The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Thursday, August 23 (7:30 p.m.)
The Age of Innocence (Columbia, 1993)
Martin Scorsese, in a departure from his usual gritty crime epics, directed this opulent adaptation of Edith Wharton’s 1921 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of manners and social mores in 19th-century New York. Daniel Day Lewis stars as a well-connected, socially correct lawyer, who risks his future place in society when he falls in love with his fiancé’s May’s married cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer). The film won an Oscar for Costume Design, and Winona Ryder was nominated in the supporting acting category for her nuanced performance as the charming but passive May. Other nominations included art direction, the score by Elmer Bernstein, and the screenplay by Scorsese and film critic Jay Cocks. Rated PG. 35mm archival print, 139 min.
Friday, August 24 (7:30 p.m.)
Magnificent Obsession (Universal, 1935)
Robert Taylor stars as self-absorbed millionaire playboy Robert Merrick whose reckless ways indirectly cause the death of a beloved local doctor. As Merrick tries to make amends to the man’s widow, Helen (Irene Dunne), his long journey from selfish cad to compassionate savior becomes a magnificent obsession. John M. Stahl directed this first film adaptation of Lloyd C. Douglas’ 1929 best-selling novel that had been something of a phenomenon for its message of enriching one’s own life through philanthropy and acts of compassion done in secret. Later remade by Douglas Sirk and starring Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman, this romantic drama was a big hit that catapulted Taylor, up until then a light leading man, to stardom. 35mm archival print, 112 min.
Saturday, August 25 (7:30 p.m.)
Brokeback Mountain (Focus, 2005)
Set against the sweeping vistas of Wyoming and Texas, Brokeback Mountain is the story of two young men–a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy–who meet in the summer of 1963 when they are hired as sheep herders, and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection that provides a testament to the endurance and power of love. Starring Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Williams, the film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won three: Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Adapted Screenplay (Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry), and Best Original Score (Gustavo Santaolalla). Adapted from the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx, winner of the 2018 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. MPAA Rated R for sexuality, nudity, language and some violence. No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian. 35mm archival print.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.