Monday Nights with Oscar Presents (New York)
Upstream (1927)
The Academy presents John Ford’s “Upstream” (1927), one of 75 lost American films recently discovered in the New Zealand Film Archive, and the first of the repatriated features to be preserved and screened publicly.
The backstage comedy focuses on a love triangle involving an egotistical actor and a young couple who partner in a vaudeville knife-throwing act. “Upstream” was one of the last completely silent films of Ford’s career; his later productions included pre-recorded sound effects and music.
Academy Film Archive preservationist Brian Meacham, who traveled to New Zealand and inspected thousands of feet of nitrate footage, introduced the screening. The presentation featured an Academy-commissioned score composed by Michael Mortilla, who was accompanied by violinist and percussionist Nicole Garcia.
UPSTREAM
(Fox Film Corporation, 1927) – Presented by William Fox. Directed by John Ford. Scenario by Randall H. Faye. Based on the story “The Snake’s Wife” by Wallace Smith. Cinematography by Charles G. Clarke.
Cast: Nancy Nash, Earle Fox, Grant Withers, Lydia Yeamans Titus, Emile Chautard, Raymond Hitchcock, Ted McNamara, Sammy Cohen, Jane Winton, Lillian Worth, Judy King, Harry A. Bailey, Francis Ford, Ely Reynolds
