Hitchcock’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith to screen July 8, 2014 at Daystar Center

When: Tuesday, July 8, 2014 6:30 p.m.
Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street

Yes, a Hitchcock Screwball Comedy
In 1940, Alfred Hitchcock’s third American film, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, was a screwball comedy. Yes, that’s right a screwball comedy. And it starred Carole Lombard, who had recently been proclaimed the “Screwball Girl” in a Life magazine profile. Few classic movie fans are familiar with this Hitchcock comedy, even though it was a critical and commercial hit, making its debut at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

Typically screwball
The plot is typical for a screwball comedy. Ann (Lombard) and David (Robert Montgomery) Smith, discover that through a technicality their marriage isn’t legal. After David admits to his wife that if he had it to do all over again, he wouldn’t get married, Ann decides that she doesn’t want to be married either. What follows is a series of events in which each spouse tries to make the other jealous. Ann starts dating David’s law partner Jeff Custer (Gene Raymond) and David takes a room at his club and starts to hang out with a philandering Chuck Bensen (Jack Carson), which leads to some of the film’s funniest moments.

Carole Lombard and Alfred Hitchcock look at the script

His kind of actress
Alfred Hitchcock loved Carole Lombard. She was his type of actress: beautiful, smart, earthy, and blonde. The Hitchcock family rented Lombard’s house after she and Clark Gable were married in 1939. The Hitchcock’s and the Gable’s became fast friends and it was inevitable that the director and actress would work together. Unfortunately, Lombard would make one movie after Mr. and Mrs. Smith, dying tragically in a plane crash the next year, after a successful war bond drive during World War II.


Award-winning script writer
The script written by Oscar winner, Norman Krasna (Hands Across the Table, Bachelor Mother, It Started with Eve, Princess O’Rourke) is quite good and Lombard and Montgomery have great on-screen chemistry and deliver good performances. Raymond is perfect as Montgomery’s strait-laced college chum and partner. The film is peppered with some great character actors like Carson, Lucile Watson, Charles Halton, Esther Dale, and Betty Compson.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith proved that Hitchcock, the master of suspense, could be successful in any genre he put his mind to.

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!
Before the movie, grab a cup of coffee from Overflow Coffee Bar, located within the Daystar Center. You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats.

Join the Chicago Film club, join the discussion
The Chicago Film Club is for classic movie fans. Once a month we screen a classic film and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. To purchase your ticket in advance, click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

Lombard and Anne Shirley in Vigil in the Night

Backstory: Mr. and Mrs. Smith opened on February 20, 1941 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Hitchcock and Lombard had hoped to get Cary Grant to costar, but he was not available. Some Hitchcock critics say that Mr. and Mrs. Smith was a critical and financial flop. This is not true. Audiences were delighted to see Lombard in a comedy after starring in two heavy dramas (Vigil in Night and They Knew What They Wanted). Hitchcock’s first three American films were all solid commercial successes.

“Rebecca” to launch “Hitchcock in the 40s” film series May 13, 2014

When: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 6:30 p.m.
Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street


Hitchcock comes to America
By the late 1930s, Alfred Hitchcock had established himself as a major film director in his native England. The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, Hollywood came calling. Independent producer, David O. Selznick put Hitchcock under exclusive contract in 1939 and the director moved to Los Angeles with his family. Hitchcock cemented his place in movie history with his first American feature, Rebecca.
After the successes of the

The search for the second Mrs. De Winter
Rebecca was released in 1940, but was in production during 1939, the same year Selznick’s epic Gone With The Wind was released. Many actresses vied for the female lead. However the desire to find a “new star” didn’t turn into the crazy spectacle like the search for Scarlet O’Hara. Many established actresses auditioned for the role, including Margaret Sullivan, Loretta Young, and Scarlet herself, Vivian Leigh. A 16-year-old Anne Baxter tested for the lead, and tested well.

A David O. Selznick production
Although Hitchcock was the director, Selznick was in control of the production and the casting. Originally, he wanted Olivia De Havilland for the second Mrs. DeWinter. Unfortunately, she was contracted to star in another film, plus, when she found out her younger sister Joan Fontaine was under consideration for the role, she was reluctant to pursue it seriously.

