The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Friday, July 5 (7:30 p.m.)
Footloose (Paramount, 1984)
Kevin Bacon, in the role that made him a star, plays Chicago teenager Ren McCormack who is transplanted to an ultra-conservative small town in Utah where dancing is outlawed. Recruiting his best pal, the quiet Willard (Chris Penn), and his girlfriend (Lori Singer), daughter of clergyman Rev. Shaw Moore (John Lithgow), Ren goes before the city council to have the law overturned so that the school can hold a senior prom. The film, directed by Herbert Ross, was a box office smash and the soundtrack album reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. The title song from the film, written by Kenny Loggins and Dean Pitchford, was nominated for an Academy Award and Loggins’ recording of it was added to the National Recording Registry in 2017. Rated PG. 35mm archival film print, 107 min.
Saturday, July 6 (2 p.m.)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (Warner Bros., 1942)
Ostensibly a biopic about jingoistic songwriter-performer George M. Cohan (portrayed with buoyant enthusiasm by James Cagney), the film’s patriotic message, celebratory musical numbers and sentimental family saga were aimed at bolstering morale during the early months of World War II. Directed by Michael Curtiz, Cagney’s Oscar winning performance was complemented by Walter Huston playing his father, Rosemary DeCamp as his mother, Cagney’s real-life sister Jean Cagney as his sister, and Joan Leslie as his perky champion and wife. The film was selected to the National Film Registry in 1993. 35mm film print produced by the Library of Congress Film Preservation Lab in 1996, 126 min.
Saturday, July 6 (7:30 p.m.)
Carrie (United Artists, 1976 – rated R*)
This classic horror movie based on Stephen King’s first novel stars Sissy Spacek as Carrie White, a shy, ostracized teenager who is the butt of practical jokes at her small-town high school. When popular mean-girl Chris Hargenson (Nancy Allen) engineers a particularly reprehensible prank at the school prom aimed at White, Carrie lashes out with a horrifying display of her telekinetic powers. Directed by Brian De Palma, the film was a critical and box office success and received Oscar nominations for Best Actress for Spacek and Best Supporting Actress for Piper Laurie, for her portrayal of Carrie’s delusional mother. The supporting cast includes Betty Buckley, John Travolta, Amy Irving and William Katt. 35mm archival film print, 98 min. *No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian.
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