The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Thursday, July 25 (7:30 p.m.)
My Favorite Wife (RKO, 1940)
Three years after their great success in The Awful Truth, writer/director Leo McCarey reunited stars Cary Grant and Irene Dunne for another romantic comedy classic. Inspired by Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “Enoch Arden,” Dunne (as Ellen Arden) returns to her spouse and children after being shipwrecked on a tropical island for several years, only to find that her husband Nick (Grant) has had her declared legally dead and is about to marry another woman. Co-written and produced by McCarey and directed by Garson Kanin, the film received Oscar nods for Best Story, Best Score and Best Art Direction. The film was remade in 1963 as Move Over, Darling starring Doris Day and James Garner. 35mm film print, recently produced by the Library of Congress Film Preservation Lab, 88 min.
Friday, July 26 (7:30 p.m.)
Kid Boots (Paramount, 1926)
Eddie Cantor was already an established stage star when his Broadway musical-comedy Kid Boots opened in December of 1923, a smash hit that ran for over a year. Paramount signed Cantor to recreate his role for the cameras where he was paired with rising star and future “It” girl, Clara Bow. Directed by Frank Tuttle, Cantor plays the hapless “Kid Boots” who is rescued from a bully by a handsome young playboy named Tom (Lawrence Gray). In return, Kid agrees to help Tom get a divorce from the gold-digging Carmen Mendoza (Natalie Kingston) who tricked him into marriage. Also on board is beautiful Billie Dove as Tom’s new love interest. Digital presentation, 77 min. The two-reel comedy short The Way of All Pants (1927) starring Charley Chase will also be on the program. For decades only nine minutes of this film, missing most of the first reel, was the only version available. A nearly complete print was recently discovered at the Library of Congress National Audio Visual Conservation Center. Live musical accompaniment will be presented by Andrew Simpson.
Saturday, July 27 (2 p.m.)
Hula (Paramount, 1927)
Clara Bow plays free-spirited “Hula” Calhoun, the daughter of a Hawaiian pineapple plantation owner who falls for a dashing but serious British engineer (Clive Brook), brought in to build a new dam on the island. She finds herself competing with the local widow (Arlette Marchal) for his attentions, but both women get a big surprise when his wife (Patricia Dupont) shows up. Future Oscar winner Victor Fleming (Gone with the Wind) directed this romantic comedy in which Bow dances in a grass skirt, rides a horse, rescues a dog and famously skinny dips in a stream. 35mm film print produced by the Library of Congress Film Preservation lab, 64 min. The rarely seen comedy short No Publicity (1927) starring popular character actor Edward Everett Horton and produced by Harold Lloyd will precede the feature. Live musical accompaniment will be presented by Andrew Simpson.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: //www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/