The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson, an Administrative Assistant at the Packard Campus.
September guest programmer Rachel Parker offers more entertaining selections.
Thursday, September 17 (7:30 p.m.)
What Dreams May Come (Polygram, 1998)
Robin Williams stars as physician Chris Nielsen who, after dying in car accident and going to heaven, discovers that his wife Annie (Annabella Sciorra), inconsolable after the loss of her husband only a few years after also losing their two children, commits suicide and goes to Hell. Risking eternal damnation, Nielson leaves paradise and embarks on an epic journey to save his spouse from Hades. Based on a 1978 metaphysical novel by Richard Matheson, this romantic fantasy-drama won an Oscar for best visual effects and was nominated for best art direction. Cuba Gooding Jr. and Max von Sydow are also in the cast. 113 min.
Friday, September 18 (7:30 p.m.) Silent Movie Double Feature
Broken Hearts of Broadway (Irving Cummings Productions, 1923)
This rags-to-riches Broadway drama stars Colleen Moore in one of her first starring roles as stage-struck country girl Mary Ellis who arrives in New York and lands a job in the chorus line with the help of her gold-digging friend, Bubbles Revere (Alice Lake). Mary is soon fired when she turns down the advances of one of the show’s owners. Although she has by then found romance with struggling songwriter George Colton (Johnnie Walker), Mary is ready to give up and go home, when shockingly, she is arrested for murder. 85 min.
Lights of Old Broadway (MGM, 1925)
Marion Davies plays a dual role as twin sisters Fely and Anne O’Tandy, who are orphaned on a ship sailing from Ireland to America. Fely is taken in by a family that lives in an Irish shantytown on the edge of New York and grows up to become a singer in a pub, while Anne is adopted by a wealthy family, the de Rhondes, and becomes a society girl in New York. Romance comes in the form of Dirk de Rhonde (Conrad Nagel), who falls for the poor sister after they meet during a shantytown uprising. Monta Bell directed this drama that was produced by William Randolph Hearst’s Cosmopolitan Productions. Ben Model will provide live musical accompaniment for both features. 70 min.
Saturday, September 19 (2 p.m.)
“More Lame Brains & Lunatics” (1915 – 1920)
Following his crowd-pleasing compilation of rarely-seen silent comedy shorts in October, 2013, Steve Massa, author of “Lame Brains & Lunatics: The Good, The Bad, and The Forgotten of Silent Comedy,” returns to the Library of Congress Packard Campus Theater with another program of laughs from the past. Drawn from the Library’s collection, the films give an appreciative look at forgotten (by some) comedians. Titles include: Her First Flame (1919) with Gale Henry, Speed to Spare (1920) with Snub Pollard, Tweedledum’s Scrambled Honeymoon (1916) with Marcel Perez, and The Bogus Booking Agents (1915) with Lloyd Hamilton & Bud Duncan. Ben Model will provide live musical accompaniment for the afternoon line-up of fun. 70 min.
For more information on our programs, please visit the web site at www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.