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Admission is free. No advance reservations. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event.
Robert “Bob” Rosen, founding director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive and former dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, passed away in late 2024. A titan of the film community, Bob was an archivist, scholar, educator and critic. Bob elevated the field of archiving by championing, training and advocating for the preservation of moving image media in all forms, from classic Hollywood to independent productions. Among his many leadership roles, he served on the National Film Preservation Board for over two decades and played a crucial role in the formation of The Film Foundation.
In his 2012 oral history with the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), Bob shared:
“The UCLA Film & Television Archive’s success in building one of the world’s largest collections and in establishing top-notch programs in preservation, programming and access was the result first and foremost of an extraordinarily dedicated staff. If I take any personal credit at all for our growth, it was in nurturing a sense of mission, determination and common purpose. Nothing, I thought, was impossible.”
With advocacy, passion and an indomitable spirit, Robert Rosen played a pivotal role in transforming the institution into what it is today — a world-class archive with an incredible team and unparalleled reputation. In this evening’s program, we remember Bob’s impact and thank him for making the impossible possible.
Kiss Me Deadly
U.S., 1955
In adapting Mickey Spillane’s hard-boiled novel, director Robert Aldrich and screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides were deeply suspicious of the fascist impluses driving Spillane’s two-fisted detective, Mike Hammer. In their Kiss Me Deadly, Hammer (Ralph Meeker) smashes his way across Los Angeles battling a mysterious “They” in pursuit of “the great whatsit.” Leaving a trail of bodies and bruises in his wake, Hammer is barely cognizant of the apocalyptic forces his bull-headed narcissism threatens to unleash. An atomic age noir that feels liable to combust itself from first shocking shot to last, Kiss Me Deadly still plays like a red-light warning for perilous times.
DCP, b&w, 106 min. Director: Robert Aldrich. Screenwriter: A.I. Bezzerides. With: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart.
