'Ishtar' Revisited at Sag Harbor Cinema

In celebration of 100 Years of Columbia, Sag Harbor Cinema will screen Elaine May’s 1987 comedy “Ishtar” starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman on Monday, August 12, at 6 p.m. Following the screening, Carrie Courogen, author of the 2024 book “Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius,” will join Sag Harbor Cinema for a Q&A and book-signing.

A subversive take on the hugely popular “On the Road” movies with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, with a nod to American’s propensity for meddling in the Middle East, “Ishtar” was a famously tormented production. Shot in Morocco and at Astoria Studios in New York by the great Vittorio Storaro, with its whopping $51 million budget (roughly $141 million today) and an additional $40 million in marketing and releasing costs, “Ishtar” was a box office disaster. The film was mostly panned by critics, with the notable exceptions of Janet Maslin of The New York Times and Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader. However, May’s comedic colossal — the last film Hollywood ever allowed her to direct — has been reappraised and has now landed cult classic status.

“What ‘Heaven’s Gate’ did for Michael Cimino, ‘Ishtar’ did for Elaine May — it destroyed her career as a director,” said the cinema’s founding artistic director Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan. “Luckily, as per Cimino’s film, ‘Ishtar’ has been rediscovered and is now recognized as one of the high marks of 1980s American cinema. We are very lucky to have a chance to revisit it in the presence of Carrie Courogen whose insightful book covers the film amply.”

Tickets for the screening and Q&A will be available at the cinema box office or on the website, sagharborcinema.org. The book signing will be on the cinema’s third floor and is open to the public. Courogen’s book will be for sale at the event through Canio’s Books. Sag Harbor Cinema is at 90 Main Street in Sag Harbor.