Few genres take the psychological pulse of a country as well as the political thriller. Watergate-era unease (THE PARALLAX VIEW, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN), questions about the truth behind the Kennedy assassination (EXECUTIVE ACTION), and paranoia about corporate-controlled America (WINTER KILLS) are just a few of the topics explored in this series, which also includes classics like THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR. The visual scope and thematic ambition of these masterpieces demands that they be seen on the big screen!

Wednesday, February 6 – 7:30 PM

New 35 mm print! THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, 1973, Paramount, 117 min. Dir. Sydney Pollack. Robert Redford is a mild-mannered CIA clerk forced into action when he returns from a lunch break to find all of his co-workers dead. As he tries to discover the truth behind the murders, he finds himself on the run from assassins and engaged in an unlikely romance with Faye Dunaway in Pollack’s intricate, fast-paced political thriller.

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, 1962, MGM Repertory, 126 min. Dir. John Frankenheimer. Ex-prisoner-of-war Frank Sinatra tries to connect the dots when decorated comrade Laurence Harvey starts acting strange only to have a nightmarish labyrinth unravel in his lap. Korean War brainwashing, Harvey’s rich control freak mother (Angela Lansbury), her right-wing candidate hubby (James Gregory in a savage parody of Sen. Joseph McCarthy) and an assassination plot mesh in this suspenseful adaptation of Richard Condon’s satirical thriller. With Janet Leigh.

Saturday, February 9 – 7:30 PM

Assassination Conspiracy Double Feature:

WINTER KILLS, 1979, Avco-Embassy (Canal+), 97 min. Director William Richert fashions a fierce lampoon of events surrounding the JFK assassination from Richard Condon’s (MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE; PRIZZI’S HONOR) already bitingly satirical novel. Jeff Bridges, idealistic brother of a slain president, has his life turned topsy-turvy when he’s handed newly-uncovered evidence of a conspiracy. With John Huston as the amoral robber-baron patriarch and a totally tweaked Anthony Perkins as the certifiably loony Head of National Security.

EXECUTIVE ACTION, 1973, Warner Bros., 91 min. Years before Oliver Stone’s JFK, director David Miller (LONELY ARE THE BRAVE) pulled off one of the most shocking casting coups of the early 1970s: Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan as two rich Texas men on a commission of right-wing corporate honchos who are revealed to be the real force behind the JFK assassination. Alarmed at civil rights progress, Kennedy’s commitment to the nuclear test-ban treaty and his wavering on Viet Nam, they plot the President’s demise with a coldly detached precision. The screenplay was penned by previously blacklisted Dalton Trumbo. With Will Geer, John Anderson. "…The filmmakers do not insist that they have solved John Kennedy's murder; instead, they simply evoke what might have happened, according to various researchers, including Mark Lane…The film's sternest and strongest point is that only a crazed person acting on his own would have been acceptable to the American public - which, at that time, certainly did not want to believe in a conspiracy." -- Nora Sayre, The New York Times (Because of rarity, this original print is slightly faded.) Discussion in between films with WINTER KILLS director William Richert, art director Norman Newberry, production designer Bob Boyle and other guests to be announced.

Sunday, February 10 – 7:30 PM

Alan Pakula Double Feature!

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, 1976, Warner Bros., 138 min. Dir. Alan Pakula. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman shine as Washington Post investigative reporters Woodward and Bernstein, the pair responsible for uncovering the shocking truth behind the Watergate break-in. A tense real-life detective saga demonstrating what a courageous free press can accomplish. With a sterling supporting cast that includes Jason Robards, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, Jane Alexander, Hal Holbrook and F. Murray Abraham.