A tribute to a French palace is in the house

By Susan King

Nov. 2, 2006 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

WITH the current release of Sofia Coppola’s take on “Marie Antoinette,” the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre is paying tribute to the lavish domicile of the “let them eat cake” French queen with the “Fabulous Versailles” retrospective Friday through Sunday.

The event kicks off with the original uncut version of director Sacha Guitry’s 1954 extravaganza “Royal Affairs in Versailles.” Covering 300 years in the history of the palace, this Technicolor roundelay features Guitry as Louis XIV along with a diverse cast including Jean Marais, Edith Piaf, Brigitte Bardot, Gerard Philipe, Claudette Colbert and Orson Welles as Benjamin Franklin. The film proved to be the box-office champ of the year.

Gerard Depardieu gives one of his most passionate performances in Andrzej Wajda’s 1983 drama “Danton,” as the onetime ally of Robespierre who seeks to end the bloodshed caused by the leader’s brutal Reign of Terror. The film, which also features Wojciech Pszoniak, screens Saturday.

Rounding out the mini-festival Sunday is Jean Renoir’s 1938 classic, “La Marseillaise,” which recounts events of the French Revolution that led to the toppling of the monarchy in 1792. Renoir’s brother, Pierre, plays Louis XVI and Lise Delamare is Marie Antoinette.

Catching ‘Piazza’

The Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre is presenting the 1962 film version of “Light in the Piazza” on Sunday evening, as the Tony Award-winning musical, based on the same story, plays at the Ahmanson. Directed by Guy Green, the delicately acted drama stars Olivia de Havilland as an American tourist in Italy who discovers a handsome young Italian (George Hamilton) has fallen for her beautiful but emotionally and mentally challenged daughter (Yvette Mimieux). Rossano Brazzi plays Hamilton’s father, for whom De Havilland harbors affections.

Switching gears, the Egyptian on Wednesday will host a screening of “Forbidden Planet,” one of the seminal sci-fi films of the 1950s, in anticipation of the Nov. 14 arrival of the 50th anniversary “Ultimate Collectors Edition” DVD.

Loosely based on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” the big-budget drama stars Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis and the scene-stealing Robby the Robot -- actor Marvin Miller supplied the voice.

“Forbidden Planet,” which was nominated for an Oscar for its special effects, was also the first major mainstream film to have a score performed on electronic instruments. Composers Louis and Bebe Barron manipulated electronic circuits to not only produce the musical score but also the sound for the gadgets, effects and creatures.

Following the screening is a discussion with cast members Francis, Earl Holliman, Richard Anderson, Warren Stevens and, still to be confirmed, Nielsen.

‘Grand’ feat

The monthly Cinema’s Legacy series at the Skirball Cultural Center features Oscar-winning screenwriter-director Robert Towne (“Chinatown”) on Nov. 14, when he will screen and discuss Jean Renoir’s bravura 1937 World War I drama, “Grand Illusion.” The film made Academy Award history by being the first foreign-language production nominated for the best picture award -- it lost to Frank Capra’s “You Can’t Take It With You.”

Jean Gabin, who wears Renoir’s own World War I uniform, Erich von Stroheim, Pierre Fresnay and Marcel Dalio star in this seminal examination of class, sacrifice and brotherhood set in a German POW camp.

When it won a top prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1937, the Nazis declared it “Cinematographic Enemy Number One.”

susan.king@latimes.com

Screenings

Fabulous Versailles series

* “Royal Affairs in Versailles”: 7:30 p.m. Friday

* “Danton”: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

* “La Marseillaise”: 7:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica

Info: (323) 466-3456, americancinematheque.com

American Cinematheque

at the Egyptian

* “Light in the Piazza”: 7:30 p.m. Sunday