AN UPDATE FROM THE SYRACUSE CINEPHILE SOCIETY

Typically this would be the time of year when we give you the movie lineup for the Syracuse Cinephile Society’s fall season of Monday night screenings at the Spaghetti Warehouse.  Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic we are forced to make some major decisions and changes, but we want to keep you updated on our plans to move forward and restart our series.

Since the pandemic is still a major problem throughout the country and group events such as live theater productions, concerts, festivals, state fairs and similar gatherings are canceled for the remainder of 2020, the Syracuse Cinephile Society’s Board of Directors intensely discussed and reviewed our situation.

Following much (and difficult) consideration, the Board has unanimously voted to forego the Fall 2020 season and resume the Monday night screenings in mid-March for the Spring 2021 season.

This is the plan as of now.  Depending on what the coronavirus situation is as we get closer to March 2021, we may have to reevaluate our plan and make adjustments as necessary, but for now restarting in March 2021 seems to be a reasonable and responsible goal.

A major factor in our decision is social distancing. While social distancing is an effective and important requirement in safe gatherings during this pandemic, we have a unique situation with our Monday night audiences.  Unlike most restaurants and theaters where the attendance is made up primarily of strangers, our Monday gatherings are heavily social in nature, made up largely of people who have grown to know each other as friends and have developed into something of a family, although new attendees are always welcome. To space the seating in our screening room so only a small fraction of our normal turnout can be admitted, as well as people having to sit far apart from their friends, is really not feasible for us, both from a social and from a financial standpoint.  We strongly believe that it is better to wait until the coronavirus situation is better under control and requirements are eased or lifted to allow our shows to have an atmosphere similar to what our audience members are accustomed to.  It’s very important that our screenings be safe from a health standpoint, but they should also continue to be fun and enjoyable as well.

When we do return with screenings, we will be implementing some improvements that will increase the health safety of our gatherings while still providing the great experience that our audiences have come to expect and enjoy.

We will also be rescheduling all of the films that were scheduled for our canceled Spring 2020 season, so you won’t be missing out on any titles that we had planned to present to you.

We invite you to visit our Syracuse Cinephile Society group page on Facebook where we are still providing entertainment with posts (videos, photos, poster art, etc.) as well as keeping our followers updated with our latest developments. 

Please remember that your health and safety are of the utmost importance to us, and we are being very prudent in our path forward during this difficult time. 

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we look forward to being with you to enjoy classic films as soon as it is considered safe to do so.

 

Below is our tentative Spring 2021 season schedule:

  Syracuse Cinephile Monday Night Series

 Programs begin at 7:30 PM

3/22   THE THIN MAN GOES HOME (1944).  Cast:  William Powell, Myrna Loy, Gloria De Haven, Anne Revere, Harry Davenport, Lucile Watson, Leon Ames, Donald Meek, Edward Brophy.  Director: Richard Thorpe.  Our season opens with this entertaining entry in MGM’s “Thin Man” series of comedy-mysteries. Nick and Nora Charles visit Nick’s hometown and become involved in a murder while they’re there.  Lots of suspense, but plenty of fun laughs too.

3/29   TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942).  Cast: Jack Benny, Carole Lombard, Robert Stack, Lionel Atwill, Felix Bressart, Sig Ruman, Tom Dugan. Director: Ernst Lubitsch.  Lubitsch’s classic about a troupe of Polish actors who become part of a plan to foil invading Nazis during WWII.  A superb blend of comedy and espionage drama, and one of Jack Benny’s best films.

4/5    OLD ACQUAINTANCE (1943).  Cast: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, Gig Young, John Loder, Dolores Moran, Philip Reed, Roscoe Karns. Director: Vincent Sherman. Davis and Hopkins play two longtime friends who have personal and professional rivalries that span the years. An engrossing story with fascinating performances.

4/12   THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1946).  Cast: Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, Ethel Barrymore, Kent Smith, Rhonda Fleming, Elsa Lanchester. Director: Robert Siodmak. An atmospheric and suspenseful thriller about a mute servant (McGuire) who works in an eerie Victorian home that may be harboring a serial killer. An “edge of your seat” classic.

4/19   HELLO, FRISCO, HELLO (1943).  In Technicolor.  Cast: Alice Faye, John Payne, Jack Oakie, June Havoc, Lynn Bari, Laird Cregar.  Director: H. Bruce Humberstone. Beloved 20^th Century-Fox musical of four Barbary Coast  singing and dancing performers and the changes they face when they hit the big time.  Wonderful music, including Alice Faye singing her Oscar-winning signature tune, “You’ll Never Know”.

