Celebrate Art House Theater Day with this special screening of the newly restored The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe preceded by a special video greeting from the movie’s star, Lily Tomlin.
Jane Wagner created this one-woman show for Lily Tomlin in 1985 so that audiences could appreciate not just Tomlin’s comic timing but also her extraordinary acting talent. Tomlin inhabits 12 characters in this tour-de-force anchored by bag lady Trudy, an everywoman for all time. As Tomlin explained onstage at the restoration’s world premiere, “Trudy is a philosopher… the wise fool.” Asked by Jane Fonda, her comrade-in-arms and the evening’s moderator, if she sees any signs of intelligent life in the universe at the moment, Tomlin replied, “I see a lot of intelligence, but we apply that intelligence so stupidly.” Gloria Steinem praised The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe as “a work of genius and compassion.” Frank Rich of The New York Times called it “the most genuinely subversive comedy to be produced on Broadway in years.” Now, thanks to IndieCollect’s new 4K restoration, the film adaptation of The Search is finally back in theaters.
The restoration of The Search was created by combining scans of the 108-minute original 35mm negative and filling in with 9 minutes of the best surviving 117-min 35mm print. All scanning was done in 6.5K to produce a true 4K version. The restoration was supervised by Cameron Haffner, head of restoration services, with Ciara Kain serving as the restoration colorist. IndieCollect team members who worked on the project include Isiah Babilonia, Matt Hoffman, Kirsten Larvick, Patrick Merentie, Bella Racklin, Cheryl Williams, and Eva Yuma. Sandra Schulberg produced the restoration with funding from the Golden Globe Foundation, support from Jane Wagner & Lily Tomlin, and in collaboration with the Academy Film Archive, especially Ed Carter, Randy Haberkamp, Mike Pogorzelski, and Matt Severson. Special thanks to Paul Cilione.
