SUNDAY DECEMBER 9th, 5PM — THE EGYPTIAN THEATRE
THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII
Co-presented by The Getty Villa
This film event complements the exhibition The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection currently on view at the Getty Villa through January 7, 2013.
Live musical accompaniment provided by Cliff Retallick.
Getty Villa curator Kenneth Lapatin will do a 15-minute multimedia presentation before the screening.
THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII
GLI ULTIMI GIORNI DI POMPEII
1926, 144 min, Italy, Dir: Carmine Gallone, Amleto Palermi
Based on Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s popular 19th-century historical novel of the same title, THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII centers on the ardent love between young dandy Glaucus and the beautiful Ione in the days leading up to Mount Vesuvius’ devastating eruption. It was Italy’s most expensive production up to that point, with sumptuous, extravagant sets and photography re-envisioning a standing Pompeii followed by the volcano’s annihilative mayhem, and one of the grandest examples of early cinema’s fascination with the legendary natural disaster. With Victor Varconi, Rina De Liguoro and María Corda.
This incredibly rare 35mm print has not been screened in the U.S. in decades, prior to its September unveiling at the Harvard Film Archive.