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The Wednesday Evening Film Series
Winter 2010

The Historic Elsinore Theatre and
Chemeketa Community College

The Historic Elsinore Theatre in partnership with the Chemeketa Community College Humanities Department and Film Studies Program presents a program of classic and silent movies.

Our Classic program of seven acclaimed sound-era films—Intrigue and Romance—begins January 6th with Casablanca

Last September marked the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II in Europe, in the fall of 1939.  Before Pearl Harbor, America tended to be isolationist and was officially neutral regarding Hitler’s threat to Europe.  But by 1940, Hollywood appeared to be neither.  The Hollywood moguls were Eastern European Jewish immigrants and their studios were populated with newly arrived European film artists and technicians who had fled the escalating danger.

The alarm had already begun to be raised in such films as Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes, made in England in 1938.  It was the beginning of a fascinating period of cinema––when so much was at stake in the world––producing imaginative and impassioned movies that addressed the German aggression and rising turmoil.  Story ideas were pulled from the headlines, and émigré masters of movie entertainment such as Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch, and Michael Curtiz deftly orchestrated political intrigue, images of a very real menace, a dash of propaganda, and memorable romance (and often a good deal of sharp wit) with such skill that their movies from this period have become cinema landmarks:  Casablanca, Foreign Correspondent, Man Hunt, To Be Or Not To Be.  These were thrillers, romances, and comedies that harbored an anti-Fascist punch.  American Howard Hawks joined in with To Have and Have Not in 1944, his variation on Casablanca.  The series concludes with Carol Reed’s powerful British masterpiece of post-War intrigue and mystery, The Third Man.

The themes in these movies reflect the passions and moral dilemmas of the times: isolationism vs. involvement, cynicism vs. commitment, and integrity vs. collaboration.  The settings are studio-crafted foreign capitals and ports of call around the globe.  These WWII-era American and British stories of intrigue and romance sought to align domestic audiences with exotic cities in distress and with the plight and courage of peoples of the world.  Program notes offering commentary will be provided for this Classic program.

Parallel to the Classic program is our Silent program of four movie evenings, which begins January 27th.  This program celebrates the mastery of pioneering silent screen directors and stars.  The silent film presentations will feature digitally restored films from archival prints and live accompaniment by Rick Parks at the “Mighty Wurlitzer Organ.”

Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased at the Historic Elsinore Theatre, and at all Tickets West locations.  Phone 503.375.3574 for information.  Box office and doors open at 6:00 pm, movies start at 7:00 pm. 

Classic Series Coordinator:  Robert Bibler.
Silent Series Coordinator: Rick Parks.

Technical Sponsor: Allied Video Productions
   


March 10
7:00 pm  To Have and Have Not  (Howard Hawks, 1944, USA)

Humphrey Bogart plays an American charter boat captain on the WWII Caribbean island of Martinique.  Nazi-collaborationist Vichy thugs threaten his livelihood, while pleading Free French resistance fighters try to weaken his fierce isolationism.  But it is the arrival of gorgeous bad-girl Marie (19-year-old Lauren Bacall) that gets his attention.  In Pauline Kael’s words, this “beautiful big cat of a girl slouched across the screen for the first time.”  Great scenes and snappy, funny dialogue were written especially for the sexually charged pairing of Bogart and Bacall, who fell in love during the production––and it shows.  Bacall sings, accompanied by the great Hoagy Carmichael, who also performs a couple of numbers.  Sensational.  Not to be missed.  With Walter Brennan, Dolores Moran, Marcel Dalio (Grand Illusion), Dan Seymour.  100 minutes

“An unassuming masterpiece.”  —Time Out

“Legendary love scenes… but there are also solid performances, taut action…  Super dialogue by William Faulkner and Jules Furthman.” —Leonard Maltin’s Movie and Video Guide

“Thoroughly enjoyable… The refreshingly, daringly sexy Bacall burst through the conventions of the era.”  —The New Yorker


March 17
7:00  The Passion of Joan of Arc  (Carl Dreyer, France, 1928)

Conveying the final twenty-four hours of Saint Joan’s life—the conclusion of her trial, her conviction, and her death at the stake—The Passion of Joan of Arc is a monumental cinema landmark, famous especially for Renée Jean Falconetti’s performance as Joan.  Dreyer’s groundbreaking direction is noted for its poignant, detailed close-ups and unusual camera angles.  114 minutes.

