The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Thursday, September 27 (7:30 p.m.)
Trouble in Paradise (Paramount, 1932)
The “Lubitsch Touch”–an easy comedic elegance which characterized the films of director Ernst Lubitsch–is epitomized in this frothy gem starring Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins as professional thieves who fall in love while plundering the Riviera. Saucy dialog delivered with mock melodrama runs rampant amidst sophisticated promiscuity when Marshall is bewitched by the wealthy Parisienne he intends to fleece (Kay Francis), the thieves find they’re not as thick as they thought. In addition to the witty script by Samson Raphaelson, the film is enhanced by the stunning art deco sets of Hans Dreier, and the glamorous costumes by Travis Banton for Hopkins and Francis. Added to the National Film Registry in 1991. 35mm archival print, 83 min.
Friday, September 28 (7:30 p.m.)
Gunga Din (RKO, 1939)
George Stevens directed this adventure epic suggested by the Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name and his short story “Soldiers Three.” The screenplay was the brainchild of Joel Sayre, Fred Guiol, and the writing team of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. star as eternally brawling British sergeants in colonial India, with Sam Jaffe as their faithful Indian water bearer, Gunga Din. Grant and McLaglen scheme to keep Fairbanks in the army after he’s announced his intentions to retire and marry the lovely Emmy (Joan Fontaine); meanwhile the sergeants are tasked with quelling a revolution by a fanatical religious cult. Shot on location in Lone Pine, California, Gunga Din was the studio’s most prestigious picture to date and was rereleased several times in the next decade. The film was added to the National Film Registry in 1999. 35mm film print produced by the Library of Congress Film Preservation Lab in 1995, 117 min.
Saturday, September 29 (2 p.m.)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney, 1937)
Walt Disney’s groundbreaking Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs–the first American animated feature film and a warm and joyful rendition of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale–is still in a class by itself. In addition to winning an Honorary Academy Award as a “significant screen innovation, which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field,” the film was also nominated for best musical score. The animated classic was named to the National Film Registry in the registry’s inaugural year, 1989. 35mm archival print, 83 min.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.