Arts & Events

Next weekend's Bay Area screenings of 'Samuel Fuller: A Fuller Life,' a new documentary by his daughter on the Hollywood maverick filmmaker admired by a gamut of younger peers--from Godard to Wim Wenders, Scorsese to Jim Jarmusch to Tarantino--have become the occasion for a kind of mini-fest of 10 of Fuller's films, including a newly-discovered and restored director's cut of 'Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street,' shot in Germany and scarcely shown in America when released in a shorter form in 1973, a German documentary on the making of 'Dead Pigeon' ('Return to Beethoven Street') released last year, as well as a few classics and rarities--and the personal appearances of Fuller's widow and collaborator, actress and writer Christa Lang-Fuller and their daughter Samantha, author of the documentary on her father.

The screenings and appearances will take place over three days, Friday, September 23 through Sunday the 25th, at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco's Mission District and at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. 

'A Fuller Life,' screening at 7 next Friday at the Roxie and at 4:15 that Sunday at the Rafael, features friends, collaborators and admirers of the director--including Jennifer Beales, Joe Dante, Bill Duke, James Franco, William Friedkin, Mark Hamill, Monte Hellman, Buck Henry, Tim Roth, James Toback, Constance Towers and Wim Wenders-- reading from and acting out Fuller's memoirs, 'A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting and Filmmaking,' which Christa Lang published in 2002, the last occasion of her appearance in the Bay Area, also at the Roxie and the Rafael. 'Return to Beethoven Street: Sam Fuller in Germany,' directed by Robert Fischer, features commentary by Christa Lang, who starred in 'Dead Pigeon' with Glenn Corbett, its composer Irwin Schmidt of the rock group Can, as well as German directors Wim Wenders and genre and crime film specialist Dominick Graf, screening only at the Rafael on Sunday the 25th at 2. 

The retrospective of Fuller's films--'Steel Helmet' (1951)--only at the Roxie; 'Pick-Up on South Street' (1952); 'House of Bamboo' (1955)--only at the Rafael; '40 Guns' (1957)--only at the Roxie; 'The Crimson Kimono' (1959)--only at the Roxie; 'Underworld, USA' (1961)--only at the Roxie; 'Shock Corridor' (1963); 'The Naked Kiss' (1965)--only at the Roxie; ''Dead Pigeon ... ' (1973) and 'White Dog' (1982, shown in the director's cut) will begin at both theaters Friday evening and run through Saturday and Sunday, afternoons and evenings. 

Appearances, introductions and discussions by Christa Lang-Fuller and Samantha Fuller will be at the Roxie at scheduled times Friday through Sunday and at the Rafael on Saturday and Sunday. See the theaters' websites for exact schedules and ticket info: www.roxie.com & rafelfilm.org  

The Roxie is located at 3117-16th Street (between Valencia & Guerrero, about two blocks from BART's 16th & Mission station), San Francisco. The Rafael is at 1118 Fourth Street (between 'A' & 'B' Streets, about five blocks from the Golden Gate Bus/Marin Transit Transportation Center), Downtown San Rafael