PRESS RELEASE
THE HARVARD FILM ARCHIVE PRESENTS
THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII
September 23
CAMBRIDGE, MA: The Harvard Film Archive is pleased to present THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII with live musical accompaniment on SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 23.
Free Screening
Featuring Live Piano Accompaniment
The Last Days of Pompeii (Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei)
Sunday September 23 at 4pm
The spectacular end of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, buried under the ashes of erupting Mount Vesuvius, was a favorite subject of early historical films. The 1926 silent movie Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei is based on the story line of Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s popular novel The Last Days of Pompeii (1834). The sets of this visually lavish and, for its time, very expensive film include impressive architectural facades of public buildings and luxurious interiors of private houses. The wall paintings, furniture, and sculptural decoration are partly based on archaeological evidence.
A rare print of Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei will be shown in conjunction with the lecture Images of the Doomed City: The Last Days of Pompeii in the Visual Imagination, by Adrian Staehli, Professor of Classical Archaeology, Department of the Classics on September 20 at 6pm at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum. Staehli will give a short introduction to the movie. Print courtesy of the British Film Institute.
Directed by Carmine Gallone and Amleto Palermi. With Victor Varconi, Rina De Liguoro, María Corda
Italy 1926, 35 mm, tinted b/w, silent, 144 min
http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2012julsep/pompeii.html
This screening is funded in part by the M. Victor Leventritt Fund, which was established through the generosity of the wife, children, and friends of the late M. Victor Leventritt, Harvard Class of 1935. The purpose of the fund is to present outstanding scholars of the history and theory of art to the Harvard and Greater Boston communities.
This press release and photos are available for download on the press page of the Harvard Film Archive’s website: http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/general_info.html#press. The user name and password are hfapress. Please contact bgravely@fas.harvard.edu for screeners, additional photos, or more information.
Harvard Film Archive
24 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 495-4700
http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa
General Admission Tickets $9, $7 Non-Harvard Students, Seniors, Harvard Faculty and Staff. Harvard students free
Special event tickets (for in-person appearances) are $12.
Tickets go on sale 45 minutes prior to show time. The HFA does not do advance ticket sales.
