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Lesley Ann Warren In-person for VICTOR/VICTORIA 35th Anniversary Screening September 19th at the Ahrya Fine Arts

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present the 35th anniversary of Blake Edwards’ gender-bending musical comedy VICTOR/VICTORIA from 1982.

It will screen on Tuesday, September 19 at the Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills, with special guest Lesley Ann Warren, Oscar-nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her role. Presented on DCP. Click here for tickets.

Julie Andrews, who was celebrated as Broadway’s My Fair Lady in the 1950s, and Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins in the 1960s, emerged from a decade long career slump in the 1970s to some of the best notices of her career in 1982’s Victor/Victoria, written and directed by her husband, Blake Edwards (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Pink Panther).

Andrews put a whole new spin on her musical sweetheart persona by playing a down-on-her-luck singer in 1930s Paris who finds fame, fortune and romance disguised as a man pulling off a female impersonator act.

A skillful supporting cast added to the merriment, including James Garner as a Chicago gangster who falls for Andrews, Alex Karras as his bodyguard, Robert Preston as a gay cabaret performer who coaches Andrews in the masquerade, and Lesley Ann Warren as Garner’s moll.

Nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Andrews as best actress, Edwards for best screenplay adaptation, and Preston and Warren in the supporting acting categories. Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse won the Oscar for their delightful Original Song Score.

 

Roger Ebert applauded it as “a classic movie sex farce…not only a funny movie, but a warm and friendly one.”

Vincent Canby in The New York Times heaped praise on the entire cast, especially Andrews, Garner, and Preston, “each giving the performance of his and her career in a marvelous fable about mistaken identity, sexual role-playing, love, innocence and sight gags.”

Canby also had kudos for Warren (“squeaky-voiced Norma is enchantingly self-possessed and very comic.”) and for Edwards (“His chef d’oeuvre, his cockeyed, crowning achievement.”)

Our special guest Lesley Ann Warren began her lengthy show biz career on the stage, debuting on Broadway in 1963, which led to her being cast in the title role of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Cinderella in 1965. Following her work as Walt Disney’s main ingénue (The Happiest Millionaire) et al, she graduated to more mature roles in television movies in the 70s before being cast in Victor/Victoria, and played the archetypal dumb blonde with such aplomb that Stanley Kauffmann of the New Republic was impressed that Warren “plays her as if the character had just been invented.”

Warren is also known for playing Miss Scarlet in the cult movie Clue, and for recent recurring TV guest roles in series such as Will & Grace, Desperate Housewives, and Blunt Talk.

The 35th anniversary screening of Victor/Victoria, with a Q&A with Lesley Ann Warren, plays Tuesday, September 19 at 7:30 pm at the Ahrya Fine Arts theatre in Beverly Hills.  Click here for tickets.

Schwarztember: A Classic Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie Every Throwback Thursday in September at the NoHo 7

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Get to the choppa and join Laemmle along with Eat|See|Hear at the NoHo 7 for a full month of Throwback Thursday movies starring legendary action hero (and former Governor) Arnold Schwarzenegger! We’re calling it Schwarztember and it starts Thursday, September 7th with PREDATOR! Doors open at 7pm, trivia starts at 7:30, and movies begin at 7:40pm. Check out the full schedule below!

September 7: Predator

Dutch, an elite mercenary played by Arnold, is part of an operation to rescue a group of politicians trapped in Central America. When they arrive, they discover that something is horribly wrong. They are being hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior which has the ability to disappear into its surroundings. BUY TICKETS.

September 14: The Running Man

A wrongly convicted man  must try to survive a public execution gauntlet staged as a game show. BUY TICKETS.

September 21: Total Recall

Douglas Quaid is haunted by a recurring dream about a journey to Mars. He hopes to find out more about this dream and buys a holiday at Rekall Inc. where they sell implanted memories. But something goes wrong with the memory implantation and he remembers being a secret agent fighting against the evil Mars administrator Cohaagen. Now the story really begins and it’s a rollercoaster ride until the massive end of the movie.  BUY TICKETS.

