The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Thursday, March 28 (7:30 p.m.)
A New Leaf (Paramount, 1971)
Already well known as part of the ingenious comedy team Nichols & May (with Mike Nichols), Elaine May made her film debut as writer, director and star in this critically- acclaimed dark comedy about a playboy (Walter Matthau) who seeks out a rich woman to marry after he has squandered away his trust fund. The film received Golden Globe nominations for Best Comedy or Musical and Best Actress for May, plus a Writer’s Guild Award nomination for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. May also wrote screenplays for The Birdcage (1996) and Primary Colors, (1998) and directed The Heartbreak Kid, (1972), Mikey and Nicky, (1976) and was featured in the 2016 American Masters documentary on Mike Nichols. Elaine May was awarded the 2012 National Medal of Arts for her contributions to American comedy. 35mm archival print, 102 min.
Friday, March 29 (7:30 p.m.)
Bells Are Ringing (MGM, 1960)
Judy Holliday recreated her Tony Award winning role as Ella Peterson, an answering-service operator who falls in love with a man she’s known only as a voice on the telephone in this musical comedy by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne. The legendary MGM musical team of producer Arthur Freed and director Vincente Minnelli adapted the show for the screen with Jean Stapleton reprising her Broadway role as Ella’s cousin and popular singer/actor Dean Martin as Jeffrey Moss, the playwright with whom Ella falls in love. Songs include “Just in Time” and “The Party’s Over” which both became popular standards. Comden and Green won the Writers Guild of America award for Best American Musical and Minnelli earned a Best Director nomination from the Directors Guild of America. Bells Are Ringing was the last collaboration of Arthur Freed and Vincente Minnelli after 12 films together. Digital presentation, 126 min.
Saturday, March 30 (7:30 p.m.)
Jurassic Park (Universal, 1993)
The concept of people somehow existing in the age of dinosaurs (or dinosaurs somehow existing in the age of people) has been explored in film and on television numerous times. No treatment, however, has ever been done with more skill, flair or excitement than this 1993 blockbuster. Set on a remote island where a man’s toying with evolution has run amok, this Steven Spielberg classic was based on the 1990 sci-fi thriller novel by Michael Crichton and stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough. Added to the National Film Registry in 2018, Jurassic Park was the top public vote-getter of the year. Rated PG-13. 35mm archival print, 127 min.
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