Judith Anderson and Joan Fontaine

The lead roles are set
For the role of Maxim DeWinter, Selznick originally wanted Ronald Coleman, who turned it down. Second choice was William Powell, but he wanted too much money, $200,000 to be exact. Lawrence Olivier, hot off of his success in Wuthering Heights, agreed to play Maxim for $100,000. He had hoped to have Leigh, his lover in real life, as his costar, but Selznick never thought Leigh was right for the part. However, Selznick agreed to test her. It’s clear from those tests (which still exist) that Selznick’s instincts were correct. Both Hitchcock and Selznick were happy with casting Olivier, but they still needed to cast the second Mrs. DeWinter. After reviewing all the screen tests it came down to Fontaine and Baxter, with Fontaine finally snagging the role (At 16, Baxter was considered too young). The pivotal role of the menacing Mrs. Danvers went to Judith Anderson. George Saunders, Gladys Cooper, Nigel Bruce, Florence Bates, and Reginald Denny rounded out the supporting cast.

Hitchcock at the helm
Although Rebecca was directed by Hitchcock, Selznick’s influence is everywhere. The production is posh Rear Window). Even with Selznick’s micro-management, Hitchcock’s hand is clearly seen. The performances he elicits from Fontaine, in her first major role, and the way he captures Olivier’s dark side as Maxim are clearly the result of Hitchcock’s masterful direction. Many of the supporting cast, including Nigel Bruce, George Saunders, and Leo G. Carroll would appear in future Hitchcock films to great effectiveness.
and the crew used is all Selznick, including musician Franz Waxman (when Hitchcock had more control of his films, he would use Waxman to score

The main cast  in a pivotal scene 

Award-winning success
Alfred Hitchcock was brought to America with all the great fanfare a showman like David O. Selznick could muster. The pressure was on both Selznick, to reproduce the success of the colossal Gone With The Wind and Hitchcock, to live up to the publicity stoked by Selznick. Rebecca proved the hype wasn’t misplaced. The film was an enormous success both critically and financially. It would go on to receive 11 Academy Award nominations, winning for cinematography, black and white, and Best Picture of the Year. Hitchcock was nominated for Best Director, but lost out to John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath.

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!
Before the movie, grab a cup of coffee from Overflow Coffee Bar, located within the Daystar Center. You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats.

Join the Chicago Film club, join the discussion
The Chicago Film Club is for classic movie fans. Once a month we screen a classic film and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. To purchase your ticket in advance, click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

“What’s Up Doc?” final film screened in screwball comedy series April 12, 2014

When: Saturday, April 12, 2014 4:00 p.m.
Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street

I can’t think of a better film to end our screwball comedy series than with What’s Up Doc? This modern comedy classic directed by Peter Bogdanovitch is a homage to the screwball comedies from the 1930s and 40s. It owes much of its plot and structure to Howard Hawks’s Bringing Up Baby, but it more than stands on its own merits.

Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal, in their first screen pairing, play Judy Maxwell and Howard Bannister respectively. Judy is a free spirit and college dropout who seems to create trouble wherever she goes. Howard is a Ph.D. and musicologist from the Iowa Conservatory of Music, engaged to Eunice Burns (Madeline Kahn) who is a bit controlling, to put it mildly. The trouble all begins in San Francisco when four identical overnight bags get mixed up. Of course Judy and Howard’s bags are part of the mix up and their lives become entangled from there on in.

Streisand and O’Neal were at the top of their box office appeal in 1972, and Bogdanovitch exploits this. Like screwball comedies past, there are inside jokes, and allusions to other films, all with great good humor. Apart from the stars, Bogdanovitch assembled some of the best character actors available, including Kenneth Mars, Austin Pendleton, Sorrell Brooks, John Hillerman, Graham Jarvis, and Mabel Alberston to name a few. Kahn, in her movie debut, all but steals the picture. As the constantly unhinged Eunice Burns, Kahn is pitch-perfect. Annoying to both O’Neal and Streisand’s characters, she is never annoying to the audience. When I first saw the film in theaters, audiences howled with laughter every time Kahn was on the screen.

