CLEVELAND, OH.- The Cleveland Museum of Art presents the silver screen’s interpretation of turn-of-the-century opulence, some of which is displayed in the museum’s current exhibition Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique. The CMA’s November film series features films that intersect with objects and the era of Artistic Luxury.

One highlight of the November film series is a night on the French Riviera for the special To Catch a Thief Evening full of thrills, chills, gems and cocktails. The evening includes a buffet dinner, screening of the Alfred Hitchcock thriller, To Catch a Thief, Friday, November 14, 2008, and a ticket to Artistic Luxury. Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. with the film immediately following at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $55, $45 for CMA members, and are available by calling Katie Tricarichi at (216) 707-6873.

All films will be shown in the CMA Lecture Hall located at 11150 East Boulevard in University Circle. Admission prices to museum films are: general public $8, CMA members $6, seniors 65 & over $5, students $4, or one Panorama voucher. Panorama Film Series vouchers (in books of 10) cost $55 for the general public, $45 for CMA members. Tickets are available through the Online Box Office at www.clevelandart.org, in person, or over the phone at 1-888-CMA-0033. Parking is available in the CMA parking garage.

Aspects of Artistic Luxury:

Paris 1900
Sunday, November 2, 1:30 p.m.
Directed by Nicole Védrès. This documentary limns the life of Paris and its inhabitants during “La Belle Epoque” (1900-1914), beginning with the completion of the Eiffel Tower and the Paris Exposition of 1900. (France, 1947, b&w, subtitles, 16mm, 79 min.). Special thanks to Delphine Selles, French Cultural Services, New York.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed
Wednesday, November 5, 7 p.m.
Directed by Lotte Reiniger. A Middle Eastern prince tries to foil the plans of an evil sorcerer in the world’s first feature-length animated film, composed of exquisite cut-out silhouettes and hand-colored backgrounds. Inspired by the Arabian Nights, the film shows the influence of Eastern shadow puppets and Art Nouveau. (Germany, 1926, color-tinted b&w, silent with recorded music and English subtitles, 35mm, 65 min.).

Klimt (Director’s Cut – U.S. Premiere!)
Friday, November 7, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 8, 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 9, 1:30 p.m.
Directed by Raul Ruiz, with John Malkovich and Saffron Burrows. The life of Austrian Art Nouveau painter Gustav Klimt—condemned and celebrated for his decorative, sensual paintings—is visualized in this ravishing, phantasmagorical portrait. We will present the U.S. premiere of the “director’s cut” of Klimt, 33 minutes longer than the previously-released “international version.” New print. Adults only! In English. (Austria/France/Germany/Britain, 2006, color, 35mm, 130 min.). Special thanks to Ricki Oelmack, epo-film, Vienna.

Proteus
Wednesday, November 12, 7 p.m.
Directed by David Lebrun. This dazzling, multi-award-winning documentary (with animated segments) explores the 19th century’s fascination with the undersea world (the “outer space” of that era). The film’s central figure is biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), whose many elegant, detailed sketches of a tiny, one-cell marine organism known as the radiolarian may have inspired Art Nouveau. (USA, 2004, color, 35mm, 60 min.). Preceded at curtain time by Jon Story and Antony Zaki’s 28-minute Against Nature (Britain, 2005, DVD), a 28-minute adaptation of Huysmans’ “decadent” 1884 novel À Rebours.

To Catch a Thief
Friday, November 14, 8 p.m.
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant. A suave ex-jewel thief is accused of returning to his old occupation in this elegant, picturesque caper set on the French Riviera. (USA, 1955, color, 35mm, 106 min.).

Ninotchka
Sunday, November 16, 1:30 p.m.
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, with Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, and Bela Lugosi. A severe, no-nonsense Soviet agent sent to Paris to supervise the sale of some valuable jewels for her government falls for a debonair Western playboy who represents everything she hates. “Garbo laughs” in this celebrated comedy co-written by Billy Wilder. (USA, 1939, b&w, 35mm, 110 min.).

Salome
Wednesday, November 19, 7 p.m.
Directed by Charles Bryant, with Alla Nazimova. Herod’s stepdaughter dances for the head of John the Baptist in this lavish silent version of Oscar Wilde’s scandalous stage play. Produced by the film’s star, a Stanislavsky-trained Russian stage actress, the film has florid sets and bizarre costumes inspired by Audrey Beardsley’s illustrations for the play’s original English edition. Restored version! (USA, color-tinted b&w, silent with recorded music, 35mm, 74 min.).

Angels and Insects
Friday, November 21, 6:45 p.m.
Directed by Philip Haas, with Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Patsy Kensit. This brooding period piece, set in 19th-century England, tells of a poor naturalist who is hired to catalogue an insect collection belonging to a wealthy aristocrat. But the strangest specimens found at his employer’s lavish country estate are all human. From an A.S. Byatt novel. Rated R. (USA/Britain, 1995, color, 35mm, 116 min.).

Nicholas and Alexandra
Sunday, November 23, 1 p.m.
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, with Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, and Tom Baker. The turbulent final years of Russia’s Romanov dynasty are impressively visualized in this lavish, thoughtful historical epic that reawakened interest in the Tsarist era. 35mm studio archive print. (Britain, 1971, color, 35mm, 183 min.)

The Scarlet Empress
Friday, November 28, 7 p.m.
Sunday, November 30, 1:30 p.m.
Directed by Josef von Sternberg, with Marlene Dietrich, John Lodge, and Sam Jaffe. This orgiastic spectacle is one of the most baroque and bizarre films ever to come out of Hollywood. It chronicles the 18th-century rise of Catherine the Great—from German princess to empress of Russia. Restored print. (USA, 1934, b&w, 35mm, 104 min.).