyer and Jean Arthur, who have amazing chemistry.