As a screwball comedy, What’s Up Doc? is so good that if released in the late 1930s or early 40s, audiences would have responded to it the way they did My Man Godfrey, The Awful Truth, and The Lady Eve.

Backstory: This was Peter Bogdanovich’s homage to the screwball comedies of the 1930s and 40s, as well as a tribute to directors Howard Hawks, Leo McCarey, and Preston Sturges.

Trivia: Madeline Kahn was nominated as Most Promising Newcomer, female by the Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes). The Writers Guild of American (WGA), USA awarded What’s Up Doc? Best Comedy Written for the Screen (Buck Henry, David Newman, Robert Benton). The film’s first 2 weekends broke the Radio City Music Hall house record that had stood since 1933.

Ryan O’Neal and Barbra Streisand talk under the table.

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!
Before the movie, grab a cup of coffee from Overflow Coffee Bar, located within the Daystar Center. You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats.

Join the Chicago Film club, join the discussion
The Chicago Film Club is for classic movie fans. Once a month we screen a classic film and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here.To purchase your ticket in advance, click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

“The Lady Eve” 5th film in Screwball Comedy series screened March 11, 2014

When: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 6:30 p.m.
Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street

The Lady Eve (1941) Father and daughter con artists (Charles Coburn and Barbara Stanwyck) travel on transatlantic cruise ships swindling rich passengers in card games. When the two spot a big fish Charles Poncefort Pike (Henry Fonda), heir to Pike Ale—“The ale that won for Yale”—they decide to take him for all he’s worth. But when the daughter falls in love with their mark, things get complicated and hilarious. Preston Sturges directed his first big-budget hit with with amazing results. A critical and financial success, the New York Times declared The Lady Eve the best picture of 1941, above Citizen Kane! Once you see this film you’ll understand why they came to that amazing conclusion.

This was Preston Sturges’s third film as both writer and director and his first big-budget production, with A-list movie stars. After the critical and financial successes of The Great McGinty and Christmas in July, both released in 1940, Paramount gave Sturges free rein to craft The Lady Eve. For his leads, Sturges got Stanwyck and Fonda. From all accounts, both stars enjoyed working with each other and with Sturges. Sturges wrote The Lady Eve with Stanwyck in mind after he saw her performance in Remember the Night the year before. Sturges was so impressed with her characterization in that film that he knew she would be ideal as Eve.

Fonda, who had four films in release in 1940, including The Grapes of Wrath, was happy to star in a comedy. As Charles Pike, Fonda showed his lighter side, being especially deft at physical comedy. Fonda’s numerous pratfalls are one of the film’s major delights. Bosley Crowther in theNew York Times said, “No one could possibly have suspected the dry and somewhat ponderous comic talent which is exhibited by Henry Fonda as the rich young man.” As Eve, Stanwyck is one part of a trio of card sharks mixing it up with rich swells, like Pike, traveling by ocean liner. Along with her father, “Colonel” Harrington (Charles Coburn) and their “butler” Gerald (Melvin Cooper), Eve sees Pike as an easy mark.

A publicity shot during the filming of The Lady Eve

The Lady Eve is filled with a host of great character actors, most of which became part of the “Sturges Stock Company.” This stock company included William Demarest, Eric Blore, and Robert Grieg. The latter two appeared in Sturges’s Sullivan’s Travels, also released in 1941.

When the movie was opened, Crowther, declared Sturges, “the most refreshing new force to hit the American motion pictures in the past five years.” He went on to say that a “more charming or distinguished gem of nonsense has not occurred since It Happened One Night.”

The Lady Eve is not only one of the best screwball comedies, but one of the best American films ever made.

Henry Fonda said Barbara Stanwyck was his favorite leading lady.

Backstory: Preston Sturges wrote the screenplay for Remember the Night with Carole Lombard in mind. He was disappointed that Paramount didn't secure her services, but when he saw Stanwyck in the lead, he was impressed. Stanwyck told Sturges that no one writes comedies for her. Sturges said he would write one for her; that screenplay was The Lady Eve.

