The End and the Beginning

The last image on the screen at the last show.

The classic film series at the bank is over, after almost 40 years.

It continues in spirit at the Northwest Chicago Film Society classic film series at the Portage Theater, right around the corner from the bank.

(A memorial)

July-December Schedule

The Bank of America Cinema’s July-December 2010 schedule features some adventurous picks alongside the usual helping of classic Hollywood.

We’re getting with the spirit of several holiday weekends, including our opening film for Fourth of July weekend, Henry Koster’s Stars and Stripes Forever (1952), featuring Clifton Webb as John Phillip Sousa; the blacklisted film Salt of the Earth (1954) for Labor Day weekend; a double dose of Peter Lorre for Halloween, with Mad Love (1935) and The Face Behind the Mask (1941); a warmhearted Thanksgiving comedy in Norman Taurog’s Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934); and the Laurel and Hardy operetta Babes in Toyland (1934) to close the season. There’s even a time-travel film for Daylight Savings Time.

We’re branching out a little from our modus operandi with our first ripped-from-the-headlines film in decades: as oil continues to pump into the Gulf of Mexico, the perils of oil exploration and putting too much trust in huge companies are on everyone's mind, so it's the perfect time to show Robert Flaherty’s Standard Oil-sponsored documentary Louisiana Story (1948). And although the French New Wave is light years away from our usual fare, Francois Truffaut named Morris Engel’s Little Fugitive (1953), screening in July, as one of the films that made it possible; on the other end of that little revolution is Arthur Penn’s New Wave-influenced Mickey One (1965), screening in December.

The latter two films would be not available without the addition of a second 35mm projector, which has opened the vaults for us: UCLA is loaning Frank Borzage’s Moonrise (1948) in August, and Sony Repertory is letting us borrow a half-dozen heretofore-off-limits archival prints.

The full schedule is as follows:

July 3: Stars and Stripes Forever (Henry Koster, 1952) 16mm

July 10: Louisiana Story (Robert Flaherty, 1948) 16mm

July 17: The Little Fugitive (Morris Engel, 1953) 35mm

July 24: Artists and Models (Frank Tashlin, 1955) 16mm

July 31: None Shall Escape (Andre de Toth, 1944) 35mm

August 7: The Sleeping Tiger (Joseph Losey, 1954) 35mm

August 14: Shirley Temple Double Feature
Poor Little Rich Girl (Irving Cummings, 1937) 35mm
The Littlest Rebel (David Butler, 1936) 35mm

August 21: The Baron of Arizona (Samuel Fuller, 1951) 16mm

August 28: Moonrise (Frank Borzage, 1948) 35mm

September 4: Salt of the Earth (Herbert Biberman, 1954) 16mm

September 11: Peter Pan (Herbert Brenon, 1924) 35mm with organ accompaniment

September 18: The Southerner (Jean Renoir, 1945) 16mm

September 25: Meet Me at the Fair (Douglas Sirk, 1953) 16mm

October 2: Little Big Horn (Charles Marquis Warren, 1951) 16mm

October 9: Lady on a Train (Charles David, 1945) 16mm

October 16: Washington Merry-Go-Round (James Cruze, 1932) 35mm

October 23: Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944) 16mm

October 30: Halloween Horror Show: Crazy Peter Lorre Double Feature
Mad Love (Karl Freund, 1935) 16mm
The Face Behind the Mask (Robert Florey, 1941) 35mm

November 6: Ali Baba Goes to Town (David Butler, 1937) 16mm

November 13: A Raisin in the Sun (Daniel Petrie, 1961) 35mm

November 20: The King Steps Out (Josef von Sternberg, 1936) 35mm

November 27: Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (Norman Taurog, 1934) 16mm

December 4: The Snake Pit (Anatole Litvak, 1948) 35mm

December 11: Mickey One (Arthur Penn, 1965) 35mm

December 18: Babes in Toyland (Gus Meins, Charley Rogers, 1934) 35mm

Download the January-June Schedule

Here's a PDF of the January-June 2010 schedule.

January-June 2010 Program Books Are Here!

Come out this weekend to see The First Legion, Douglas Sirk's little-known film about priests and miracles, and pick up your copy.

Things to Look Forward To: April 2010

This April we'll be celebrating the 40-year radio career of the guy who founded this cinema back in 1972--Chuck Schaden. Chuck will appear live at the April 3 showing of The Big Broadcast (1932), with festivities that evening starting at 7:00 instead of the usual 8:00 (the film will begin at 8).

Then on April 13, Chuck's replacement on the popular "Those Were the Days" radio show, Steve Darnall, will be at the Cinema to present Radio Days (1987), Woody Allen's loving tribute to the kind of radio that Chuck and Steve celebrate on their radio program. (The movie that week will start at 8.)

January-June 2010 schedule

1/2: Pandora's Box (1929, G.W. Pabst) 35mm -- With live electronic theatre organ accompaniment by Jay Warren!

1/9: My Sister Eileen (1955, Richard Quine) 35mm

1/16: The First Legion (1951, Douglas Sirk) 16mm -- not on DVD

1/23: Hellzapoppin' (1941, H.C. Potter) 16mm -- not on DVD

1/30: Amnesiac Noir Double Feature:
My Name Is Julia Ross (1945, Joseph H. Lewis) 35mm
Two O'Clock Courage (1945, Anthony Mann) 16mm -- not on DVD

2/6: Imitation of Life (1934, John M. Stahl) 16mm

2/13: History Is Made at Night (1937, Frank Borzage) 16mm

2/20: Monsieur Verdoux (1947, Charles Chaplin) 35mm

2/27: The Visit (1964, Bernhard Wicki) 16mm CinemaScope! -- not on DVD

3/6: The Deep Blue Sea (1955, Anatole Litvak) 16mm Technicolor CinemaScope! -- not on DVD

3/13: Dragonwyck (1946, Joseph M. Mankiewicz) 35mm

3/20: God's Little Acre (1958, Anthony Mann) 35mm -- not on DVD

3/27: Dead of Night (1945, various) 16mm

4/3: The Big Broadcast (1932, Frank Tuttle) 16mm -- not on DVD

4/10: Radio Days (1987, Woody Allen) 35mm

4/17: The Mark of Zorro (1940, Rouben Mamoulian) 35mm

4/24: I'm No Angel (1933, Wesley Ruggles) 16mm

5/1: A Canterbury Tale (1944, Powell & Pressburger) 35mm

5/8: Ladies in Retirement (1941, Charles Vidor) 35mm -- not on DVD

5/15: Lifeboat (1944, Alfred Hitchcock) 35mm

5/22: Mr. Wu (1927, William Nigh) 35mm -- with live electronic theatre organ accompaniment by Jay Warren! not on DVD

5/29: Brute Force (1947, Jules Dassin) 16mm

6/5: Decision at Sundown (1957, Budd Boetticher) 35mm

6/12: For Me and My Gal (1942, Busby Berkeley) 16mm

6/19: The Enchanted Cottage (1945, John Cromwell) 16mm -- not on DVD

6/26: The Outlaw (1943, Howard Hughes) 35mm

Films start at 8:00 pm on Saturday nights at 4901 W. Irving Park Rd., Chicago, IL 60641. Entrance is in the back. Admission is $5 or $3 if you're over 55 or under 10. Popcorn is a buck, parking is free.