September 28: Kindergarten Cop

John Kimble is a tough city cop who’s been on the trail of drug dealer Cullen Crisp for years. He finally tracks Crisp down but it seems the only person that can testify against him is his ex-wife. The problem is she’s disappeared and all Kimble knows is the name of the school in Oregon where her son attends. When things don’t quite go to plan, Kimble finds he has to go undercover on his toughest assignment yet – Kindergarten teacher! BUY TICKETS.

Details about October #TBT screenings are coming soon. Remember to check www.laemmle.com/tbt for updates!

65th Anniversary Screening of SUDDEN FEAR Starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance, August 29th in Beverly Hills

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SUDDEN FEAR (1952) 65th Anniversary Screening
With Introduction by film historian Jeremy Arnold
Tuesday, August 29, at 7:30 PM at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre
Presented on DCP. Click here for tickets.

One of the dominant series in this year’s Emmy competition is Feud: Bette and Joan, which earned a near-record total of 18 nominations, and the top contender for Best Actress is Jessica Lange for her multi-dimensional portrayal of screen icon Joan Crawford.

During this Emmy season, Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 65th anniversary screening of one of Crawford’s most memorable performances in the film noir favorite, SUDDEN FEAR.

The film earned four Oscar nominations in 1952, including one for Crawford as Best Actress, one for Jack Palance as Best Supporting Actor and another for Charles Lang’s moody black-and-white cinematography.

The ingenious screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Robert Smith, adapted from a novel by Edna Sherry, casts Crawford as a highly successful New York playwright who rejects an aspiring young actor when he auditions for the leading role in her latest play. Crawford insists that he lacks the charisma to be convincing as a romantic lead.

Ironically, when she later meets the actor on a train heading back to her home in San Francisco, she finds him more compelling and begins to fall in love with him. But this is only the beginning of a romantic melodrama with some startling and frightening twists ahead for both characters.

Film noir historian Spencer Selby called the film ”undoubtedly one of the most stylish and refined woman-in-distress noirs.” Leonard Maltin agreed that the film is a “solid suspense thriller with many neat twists.”

Gloria Grahame, who made four movies in 1952, including The Bad and the Beautiful (which won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), has a juicy supporting role as Palance’s secret lover.

David Miller (Midnight Lace, Lonely Are the Brave, Captain Newman, M.D.) directed.

The screening will be introduced by film historian Jeremy Arnold, author of TCM’S The Essentials, who provided the audio commentary on the recent Blu-Ray edition of SUDDEN FEAR.

Click here for tickets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9GHtPQ7DNA

Our #TBT Series goes ‘Hog Wild’ with Biker Films and Amazing Special Guests Every Throwback Thursday in August at the NoHo 7

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Put the rubber to road and head on down to the Laemmle NoHo 7 because our #TBT series is going HOG WILD! Every Throwback Thursday in August, Laemmle and  Eat|See|Hear present some of our favorite biker classics! Doors open at 7pm, trivia starts at 7:30, and films begin at 7:40pm. It all starts Thursday, August 3rd with Director Richard Rush and HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS! Check out the full schedule and guest appearances below!

August 3: Hells Angels on Wheels

A bunch of hairy guys on Harleys are causing trouble again in this, one of the best-remembered examples of the biker flicks of the 1960’s. Poet (Jack Nicholson) is a moody gas station attendant who is looking for more excitement in his life. When a gang of bikers roars through town, Poet is intrigued, and after he pitches in to help the Hell’s Angels in a bar fight (and pulls a well-timed stick up), one of the gang’s higher-ups, Buddy (Adam Roarke) asks Poet to join. Director Richard Rush and actress Sabrina Scharf in person! BUY TICKETS.

