August 22: Art Deco Jewelry Lecture and Screening of Possessed

 

The Egyptian Theatre
6712 Hollywood Boulevard 
Hollywood, CA 90028

 

The 1925 Paris Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels would give its name to an entire era. Set designers and costumers used Art Deco's bold style to bring cinematic glamour to factory girls, gangsters and socialites alike, and jewelry design was no exception: more than any other period, opulent Deco geometry immediately evokes the elegance of Hollywood in the 20s and 30s. But like any good prop, jewelry needs to say something about character and conflict, and Art Deco, with its infinitely malleable visual idiom, said it with grace, wit and danger. Join jewelry historian Lisa Schoening on a walk through the glittering jewel box of Art Deco Hollywood, and enjoy Joan Crawford and Clark Gable in 1931's POSSESSED, a film about a girl who dreams big, snags the guy and gets to keep the jewelry.

 

POSSESSED, 1931, Warner Bros., 76 min. Dir. Clarence Brown. Factory worker Joan Crawford becomes high-powered attorney running for political office, Clark Gable's mistress in this pre-Code classic of sex, Depression-era politics and star chemistry. Crawford's role set the tone for her many movies to come in which she would play working girls on the rise. In this, their third film together, Crawford and Gable clicked onscreen with audiences and each other, engaging in a passionate affair that was widely gossiped about on the MGM lot.

 

This is a Co-Presentation with the American Cinematheque.

 

Tickets are $7 for members of ADSLA and American Cinematheque. Regular American Cinematheque prices apply for the general public ($11) and students/seniors ($9) and are available via Fandango, or can be purchased on the day of the event at the door. Please bring your ADSLA membership card with you to the box office.

 

Parking: $2 per hour metered parking available near the theatre. $2 for four hours validated parking available at Hollywood and Highland. There are also pay parking lots on Las Palmas and Cherokee that cost approximately $10. Why not take the metro? The Egyptian is a very short walk east from the Hollywood and Highland METRO station.