The following is a guest post by Matt Barton, Curator of Recorded Sound at the Library of Congress.
Friday, April 15 (7:30 p.m.)
Play Misty for Me (Universal, 1971 – R-rated *)
Late-night jazz disc jockey and inveterate playboy Clint Eastwood plays the field like he plays records on his show, but meets his match when he becomes involved with a dangerously obsessed fan played by Jessica Walter. Play Misty for Me was shot memorably on location by Bruce Surtees around Eastwood’s home of Carmel-by-the-Sea and at the Monterey Jazz Festival, where Cannonball Adderly and Johnny Otis are seen. Eastwood and Surtees had worked together earlier in the year on Don Siegel’s The Beguiled, and would collaborate on 11 features over the next 20 years. This was Eastwood’s directorial debut and proved to be a major hit. In addition to Errol Garner’s classic rendition of Misty, the soundtrack includes Roberta Flack’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, a little-known 1969 recording that subsequently became an international pop hit and beloved standard. *No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian. 102 minutes.
Saturday, April 16 (7:30 p.m.)
An Evening of Old-Time Radio with the Metropolitan Washington Old-Time Radio Club
Club members will re-create three broadcasts complete with sound effects and live music from the Golden Age of Radio: a 1940 episode of the soap opera, John’s Other Wife, a 1936 episode of the children’s series Little Orphan Annie (two examples of daily, 15 minute radio serials), and a 1949 episode of the private-eye series Pat Novak for Hire, a self-contained thirty minute evening program. Founded in 1984, the Metropolitan Washington Old-Time Radio Club honors, collects and preserves information on vintage radio, meeting each month in Northern Virginia. Members have hosted OTR panel discussions and made presentations at the Smithsonian Institute, NOVA College, The National Air and Space Museum, The Newseum, and for numerous senior citizens’ groups and retirement homes. Last August, the club performed before a capacity crowd here at The Packard Theater, so come early for the best seats! Special guest Ben Model will provide musical accompaniment on the theater organ.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.