Filmed in gritty noir shadows juxtaposed against a tony, sunbathed Beverly Hills location, “Private Property” (1960) showcases a trio of edgy, superbly understated performances by Kate Manx, Corey Allen and Warren Oates. Manx plays a vulnerable, affluent young woman driven to psychological distress by a sexless marriage and further menaced by a pair of sociopathic drifters. Her performance conveys a muted, permeating melancholy that effectively serves to anchor the drama’s purposeful excesses of Freudian symbolism.
The controversial directorial debut of Leslie Stevens in 1960, “Private Property,” screens as part of the UCLA Film and Television Archive’s month-long UCLA Festival of Preservation, a biennial showcase of the archive’s latest restoration projects. The film was hailed by Variety as a “possible forerunner of an American ‘new wave’ movement,” condemned by the National Catholic Legion of Decency for its exploration of seduction, rape and latent homosexuality, and denied a code seal of approval by the Motion Picture Association of America. But that didn’t stop major distributors from picking up and widely releasing "Private Property," which eventually grossed over $2 million in box office receipts and enjoyed successful art house runs across Europe.
Manx and Stevens, who were married prior to the making of “Private Property,” divorced in 1964, with the actress tragically dying later that year from a reported overdose of sleeping pills. Stevens continued to successfully work in film and television into the 1990s, and is best-remembered for creating, writing and directing episodes of the cult-classic science fiction television series, “The Outer Limits” (1963-1965).
David J. Schow, author of "The Outer Limits Companion," will appear in-person at the screening on Friday, March 13, 7:30 p.m. in the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum. The UCLA Festival of Preservation will be screening more than 40 films, as well as newsreels, television programs and more. See the complete catalog and purchase tickets here.
