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9.11.09 - 10.31.09
SCHOOL DAYS It’s that time of year when eager young minds return to the dorms and the hallowed halls of academe—a milieu that Hollywood has turned to again and again to take the pulse of America’s youth. The Archive presents a survey of films set in college environments that explore the ever changing on-screen image of campus life as well as its recurring themes. From flapper escapades to student sit-ins, the films in this series represent the university as a place of discovery—although rarely in the classroom—where newfound freedoms can open the door to painful truths or else spontaneous song and dance numbers. Friday September 18 2009, 7:30PM ( Online Ticket Sales Ended )
Newly Restored
DRIVE, HE SAID
(1971) Directed by Jack Nicholson  All college senior Hector wants to do is play basketball. At least, that’s what he thought. As student radicals, lead by Hector’s roommate, stir things up and his fling with a professor’s wife gets complicated, Hector begins to question everything that once seemed so clear. In his directorial debut, Jack Nicholson strips the usual campus coming-of-age story of clichés and artifice to present a sharp, smart portrait of college life in the 1960s. Columbia Pictures. Based on the novel by Jeremy Larner. Producer: Steve Blauner, Jack Nicholson. Screenwriter: Jack Nicholson, Jeremy Larner. Cinematographer: Bill Butler. Cast: William Tepper, Karen Black, Michael Margotta, Bruce Dern. DVcam, 95 min. Sunday September 20 2009, 7:00PM* ( Online Ticket Sales Ended )
THE FRESHMAN
(1925) Directed by Sam Taylor and Fred Newmeyer  In this hilarious spoof of the college-set films that Hollywood churned out in the 1920s, Harold Lloyd plays a hapless freshman who sets out to become Big Man on Campus by mimicking the manners of the movie collegians with whom he is obsessed. A perfect showcase for Lloyd’s comedic skills, The Freshman proved to be one of the most successful films of his career.
Musical accompaniment will be provided by Cliff Retallick. * Please note the early start time. Friday September 25 2009, 7:30PM ( Online Ticket Sales Ended )
THE WILD PARTY
(1929) Directed by Dorothy Arzner  Paramount's first sound feature, The Wild Party was conceived as a vehicle for silent superstar Clara Bow. A light-hearted comedy set at an exclusive women's college, the film features Bow as the most popular party girl in a dorm full of high-spirited flapper coeds. Critically acclaimed and a box office success, The Wild Party also helped establish director Dorothy Arzner in the sound era. HORSE FEATHERS
(1932) Directed by Norman McLeod  The Marx Brothers turn their inimitable comic anarchy lose on the campus Huxley U. where Groucho, as Prof. Quincy Adams Wagstaff, has just been installed as Dean. There’s a plot involving the college widow and the big football game but who cares? The Brothers’ fourth outing with Paramount and their second with director Norman Z. McLeod, Horse Feathers is one of the funniest of their career. Wednesday September 30 2009, 7:30PM ( Online Ticket Sales Ended )
TEA AND SYMPATHY
(1956) Directed by Vincente Minnelli  To appease the MPAA, MGM diluted the controversial content (homosexuality, adultery) of Robert Anderson's hit Broadway play, but Minnelli nevertheless fashioned a moving film about a sensitive prep school student befriended by a neglected older woman. Schoolboy antics and homosocial rituals are surveyed by Minnelli with a bemused eye, but the pain of the protagonist's adolescent confusion is sincerely handled. MGM. Based on the play by Robert Anderson. Producer: Pandro S. Berman. Screenplay: Robert Anderson. Cinematographer: John Alton. Editor: Ferris Webster. Cast: Deborah Kerr, John Kerr, Leif Erickson, Edward Andrews, Darryl Hickman. 35mm, 122 min. |