This Series
is an Aero Theatre Exclusive!
Our annual holiday comedy festival offers up another platter of delicious treats from
the days when Hollywood could make folks laugh without the use of dangerous animals or
sharp objects. From suave sophistication to comic anarchy, we have a wealth of
mirth-making classics to perk you up after a brutal day of shopping…or looking for a
parking space…or getting stuck in traffic...or reading the newspaper… There are
the well known (HIS GIRL FRIDAY) as well as the rarely-screened (an essential W.C.
Fields double feature of THE OLD FASHIONED WAY and YOU'RE TELLING ME)
classics here featuring a mob of phenomenally talented people, including such legendary
performers as Cary Grant, Barbara Stanwyck and everyone's favorite, The Marx
Brothers!
Friday, December 26 – 7:30 PM
W.C. Fields Double Feature:
THE OLD FASHIONED WAY, 1934, Universal, 70 min.
Dir. William Beaudine. W.C. Fields and his ramshackle theatrical troupe
travel the backwaters of America in this typically subversive Fields romp. As "The
Great McGonigle," Fields pulls a series of successful cons on the small-town citizens
with whom he comes into contact, and gives a hilarious performance as the lead in his
troupe’s staging of, appropriately enough, "The Drunkard." Trailer
YOU'RE TELLING ME! 1934,
Universal, 64 min. Dir. Erle C. Kenton. W.C. Fields plays Sam Bisbee, a
failed inventor who is the laughing stock of his neighbors due to his drunkenness and
general ineptitude. Everything changes when he befriends a foreign princess whose
appearance in town forces the upper crust to accept Sam as one of their own.
Saturday, December 27 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
MY MAN GODFREY, 1936, Universal, 94 min. Dir. Gregory
La Cava. "You people have confused me with the U.S. Treasury!" barks Eugene
Pallette to his spoiled, filthy-rich family, including daughter Carole Lombard,
who acquires tramp William Powell during a scavenger hunt and makes him her butler,
whereupon he teaches her a few lessons about being human. Comeuppance for the wealthy was
sure-fire material during the Depression, and no film ever did it better than this one.
With Alice Brady, Mischa Auer, Gail Patrick and Alan Mowbray. Trailer
HIS GIRL FRIDAY, 1940, Sony Repertory, 92 min. Dir.
Howard Hawks. The fastest comedy ever made, this frenzied remake of Hecht and
MacArthur’s THE FRONT PAGE switches ace newsman Hildy Johnson to a woman (Rosalind
Russell at her peak), while Cary Grant does a complete 180 from BABY as cynical
editor Walter Burns. If you were teaching film comedy, this would be Lesson #1. The
unparalleled cast includes Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, Ernest Truex,
Roscoe Karns, Cliff Edwards, John Qualen, Billy Gilbert and tons more. Trailer
Sunday, December 28 – 7:30 PM
Preston Sturges Double Feature:
THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK, 1944,
Paramount, 98 min. Betty Hutton plays a World War II-era party girl who has a
little too much fun while out with a soldier one night; when morning comes, she’s
pregnant with only a vague memory of what happened. Writer-director Preston Sturges’
cheerfully eccentric riff on the Nativity story is as hilarious and inventive as anything
he ever did, and astonishingly risqué for a production code-era film. Sturges regulars Eddie
Bracken and William Demarest join Hutton in this comedy classic. Trailer
THE LADY EVE, 1941, Universal, 97 min. Dir.
Preston Sturges. Henry Fonda is dim-witted ale heir "Hopsy" Pike
("Snakes are my life."); Barbara Stanwyck is Eve, card sharp and con
artist par excellence. Can this relationship work? Savage but never mean-spirited,
this is Sturges at his best, blending violent slapstick, zesty dialogue and genuine
romance into a peerless masterwork. With Charles Coburn, William Demarest,
Eugene Pallette and Eric Blore. Trailer
Thursday, January 1 – 5:30 PM
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, 1935, Warner Bros, 92 min.
Dir. Sam Wood. The Marx Brothers’ first film for MGM, first without
Zeppo, and their biggest box office hit, has them weigh in on behalf of a couple of
beleaguered opera singer pals who are having career trouble. Heck, you know the plot, so
just enjoy the stateroom scene, the contract routine and tons of great one-liners. And
remember: There ain’t no sanity clause! Numerous writers (many uncredited) include
George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, Al Boasberg and even Buster Keaton. With Kitty
Carlisle, Allan Jones, Sig Ruman, Walter Woolf King and, of course, Margaret Dumont.
Trailer
ANIMAL CRACKERS, 1930, Universal, 97 min. Dir. Victor
Heerman. The Marx Brothers’ second film finds them running amuck at a
swanky Long Island estate where a priceless painting has been stolen. This invaluable
record of their last Broadway show features Groucho’s immortal theme song,
"Hooray for Captain Spaulding," as well as the classic bridge game and
dictating-a-letter routines, and delightful support from the legendary Lillian Roth,
plus Louis Sorin, Robert Greig and, of course, Margaret Dumont. Trailer