Join the Chicago Film club, join the discussion
The Chicago Film Club is for classic movie fans. Once a month we screen a classic film and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. Tickets are $5 general admission; $3 for students and seniors. To purchase your ticket in advance, click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

The Chicago Film Club screens “The Awful Truth” January 14, 2014

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant in The Awful Truth

The Chicago Film Club will present The Awful Truth starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant at The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State St., January 14, 2014. Show time is 6:30 p.m., followed by a brief discussion.


In 1937, Irene Dunne was at the height of her career. The year before, Dunne received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for Theodora Goes Wild, a comedy role she was reluctant to take. Not only was that picture a critical success for Dunne, but a huge box office hit for Columbia Pictures. So it wasn’t a surprise that the next picture she would make for the studio would be another comedy.

The Awful Truth open at Radio City Music Hall
in November 1937.

From Stage To Screen
The Awful Truth was based on a play by Arthur Richman and brought to the screen with the aid of screenwriter Vina Delmar and Theodora Goes Wild screenwriter, Sidney Buchman, who went uncredited. Teamed with Dunne for the first time was Cary Grant. Grant was quickly becoming a top leading man in Hollywood, but his pairing with Dunne was inspired and their on-screen chemistry delighted movie-going audiences. B.R. Crisler writing in his New York Times review said, “Miss Dunne and Mr. Grant, as the couple...have fun with their roles, and the pleasure seems to be shared, on the whole, by the [Radio City] Music Hall audience.”

What Is The Awful Truth?
The plot revolves around the marital woes of Lucy (Dunne) and Jerry (Grant) Warriner. Each becomes suspicious of the other, which eventually leads them to divorce court. After the divorce, Lucy and Jerry are consumed with foiling each other’s new romantic interests. Is the awful truth the fact that Lucy and Jerry are still in love?

Dunne and Grant go to court over their dog, Mr. Smith.

Get Me Out Of This Picture
Like Dunne in the previous year’s Theodora Goes Wild, Grant wasn’t too happy working on this film.
Director Leo McCarey’s working style didn’t sit well with Grant and he tried to get out of the movie, even going so far as requesting he swap roles with supporting player Ralph Bellamy! McCarey liked to get spontaneous performances out of his cast, which meant a lot of on-set improvising, which Grant found unsettling. Eventually things worked out for all concerned. Ironically, this is the movie that catapulted Grant to superstar status and is responsible for the Grant movie persona.

Comedy Triumph
For Dunne, The Awful Truth was a delightful experience. She loved working with both McCarey (who became a personal friend) and Grant. Professionally, it was another triumph. Once again, the critics raved about her and the film. And once again she was nominated for Best Actress by the Motion Picture Academy. If there was any doubt about Dunne’s comedy chops, they were all dispelled when the film was first released on October 21, 1937. Dunne and Grant would go on to star in two other popular films: the comedy My Favorite Wife (1940) and the melodrama Penny Serenade (1941).

Award Winner
The Awful Truth was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor. McCarey won the only Oscar for his direction.

Lasting Legacy
In 2000, the American Film Institute listed The Awful Truth at #68 on its list of 100 Years…100 Laughs. In
2002, the AFI listed it at #77 on the 100 Years…100 Passions list.

Backstory: Mr. Smith, the Warriner’s dog in The Awful Truth, was more famous as Asta, the pet of Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) from The Thin Man movies. This talented pet’s real name was Skippy.

Come early and enjoy delicious food and beverages at Overflow Coffee Bar. Mention the Film Club and get 50% off a beverage with the purchase of any food item. Stay on top of all the Chicago Film Club screenings by joining their Meetup page. It’s free to join!


Daystar Center located at 1550 S. State St. works through a grassroots network of collaborations and partnerships with individuals and other nonprofit organizations. Through this web, they’re able to provide educational, cultural, and civic activities that enrich and empower their clients, guests, and community members. To learn more about classes and events offered at the Daystar Center, please visit their Web site.

Chicago Film Club Screens “Theodora Goes Wild” November 19

The novel that scandalized Lynnfield!

