Thursday, May 3 (7:30 p.m.)
Overboard (MGM/UA, 1987)
Spoiled heiress Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn) hires carpenter Dean Proffitt (Kurt Russell) to build a closet on her yacht, then refuses to pay when the project is completed. When Joanna accidentally falls overboard and loses her memory, Dean takes advantage of the situation to seek revenge. This romantic comedy was directed by Garry Marshall and includes Edward Herrmann, Katherine Helmond and Roddy McDowell (who also co-produced the film) in the cast. Overboard was the third and final movie that real-life couple Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell starred in together. A role-reversal remake starring Anna Farris and Eugenio Derbez is scheduled for release on May 4, 2018. 106 min.
Friday, May 4 (7:30 p.m.)
Rachel and the Stranger (RKO, 1948)
William Holden stars as a widowed farmer who takes an indentured servant, Rachel (Loretta Young), as his new wife, a marriage intended to be in name only, to help care for his son. The arrival of his old friend, a smooth-talking drifter (Robert Mitchum), threatens the burgeoning relationship of the bride and groom. Directed by Norman Foster, this charming pioneer love story was a box office hit and earned screen writer Waldo Salt a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Written American Western. 80 min.
Saturday, May 5 (2 p.m.)
The Last Starfighter (Universal, 1984)
Trailer-park teenager Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) has become an expert at the video game Starfighter, which attracts the attention of a seemingly genial stranger (Robert Preston). The stranger turns out to be an alien in charge of a Star League who recruits Alex to fight in a real live-or-die battle with the wicked Kodan forces in outer space. Directed by Nick Castle Jr. The Last Starfighter is one of the earliest films to employ extensive computer-generated imagery (CGI), used in the film to depict its many starships, environments and battle scenes. This was Robert Preston’s final role on the big screen, and his character, a “lovable con-man,” paid homage to his most famous role as Harold Hill in The Music Man (1962). 101 min.
Saturday, May 5 (7:30 p.m.)
Bell, Book and Candle (Columbia, 1958)
Two months after completing work on Alfred Hitchock’s Vertigo, James Stewart and Kim Novak were reteamed for this romantic comedy based on the successful Broadway play by John Van Druten. Novak plays Gillian Holroyd, a witch in Greenwich Village, who admires from afar her neighbor, publisher Shep Henderson (Stewart). When she finds out that he is engaged to her old college enemy, Gillian casts a love spell on Shep, but then falls for him for real – a dilemma as witches who fall in love lose their supernatural powers. Rounding out the supporting cast are Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold and Elsa Lanchester and Pyewacket as Gillian’s Siamese cat and spirit guide. Directed by Richard Quine, “Bell, Book and Candle” received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction (Cary Odell and Louis Diage) and Best Costume Design (Jean Louis). 106 min.
Thursday, May 10 (7:30 p.m.)
The Sting (Universal, 1973)
Robert Redford plays a Great Depression-era conman seeking revenge on the racketeer (Robert Shaw) responsible for the murder of his mentor. He enlists the aid of confidence artist extraordinaire Paul Newman to gather together an impressive array of con men eager to settle the score with Shaw. One of the biggest hits of the early ’70s, The Sting picked up seven Oscars including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Best Adapted Score for Marvin Hamlisch’s unforgettable setting of Scott Joplin’s ragtime music. The film was added to the National Film Registry in 2005. Rated PG. 129 min.
Friday, May 11 (7:30 p.m.)
Sahara (Columbia, 1943)
The Packard Campus Theater is presenting three films to commemorate the 75th anniversary of significant events of WWII from May 11 – 17. The action in Sahara takes place in Libya during the Western Desert Campaign and was released just six months after the surrender of Axis forces in North Africa. Setting out to rejoin the American command after the fall of Tobruk, American tank commander Sgt. Joe Gunn (Humphrey Bogart) and his U.S. crew pick up five British soldiers, a Frenchman, and a Sudanese man with an Italian prisoner as they cross the Libyan Desert. The group becomes a microcosm of the Allied forces as they work together to defeat a much larger German unit. Directed by Zoltan Korda, this tense and exciting drama received widespread critical acclaim and three Oscar nominations including Best Supporting Actor for J. Carrol Naish as the Italian prisoner. 97 min.
Saturday, May 12 (7:30 p.m.)