August 10: Born Losers


One of the first recognizable “vigilante” films in American cinema, The Born Losers tells the story of Billy Jack (writer-director Tom Laughlin), an ex-Green Beret and Vietnam veteran who makes it his business to rescue a cute mod girl from a crew of vicious bikers. Frank Laughlin (son of Tom Laughlin) and William Wellman Jr. in person!  BUY TICKETS.

August 17: Easy Rider

After scoring cocaine in Mexico, then reselling it in California, two bikers set off on a cross-country trek to New Orleans. Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and Jack Nicholson star.  BUY TICKETS.

August 24: The Wild Angels

A gang of wild bikers, led by Heavenly Blues (Peter Fonda), cause havoc and destruction while paying tribute to a dead gang member, “Loser” Josey Kerns. Directed by Roger Corman and starring Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, and Nancy Sinatra. BUY TICKETS.

August 31: Knightriders

A hardcase motorcycle gang led by Ed Harris has found itself a neat money-making gimmick. Dressed as the knights of the round table, the cyclists pick up a few bucks at local “renaissance” fairs, selling handicrafts made by the more talented members of the gang. Harris’ great rival is Tom Savini, who has his own band of “black knights.” Keep an eye out for an unbilled appearance by novelist Stephen King. Directed by George A. Romero. BUY TICKETS.

Details about September #TBT screenings are coming soon. Remember to check www.laemmle.com/tbt for updates!

Q&A with MY FAVORITE YEAR Director Richard Benjamin, Co-stars Lainie Kazan and Joseph Bologna, and Producer Michael Gruskoff on Thursday, July 27 in West LA

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35th Anniversary Screening of MY FAVORITE YEAR (1982) Followed by a Q&A with Director Richard Benjamin, Co-stars Lainie Kazan and Joseph Bologna, and Producer Michael Gruskoff on Thursday, July 27, at 7:30 PM at the Royal. Presented on DVD.

Click here for tickets.

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 35th anniversary screening of the popular comedy, MY FAVORITE YEAR, which earned Peter O’ Toole his seventh Oscar nomination for Best Actor. The year is 1954, and O’Toole plays an aging, dissolute movie star (a cross between John Barrymore and Errol Flynn) who creates havoc when he is hired as a guest star of a TV comedy series modeled on Sid Caesar’s groundbreaking variety show.

Mark Linn-Baker plays a young writer on the show (said to be based on Mel Brooks), and the extraordinary cast also includes Jessica Harper, Joe Bologna, Lainie Kazan, Bill Macy, Lou Jacobi, and Cameron Mitchell, with Gloria Stuart in an unbilled cameo. Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo wrote the screenplay, and Richard Benjamin made an impressive directorial debut.

Writing in The Hollywood Reporter, Robert Osborne said, “Benjamin keeps everything rolling merrily from start to finish.” Variety’s Todd McCarthy declared, “MY FAVORITE YEAR provides a field day for a wonderful bunch of actors headed by Peter O’Toole in another rambunctious, stylish starring turn.” Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner touted the film as “a comic triumph” and added, “It’s as jam-packed with invention and eccentricity as a Preston Sturges romp.”

After shining as an actor in ‘Goodbye, Columbus,’ ‘Diary of a Mad Housewife,’ ‘The Last of Sheila,’ ‘Westworld,’ and ‘The Sunshine Boys,’ Richard Benjamin made a successful transition to directing with the film. He went on to direct such others as ‘Racing with the Moon’ with Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, and Nicolas Cage, ‘The Money Pit’ with Tom Hanks, ‘Little Nikita’ with Sidney Poitier and River Phoenix, and ‘Mermaids’ with Cher and Winona Ryder.

Lainie Kazan has had a long career as a singer as well as an actress. Her feature films include ‘One from the Heart,’ ‘Beaches,’ and the smash hit comedy ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding.’ She co-starred in the TV series ‘The Paper Chase,’ ‘The Nanny,’ and ‘Desperate Housewives.’ She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in ‘My Favorite Year,’ and Newsweek’s David Ansen wrote of her performance, “Lainie Kazan as Benjy’s mother poses a serious threat to Shelley Winters in the funniest-Jewish-Mama sweepstakes.”

