The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Friday, September 30 (7:30 p.m.)
How to Marry a Millionaire (20th Century-Fox, 1953)
Resourceful Schatze Page (Lauren Bacall), spunky Loco Dempsey (Betty Grable), and ditzy Pola Debevoise (Marilyn Monroe) pool their resources to rent a luxurious New York penthouse for a month with a plan to trap rich eligible bachelors. William Powell, Rory Calhoun, David Wayne, Alex D’Arcy, Fred Clark and Cameron Mitchell round out the ensemble cast as prospective “catches” for the three women. Written and produced by Nunnaly Johnson, “How to Marry a Millionaire” was the first film ever to be photographed in the new CinemaScope wide-screen process, although it was the second Cinemascope film to be released, after “The Robe.” Jean Negulesco directed this romantic comedy which was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film of the Year. Negulesco made his reputation at Warner Brothers by directing short subjects, two of which will be screened before the feature: At the Stroke of Twelve (1941) based on a short story by Damon Runyon, and Jan Garber and His Orchestra (1941).
Saturday, October 1 (2 p.m.)
The In-Laws (Warner Bros., 1979)
Alan Arkin stars as a mild mannered dentist who quickly grows skeptical about his daughter’s future father-in-law Vince (Peter Falk), who claims to be a CIA agent. But when he’s dragged into a bizarre and dangerous adventure in a banana republic, Arkin fears that either Vince is telling the truth or he is delusional. New York Times critic Janet Maslin wrote in her review that, “I found I was laughing so hard at The In-Laws, a wonderful new comedy of errors, […] that after a while I was crying. Then I was wiping my eyes. Then I forgot to take any more notes.” Director Arthur Hiller who passed away on August 17, 2016 wrote in an unpublished memoir: “I always thought my tombstone would read ‘Arthur (Love Story [his most famous film]) Hiller,’ but I get more comments on The In-Laws than any other film I directed.… I thought we made a first-rate film, and I just loved it, but I didn’t expect the level of love that hundreds and hundreds have told or written me about.”
Saturday, October 1 (7:30 p.m.)
The Hospital (United Artists, 1971)
Director Arthur Hiller toggles between comedy and tragedy, the real and the surreal, to depict “a microcosm for all the ills of contemporary society” and a vision of health care that looks frighteningly prescient. Paddy Chayefsky(Marty, Network), won his second of three Best Screenplay Oscars for this satire set in a Manhattan teaching hospital whose façade and staff both seem to be crumbling. George C. Scott portrays a beleaguered physician, a character far less in control than the five-star general he portrayed in “Patton” the year before. That earlier role had earned him a Best Actor Oscar, which he famously declined, and The Hospital earned him another nomination. The cast also includes Diana Rigg, Barnard Hughes and Richard A. Dysart. The Hospital was added to the National Film Registry in 1995.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.