The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Thursday, July 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Pre-Code Double Feature
Downstairs (MGM, 1932)
John Gilbert stars as an unscrupulous chauffer who, soon after getting hired by a Baron and his wife (Reginald Owen and Olga Baclanova), proceeds to exploit both the mistresses of the house upstairs and the servants downstairs. Directed by Monta Bell, this adult drama also features Paul Lukas and Virginia Bruce as the newlywed butler and maid of the household. Film critic Leonard Maltin wrote: “Gilbert delivers an audacious performance that more than any other redeems his maligned reputation as a ‘talkie’ actor; he also gets story credit for the film.” During the production Gilbert and Virginia Bruce fell in love and were married a week after the film’s premiere. 77 min. 35mm archival print.
Secret Sinners (Mayfair Pictures, 1933)
Margie Dodd (Cecilia Parker) lands a spot in the chorus of a night club variety show her friends (Sue Carol and Nick Stuart) are in. Margie and her pals soon befriend Jeff Gilbert (Jack Mulhall), a friendly incognito millionaire who wants to mingle with the show folks. Gilbert helps Jimmy to get a music publishing business going but fails to mention to the besotted Margie that he’s still married – with a vengeful wife to boot. This back-stage drama features several entertaining and eccentric novelty acts along the way. 70 min. 35mm print produced by the Library of Congress Film Preservation lab in 2000.
Friday, July 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Edge of Darkness (Warner Bros., 1943)
Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan star in this powerful drama about a small Norwegian fishing village whose residents rise up and revolt against the occupying Nazis. Robert Rossen adapted the script from the 1942 novel The Edge of Darkness by William Woods which was published on April 9, the second anniversary of the German invasion of Norway. Also in the cast are Walter Huston, Judith Anderson and Ruth Gordon. Directed by Lewis Milestone, this film was a change in tone from his earlier anti-war masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Milestone was quoted as saying, “That film (AQWF) embodied the retrospective disillusionment toward another war. In Edge of Darkness, we are making a picture that has done away with disillusionment. We know the enemy we are fighting and we are facing the stern realities of the present war. The moral is that ‘united we stand, divided we fall.’ That is the keystone for victory in all the democracies.” 120 min. 35mm archival print.
Saturday, July 28 (2 p.m.)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Paramount, 1971)
Author Roald Dahl adapted his own novel, Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley wrote a memorable musical score, and producer David Wolper wisely cast Gene Wilder as Wonka in this film musical about a contest put on by an often-sadistic candy maker. Harkening back to the classic Hollywood musicals, Willy Wonka is surreal, yet playful at the same time, and suffused with Harper Goff’s jaw-dropping color sets, which richly live up to the fanciful world found in one of the film’s signature songs “Pure Imagination.” Wilder’s brilliant portrayal of the enigmatic Wonka caused theatergoers to like and fear Wonka at the same time, while the hallucinogenic tunnel sequence has traumatized children (and adults) for decades. Added to the National Film Registry in 2014. Rated G, 100 min. Digital presentation.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.