Movie Makers: United Artists at 90

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FOR FILM CRITIC JAY CARR, the news that Tom Cruise would assume the role of co-head of United Artists in 2006 meant the studio had come full circle.

It was founded in the late 1910s by three superstars of silent film — Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin — who bemoaned the studio system's disregarding treatment of actors.

"In the beginning," says Carr, "United Artists really was a case of united artists."

Promoting independent and adventurous filmmaking for nearly a century, the studio is celebrating its 90th anniversary with film festivals in cities across the country as a lead-up to the massive 90-title United Artists 90th Anniversary Prestige Collection in December.

"You're going to need a forklift to move it," laughs Carr, who serves as the national spokesman for the festival.

The AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring is presenting seven classic United Artists films through early July.

Included in the festival are several of United Artists' most prestigious films: "Raging Bull" is Martin Scorsese's 1980 biopic of pugilist Jake LaMotta, which Carr describes as the "flipside of 'Rocky's' idealized fairy tale." "Midnight Cowboy" is the only X-rated movie to win a Best Picture Oscar, tame by today's standards.

According to Carr, "Marty" introduced TV talent, including Oscar winner Ernest Borgnine, to the silver screen. John Frankenheimer's chilling political fable "The Manchurian Candidate" was a flop in 1962 but still resonates more than 40 years later.

And Sergio Leone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" was, according to Carr, "the last of the trilogy that put spaghetti Westerns on the map."

"A lot of these films have been around a long time, and a lot of people have actually not seen a lot of them," says Carr. "It's a wonderful chance to see these films on a big screen."

» AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring; opens Sat., through July 2, $6.75-$9.75; 301-495-6700. (Silver Spring)

Written by Express contributor Stephen M. Deusner