(USA/1988) Directed by Bruce Weber)

“He was bad, he was trouble and he was beautiful.” A James Dean look-alike pretty boy whose jazz trumpeting and melancholy crooning epitomized 50s cool, Chet Baker had become, when famed photographer Bruce Weber finally caught up with him after three decades of fandom, an alcoholic and a junkie, those petulantly angelic looks peeping out from behind a gaunt, valleyed and crevassed face that could have starred for Sam Peckinpah. How did he get there? We find out as Weber and crew follow Baker on a year-long trek on the road, from the West Coast to the East Coast to Europe, including a stop at the Cannes Film Festival. Casting a spell are the evocative montages of William Claxton’s iconic 50s photo sessions; clips from movies featuring young Chet; interviews with colleagues and friends, including rare performance footage, all studded throughout coverage of Baker's tour. A popular and critical smash at its 1989 debut (including sold-out performances at the DFT), Let’s Get Lost has been unseen since 1993 in any medium (rare copies of an early 90s VHS fetches impressive sums on Amazon), but has at last been personally restored by Weber himself. (120 min.) Thu. At 7:30; Fri. and Sat. at 9:30.

“Magical. Weber’s visual intuitions are as lyrical and right as Baker’s melodic instincts.”    -Pauline Kael, The New Yorker