4/26   CITY STREETS (1931).  Cast: Gary Cooper, Sylvia Sidney, Paul Lukas, Guy Kibbee, Wynne Gibson. Director: Rouben Mamoulian. A crook’s daughter (Sidney) is fascinated by gangsters…until her formerly naïve boyfriend (Cooper) becomes one!  An interesting Pre-Code mix of crime story and romantic drama, written by Dashiell Hammett.

5/3  “COMEDIANS AND KIDS” DOUBLE FEATURE

KENTUCKY KERNELS (1934).  Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Spanky McFarland, Mary Carlisle, Noah Beery, Lucille LaVerne, Willie Best.  Director: George Stevens. Wheeler & Woolsey travel to the South to reunite a young orphan (Spanky) with his wealthy relatives…and they get caught in the middle of a longtime family feud!

TILLIE AND GUS (1933).  Cast: W.C. Fields, Alison Skipworth, Baby LeRoy, Jacqueline Wells, Clifford Jones, Clarence Wilson, Edgar Kennedy.  Director: Francis Martin. When a young couple and their baby are swindled out of their rightful inheritance, a long-lost uncle and aunt (Fields and Skipworth) arrive to help save the day.  Great fun!

5/10   GRAND HOTEL (1932).  Cast: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Jean Hersholt, Lewis Stone. Director: Edmund Goulding. MGM’s all-star drama that depicts the various characters and situations in a plush Berlin hotel.  Academy Award winner for Best Picture of 1932.  We are proud to be screening a stunning restoration that gives this classic an impressive pristine presentation.

5/17  CHAD HANNA (1940).  In Technicolor. Cast: Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, Linda Darnell, Guy Kibbee, Jane Darwell, John Carradine. Director: Henry King. Walter D. Edmonds’ colorful drama of a circus troupe traveling through Central and Upstate New York during the 1840s. Several familiar Central New York cities and towns are mentioned and depicted, including Syracuse.

5/24   MYSTERY DOUBLE FEATURE

CHARLIE CHAN IN RENO (1938).  Cast: Sidney Toler, Ricardo Cortez, Phyllis Brooks, Slim Summerville, Sen Yung, Kane Richmond, Kay Linaker. Director: Norman Foster. Chan tries to solve a murder case in the 1930s divorce capital and has to deal with some squabbling couples in the process.  An interesting assortment of characters in this fun puzzler.

POWER OF THE WHISTLER (1945).  Cast: Richard Dix, Janis Carter, Jeff Donnell, John Abbott.  Director: Lew Landers. A helpful woman (Carter) tries to aid a confused amnesiac (Dix) in recalling his identity.  The closer he gets to remembering who he is, the more dangerous the situation becomes.  A great entry in Columbia’s popular “Whistler” series based on the famous radio show.

5/31   NO SHOW  (Memorial Day)

6/7  ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953).  Cast: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert. Director: William Wyler.  A young princess (Hepburn) yearns for a normal life, runs away to enjoy Rome on her own and meets a handsome reporter covering a story there (Peck). A wonderful romantic comedy in which Audrey Hepburn won the Academy Award for Best Actress in her American film debut.

6/14   THE GREAT McGINTY (1940).  Cast: Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff, Muriel Angelus, Allyn Joslyn, William Demarest.  Director: Preston Sturges.  Sturges wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay and also made his directorial debut with this sharp comedy of a crude loudmouth (Donlevy) who is brought into politics by a crooked political machine….and ends up being elected to a high office!  A wild, well-written story with an excellent cast.

6/21   TALL IN THE SADDLE (1944).  Cast: John Wayne, Ella Raines, Ward Bond, Gabby Hayes, Elisabeth Risdon, Raymond Hatton. Director: Edwin L. Marin.  Wayne plays a cowboy who begins a new job on a ranch and is met with several surprises, including a murder, a crooked lawyer (Bond) and a beautiful but feisty wildcat of a woman who owns the neighboring ranch (Raines).  One of the Duke’s most popular westerns of the 1940s.

6/28   FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933).  Cast: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert, Ruth Donnelly, Claire Dodd.  Director: Lloyd Bacon. Our season finale is this star-filled blockbuster musical-comedy from Warner Brothers.  Cagney plays a stage director whose live productions are in trouble when talking pictures take over theaters, and he must become unusually creative to stay in business.  This film features three elaborate eye-popping and jaw-dropping production numbers directed by Busby Berkeley: “By a Waterfall”, “Honeymoon Hotel” and the classic “Shanghai Lil”. Our screening proudly presents the recent studio restoration that looks terrific!

Enjoy your dinner before the show.  It is suggested you arrive for dinner No Later than 6:15PM so you can complete your meal prior to show time at 7:30PM