“Dreyer’s most universally acclaimed masterpiece remains one of the most staggeringly intense films ever made…  It’s hard to imagine a performer evincing physical anguish and spiritual exaltation more palpably [than Falconetti]…  The entire film is less moulded in light than carved in stone: it’s magisterial cinema, and almost unbearably moving.”  ––Time Out

HHHHBased on [the] transcript of the historical trial.  Masterfully directed.”  ––Leonard Maltin

“One of the greatest of all movies…  Falconetti’s Joan may be the finest performance ever recorded on film.”  The New Yorker


March 24
7:00 pm  The Third Man (Carol Reed, Great Britain, 1949)

American novelist, Holly Martin (Joseph Cotton), arrives in post-War Vienna to take a job offered by an old friend, Harry Lime.  But could it be that his friend Harry is a criminal, a war profiteer and, perhaps…dead?  Now Martin’s own life is in danger.  Martin’s American innocence is contrasted with a jaded British intelligence officer (Trevor Howard), and a worldly, beautiful woman (Alida Valli).  The truth is as murky and labyrinthine as the Vienna sewer system, where director Reed stages a famous climactic chase.  Powerfully expressionist Academy Award winning cinematography.  Script by Graham Greene from his novel.  With Orson Welles.  104 minutes.

“Irresistible romantic thriller.  Stylish from the first to the last, with inimitable backgrounds of zither music and war-torn buildings…”  —Halliwell’s Film Guide

HHHHA bona fide classic.”  ––Leonard Maltin


The Historic Elsinore Theatre and
Chemeketa Community College
Present

The Wednesday Evening Film Series
Spring & Summer 2010

The Historic Elsinore Theatre in partnership with the Chemeketa Community College Humanities Department and Film Studies Program presents a program of classic and silent movies.

Our Classic program of ten acclaimed sound-era films—Bigger Than Life:  Stories for the Big Screen—begins April 7th with The Music Man.  All selections except one (Roman Holiday, based on an anonymous story by blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo) are adaptations of––or are modeled on––an enduring work of theater or literature.

Our Silent program of four movie evenings–– celebrating the visual storytelling art of pioneering screen directors and stars––begins April 21st.  The films are digitally restored from archival prints and presented with live accompaniment by Rick Parks at the “Mighty Wurlitzer Organ.”

Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased at the Historic Elsinore Theatre, and at all Tickets West locations.  Phone 503.375.3574 for information.  Box office and doors open at 6:00 pm, movies start at 7:00 pm. 

Classic Series Coordinator:  Robert Bibler.
Silent Series Coordinator: Rick Parks.

Technical Sponsor: Allied Video Productions
   
Series Sponsor:  Reed Opera House & Allesandro's Ristorante


April 7
7:00 pm  The Music Man  (Morton Da Costa, USA, 1962)

The film version of the Broadway hit––one of the finest American musicals ever––has been restored in high definition to its original color and widescreen glory.  Enduring songs are seamlessly integrated with a clever, funny story of a salesman con artist hoodwinking a small Iowa town into buying musical instruments they cannot play.  Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, Ronny Howard.  Color.  151 minutes.

“Faithful [film] of Meredith Wilson’s affectionate slice of Americana…  Peerless Preston reprises his Broadway performance…”  ––Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide

“Zestily performed and choreographed, beautifully shot by Robert Burks, full of standards like ’76 Trombones’ and ‘Till there Was You,’ and endowed with a warming nostalgia…”  ––Time Out Film Guide


April 14
7:00 pm  Roman Holiday
 (William Wyler, USA, 1953)

Audrey Hepburn made her film debut (and won an Oscar) playing a bored princess in Italy, who escapes her handlers and meets up with an American journalist (Gregory Peck).  Director Wyler shot the film on location in Rome.  119 minutes.

“Utterly charming.”  ––Leonard Maltin

“Wonderfully enjoyable… The movie remains a great tonic.”  ––Time Out

“Charming… Wyler builds [Hepburn’s] character until she has the audience in thrall, and when she smiles we’re all goners.”  ––Pauline Kael, The New Yorker


April 21
7:00 pm  The Black Pirate
(Albert Parker, USA, 1926)

A buccaneer (Douglas Fairbanks Sr.) searches for the pirates who pillaged and destroyed his ship and killed his father.  Peerless athleticism and grand adventure, with romance involving a captured, beautiful, young princess (Billie Dove). 94 minutes.

“Perfectly captures [Fairbank’s] relaxed, exuberant optimism… The daring stunts are breathtakingly stylish…, while scenes are shot through with poetic beauty… An added bonus is that the film was shot with two-strip Technicolor, a lovely pastel process that defies description.”  ––Time Out


April 28
7:00 pm  Yojimbo  (Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1961)

A gang war terrorizes a small town until a wandering, unemployed samurai (Toshiro Mifune) offers his services as a yojimbo (bodyguard)––not to the town, but to both gangs at once.  Kurosawa’s action-packed black-comedy masterpiece (derived from Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest) was remade as A Fistful of Dollars, but this is the real deal.  Restored in high definition to its widescreen splendor.  110 minutes.

