UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television & UCLA Film and Television Archive Present an Evening Dedicated to Director/Writer James Bridges

Business Wire, Oct 12, 1999

LOS ANGELES--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Oct. 12, 1999--

With an In-Person Appearance by Oscar(R) Nominated

Actress Debra Winger

-- Nov. 11, 1999 --

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and UCLA Film and Television Archive present an evening dedicated to the memory of director/writer/actor James Bridges on Nov. 11, 1999 at 7:30 PM.

This special evening will include an in-person appearance by three time Oscar(R)-nominated actress Debra Winger (SHADOWLANDS, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN) who will talk about her work in Bridges' directed films such as URBAN COWBOY (1980) and MIKE'S MURDER (1984) prior to the screening.

Also attending the evening will be Bridges' longtime friend Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen in the 1950's television series "Superman." Immediately following the introductions, the Archive will be screening MIKE'S MURDER (1984) starring Debra Winger.

All screenings take place at the James Bridges Theater located on the northeast corner of UCLA's campus (nearest cross streets are Sunset Boulevard and Hilgard Avenue in Westwood.)

In 1997, the Bridges/Larson Foundation donated $500,000 to help transform Melnitz Theater into a technologically superior, state-of-the-art screening venue. In honor of the gift from the Bridges/Larson Foundation, the name was changed to The James Bridges Theater in memory of actor, screenwriter and director James Bridges.

Bridges was one of the most versatile figures in the Hollywood community until his death from cancer at age 63 in 1993. He was an actor, a director and screenwriter, scribing all the feature films he directed.

Starting with his directorial debut, THE BABY MAKER (1970), Bridges went on to create a series of unique, often controversial films: THE PAPER CHASE (1973) and the television series of the same name; SEPTEMBER 30, 1955 (1977), referring to the date that James Dean died; the nuclear thriller THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979); two John Travolta films which helped make the actor a star, URBAN COWBOY (1980) and PERFECT (1985); MIKE'S MURDER (1984); and BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY (1988).

Longtime friend Jack Larson established the Bridges/Larson Foundation. Larson is himself a producer, writer and actor and is perhaps best remembered for his role as Jimmy Olsen in the 1950's television series "Superman."

Dean Robert Rosen said, "This gift is important for so many reasons. Not only does it service the students, but it reaches out to serve the entire Los Angeles community."

UCLA Film and Television Archive Director Tim Kittleson commented, "The generosity of Jim Bridges and Jack Larson has allowed us to screen our programs in a wonderfully comfortable facility with the very best equipment."

Admission to the Bridges tribute is $6 for general and $4 for students, seniors and children. For further public information, call 310/206-FILM or visit the website at www.cinema.ucla.edu.

Programming at the UCLA Film and Television Archive is made possible by grants from the California Arts Council, the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and other sponsors.

ABOUT THE FILM: MIKE'S MURDER (1984, 35mm, 97 min.) Directed by James Bridges. Betty (Debra Winger) and Mike (Mark Keyloun) have great sex. Betty, a bank teller, waits for the slippery Mike for two years while he circles around her, completing various drug deals which ultimately cause his grisly demise.

In an effort to understand him and perhaps her relationship to him, Betty ventures into unknown territory, communicating with high and low-brow characters with their different sets of issues. A stand-out in this foray is Paul Winfield's portrait of a wealthy patron of the young and restless, who admits he too was in love with Mike.

Midway through the film a secondary character utters to Betty, "The ethereal is eternal" -- a throwaway line that is, however, aphoristic to Winger's character. Bridges uses Winger's beautiful face as a linchpin -- she is the somewhat saintly portal to the city's other pulse of lurking and intoxicating menace.

While her investigation eventually endangers her own life, she emerges ultimately unscathed -- eternal.