Wednesday, November 28th, 2018, at 7:00 p.m.
Every month, films from the Library’s collection are shown at the Mary Pickford Theater in the James Madison building, ranging from titles newly preserved by the National Audio Visual Conservation Center film lab, classics from the National Film Registry, and lesser known titles worthy of discovery.
NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY
Each year, the Librarian of Congress selects 25 films of enduring importance to American culture for inclusion in the National Film Registry. The selection takes into account thousands of titles nominated annually by the public, as well as recommendations of the National Film Preservation Board and the Library’s film curators. Once a film is inducted into the Registry, the Library determines if it has already been preserved, and, if not, seeks to ensure that it eventually will be preserved by the institution or individual holding the best master material. In anticipation of next month’s announcement of a new batch of inductees, the Pickford Theater will screen two classics already on the Registry as “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” works, both in new 35mm prints made from the studios’ preservation elements for the Library’s National Film Registry Collection.
On Wednesday, November 28th, we present:
THE LOST WEEKEND (Paramount, 1945). Directed by Billy Wilder. Screenplay by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder, based on the novel of the same name by Charles R. Jackson. With Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva, Doris Dowling, Frank Faylen. (101 min, black & white, 35mm).
An uncompromising look at the devastating effects of alcoholism, this landmark social-problem film seamlessly combines documentary realism with expressionistic flourishes to immerse viewers in the harrowing experiences of an aspiring New York writer willing to do almost anything for a drink. Made despite opposition from the studio, the Hays Office, and the liquor industry, “The Lost Weekend” was ranked as one of the best films of the decade, winning Academy Awards for Best Picture, Direction, Screenplay and Actor (Ray Milland), as well as sharing the top prize at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival. Inducted into the National Film Registry in 2011. New print provided by Universal Pictures.
Seating is on a first-come first-serve basis. Doors open at 6:30 pm.
For more information on our programs, please visit the Mary Pickford Theater website.
The Mary Pickford Theater is located on the 3rd floor of the Library of Congress James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. SE, Washington, DC, 20540.