Hooray for Hollywood @ J. Burns
Hooray for Hollywood @ J. Burns: The Jacob Burns Film Center recently introduced Hooray for Hollywood, a new Members-Only Film Club. Hooray for Hollywood programmed and hosted by David Schwartz, former chief curator at the Museum of the Moving Image will meet once a month from January through June.
This new monthly club brings the classics back to life on the big screen—all in 35mm prints. Each screening will be accompanied by introductions and discussions with David Schwartz and leading critics, film historians, and programmers. a six month membership can be purchased for $120 for Jacob Burns members. Or $150 for non-members. All films begin at 9:30am.
His Girl Friday, Sunday, January 19: Hurray for Hollywood will kick off on January 19 when film critic and author Molly Haskell joins Davi Schwartz for a screening of His Girl Friday. For the film, Director Howard Hawks reinvented the Ben Hecht–Charles Macarthur play The Front Page, about tabloid newspaper wars in Chicago, by turning one of the main characters into a woman. The result was a rapid-fire screwball romance for the ages, starring Rosalind Russel and Cary Grant that is widely considered one of the greatest of all time. The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of The Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. It is ranked #19 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Laughs. Molly Haskell won the 2017 career achievement award from the New York Film Critics Circle.
Top Hat, Sunday February 16:Hooray for Hollywood follows up on February 16 with a screening of Top Hat starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. This screwball musical comedy is widely considered Astaire and Rogers best work together. It features the music of Irving Berlin including “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” and “Cheek to Cheek”. “There are few movies as joyful as Top Hat,” writes Stephanie Zacharek, who will present the film. “It’s pure bliss.” Stephanie Zacharek is the chief film critic for Time Magazine. Previously the chief film critic for The Village Voice and Salon, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism in 2015.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Sunday, March 29: On March 29, the series jumps ahead to 1974 with this screening of Joseph Sargent’s action-thrilled, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, a chase film that involves the taking of hostages on a Manhattan subway car. Starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam and Hector Elizondo, Pelham was both a box office success and a top critics choice. It holds a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is a WTD Fave Rave. Bruce Goldstein, who has run the repertory program at Film Forum since 1986, and is the president and cofounder of Rialto Pictures, joins David Schwartz for this screening.
Double Indemnity, Sunday, April 26: Hooray for Hollywood continues through the spring with am April 26 screening of Billy Wilder’s classic noir film Double Indemnity, whose script was co-written by Raymond Chandler. The film stars Fred MacMurray, as an insurance salesman who is lured by Barbara Stanwyck into murdering her husband to collect on his insurance policy. It was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and is ranked #38 on The American Film Instirutes 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. Imogen Sara Smith is a film critic, historian, and a regular contributor to Film Comment, Sight & Sound, and the Criterion Collection is the guest critic for this film.
Love Affair, Sunday May 10: For the May 10 meeting of the Hooray for Hollywood Club, David Schwartz has chosen a straight up romantic drama, Love Affair. A standout in 1939, in what is widely considered the greatest year ever for films, the film has benn preserved by the Museum of Modern Art. In Love Affair, Charles Boyer is a just-engaged French playboy who meets a singer (Irene Dunne) on a transatlantic cruise. After a whirlwind romance, they go back to their significant others when they land in New York, but they agree to meet six months later at the Empire State Building. Dave Kehr, the curator in the Department of Film at the Museum of Modern Art will guest host. Kehr was a longtime film critic for The New York Times and The Chicago Reader.
Mildred Pierce, Sunday, June 21: The Club’s screenings wrap up on June 21 with the film-noir crime drama, Mildred Pierce from director Michael Curtiz. Mildred Oierce features Joan Crawford’s definitive Oscar-winning performance as a housewife-turned-waitress who finds business success while trying to keep strict control over her vindictive daughter. It was selected in 1996 for preservation in the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. Farran Smith Nehme who reviews films for the New York Post joins David Schwartz to host the screening.