HHHHSuperb tongue-in-cheek samurai picture.  Mifune is perfection… Beautiful on all counts.”  ––Leonard Maltin

“Boisterous, exhuberant comedy-satire… Kurosawa, in a triumph of bravura technique, makes [the violence] explosively comic and exhilarating.  One of the rare Japanese films that is both great and funny to American audiences.”  ––Pauline Kael


May 5
7:00 pm  The Kid Brother  (Ted Wilde and J.A. Howe, USA, 1927)

Harold Lloyd plays Harold Hickory, a meek, slight country boy.  Harold’s intimidating father, the town’s tough sheriff, deputizes Harold, demanding that he close down a traveling medicine show.  But Harold is smitten by the show’s attractive dancer (Jobyna Ralston).  84 minutes.

HHHH.  Delightfully winning, beautifully filmed comedy with Lloyd as Cinderella-type kid brother in a robust all-male family, who gets to prove his mettle in [an] exciting finale… One of Lloyd’s all-time best.”  ––Leonard Maltin


May 12
7:00 pm 
The Women  (George Cukor, USA, 1939)

A circle of female friends navigate romance and divorce, while discussing their lives, marriages, and men in this lively, witty adaptation of the 1936 Claire Booth Luce play.  Directed by George Cukor (Stage Door, The Philadelphia Story), the extraordinary cast includes Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, Lucile Watson, Marjorie Main, Ruth Hussey, Butterfly McQueen.  132 minutes.

“All star (and all female) cast shines in this hilarious adaptation…”  ––Leonard Maltin

“A real treat…a joyous, unsentimental celebration of womanhood.  And the performances are wonderful.”  ––Time Out

“An over-generous slice of real theatre, skillfully adapted, with rich sets, plenty of laughs, and…memorable scenes.”  ––Halliwell’s Film Guide


May 26
7:00 pm  Forbidden Planet
  (Fred McLeod Wilcox, USA, 1956)

A year 2200 expedition of space travelers is sent to learn what has happened to the colonists of Altair-4 in this sci-fi classic, filmed in color and CinemaScope.  Based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.  Walter Pigeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielson, James Drury, Jack Kelly, Earl Holliman, and Robby the robot.  98 minutes.

“One of the most ambitious and intelligent films of its genre… Great effects, eerie electronic score.  Lavish use of widescreen…”  ––Leonard Maltin

“Classic ‘50s sci-fi… An ingenious script, excellent special effects and photography, and superior acting… make it an endearing winner.”  ––Time Out

“The best of the sci-fi interstellar productions of the 50s…”  ––Pauline Kael.


June 2
7:00 pm  Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton, USA, 1924)
Among Those Present
  (Fred C. Newmeyer, USA, 1924)

Falling asleep on the job as a projectionist, Buster Keaton begins to dream and imagines himself stepping into the movie that is on screen.  Dreaming he is the movie’s hero, Sherlock Holmes, searching for stolen pearls, Buster’s unconscious mind is on a quest for the solution to troubling events in his waking life.  With special effects remarkable even today, it’s a great comedy on the confluence of dreams, movies, and reality.  In Among Those Present, Harold Lloyd is an ambitious coat-room checker persuaded to impersonate an English nobleman.  Without having any prior experience, he leads a fox hunt. 79 minutes.

HHHH.  Sublime.  Keaton reached his pinnacle with this brilliant and hilarious story…”  ––Leonard Maltin

“Keaton’s third feature is an incredible technical accomplishment… Great chase sequence, a veritable cascade of unbelievably complex gags…”  ––Time Out


June 16
7:00 pm  Gone with the Wind  (Victor Fleming, USA, 1939)

Vivian Leigh plays the headstrong Scarlet O’Hara, a young lady in a wealthy Southern plantation family, who is determined to control her own destiny despite social rules, war, and the decline of a life of privilege.  Based on Margaret Mitchell’s historical novel, this spectacular epic romance won 9 Academy Awards and several more nominations.  Clark Gable plays Rhett Butler; with Olivia de Havilland (as Melanie Hamilton), Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilkes), Hattie McDaniel, Evelyn Keyes, Butterfly McQueen, Thomas Mitchell.  Recently restored in high definition.  Technicolor.  238 minutes.

HHHHIf not the greatest movie ever made, certainly one of the greatest examples of storytelling on film…”  ––Leonard Maltin


June 23
7:00 pm  The Love of Jeanne Ney  (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Germany, 1928)

In the Crimea after WWI, young Jeanne (Edith Jehanne) discovers her lover is a Bolshevik implicated in the death of her visiting diplomat father.  She retreats to Paris to work for her uncle’s detective agency, where mysteries and plots accumulate involving her lover, a scheming Russian expatriate (Fritz Rasp), and a stolen diamond.  With Brigitte Helm (Metropolis). 100 minutes.