Small town girl
Imagine you’re a small-town girl from New England, raised by two maiden aunts. Imagine you’re a Sunday school teacher and the church organist. Imagine that you can barely sneeze without the entire community knowing about it. Then imagine that in the midst of all this, you’ve written a racy best-selling novel that has taken the world by storm under a pseudonym. How do you manage to live your life while keeping the truth from everyone you know?

The Sinner is a Sensation
That’s the plot of Theodora Goes Wild starring Irene Dunne. With the publication of The Sinner by Caroline Adams (Theodora), the Lynnfield Literary Guild is up in arms. The local paper has serialized the scandalous novel and the guild wants it banned. And it’s up to Theodora to tell Jed Waterbury, (Thomas Mitchell) editor of the local paper, of the guild’s intentions.

Theodora (Dunne in foreground) with town gossip
Rebecca Perry (left) and her two aunts (right)

Let down your hair, woman
On a trip to New York City to meet with her publisher, Theodora runs into an artist named Michael Grant
(Melvyn Douglas), who thinks that Theodora needs to let her hair down. Grant, however, has stayed in a loveless marriage to appease his politically ambitious father. Theodora may need to let her hair down, but is Mr. Grant the right person to be telling her so?

A new career high
With Theodora Goes Wild, Dunne entered a new phase in her already successful career. Starring in her first comedy, after years of specializing in weepy melodramas, she was a revelation. With this one role, Dunne established herself as one of the silver screen’s great female comedians. Her turn as Theodora Lynn earned her a second Best Actress nomination, alongside fellow Hoosier, Carole Lombard, nominated that same year for My Man Godfrey. Louise Rainer who won for her performance in The Great Ziegfeld shut out both actresses.

A serious moment between Theodora
and Michael Grant (Melvyn Douglas)

Theodora Goes Wild will be screened as part of the Chicago Film Club’s “Screwball Comedy and the Feminine Mystique” film series on November 19, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State St. For information on the Film Club, click here. For information on purchasing tickets in advance and parking, click here. On street parking is available, but if you want to park in the Daystar parking lot, you need to buy your parking ticket in advance. Tickets will be available at the door for $5, $3 for students and senior citizens.

“Mildred Pierce”: 4th Film in “High Heels and Fedoras” series at Daystar Center May 14, 2013

Tuesday, May 14, 2013
6:30 p.m.
The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center
1550 S. State Street


Mildred Pierce was a critical and financial hit when released in 1945. It resurrected the career of screen legend, Joan Crawford, who many had written off as a has-been. The movie was a showcase for some new talent too, but it was Crawford’s film and she commands the screen in every scene she’s in.

The straightforward narrative in the James M. Cain novel was changed for the film version. Mildred’s story is told in flashback, a popular film noir convention that works really well and adds to the movie’s texture. The film itself is put together very nicely with the Warner Brothers A-Team pulling out all the stops. Cinematographer Ernest “Ernie” Haller’s black and white photography is beautifully atmospheric. The angles, the contrasts, are seamless and help advance the story without getting in the way. The score by Max Steiner is lush without being overwhelming, at least not overwhelming as far as Steiner scores go (They’re all kind of overwhelming, actually). Legendary makeup artist Perc Westore makes Crawford’s transition from waitress/working mom into successful/sophisticated businesswomen seem natural and believable. Much of Crawford’s look in this film, and for the rest of the decade, is due in great part to the costuming of Milo Anderson. Last but not least, director Michael Curtiz assembled all the pieces together to form a perfect whole, but Curtiz wasn’t at all set on working with Crawford.

Zachary Scott, Joan Crawford, and Ann Blyth

According to Crawford, Curtiz wanted Barbara Stanwyck to play Mildred. He didn’t want to work with a “difficult” has-been. In order to change Curtiz’s mind, Crawford submitted to a screen test. This was unheard of for an established star, but so determined was Crawford to snag the role that she consented. Crawford’s screen test impressed Curtiz enough that he agreed to direct her. And for Crawford, a new career was born at Warners.

