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Film Night at the Pickford Theater – Tuesday, February 18

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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.

Tuesday, February 18th at 7:00 p.m.

BRIGHT ROAD (MGM, 1953). Directed by Gerald Mayer. Screenplay by Emmet Lavery, from the short story “See How They Run” by Mary Elizabeth Vroman. With Dorothy Dandridge, Philip Hepburn, Harry Belafonte, Barbara Ann Sanders, Robert Horton. (68 min, black & white, 35mm).

Lobby card for “Bright Road” (MGM, 1953).

We celebrate Black History Month with the first non-musical film made by a major studio to feature a predominately black cast. Dorothy Dandridge stars as a teacher in a small black elementary school in the South who takes an interest in a boy who has consistently taken two years to get through each grade. As the school’s principal, Harry Belafonte makes his screen debut, as does eleven-year-old Philip Hepburn, who already had six years of stage experience and had acted on Broadway. The short story by first time author Mary Elizabeth Vroman was based on her personal experiences of teaching in Montgomery, AL. Archival print from the Library’s Copyright Collection.

Seating is on a first-come first-serve basis. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

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.

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