Rampling at Rice A retrospective of actress Charlotte Rampling’s work is set for the month of May by Blase DiStefano

Rice Cinema will open their summer season with their highly anticipated, month-long tribute to the amazing, challenging, and bewitching Charlotte Rampling. "Charlotte Rampling: The Theory of Seduction" features 14 films, most of them rare archive prints and many unseen in years. Rice opens the series with Nagisa Oshima's rarely screened Max, Mon Amour. Always game for unusual and offbeat roles, Oshima's tale of simian seduction, according to Kristian Salinas, Rice Cinema director, is Rampling's favorite film. And for those of you who still haven't forgotten her chilling performance in The Night Porter, rejoice! Rice will also present a rare 35mm archive print.

"It was of the utmost importance to secure prints for this series that were in the best possible condition," emphasizes Salinas. "It took over two years to locate a number of these prints since so many of her films were produced independently of major studios." Other ultra-rare prints included in the series are Luchino Visconti's operatic anti-facism drama The Damned; James Salter's Three, featuring a young Rampling in a tense threesome with Robie Porter and Sam Waterston; Woody Allen's Stardust Memories, in which she plays a neurotic actress involved with Allen; and Silvio Nariz-zano's Georgy Girl, Rampling's feature-film debut in a deliciously bitchy role as a glamour girl stuck with an unwanted pregnancy.

A sexy leading lady deserves an equally sexy leading man, and Rampling has starred opposite some of Hollywood's hottest, such as Sean Connery in the sci-fi cult classic Zardoz, Mickey Rourke and Robert DeNiro in Angel Heart, and a then-unknown Russell Crowe in the Australian drama Hammers Over the Anvil. However, her best known supporting work was opposite Paul Newman in Sidney Lumet's Academy Award-nominated The Verdict, in which Newman gives her one of motion picture history's most memorable slaps in the face. One film Rice is forced to present on video is the 1971 obscurity The Ski Bum, starring Rampling opposite future producer of sleazy erotica Zalman King. The print turned up missing after Salinas was informed a print had been secured. "It was the strangest thing. When I got word the print was missing, I immediately called Penelope Spheeris [who has a cameo as a witch], then the film's director, Bruce Clark, who now lives in Australia. Even though we were unable to secure a print, I really wanted to show the film. There is much to appreciate about The Ski Bum that would not have been apparent 20 years ago. Rampling is divinely catty in a role one friend described as ‘Sexy, rich, bitchy, at a ski resort ... not skiing.’ "

Three Houston premieres will also be featured, including Rampling's latest, The Cherry Orchard, based on Chekov's final dramatic play. "Charlotte Rampling: The Theory of Seduction" opens Friday, May 3 and runs through Wednesday, May 29. Ticket prices per show are $6 ($5 for students with I.D., seniors over 65, and members of SWAMP). For more information, visit Rice Cinema's website at www.ruf.rice.edu/~cinema or call their 24-hour film information line at 713/348-4853. Rice Cinema is located at the intersection of University Blvd. and Stockton Dr., entrance #8, on the campus of Rice University.

Rampling Retrospective Schedule

(For descriptions of films or more info, visit www.ruf.rice.edu/~cinema)

• MAX, MON AMOUR

(Max, My Love) RARE PRINT!

Directed by Nagisa Oshima (1986)

Fri., May 3, 7 p.m.; Wed., May 8, 7 p.m.

• THE NIGHT PORTER

(Il Portiere di notte) ARCHIVE PRINT!

Directed by Liliana Cavani (1974)

With Dirk Bogarde.

Sat., May 4, 7 p.m.; Wed., May 8, 9 p.m.

• THE DAMNED

(La Caduta degli dei) ARCHIVE PRINT!

Directed by Luchino Visconti (1969)

With Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, & Helmet Berger.

Sun., May 5, 5 p.m.; Thur., May 9, 7 p.m.

• SIGNS AND WONDERS

HOUSTON PREMIERE!

Directed by Jonathon Nossiter (2000)

Fri. & Sat., May 10 & 11, 7 p.m.; Wed. & Thur., May 15 & 16, 7 p.m.

• ABERDEEN

HOUSTON PREMIERE!

Directed by Hans Petter Moland (2000)

With Stellan Skarsgard.

Fri. & Sat., May 10 & 11, 9 p.m.; Wed. & Thur., May 15 & 16, 9 p.m.

• THE CHERRY ORCHARD

(Varya) HOUSTON PREMIERE!

Directed by Michael Cacoyannis (1999)

With Alan Bates.

Sun., May 12, 5 p.m.; Wed. & Thur., June 26 & 27, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., June 28, 7:30 p.m.; Sat.& Sun., June 29 & 30, 4:30 & 7:30 p.m.

• GEORGY GIRL

ARCHIVE PRINT!

Directed by Silvio Narizzano (1966)

With Lynn Redgrave & Alan Bates.

Fri., May 17, 7 p.m.; Sun., May 19, 5 p.m.

• THE SKI BUM

Directed by Bruce Clark (1971)

With Zalman King.

Fri., May 17, 9 p.m.; Sat., May 18, 9 p.m.

• THREE

NEW ARCHIVE PRINT!

Directed by James Salter (1970)

With Sam Waterston & Robie Porter.

Sat. & Sun., May 18 & 19, 7 p.m.

• STARDUST MEMORIES

ARCHIVE PRINT!

Directed by Woody Allen (1980)

Wed., May 22, 7 p.m.; Sun., May 26, 5 p.m.

• ZARDOZ

Directed by John Boorman (1974)

With Sean Connery.

Wed., May 22, 9 p.m.; Fri., May 24, 7 p.m.

• THE VERDICT

Directed by Sidney Lumet (1982)

With Paul Newman & James Mason.

Thur., May 23, 9 p.m.; Sun., May 26, 7 p.m.

• HAMMERS OVER THE ANVIL

RARE PRINT!

Directed by Ann Turner (1991)

With a young Russell Crowe.

Thur., May 23, 7 p.m.; Sat., May 25, 7 p.m.; Wed., May 29, 7 p.m.

• ANGEL HEART

ARCHIVE PRINT!

Directed by Alan Parker (1987)

With Mickey Rourke, Robert DeNiro, & Lisa Bonet.

Fri. & Sat., May 24 & 25, 9 p.m.