TONIGHT: Maysles Appearance, Rare Two-Fer Closes 'Stranger Than Fiction'

Sophia Loren in Showman, screening tonight at IFC Center (Photo: Maysles Films)

A quick heads-up to those of you with a calendar gap remaining for this evening (as well as to the flakes out there who can create one in seconds flat; you know who you are): Al Maysles will drop by tonight's Stranger Than Fiction season-ender at IFC Center, where a double feature of his 1955 short Psychiatry in Russia and the Maysles Brothers' 1963 movie-exec profile Showman will screen starting at 8 p.m. Check the vintage plot synopsis from Maysles Films:

A mogul in-the-making. Showman follows movie merchant, Joe Levine during the ballyhoo of Two Women and Sofia Loren's Oscar-winning performance. Levine wheels and deals his way through daily life - surrounded by movie stars, fellow tycoons and yes-men.

Levine grew up in the slums of Boston where he became a small-time distributor of films. Only a few years ago he could be seen toting a can of film under his arm. New England was his territory. Today (at the time of Showman), he's a big executive. His territory: the world.

And today (at the time of Showman screening downtown), he's... well, let's not get into that. The rarity of the films alone makes your attendance worthwhile, as does your last chance to wish STF potentate Thom Powers the best before his annual disappearance into the Toronto Film Festival programming dungeon. Don't miss it! -- STV

Posted at June 3, 2008 7:12 AM