The Incident

107 minutes   

1967               

Location: New York      

Feature Film/Suspense                       

Filmmaker: Larry Peerce 

Showing: Thurs 6:20 pm, Fri 12:40 pm, Sat 9:40 pm, Sun 3:40 pm, Mon 3:40 pm

This year the ashland independent film festival screens—for the first time in more than three decades—a fully restored 35mm theatrical print of long-neglected American classic, The Incident. This 1967 film, photographed in black and white, follows a group of ordinary New Yorkers and two psychopathic thugs on a nightmarish train ride across the darkened landscape of a sleeping city. The ensemble cast, including Martin Sheen in his first film role, Ed McMahon, Tony Musante, Beau Bridges, Ruby Dee, Jan Sterling, Brock Peters, Donna Mills, Gary Merrill and Thelma Ritter in her last role, deliver flawless performances. Made the same year as the first Super Bowl, the Summer of Love, an escalating War in Vietnam, and films like The Graduate, Cool Hand Luke, Bonnie and Clyde, and In the Heat of The Night, this film foreshadows the era of social, political and cultural unrest that would follow. Rarely seen outside of truncated late-night TV versions, The Incident is an American post-noir classic. [Adult content, violence]

The aiff 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award: Gerald Hirschfeld, A.S.C.

This year the ashland independent film festival is proud to honor cinematographer Gerald Hirschfeld, A.S.C. with its first ever aiff Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hirschfeld is the renowned Director of Photography of more than 45 feature films spanning four decades, and is a two-time Academy Award® nominee. His diverse body of work includes, among others, Fail-Safe, Young Frankenstein, Goodbye Columbus, The Bell Jar, My Favorite Year, Cotton Comes To Harlem, and of course, The Incident. He has worked with such directors as Mel Brooks, Frank Perry, Sidney Lumet, and Garson Kanin and he has photographed a galaxy of stars from Charlton Heston, Peter O’Toole, and Twiggy, to Martin Sheen, Joanne Woodward, and Ossie Davis.

Hirschfeld's cinematography reflects an American cinema in transition. His work both illustrates and struggles with the conventions of the past, while forging a new vision of America through the lens of the future.

Join us at our Awards Ceremony and Party April 5 at the Ashland Armory as we honor this year’s Award Winning Films and celebrate the career of Gerald Hirschfeld, A.S.C.

Gerald Hirschfeld A.S.C., on the making of the Incident:

To make the subway car appear to be real we needed scenes of it running through tunnels and coming into stations. This was done on the stage by projecting a film on a translucent screen placed behind the car and then filming it with the action in front, a technique called "rear projection." But to make this work we needed to film moving shots of what would be seen outside the train's windows. When New York City Transit System refused to cooperate I "stole" these shots by hiding a small motion picture camera in a carton with a hole for the lens, which I held against the window to film outside the subway car. The subway car was built on a New York sound stage and its action looked so real that Hollywood trade papers complimented director Larry Peerce for achieving such gritty scenes on a real moving train.

We also needed shots for the beginning of the film when the subway starts above ground before entering the underground tunnels. These shots were filmed by using a "cherry picker" that lifted the camera and crew above the train tracks to film scenes of people getting on and off the cars. Since legally we were not "on" city property, we got our shots!

Larry Peerce

Larry Peerce began his long filmmaking career in 1963 with the daring independent film One Potato, Two Potato, based on a true story about racism in the American court system, which won the coveted Palm D'Or at Cannes in 1964. He went on to direct feature films such as The Incident, Goodbye, Columbus, A Separate Peace, Ash Wednesday, The Other Side of the Mountain, Two Minute Warning, The Bel Jar, Why Would I Lie?, Love Child, Hard to Hold and Wired in addition to dozens of TV series and telefilms. Peerce is currently a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

From Martin Sheen

January 30, 2004

For me, The Incident represents a symbolic overlapping of moviemaking generations. It was my very first movie and of course it was the great Thelma Ritter’s very last film.

The time we spent shooting The Incident was hands down, one of the best times I have ever had making a movie - anywhere - and those memories forever gave me a sense of how I wished the collaborative efforts of actors and crew could always be.

I was then, and I remain today, deeply proud of all of our work - actors and crew - on The Incident. I am eternally and especially grateful to both Director of Photography Jerry Hirschfeld for his brilliant and dynamic black and white cinematography, and to director Larry Peerce for making me a part of this important film and personal milestone.

I’m sorry I can’t be with you to see The Incident on the big screen once again this week at the ashland independent film festival, but please know that I wish you both, Jerry and Larry, all my best.

Your friend,

Martin Sheen

From Ruby Dee

February 6, 2004

RE: Jerry Hirschfeld and The Incident

During a subway sequence of terror in The Incident, Jerry Hirschfeld focuses first not on my face, but on my hands, which were tightly clenched. I had no idea why they were clenched so tightly until I saw them in the film. It is a moment that has stuck in my memory through the years.

Best wishes on this well-deserved celebration of your life’s work, Jerry.

Sincerely,

Ruby Dee