Mildred Pierce was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress. Crawford’s Best Actress Award was the only win, put it propelled her back to the top of the heap, giving fellow Warner contract-player, Bette Davis a run for her money. Ironically, Davis’s career was on a downward arch while Crawford was starring in some critical and commercially successful melodramas. After Mildred Pierce, Crawford starred in Humoresque (1946), Possessed (1947), Daisy Kenyon (1947), and Flamingo Road (1949). Possessed brought her a second Best Actress nomination.

Mildred Pierce isn’t considered a true film noir movie, by some critics. But it sure feels like film noir to this movie fan.

To purchase tickets for the May 14 screening, click here. Tickets are $5 per person general admission $3 for students and seniors. Tickets may also be purchased at the door. To stay on top of film events like this, join the Chicago Film Club Meetup.

To download a flyer to post in your building or office, click here.


The Venue 1550 is located at 1550 S. State St. in the Daystar Center. The Daystar Center offers a variety of educational, artistic and cultural activities, including classes for children that teach practical life skills like social aptitude, creativity and cultural awareness in fun ways; classes for adults that give space for self-reflection and improvement; room rentals for many different-sized groups in several multipurpose rooms. For more information, call 312.674.0001 or visit their Web site.

This Gun For Hire: 1st Film in “High Heels and Fedoras” series at Daystar Center February 12, 2013

Tuesday, February 12, 2013
6:30 p.m.
The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center
1550 S. State Street

This Gun For Hire, based on the novel by Graham Greene, was released in 1942, long before the label “film noir” was invented. As an early film in the genre, some of the plot devices that we associate with film noir are here: A killer who is a major protagonist, a cool female lead, an honest-by-the-book cop, and a double-crossing villain.

The plot concerns a hired gun named Raven (Alan Ladd) who has been double-crossed by a man named Willard Gates (Laird Cregar) who represents a chemical company that may be working with enemies abroad, selling them poison gas. To keep tabs on Gates, the U.S. government enlists a beautiful novelty entertainer named Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake). Ellen is a magician who sings while she performs her magic act. She auditions for Gates, who apart from his duties at the chemical company, owns a popular nightclub. Her audition captivates Gates and he hires her.

Straight and vicious—that’s what this picture is. But it is a good cut above the average, both in its writing and its tensile quality. Bosley Crowther, The New York Times

Veronica Lake publicity still showing off
her iconic peekaboo bang

While on a train to perform at Gates’s Neptune Club, she accidentally runs into Raven. Gates, also on the same train, sees the two sitting next to each other. He assumes they’re working together, which sets him on edge and puts Ellen’s life in danger. Ellen’s cop boyfriend, Michael (Robert Preston) does his best to save her and capture Raven.

Lake was an established star when the movie was released. Ladd, as Raven, gave a breakout performance making him an overnight sensation. New York Times movie reviewer, Bosley Crowther compared Ladd’s performance to James Cagney’s in The Public Enemy a decade earlier. In his 1942 review of the film he said, “Keep your eye peeled for this Ladd fellow; he’s a pretty-boy killer who likes his work.:” Crowther also complimented the leading lady: “Miss Lake is a competent customer, and handles her men with cool disdain.”

Alan Ladd, Lake, and Robert Preston

The chemistry between Lake and Ladd was noted by the public and the executives at Paramount. It didn’t hurt that Lake was 4' 11" tall, making her the only leading lady Ladd worked with who was shorter than he was. Ladd was reported to be 5' 5" tall. The two costarred in a total of four films, all very popular with critics and 1940s film audiences.

To purchase tickets for the February 12 screening, click here. Tickets are $5 per person general admission and $3 for students and seniors. Tickets may be purchased at the door.

Discover the other films in this series by clicking here.

Backstory: The modern classic L.A. Confidential (1997) paid homage to film noir from the 1940s. Academy Award winner Kim Bassinger is Lynn Bracken, a call girl who adapts Veronica Lake’s iconic look.

Film Club to screen Marilyn Monroe classic “Some Like It Hot” December 13, 2012

The comedy classic Some Like It Hot will be screened December 13, 2012 at 7 p.m. at The Venue 1550. The Venue 1550 is located at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State St., Chicago. Hosted by Stephen Reginald, the current Film Club series features classic films having connections with Chicago. Reginald will introduce each film giving background information before screenings, with Q & A afterwards.


