From our friends at the National Theatre...
The glamour and magic of the Golden Age of Hollywood comes alive when The National Theatre presents FREE film retrospectives profiling the careers of the legendary actors, directors and producers who shaped the American cinema.
Screenings take place in the intimate Helen Hayes Gallery of The National Theatre on select Monday evenings at 6:30 PM throughout the year. Free tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis 30 minutes prior to screening – one ticket per person in line. Films can sell out, so arrive early to assure your place in line and avoid disappointment.
Monday Night Cinema at The National is made possible by the generous contributions of chuckFAZIOphotography, Baldwin Graphics, and the members of The National Theatre Circle.
This summer's schedule...
June 17 – Rear Window
Confined to a wheelchair in a stuffy studio apartment, a photographer spends the day staring out a window studying the lives of his unsuspecting neighbors in the apartments across the courtyard. When the nagging, bed-ridden wife of a henpecked husband suddenly disappears, the photographer relies on his insatiably curious girlfriend and his no-nonsense nurse to investigate his sinister suspicion of murder. Co-starring Grace Kelly and Thelma Ritter, Paramount, not rated, 112 minutes, color, 1955.
June 24 – The Philadelphia Story
Tracy Lord, a spoiled and snobby socialite, is engaged to a stuffy executive when her congenial ex-husband arrives to protect his former in-laws from a wedding-crasher reporter writing a tabloid exposé. The muckraker falls for Tracy as her wedding day arrives, throwing her into a dizzying state of premarital jitters that begs the question: just who will join Tracy at the altar? Co-starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, MGM, directed by George Cukor, not rated, 112 minutes, B&W, 1940.
July 1 – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Audiences still cheer for Frank Capra’s dramatic comedy about a wide-eyed Washington outsider appointed to the U.S. Senate by political fat cats with a graft scheme for a pork barrel dam. When the idealistic senator tries to derail the corrupt project, his state’s political machine manufactures a scandal to destroy him. Taking the Senate floor, the maligned senator filibusters the bill to expose the truth. Co-starring Jean Arthur and Claude Rains, Columbia, directed by Frank Capra, not rated, 130 min, B&W, 1939.
July 8 – Destry Rides Again
Tom Destry is a tough lawman who doesn’t like guns. That could pose a problem when a saloon keeper and a corrupt mayor plan to rob the local cowpokes blind, with the help of a sultry saloon singer named Frenchy. Filled with rousing musical numbers including “See What the Boys in the Backroom Will Have”, everyone is sure to enjoy this exciting Western! Co-starring Marlene Dietrich, Universal, directed by George Marshall, not rated, 95 minutes, B&W, 1939.
July 15 – Rope
Demonstrating their intellectual superiority, two thrill-seeking roommates strangle a college chum and invite the victim’s family and friends to a cold buffet dinner served on a trunk containing the still-warm body. Their professor becomes suspicious when dinner conversation settles on how to commit the perfect murder and his fear that his students’ cerebral meditation is a brutal reality. Co-starring Farley Granger and John Dall, Transatlantic Pictures and Warner Bros., not rated, 81 minutes, color, 1948.
July 22 – Harvey
What’s a good natured fellow like Elwood to do when his constant companion is a six-foot tall white rabbit named Harvey only he can see? To his humiliated sister, Veta, the only solution is to place Elwood and his imaginary friend in a mental institution. When a hilarious mix-up commits Veta instead, it is up to Elwood and Harvey to set the world right-side-up again. Co-starring Josephine Hull, Universal, directed by Henry Koster, not rated, 105 minutes, B&W, 1950.
July 29 – Anatomy of a Murder
A steely big-city prosecutor is pitted against a down-on-his-luck attorney defending an army lieutenant in a case involving assault, alleged rape and murder. Although his wife supports her husband’s story, there is no forensic evidence that a crime was committed. Emotions flare in this courtroom drama where jealousy, seduction, insanity and moral ambiguity are on trial and truth exists only in shades of gray. Co-starring Lee Remick, George C. Scott, Ben Gazzara and Eve Arden, Columbia, directed by Otto Preminger, not rated, 160 minutes, B&W, 1959.
August 5 – The Flight of the Phoenix
After crash landing in the middle of the Sahara Desert, survivors engage in a desperate battle against sandstorms, marauding bandits and their own rising panic. With no hope of rescue from the outside world and a dwindling supply of water, one man claims that an aircraft can be constructed out of the wreckage, providing their only hope for survival. Co-starring Richard Attenborough, Hardy Krüger, Peter Finch, Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy, 20th Century-Fox, directed by Robert Aldrich, not rated, 142 min, color, 1965.
