Chicago’s film history takes some unusual detours over the next several weeks, connecting a Swiss Cold War oddity, 1970s giallo, Haskell Wexler, Liberace and the Creature from the Black Lagoon through a series of screenings curated by Chicago cult film programmer Stephanie Sack.
Four programs featuring seven films will take place between August 20 and September 10 at the International Museum of Surgical Science and Logan Theatre. Beyond the films themselves, Sack has built the programs around some intriguing Chicago connections, including two films returning 50 years after screenings at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Scalpel Summer concludes with The Unknown Man of Shandigor
The run begins Thursday, August 20, when the International Museum of Surgical Science concludes its Scalpel Summer series with Jean-Louis Roy’s 1967 Swiss film The Unknown Man of Shandigor.
The surreal Cold War spy satire centers on a scientist who invents a device capable of neutralizing nuclear weapons, making both the invention and its creator targets for competing international agents.
One of the film’s Chicago connections comes through actor Ben Carruthers, who plays Manuel. Carruthers also appeared in Philip Kaufman’s Fearless Frank, the 1967 independent feature starring a young Jon Voight that was filmed in Chicago.
The restored Shandigor is being presented through boutique restoration and distribution label Deaf Crocodile. Sack will be joined after the screening by writer and podcaster Chris Sienko, Deaf Crocodile’s social media manager.
The screening begins at 7 p.m. at the International Museum of Surgical Science, 1524 N. Lake Shore Drive.
Three films from 1976 return for Giallo Gelato
The following night, Sack moves to the Logan Theatre for the third edition of Giallo Gelato and its second year at the Logan.
This year’s program, Giallo Gelato 2026: Mondo Giallo, features three films from 1976, with screenings at 11 p.m. August 21 through 23.
Two have particularly strong ties to Chicago film history.
Narciso Ibáñez Serrador’s Spanish horror film Who Can Kill a Child?, screening Friday, August 21, was shown at the Chicago International Film Festival in 1976 under its American release title, Island of the Damned. The upcoming Logan screening will present the complete restored version.
On Saturday, August 22, Alfred Sole’s Alice, Sweet Alice returns 50 years after Chicago audiences encountered it under its original title, Communion, at the 12th Chicago International Film Festival.
The film received a Silver Medal at the festival before enduring a complicated distribution history and several title changes. After Communion, it was known at various points as The Mask Murders, Alice, Sweet Alice and Holy Terror. Its reputation has grown considerably in the decades since its troubled original release.
There is another piece of Chicago history attached to the screening. Communion played the Uptown Theatre during the 1976 festival. Chicago journalist and Uptown historian Robert Loerzel, author of The Uptown: Chicago’s Endangered Movie Palace, will join Sack to introduce the film.
The weekend concludes Sunday, August 23, with Pupi Avati’s The House with Laughing Windows, presented in a recent 4K restoration.
All three screenings take place at the Logan Theatre, 2646 N. Milwaukee Ave.
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Haskell Wexler and Liberace meet The Loved One
The series returns to the International Museum of Surgical Science on Thursday, September 3, with Tony Richardson’s 1965 black comedy The Loved One.
Based on Evelyn Waugh’s novel and adapted by Christopher Isherwood and Terry Southern, the film satirizes Southern California’s funeral industry with a cast that includes Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Anjanette Comer, Rod Steiger and Liberace.
Its Chicago connection begins behind the camera.
The film was photographed and co-produced by Chicago-born Haskell Wexler, one of the most acclaimed cinematographers of his generation. Wexler would later bring his camera home to Chicago for his groundbreaking 1969 feature Medium Cool.
Liberace provides another local connection. Although born in West Allis, Wisconsin, the entertainer developed an important Chicago following through appearances at the Palmer House’s Empire Room beginning in the 1940s. In The Loved One, he plays Mr. Starker, a funeral salesman enthusiastically guiding customers through their casket options.
The September 3 screening is being presented with Chicago-based Inclusive Funeral Care, whose representatives will discuss their contemporary approach to funeral and end-of-life services.
Doors open at 6 p.m., with the film beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The Gillman celebrates a 72nd birthday
The final screening may have the most entertaining coincidence of the series.
The International Museum of Surgical Science opened in 1954. Universal released Creature from the Black Lagoon that same year.
On Thursday, September 10, the Museum will celebrate its 72nd birthday with a restored digital 2-D presentation of the 1954 Universal monster classic.
Chicago even finds its way into the Gillman’s history.
Chicago-born screenwriter Arthur A. Ross worked on the screenplay that became Creature from the Black Lagoon, helping create a monster that would become one of the defining figures of 1950s horror and science fiction.
The Creature also has a long-standing connection to Chicago television through Rich Koz and Svengoolie, which has introduced generations of local viewers to Universal’s classic monsters before expanding to a national audience on MeTV.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the screening begins at 7 p.m. at the International Museum of Surgical Science.
From films introduced to Chicago audiences at the Chicago International Film Festival half a century ago to the work of Haskell Wexler and Arthur A. Ross, Sack’s late-summer programming offers more than an opportunity to revisit cult cinema.
It also uncovers some of the less obvious places where Chicago has been hiding in movie history.
Screening information and tickets: The International Museum of Surgical Science screenings are $15 in advance. Giallo Gelato screenings at the Logan Theatre are $12 each. The full Giallo Gelato program and individual screening information are available through the Logan Theatre, with Museum screening tickets available through the International Museum of Surgical Science’s event listings.
