The Love Witch in 35mm with Anna Biller

In person: actor Billy Dee Williams

In person: Actor Jet Li

Down a late-19th-century back alley in Paris’s seedy Pigalle district, a former-chapel- turned-performance space became a theatrical institution forged in naturalism, controversy and grisly spectacle. By the early 1920s, pioneering filmmakers had begun to adapt Grand Guignol vignettes for a slate of intense one-reelers dripping with psychological terror. These were seen as milestones in the evolution of the horror genre before it had a name.

More than six decades since its final performance, the Grand Guignol remains one of the most wildly misunderstood and profoundly influential traditions in entertainment history. From horror films to tabloid journalism, avant-garde theater to the true-crime genre, France’s Theater of Horrors continues to impact popular culture worldwide.

Today’s program highlights the most impactful of these shorts, including several by prolific British filmmaker Fred Paul, whose undiscovered work was recently unveiled at the British Film Institute. This screening features brand-new 4K restorations by Severin Films with all-new music by David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets) with Tony Green and LA-based silent score veteran Michael Mortilla.

Shorts included in the program:

• Cutter of Heads

• The Flat

• Delilah  

• Woman Misunderstood 

• The Doll’s Revenge 

• The Jest 

• Suspense 

• The Antidote  

• The Return 

• Voice from the Dead

This program is screening as part of the Programmers’ Jam, an annual gathering of repertory exhibitors and distributors.

In this 1953 musical comedy adapted from Anita Loos’s searingly funny 1925 novella—which also spawned a now-lost silent film in 1928 and a smash Broadway production in 1949—showgirl Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) is resplendent in beautiful gowns, most notably in the pink satin dress designed by Travilla during the now-classic number “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Lorelei is seen throughout the picture in jewel tones and literal jewels, carefully selected to play up the lush Technicolor cinematography lensed by Harry J. Wild. Both effervescent and timeless, this witty gem showcases Monroe’s brilliant comic timing as well as her vocal chops. Premiering in the middle of the actress’s career and released the same year as Niagara and How to Marry a Millionaire, Howard Hawks’s film helped to plant Monroe in the hearts of the American public, making her one of the most famous people in the US.  

The pink satin gown worn in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is on view in Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon, located on Level 3 in the Rolex Gallery, beginning May 31, 2026.  

Programmed and note by K.J. Relth-Miller.