The Pianist (Focus Features, 2002 – R-Rated*)
Adrien Brody won the Academy Award for Best actor for his sensitive portrayal of famed Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman as he struggles to survive the onslaught of Nazi tyranny during World War II in this drama based on his memoirs. A composer and pianist, Szpilman was playing live on the radio in Warsaw when the station was bombed during Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland. Szpilman and his family were soon forced from their home into the overcrowded Warsaw Ghetto. He later aided the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (April 19 – May 16, 1943), the largest single revolt by Jews during World War II. Szpilman eventually reclaimed his artistic gifts, and confronted his fears–with aid from an unlikely source. The film also won Oscars for Best Director (Roman Polanski) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ronald Harwood) and was nominated for Best Picture of the year. 150 min. *No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian.
Thursday, May 17 (7:30 p.m.)
The Dam Busters (Warner Bros., 1955)
This British epic war film depicts the true story of the May 16, 1943 “Operation Chastise,” when the RAF’s 617 Squadron attacked the Ruhr dams in Nazi Germany with British engineer Barnes Wallis’s bouncing bomb, an explosive designed to drop into reservoirs and cause massive flooding to Germany’s industrial hub. The Dam Busters takes a documentary-like approach, focusing in the first part on the development and testing of the special bomb and in the second section, the carefully orchestrated preparations for the mission and its execution. The film was a financial and critical success, receiving special praise for its accuracy, direction, cinematography and special effects. Directed by Michael Anderson, the first rate British cast includes Michael Redgrave, Richard Todd, Derek Farr and Basil Sydney. 118 min.
Friday, May 18 – Closed
Saturday, May 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Emile Pandolfi – Live
Premier pianist Emile Pandolfi will perform a program of popular music. Receiving his degree in piano performance and best known for his arrangements, Emile’s favorite music to arrange comes from Broadway musicals. “In addition to being melodically fulfilling, these songs usually contain meaningful lyrics and lend themselves to interesting arrangement.” In many of his arrangements one can hear the influence of his favorite composers, Rachmaninoff, Debussy and Chopin, accounting for the sensitivity and passion with which he plays. Recording since 1991, the pianist‘s CDs of familiar music have sold well over three million copies nationally. This has earned Emile the distinction of being the top-selling artist in the alternative music industry, distributed primarily in specialty, gift and book shops across the nation. Now with 30+ albums, most major online retailers also carry his music for download and he can be streamed from internet radio stations all over the world. Tickets are required for this free event and can be reserved at https://emile.eventbrite.com.
Sunday, May 20 (7:30 p.m.)
M2duO – Live
Made up of violinist Machiko Ozawa and pianist Makia Matsumura, the M2duO are often billed as a “Japanese tango duo.” Ozawa and Matsumura both graduated from The Tokyo University of Arts, and studied at The Juilliard School. They started performing together at the Café Mozart in New York City’s Upper West Side where they started to play Astor Piazzolla’s tango scores and went on to arrange and play oldies from their home country reinvented as tango pieces. Aside from their growing love for tango, they have each pursued their own unique paths: for Ozawa, it was “tap violin” (tap-dancing while performing the violin) and new sounds with the electric violin; for Matsumura, it was silent film accompaniment. Such individual musical adventures have added more depth, range, fun, and originality to their performance as a duo, making them the unique ensemble you hear today. In this special evening, the M2duO will present their all-time favorites – Piazzolla, Japanese-oldies-turned-tango– as well as their originals with Ozawa on her electric violin. Tickets are required for this free event and can be reserved at https://m2duo.eventbrite.com.
Thursday, May 24 (7:30 p.m.)
The Prince and the Pauper (Warner Bros., 1937)
In this rousing adaptation of Mark Twain’s novel set in Tudor England, the discontented Prince Edward (Bobby Mauch) trades places with penniless Tom Canty (Billy Mauch) – a dead ringer for the young royal. When the contemptable Earl of Hertford (Claude Rains) discovers the switch, he attempts to use it as a ploy to seize the throne. Top-billed Errol Flynn appears as soldier of fortune Miles Hendon, who befriends the boys and helps to save the day throughout a series of perilous adventures. Directed by Warner Brothers veteran William Keighley, the film features a lush score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. 118 min.
Thursday, May 31 (7:30 p.m.)
Jazz Legends on The Ed Sullivan Show (CBS TV, 1955-1970)
This program of renowned jazz musicians on Ed Sullivan’s popular television variety series will include performances by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Peggy Lee, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Rahsaan Roland Kirk with Charles Mingus, Errol Garner, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and rare footage of the Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded at his home in the Berkeley Hills in California. Many of these performances have not been seen since their original airdates. The Ed Sullivan Show (CBS, 1948-1971) was a landmark television program, and unquestionably one of the most important chronicles of mid-20th century popular culture. The Motion Picture, Broadcast and Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress acquired master material – original 16mm kinescopes and 2-inch video tape – of all 1030 hours of the show from the current owner, Sofa Entertainment, and simultaneously arranged to purchase new Beta SP preservation video copies.