“Director [Pabst] planned every shot with great particularity, composing the film on the principle of constant motion––of the actors and the action, but also the camera, which nervously seeks out visible clues to the characters' inner states.”  ––Richard T. Jameson


June 30
7:00 pm  How Green Was My Valley  (John Ford, USA, 1941)

Eclipsing Citizen Kane at the Academy Awards in 1941, this film won five well-deserved Oscars:  Best Picture, Direction, Cinematography, Art Direction, Supporting Actor.  Director John Ford (The Grapes of Wrath) poetically depicts––with indelible, beautiful images––a tale of unrequited love, as social strife and economic decline takes its toll on a coal mining family and their 19th century Welsh village.  The mining industry both sustains their village life and buries it in waste.  Warm, eloquent, and environmentally prescient, the film’s period recreation is lovely, yet its message couldn’t be more timely.  Donald Crisp, Maureen O’Hara, Walter Pigeon, Roddy McDowall.  118 minutes.

HHHHBeautifully filmed, lovingly directed…Moving drama from Richard Llewellyn’s story…”  ––Leonard Maltin


July 7
7:00 pm 
Red River  (Howard Hawks, USA, 1948)

Famous for its pairing of Montgomery Clift and John Wayne, Red River is also one of the most beautiful westerns ever photographed.  Thomas Dunson (Wayne) has ruthlessly acquired a cattle empire, but his hard manner and obsession to drive the herd to Abilene causes conflict with his adopted son (Clift).  With Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru, John Ireland.  133 minutes.

HHHHOne of the greatest American adventures is really a western Mutiny on the Bounty… Spellbinding photography, a rousing Dimitri Tiomkin score;  an absolute must.”  ––Leonard Maltin

“A sheer delight… perfectly performed by a host of Hawks regulars, and shot through with dark comedy, it’s probably the finest western of the ‘40s.”  ––Time Out

“A magnificent horse opera.  [The] photography makes the rolling plains the true hero; the setting has epic grandeur…”  ––Pauline Kael


July 14
7:00 pm  The Miracle Worker  (Arthur Penn, USA, 1962)

A determined Irish governess, Annie Sullivan (Ann Bancroft) is hired to teach the young Helen Keller (Patty Duke).  Born blind and deaf, Helen had been heretofore mostly left to her own devices.  With Annie’s arrival, a ferocious battle of wills ensues.  Penn also directed the hit Broadway play, which starred Bancroft and Duke, who then won Oscars for their powerful screen performances.  107 minutes.

“Remarkable screen version of William Gibson’s play… It’s a stunningly impressive piece of work… deriving much of its power from the performances… [Bancroft and Duke] spark off each other with a violence and emotional honesty rarely seen in cinema, lighting up each other’s loneliness, vulnerability, and plain fear.”  ––Time Out

“Austerely beautiful treatment of [the] play… There is absolutely no sentiment, which increases the emotional power of the piece.”  ––Leonard Maltin

Extraordinary.”  ––Pauline Kael


July 21
7:00 pm  A Midsummer Night’s Dream  (Max Reinhardt & William Dieterle, USA, 1935)

In the magical Athenian forest, two pairs of lovers sort through their difficulties with assistance from spirits and fairies in Shakespeare’s comedy.  After the legendary German stage director Max Reinhardt’s production of the play enchanted audiences across Europe, on Broadway, and then to sold-out crowds at the Hollywood Bowl, Warner Bros. invited him to direct this Oscar-winning production.  James Cagney, Dick Powell, Olivia De Havilland, Joe E. Brown, Jean Muir, Ian Hunter, and Mickey Rooney.  117 minutes.

“Perhaps not the most faithful of screen adaptations of Shakespeare, but certainly one of the most charming.  The performances are surprisingly superb––notably Cagney as Bottom and young Rooney as Puck––while visually the movie is a triumph of art direction and photography… the scenes of the fairies wafting through the forest are beautiful enough to bring tears to the eyes.”  ––Time Out

“Shakespeare’s play is treated with remarkable respect in this super-glamorous Hollywood adaptation of the Broadway production by Max Reinhardt.  Much of it comes off, and visually it’s a treat.” ––Halliwell’s Film Guide


The Film Studies Program at Chemeketa Community College offers courses in film appreciation—The Cinema of Alfred Hitchcock this winter. See the College catalog or the quarterly Schedule of Classes or contact Steve Slemenda at 503.399.6237 for further information.

 Historic Elsinore Theatre 170 High St SE, Salem OR 97301   503.375.3574 

All films at the Historic Elsinore Theatre.  Box office and doors open at 6 pm, movies begin at 7 pm.

 Films subject to change.

Wednesday Film Series Sponsor: 

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