<< December 14 - 23, 2007 >>>

Discuss this series with other film fans on:
http://www.myspace.com/americancinematheque

Join us for movies celebrating the festive holiday spirit of yuletide, braced with the romance, joy, pathos and giving mood of this time of year. Many of you will remember these cinematic chestnuts from your childhood – every one of them have that wonderful quality of making you feel all aglow and good inside (even if the rest of the world is collapsing!). We’ll be screening classics such as WHITE CHRISTMAS (with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen), MIRACLE ON 34^TH STREET (with Maurenn O’Hara and child-star Natalie Wood), Frank Capra’s IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (with James Stewart and a cast of endearingly familiar character actor faces), Ernest Lubitsch’s SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, THE THIN MAN (the screwball comedy-mystery with William Powell and Myrna Loy – who can forget the image of Powell’s hungover Nick Charles shooting the ornaments off his Christmas tree on Christmas morn?) and CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (with Barbara Stanwyck). At the Aero we’ll be showing many of the same films, plus decidedly modern takes on Christmastime, from grueling DIE HARD to irreverent NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION to nostalgically screwball A CHRISTMAS STORY. Plus check out three different versions of A CHRISTMAS CAROL (two at the Aero, one at the Egyptian)!

WHITE CHRISTMAS, 1954, Paramount, 120 min. Director Michael Curtiz’ (CASABLANCA) Christmas classic features some of the most rousing production numbers from any Hollywood musical.. Paramount’s first film shot in widescreen Vistavision is a love story, set in a Vermont inn. Two Army buddies, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye turned post-war song-and-dance team, find romance with Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, while rescuing their old General (Dean Jagger) from financial ruin. With 13 songs highlighted by the snow-bound train rendition of Irving Berlin's "Snow." "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep" was Oscar-nominated for Best Song.

Thursday, December 20 – 7:30 PM

Double Features:

A CHRISTMAS CAROL, 1938, Warners Bros., 69 min. Dir. Edwin L. Marin. Long overshadowed by the more-famous Alastair Sim version from 1951, this lovely little CHRISTMAS CAROL is a tiny gem in its own right, with noted character actor Reginald Owen turning in an excellent performance as the hardhearted Scrooge, opposite the husband-wife casting of Gene and Kathleen Lockhart as Bob Cratchit and Mrs. Cratchit (Their real-life daughter June appears as one of their children, in her first film appearance.)

SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, 1940, Warner Bros, 99 min. Dir. Ernst Lubitsch. Co-workers (James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan) in a quaint Budapest shop clash in person but fall in love via anonymous letters in this charming classic set at Christmas time. Under Lubitsch’s expert direction, the film becomes both an intimate love story and a heartwarming ensemble comedy, as multiple subplots following the lives of the lovers’ colleagues (including cantankerous shopowner, Frank Morgan, and egotistical ladies man, Joseph Schildkraut) are deftly woven into the narrative. A subtle and deeply romantic masterpiece. Discussion in between films with June Lockhart.

Friday, December 21 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature:

A CHRISTMAS STORY, 1983, Warner Bros, 94 min. Dir. Bob Clark. "A Tribute to the Original, Traditional, One-Hundred-Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All-American Christmas..".

This nostalgic cult Christmas comedy, told from the perspective of Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), focuses on his overwhelming desire to get "an official Red Ryder, carbine-action, 200 shot range model air rifle", despite the fact that all the adults around him tell him that it will "put his eye out!" He sets out to convince everyone, especially his parents (Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon) that this is the perfect Christmas gift. Not surprisingly, he runs into opposition. Features the famous leg lamp and tongue-getting-stuck-on-the-pole scenes. With Scott Schwartz, Zack Ward, Ian Petrella, R.D. Robb.

NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION, 1989, Warner Bros., 97 min. Dir. Jeremiah S. Chechik. Screenwriter John Hughes expertly juggles farce and sentiment in this delightful holiday film, perhaps the best in the entire VACATION series. Suburban dad Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) finds his plans for the perfect Christmas going awry thanks to a visit from obnoxious brother-in-law Eddie (a hilarious Randy Quaid), but the slapstick antics give way to a surprisingly touching finale that perfectly sums up Hughes’ feelings about home and family. With Beverly D’Angelo, Diane Ladd.

Saturday, December 22 – 3:00 PM

Family Matinee!

SCROOGE, 1970, CBS Films (Hollywood Classics), 113 min. Albert Finney is a gleefully wicked Scrooge in this glorious musical adaptation by Leslie Bricusse of Dickens’ ode to brotherhood and the terrible power of karma. Director Ronald Neame was a long-time Dickens veteran, having produced David Lean’s GREAT EXPECTATIONS and OLIVER TWIST; here, he proved himself to be a wonderfully humorous and sympathetic filmmaker in his own right. Co-starring Alec Guinness, Edith Evans and Kenneth More. Academy Award-nominated Musical Director Ian Fraser will appear for discussion following the film.

Saturday, December 22 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature:

DIE HARD, 1988, 20th Century Fox, 131 min. Dir. John McTiernan. Bruce Willis plays wisecracking cop John McClane, an endearing everyman who becomes an unlikely hero when a group of professional thieves holds his wife’s building hostage at Christmastime. One of the most purely entertaining movies ever made, this fast, funny, and visually elegant thriller set the template for the Hollywood action flicks that followed it, and made Willis a movie star.
BAD SANTA, 2003, Miramax, 91 min. Dir. Terry Zwigoff’s underground variation of MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, with Billy Bob Thorton as a completely foul- mouthed alcoholic con man posing as a mall Santa, who teams up with his friend Marcus (Tony Cox) to rob the store just before Christmas. A rare intelligent adult comedy. Hysterical and bold, Thornton is reminiscent of W.C. Fields, only more drunk and worse to children. Partner and elf Tony Cox is the perfect foil. Featuring the late, great John Ritter, Bernie Mac and Brett Kelly as "the kid."

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, 1946, Paramount, 130 min. Director Frank Capra’s inspiring tale balances both pathos and joy. The legendary James Stewart is at his finest as the distraught George Baily, a man about to commit suicide on Christmas Eve until he runs into the helpful, elderly Angel Clarence (Henry Travers). Lionel Barrymore is at his Snidely Whiplash best as avaricious banker Mr. Potter, a man who would foreclose on the whole town if he had the chance. Featuring Donna Reed as the love of George’s life, in the role that launched her to stardom, and a young, charming Gloria Grahame. You have seen it before, now see it on the big screen.