Joseph Bologna has worked as an actor, writer, and director. He earned an Academy Award nomination for co-authoring the screenplay of ‘Lovers and Other Strangers,’ which was adapted from the play he wrote with Renee Taylor. He and Taylor co-starred in other films they wrote, ‘Made for Each Other’ and ‘It Had to Be You.’ Bologna has also co-starred in such films as Neil Simon’s ‘Chapter Two,’ ‘Blame It on Rio,’ ‘The Woman in Red,’ and ‘Boynton Beach Club.’

Michael Gruskoff produced ‘Young Frankenstein,’ ‘Silent Running,’ and ‘Pink Cadillac.’ He won Cesar Award for ‘Quest for Fire’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioyAJUCTCkQ

STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN 35th Anniversary Screening and Q&A with Director Nicholas Meyer on May 31 at the Ahrya Fine Arts

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35th Anniversary Screening of STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
Followed by Q&A with Director Nicholas Meyer
Wednesday, May 31, at 7:30 PM at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre
Presented on DCP.

Click here for tickets.

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 35th anniversary screening of STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, regarded by many buffs as the best feature film in the long running series. After the box office disappointment of the first Star Trek feature in 1979, Paramount Pictures and producer Harve Bennett decided to take a fresh approach to the follow-up film, cutting the budget drastically and bringing in talented newcomers to revitalize the popular franchise.

Nicholas Meyer, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter and novelist of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, had made his directorial debut with 1979’s Time After Time. He came to this new project, as he freely admitted, as a Star Trek novice, but he brought intelligence, ingenuity, and wit to the sequel.

Meyer and the screenwriters decided to bring back one of the memorable villains from the TV series, the intergalactic tyrant Khan, and hired Ricardo Montalban to reprise his role from that episode. Of course the regular cast members of the Starship Enterprise — William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, and Walter Koenig — were also on board, along with newcomer Kirstie Alley.

Another newcomer to the enterprise was young composer James Horner, a future Oscar winner who had one of his first major credits on Star Trek II.

Critics endorsed the new approach. Variety called the film “a very satisfying space adventure, closer in spirit and format to the popular TV series than to its big-budget predecessor.” The commercial success of Star Trek II insured a long voyage for the Enterprise on the big screen and on television for decades to come.

Director Nicholas Meyer also worked on Star Trek IV, Star Trek VI, and the upcoming TV series Star Trek: Discovery. In addition to The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and Time After Time, his many other credits as writer and/or director include Volunteers, Company Business, Sommersby, the TV movie The Day After, and two Philip Roth adaptations, The Human Stain and Elegy.

55th Anniversary Screenings of DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE May 17th in Encino, Pasadena, and West LA

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Laemmle Theatres and Anniversary Classics Abroad present a 55th anniversary screening of Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style on Wednesday, May 17 at 7:00PM at the Royal, Town Center, and Playhouse 7. Click here for tickets.

The acclaimed satiric comedy and Oscar winner (Best Original Screenplay) stars Marcello Mastroianni as an impoverished, bored Sicilian aristocrat who hatches an elaborate scheme to murder his wife after inveigling her into an adulterous affair.

According to Italian custom, he would be justified in killing her, by defending his “honor,” (divorce being forbidden in Italy). Conveniently he would be then free to marry his young, beautiful cousin, who seems to return his affections, right up to the film’s final, wicked shot.

Director Germi, who co-wrote the slyly clever script with Ennio De Concini and Alfredo Gianetti, had a background in neorealist Italian dramas, and that would serve him well in his sendup of the Catholic country’s cultural habits and social mores.

Mastroianni’s voiceover narration offers wry commentary on those traditions, effectively skewered by Germi. Bosley Crowther in the New York Times called it “a dandy, satiric farce” and Time lauded Germi for “something wildly, wickedly, wonderfully funny. He has applied a cunning hotfoot to the world’s biggest boot.”