Some Like It Hot (1959)—Directed by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, this classic was voted funniest film of all time by the American Film Institute. Curtis and Lemmon play Chicago musicians who accidentally witness the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre of 1929. The men disguise themselves as women and travel south with Sweet Sue’s all-girl band in an attempt to avoid “Spats” Colombo and his gang who are determined to kill them. Monroe—the band’s vocalist—and the “girls” become bosom buddies along the way, which leads to some hilarious situations and unusual conclusions.

Tony Curtis as Josephine and Jack Lemmon as Daphne

The plot thickens
To escape “Spats” Columbo and his gang, Joe and Jerry (Curtis and Lemmon) disguise themselves as women and join an all-girl band traveling by train to Florida. Masquerading as Josephine and Daphne, Curtis and Lemmon somehow fool bandleader Sweet Sue and band-manager Beinstock, who are desperate to round out their jazz band.


Underneath the sheltering palms

Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Kane 

On the train ride to Florida, Josephine and Daphne meet Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Marilyn Monroe). Things get complicated when Joe-Josephine starts to fall in love with Sugar. With amazing energy and dexterity, Joe-Josephine manages to assume the identity of Junior, heir to the Shell Oil fortune, in order to woo Sugar and then switches back to play with Sweet Sue and Her Society Syncopaters, to hide out from the Columbo gang. All this switching back and forth makes Daphne’s (Lemmon’s ) head spin. But Daphne has her own problems. The rich, much-married Osgood Fielding III finds Daphne irresistible and proposes. What’s a nice “girl” like Daphne to do?

With more twists and turns than a roller coaster, Some Like It Hot boasts memorable performance from the three leads and was voted the number one comedy film of all time by the American Film Institute (AFI).

Admission is $7 per person. Tickets purchased at the door.

Reginald is a freelance writer/editor and popular instructor at Facets Film School in Chicago. He was also the original host of Meet Me at the Movies.

Classic screwball comedy “His Girl Friday” coming to “The Venue 1550” November 8

The comedy classic His Girl Friday (1940 ) will be screened at “The Venue 1550” at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State St., November 8, 2012 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $7 per person and can be purchased at the door or online. This event will be hosted by Stephen Reginald, Classic Movie Man.

His Girl Friday, directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell is an adaptation of the Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur classic Broadway smash, The Front Page. Grant plays Walter Burns, a Chicago newspaper managing editor and Russell is Hildy Johnson an ex-reporter for the same paper and Burns’s ex-wife. On the eve of her marriage to a new man, Burns tries to convince Hildy to come back to the paper and him. Considered one of the greatest classic screwball comedies of all time, His Girl Friday is filled with non-stop one liners and the fastest dialogue ever recorded on film.

Backstory

Carole Lombard was first choice
to play Hildy Johnson

Howard Hawks originally planned to do a straight remake of The Front Page. During a read-through of the script during auditions, Hawks had his secretary read Hildy Johnson’s lines. Hawks, always a champion of strong women, liked the sound of Johnson’s lines coming out of the mouth of a female. The script was changed to make Hildy the ex-wife of Walter Burns and many think His Girl Friday is better than the film on which it is based.

Casting Call
Hawks had Cary Grant in mind for Walter Burns from the start, but the casting of Hildy Johnson proved problematic. Hawks originally wanted Carole Lombard, who he directed in Twentieth Century (1934). Lombard, one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, was too expensive. Supposedly the role of Hildy was offered to Katherine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Margaret Sullivan, Ginger Rogers, and Irene Dunne. All turned the role down. Joan Crawford, coming off her success in The Women, (1939) was even considered. Hawks finally settled on Rosalind Russell. Hawks encouraged ad-libbing on the set, so Russell hired a writer to punch up her dialogue because she thought Grant had all the good lines.

Ralph Bellamy, Cary Grant, and Rosalind Russell

His Girl Friday was #19 on American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Laughs and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Join the Film Club
Come watch this classic in the comfort of “The Venue 1550.” Overflow Coffee Bar will be open so you can grab a drink or snack to be enjoyed during the movie.