The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson, an Administrative Assistant at the Packard Campus.
Thursday, October 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Back to the Future (Universal, 1985)
Writer/director Robert Zemeckis explored the possibilities of special effects in the 1985 box-office smash Back to the Future. With his writing partner Bob Gale, Zemeckis tells the tale of accidental time-traveler Marty McFly. Stranded in the year 1955, Marty (Michael J. Fox)—with the help of Dr. Emmett Brown (played masterfully over-the-top by Christopher Lloyd)—must not only find a way home, but also teach his father how to become a man, repair the space/time continuum, and save his family from being erased from existence. In addition to all of this, he must fight off the advances of his then-teenage mother. This sci-fi comedy adventure was the highest grossing film of 1985 and led to two sequels which are also scheduled this month. It was selected for preservation in the 2007 edition of the National Film Registry. 116 min.
Friday, October 16 (7:30 p.m.)
It Happens Every Spring (20th Century-Fox, 1949)
Chemistry professor Vernon Simpson (Ray Milland) accidentally discovers a mixture that causes baseballs to repel wooden surfaces–such as baseball bats. He leaves academia behind to sign with a major league team as a pitcher, becoming a sensation as he throws screwballs doctored with his solution. Lloyd Bacon directed this baseball comedy that also stars Jean Peters, Paul Douglas and Ed Begley. It Happens Every Spring received an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay, for Shirley W. Smith and Valentine Davies. 87 min.
Saturday, October 17 (7:30 p.m.)
Tin Cup (Warner Bros., 1996 R-rated*)
Eight years after his smash hit directorial debut, the baseball classic Bull Durham, Ron Shelton reunited with the star of that film for another successful romantic sports comedy, Tin Cup. Kevin Costner plays Roy McAvoy, a washed-up golf pro who owns a second-rate driving range in West Texas. The beautiful Dr. Molly Griswold (Rene Russo) shows up for golf lessons one day and soon inspires Roy to try and qualify for the U.S. Open. Don Johnson and Cheech Marin appear in winning comic roles as, respectively, the hero’s nemesis and the hero’s guy Friday. Kevin Costner trained for the role with pro-golfer Gary McCord, who has a cameo appearance in the film as a golf commentator. 135 min. * No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian.
For more information on our programs, please visit the web site at www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.