Monthly Archives: August 2016

The Auditorium at Northeastern Illinois University – Building E, 3701 W. Bryn Mawr Ave
General Admission: $5 • NEIU Students: $2

Wednesday, August 31 @ 7:30 PM
ZAZA
Directed by George Cukor • 1939
A classic tale of love and heartbreak gets reworked by the steady directorial hand of George Cukor (of Gaslight and My Fair Lady fame). Directing a story told time and again for the stage, screen, and even the opera, Cukor steered  away  from  what  he considered the  “terribly  French  endless exploration of unfaithfulness and the suffering of love” and focused instead on recreating the rich and bustling world of the cabaret with Zaza (played by Claudette Colbert) at its center. The Zaza of 1939 casts off its sentimental origins to become the story of a woman trying desperately to maintain the delicate balance of life onstage and off. When Zaza begins an affair with a married man (Herbert Marshall), the ensuing turmoil threatens to bring it all crashing down. A fresh take on an old tale, and a chance to catch two familiar actors doing unfamiliar things, with Colbert doing her own singing and dancing, and Bert “The Cowardly Lion” Lahr in a rare dramatic role. (RL)
83 min • Paramount Pictures  • 35mm from Universal
Film Stock: Kodak (B+W Acetate) 1997
Preceded by: Bert Lahr in “No More West” (Nick Grinde, 1934) – 16mm – 20 min