This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Everybody knows the theme to The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, but what else do you know about Spaghetti Westerns? The sub-genre will soon see a resurgence due to Quentin Tarantino's Django Unleashed, but get a quicker draw this weekend when the Egyptian saddles up "Spaghetti Westerns Unchained". Whereas American Westerns were populated by larger-than-life heroes like John Wayne & Hopalong Cassidy, their Italian descendants were murkier, bloodier affairs, best described by Clint Eastwood's stone-face & Lee Van Cleef's shifty cat-eyes.
"Spaghetti Westerns Unchained" opens Thursday with Van Cleef in The Big Gundown (1966), paired with cult macho man Henry Silva's breakthrough, The Hills Run Red (1966). Friday get your ay-yai-yai, on-on-on with a "triple-header" of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966; billed as the "extended version"). Saturday, Franco Nero (the original Django) rides into town as The Mercenary (1968), along with hard-boiled revenge story Death Rides A Horse (1967). Sunday, Van Cleef goes four for four with Sabata (1969), paired with the amazingly-titled If You Meet Sartana Pray For Your Death (1968). The Spaghetti Western is cinema at its pulpiest & purest.
If you can't take deadly desert duels, the New Beverly has a double dose of doggies! There may be no dogs (or birds) allowed in the theater, but Friday & Saturday sees the classic tearjerker Snoopy Come Home (1972) in an amazing technicolor dream print. Its co-feature, Hollywood or Bust (1956) casts Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis & a Great Dane as a screwball company trying to make it in show business...while breaking everything along the way! The program kicks off a "Glorious IB Tech Tribute" line-up that runs the next couple weeks. It's a great format, Charlie Brown!
Full list appears below. See you at the movies!
ALL WEEK
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
Convento (2010) (Downtown Independent)
Dark Horse (2011) (Nuart Theatre)
Farewell, My Queen (2012) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
The Intouchables (2012) (Laemmle's Noho 7)
Klown (2010) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
Neil Young: Journeys (2011) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)
The Queen of Versailles (2012) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
Ruby Sparks (2012) (Arclight Hollywood)
Sacrifice (2010) (Laemmle's Music Hall 3)
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) (Laemmle's Fallbrook 7)
Searching for Sugar Man (2012) (The Landmark)
Shut Up and Play the Hits (2012) (Downtown Independent) (Laemmle's Noho 7) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7)
Take This Waltz (2012) (Laemmle's Music Hall 3) (Laemmle's Noho 7)
Trishna (2011) (Laemmle's Fallbrook 7) (Laemmle's Music Hall 3)
Wagner’s Dream (2012) (Laemmle's Music Hall 3) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
The Well-Digger’s Daughter (2011) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
THURSDAY 07/26
Baseball, Dennis, and the French (2011) (Laemmle's Music Hall 3)
The Big Gundown (1966) / The Hills Run Red (1966) (Egyptian Theatre) (Spaghetti Westerns Unchained)
Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012) (free preview screening w/ producers Lee Toland Krieger and Jennifer Todd) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (Alumni Screening Series)
Come Rain, Come Shine (2011) (Korean Cultural Center)
The Deer Hunter (1978) (Aero Theatre) (Classics and Restorations on the Big Screen)
Fred 3: Camp Fred (2012) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
Searching for Sugar Man (2012) (free sneak preview) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Don’t Knock the Rock 2012)
FRIDAY 07/27
Balalaika (1939) (Old Town Music Hall)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) / Two for the Road (1967) (Aero Theatre) (Classics and Restorations on the Big Screen)
Dark Horse (2011) (w/ writer/director Todd Solondz & actors Justin Bartha & Selma Blair at the 7:30pm & 9:45pm shows) (Nuart Theatre)
Dreamgirls (2006) (Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences) (Oscars Outdoors)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) (Egyptian Theatre) (Spaghetti Westerns Unchained)
Hit and Run (2012) (free preview screening) (USC School of Cinematic Arts) (Outside the Box (Office))
House of Wax (2005) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre) (Friday Night Frights)
Kumare (2011) (free sneak preview) (Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre)
Overboard (1987) (Nuart Theatre) (Cine-Insomnia Midnight Movie)
Remorques (1941) / The Wages of Fear (1953) (LACMA) (French Film Fridays)
Saddle the Wind (1958) / “The Twilight Zone: Mr. Denton on Doomsday” (1959) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (Rod Serling: Other Dimensions)
A Salute To Sennett Series Kickoff (free event) (Echo Park Film Center) (Filmmobile Screening)
Snoopy, Come Home (1972) / Hollywood or Bust (1956) (New Beverly Cinema)
SATURDAY 07/28
Balalaika (1939) (Old Town Music Hall)
The Big Lebowski (1998) (Hollywood Forever Cemetery) (Cinespia Screenings)
“A Carol for Another Christmas” (1964) / “Insight: The Hate Syndrome” (1966) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (Rod Serling: Other Dimensions)
Channel 101 (free event) (Downtown Independent)
Dark Horse (2011) (w/ writer/director Todd Solondz at the 7:30pm & 9:45pm shows) (Nuart Theatre)
The Godfather Part II (1974) (Aero Theatre) (Classics and Restorations on the Big Screen)
Jaws (1975) (Alex Theatre)
The Matchmaker (2010) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7)
The Mercenary (1968) / Death Rides a Horse (1967) (Egyptian Theatre) (Spaghetti Westerns Unchained)
Patang (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex)
Portrait of Wally (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
The Princess Bride (1987) (Eat See Hear) (Paul Revere Charter Middle School)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Live Shadowcast Midnight Show) (Art Theatre of Long Beach)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Sins O' The Flesh Midnight Show) (Nuart Theatre)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (Midnight Insanity Midnight Show) (South Coast Village Regency Theaters)
Snoopy, Come Home (1972) / Hollywood or Bust (1956) (New Beverly Cinema)
Take This Waltz (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7)
SUNDAY 07/29
Balalaika (1939) (Old Town Music Hall)
Dark Horse (2011) (w/ writer/director Todd Solondz at the 7:30pm & 9:45pm shows) (Nuart Theatre)
The Man from the Alamo (1953) (UCLA Film & Television Archive @ Hammer Museum) (Ride Lonesome: The Films of Budd Boetticher)
The Matchmaker (2010) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7)
Patang (2011) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex)
Portrait of Wally (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
The Reach of Resonance (2010) (w/ filmmaker Steve Elkins) (Los Angeles Filmforum) (Egyptian Theatre)
Reveal the Path (2012) (Art Theatre of Long Beach) (Bike Film Fest)
Sabata (1969) / If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death (1968) (Egyptian Theatre) (Spaghetti Westerns Unchained)
The Searchers (1956) (The Bay Theatre)
Take This Waltz (2012) (weekend morning show) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7)
Billy Jack (1971) / Death Wish (1974) (New Beverly Cinema)
The Ten Commandments (1956) (Aero Theatre) (Classics and Restorations on the Big Screen)
The Valderama Sisters (2009) / My Own Telenovela (2001) (Skirball Cultural Center)
