A Max Ophuls Series At The Grand Illusion

While the Egyptian and the Varsity's current repertory schedules are tied up mostly with new films, the Grand Illusion continues to showcase plenty of classics from the past.

At noon tomorrow and Sunday, the theater begins a weekend-only series dedicated to the movies of Max Ophuls, a German Jew who began his film-directing career in Germany in the early 1930s. He fled to France in 1933, stayed there to make several notable films, then moved to Hollywood in 1941. He returned to France after the war to make his most famous film, "La Ronde" (1950). His son, Marcel, won an Oscar for his 1988 Holocaust documentary, "Hotel Terminus: Klaus Barbie - His Life and Times."

The series opens with Ophuls' last German film, "Liebelei" (1933), based on a play by Arthur Schnitzler, whose works also inspired "La Ronde" and Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut." Magda Schneider, whose daughter, Romy, became a fixture of European films in the 1950s/1960s, plays a woman whose Viennese lover is forced into a duel.

Notable for its unforced irony and visual grace, it was photographed by Franz Planer, who went on to have a notable Hollywood career ("Breakfast at Tiffany's," "The Big Country"). Unlike so many creaky early talkies, it suggests complete confidence in the new medium. Ophuls became famous for his skill with camera movement, leading one of his stars, James Mason, to declare that "a shot that does not call for tracks is agony for dear old Max."

Still to come in the Ophuls series: "Die lachende Erben" (1931), Dec. 11-12; "Le Plaisir" (1951), Dec. 18-19; "From Mayerling to Sarajevo" (1940), Dec. 26 only; "The Exile" (1948), Jan. 2 only; "The Earrings of Madame De . . . " (1953), Jan. 8-9; "Caught" (1949), Jan. 15-16; and "Lola Montes" (1955), Jan. 22-23.

Except for the 16mm "From Mayerling to Sarajevo," all are 35mm prints. "Lola Montes" will be presented in CinemaScope. A series pass, good for all seven films, is $22 for WigglyWorld members, $35 for nonmembers.

The theater's other revivals this month include the 1926 Boris Karloff thriller "The Bells," at 11 p.m. tonight and tomorrow; the 1934 Laurel and Hardy version of Victor Herbert's "Babes in Toyland," at 11 p.m. next Friday and Saturday; a program of Christmas shorts including "Santa & Punch & Judy," at 11 p.m. Dec. 17-18; Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," Dec. 17-25; and Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita," Dec. 26-30.

Around town

The Seven Gables' annual movie poster sale will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow at the University District theater . . . A new 35mm print of Frank Hurley's documentary, "South," plays Wednesday and Thursday at the Egyptian. Milestone Film and Video has restored this primitive but hypnotic 1919 documentary about Sir Ernest Shackleton's experiences in the Antarctic ice, where his ship and 27-member crew were trapped for more than a year. Featuring a new score, the film was reconstructed from original 35mm elements . . . Seattle writer Chizu Omori's prize-winning documentary, "Rabbit in the Moon," will be shown at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Elliott Bay Book Co. . . . Local author David Guterson and movie director Scott Hicks ("Shine") will attend the Seattle premiere of their film version of Guterson's "Snow Falling on Cedars," at 8 p.m. Monday at the Cinerama. The screening is a benefit for the University of Washington's Creative Writing Program, of which Guterson is an alumnus. Tickets are $25; information: 206-543-2690 . . . Another session of "Talk Cinema" is scheduled at 10 a.m. Sunday at Pacific Place. A new feature film, not yet released to Seattle theaters, will be shown and discussed . . . "Vision Man," the grand prize winner at the Banff Mountain Film Festival last month, plays at 7:30 tonight at The Mountaineers, 300 Third Ave. W. It's the story of an 87-year-old Inuit hunter who looks back on the changes that have taken place during his life in the Arctic . . . The Seattle Art Museum's latest film-noir series, "Night Faces: The Film Noir Cycle," is screening "Five Against the House" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The museum is also showing Akira Kurosawa's 1975 Oscar winner, "Dersu Uzala," at 7 tonight . . . This weekend's edition of Soundtrack Cinema, at 10 p.m. tomorrow on KING-FM, 98.1., features music from movies based on television shows, including "The Addams Family," "The X-Files" and "Twilight Zone" . . . At 8 p.m. Thursday at the Little Theatre on Capitol Hill, the Stranger's columnist, David Schmader, presents "an annotated screening" of a favorite film: Paul Verhoeven's "Showgirls" . . . "MouseControl.Com," a collection of shorts, including Matt Daniels' "ThinkLab" and Gabe Kean's "Born Magazine," plays at 8 p.m. next Friday at 911 Media Arts Center, 117 Yale Ave. N. . . . Video Shorts, a national competition of video artworks, is accepting entries for its 19th annual competition. The entry deadline is Feb. 5, 2000. Information: 206-322-9010 . . . The deadline for submissions to the Washington State Screenplay Competition 2000 is Dec. 13. The competition is open to all screenwriters. Information: 206-728-8530. . . . Some December release dates are moving around. The opening of "Stuart Little," originally scheduled for Dec. 10, has moved to Dec. 17; the same goes for "Ride With the Devil." "Hanging Up," which had been set for a Christmas Day opening, has moved to February. "Magnolia" has moved from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7, and "Girl, Interrupted" has moved from mid-December to Jan. 14. "Next Friday" has also moved onto next year's schedule.

Out of town

The Olympia Film Society is showing Scott Baldwin's "Tribulations 99" at 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Capitol Theater in downtown Olympia. It's a benefit for the Olympia Film Ranch . . . The society is also screening Disney's 1964 musical version of "Mary Poppins," starring Julie Andrews, at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Capitol, and a double bill of "Late August, Early September" and "Guinevere," Sunday through Thursday evenings at the same location. . . . "Guinevere" is also playing at the Grand Cinemas in Tacoma, where tomorrow's 4:45 p.m. showing will be followed by a discussion led by Shannon Ritscher.