And director Martin Scorsese, who is of Sicilian ancestry, said, “Every detail in Divorce Italian Style is so truthful and right that all Germi had to do was to heighten everything a bit to make it funny.”

The film was a box office smash, breaking out of the art houses into general release, and garnered three Academy Award nominations: Best Director (Germi), Best Actor (Mastroianni) and Best Original Screenplay. It was the first time in Academy history that a foreign-language film was recognized in those top three categories, and the first-ever Oscar awarded to a foreign-language feature for writing. The film also helped elevate Mastroianni to international stardom, cementing his reputation as one of the era’s finest actors.

This screening is the latest installment of our Anniversary Classics Abroad series, presented the third Wednesday of each month. Our subsequent attraction will be Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night on June 21.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NLac9l0fc4

Two Courtroom Classics For the Price of One on May 2nd in NoHo, Pasadena, and Beverly Hills

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present two acclaimed courtroom dramas celebrating their 60th anniversaries as the second attraction in the popular Twofer Tuesdays program. 12 ANGRY MEN and WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, both 1957 Academy Award nominees for Best Picture, will be paired as a double bill (two movies, one admission price) on May 2nd at the Ahrya Fine Arts, NoHo 7, and Pasadena Playhouse 7. Presented on Blu-ray.

Click here to buy tickets to the 5:15PM show of 12 ANGRY MEN, admission to the 7:15pm WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION is included. Click here to get tickets to the 7:15PM show of  WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, admission to the 9:35pm 12 ANGRY MEN is included.

12 ANGRY MEN, about the deliberations of 12 jurors in a murder trial, was adapted by Reginald Rose from his 1954 teleplay, and directed by Sidney Lumet (Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network) as his film debut. Henry Fonda, who also produced, heads a formidable cast of award-winning actors including Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, Jack Warden, E. G. Marshall, and Jack Klugman. Both Lumet and Rose were Oscar nominated for their work.

The film, as timely as ever, challenges an audience to confront ethnic and social prejudices in considering innocence or guilt based on reasonable doubt.

Roger Ebert called it “a masterpiece of stylized realism,” enhanced by the expert black-and-white photography of Boris Kaufman, making the most of its one set in the jury room. Ebert further opined, “In its ingenuity, in the way it balances one piece of evidence against another that seems contradictory, 12 Angry Men is as meticulous as an Agatha Christie thriller.” The movie was added to the National Film Registry in 2007.

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, based on an Agatha Christie play, is a spellbinding courtroom thriller about a murder suspect (Tyrone Power) defended by a wily barrister (Charles Laughton) against the testimony of the suspect’s wife (Marlene Dietrich).

Billy Wilder, collaborating with writers Harry Kurnitz and Larry Marcus, strengthened the characterizations and added a surprise twist at the end, heightening the suspense throughout.

Laughton received one of the film’s six Oscar nominations as Best Actor for his delightfully animated portrayal. Elsa Lanchester as the barrister’s no-nonsense nurse afforded comic relief and copped a supporting actress nod. Wilder nabbed the sixth of his eight career directing nominations.

The film was a critical and commercial hit, with Bosley Crowther of The New York Times applauding “Wilder’s splendid staging of some splintering courtroom scenes and a first-rate theatrical performance by Charles Laughton.”

Audiences at the time were aghast and delighted by the film’s wicked surprise ending, which they were urged to keep secret. Even the film’s cast did not know the ending until the last day of shooting. Both films were later cited in the all-time top ten of the AFI’s Courtroom Dramas category.

The Twofer Tuesdays double feature of 12 ANGRY MEN (shows at 5:15 pm and 9:35 pm) and WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (shows at 7:15 pm) plays May 2 at three Laemmle locations: Ahrya Fine Arts, NoHo 7, and Pasadena Playhouse 7.