Our Samuel Fuller film series closes tonight with two films from 1957: Forty Guns, a western starring Barbara Stanwyck as a villainous cattle baroness; and China Gate, which follows a group of mercenaries—including Nat “King” Cole!—into dangerous territory.
The first film starts at 7:30; come early and have a drink while you enjoy the Nick Mancini Collective on the plaza.
Mancini is a whiz on the vibes; here he is wowing the audience on an episode of Showtime at the Apollo:
Tomorrow night you’ve got another chance to do a concert/film combo, starting with Latin Sounds out in the park at 5 pm. If you’ve ever listened to KJZZ’s “Jazz on the Latin Side” program, then you know host Jose Rizo. You can get to know him in a whole new way as leader of the nine-piece ensemble Mongorama.
As the name might suggest to any fan of Latin Jazz, Mongorama specializes in the 50s and 60s material of the legendary Mongo Santamaria —i.e., Cuban rhythms meets straight ahead jazz.
Following that we’ve got a screening of Kenzo Mizoguchi’s classic 1952 period drama, Life of Oharu, starring Kinuyo Tanaka and Toshiro Mifune. Mizoguchi himself considered this his greatest achievement.
Finally, on Sunday be sure to drop into the Bing Theater for a free performance from the Lyris String Quartet, who specialize in late Baroque and early Classical.
Scott Tennent
Unframed The LACMA Blog 