We’ve got a great week chock-a-block with classic cinema screenings for you, so let’s get right to it.
Wednesday, April 10th: Rebecca
7:30 p.m. @ Charles Allis Art Museum ($7/Adults, $5/Seniors & Students, Free/museum members)
Charles Allis kicks off its April/May programming of Popular Novels Adapted to the Screen with the only picture directed by Alfred Hitchcock ever to win a Best Picture Oscar (and his first American-made picture to boot!), his Selznick-produced adaption of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca. Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier both do tremendous work as the leads, but its Judith Anderson’s turn as housekeeper Mrs. Danvers that you’ll leave the screening remembering. These CAAM “Movie Time” screenings are always a delightful and intimate viewing experience, one I highly recommend checking out.
Friday, April 12th: Clandestine Childhood
7 p.m. @ UWM Union Theatre (Free!)
This screening officially kicks off the 35th annual Latin American Film Series taking place through the 19th at the UWM Union Theatre. All screenings are free the public, so take a moment to avail yourself of the numerous options to expand your cinematic horizons over the next week’s time. This film in particular combines the tenderness of a coming-of-age tale with the nail-biting suspense of a political thriller. We follow young Juan, returning to Argentina in 1979 so his parents can fight against the military junta that holds the country under its thumb. Forced to take on the assumed identity of Ernesto so as to evade the imminent threat of capture and possible death, the film has received heaps of positive notice on the festival circuit and looks to kick off this 35th year of the Latin American Film Series on the right foot.
***CRITICS CHOICE***
Saturday, April 13th: The Private Life of Henry VIII
7 p.m. @ The Church in the City, 2648 North Hackett Avenue ($3)
The FOCUS Film Society marks its first meeting of April with Charles Laughton’s Oscar-winning performance as the king with unquenchable appetites of many stripes in The Private Life of Henry VIII. Alexander Korda brings a wry sensibility to the proceedings, not shying away from the darker aspects of Henry VIII’s life, but keeping a breezy glib tone that makes the film a delight to watch from start to finish. If it’s good enough for the Criterion Collection (their Eclipse line, but still), I promise it will be good enough for you!
Sunday, April 14th: Lassie Come Home
10:30 a.m. @ Times Cinema ($4, also plays Saturday @ 10:30 a.m.)
The Times continues its “animal adventures” theme for their April matinee screenings with the original Lassie story from 1943. See a young Roddy McDowell and Elizabeth Taylor and – if you’re anything like me – yourself gently weeping as Lassie tries to make his way back to his original owners. As a firm believer in the “dogs are great than humans” theorem, I wholly endorse this screening.
That’s all (though quite a bit!) for this week. Happy theatergoing everyone!
