The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Thursday, May 18 (7:30 p.m.)
Best in Show (Warner Bros., 2000)
This satirical look at the world of championship dog breeding and competition tracks several canine contestants and their handlers as they prepare for the prestigious Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show. Among the challengers vying for top honors are Harlan Pepper (director Christopher Guest) and his Bloodhound Hubert,;Gerry and Cookie Fleck (Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara), with their Norwich Terrier Winky; and Meg and Hamilton Swan (Parker Posey, Michael Hitchcock), with their Weimaraner Beatrice. This semi-improvised comedy mockumentary won American, British, and Canadian Comedy Awards as well as Special Recognition from the National Board of Review for excellence in filmmaking.
Friday, May 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Honky Tonk (MGM, 1941)
Clark Gable stars as frontier con artist Candy Johnson who, along with his pal Sniper (Chill Wills), sneak onto a train bound for gold rush country in Nevada to avoid being tarred and feathered for recent misdeeds. Aboard, he meets and falls for the beautiful Boston-bred Elizabeth Cotton (Lana Turner) and soon discovers that she is the daughter his old acquaintance and former crook, “Judge” Cotton (Frank Morgan). Honky Tonk was such a hit that MGM immediately paired Gable and Turner again, in Somewhere I’ll Find You (1942), and they went on to make two more films together. Also on the program is the 1941 Warner Bros. cartoon Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt.
Saturday, May 20 (7:30 p.m.)
Silent Movie Double Feature
The Last Edition (FBO, 1925)
With a plot involving gangsters, corruption and a massive fire at a newspaper office, The Last Edition, filmed on location at the San Francisco Chronicle, is one of the few journalism-themed movies to cover the newspaper production process –from commissioning desk to printing press. Ralph Lewis stars in the pivotal role as a pressman running one of the big machines that churn out a seemingly endless line of finished newsprint. Directed by Emory Johnson, the cast includes Lila Leslie, Ray Hallor, and Frances Teague. A reviewer for the New York Morning Telegraph summed up the general opinion best, saying that it “has the merit, uncommon in most newspaper pictures, of being accurate in every detail.” The 35 mm film print being shown is a recent restoration funded by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival from the only known surviving print of the film, discovered at the EYE Film Instituut Netherlands.
The Final Extra (Lumas, 1927)
Aspiring young newspaper columnist Pat Riley (Grant Withers) investigates the death of the paper’s ace reporter Tom Collins (Frank Beal), who is killed while working on a bootlegging story. Assisting Pat is the victim’s daughter, Ruth (Marguerite De La Motte), a showgirl in a new musical revue being produced by a shady impresario (John Miljan). James P. Hogan directed this mystery that combines backstage drama, romance and the power of the press. Andrew Simpson will provide live musical accompaniment for both features.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.