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SUPERMAN 40th Anniversary Screening in 4K with Cast Member Q&A on Tuesday, October 9 in Beverly Hills

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 40th anniversary screening of the film that launched the comic book movie craze, the original SUPERMAN, directed by Richard Donner and starring new screen personality Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel.

Comics had inspired TV series and Saturday afternoon serials, but there had not been a big-budget attempt to capture the spirit of these fan favorites until Donner, working for producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind, gambled a huge budget on a screen version of DC Comics’ favorite superhero. As this character is so popular amongst comic book fans, it was only right that a budget was found to bring fans closer to their favorite superhero. Recently, it was actually found that Superman is the favorite of the most amount of states still. This means that people are still enjoying this character’s journey to the big screen. Whether in comic books or on TV, Superman has a special place in a lot of people’s hearts. This is why the movie’s success spawned three sequels and also led to the first big-screen incarnation of another DC hero, Batman, a decade later (in the version directed by Tim Burton).

To write the screenplay, the Salkinds hired a bevy of successful writers-best-selling author Mario Puzo, acclaimed screenwriters Robert Benton, David and Leslie Newman, though the final version was reportedly crafted by Tom Mankiewicz, credited as “creative consultant.”

The film takes an epic approach to the tale of Superman, beginning with a prologue on the planet Krypton, then following Clark Kent’s childhood and adolescence in Smallville, Kansas, before he takes on his grown-up identity as the “mild-mannered reporter” at The Daily Planet in the city of Metropolis.

The all-star cast included Oscar winners Marlon Brando as Superman’s father, Jor-El, and Gene Hackman as arch-villain Lex Luthor, along with Susannah York, Glenn Ford, Ned Beatty, Valerie Perrine, Jack O’Halloran, Maria Schell, Terence Stamp, Jeff East, Jackie Cooper as Daily Planet editor Perry White, Marc McClure as cub reporter Jimmy Olsen, and Margot Kidder as Superman’s love interest, Lois Lane.

After many big-name actors turned down the title role, the filmmakers decided to take a chance on a brand new actor, Christopher Reeve, who had only a couple of TV appearances and one other feature film to his credit. Their gamble paid off and turned the brash, witty young actor into a superstar.

The creators of the original comic book, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, praised the casting. As Shuster said, “Chris Reeve has just the right touch of humor.” Oscar-winning cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth (Becket, Cabaret) had one of his last credits on the movie, and multiple Oscar-winning composer John Williams wrote the stirring score. The movie won a special Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

In addition to scoring an enormous box office success, the movie received mainly favorable reviews. Variety called Superman “a wonderful, chuckling, preposterously exciting fantasy.” Making an apt comparison, The New York Daily News’ Kathleen Carroll, declared, “It is this year’s answer to Star Wars, a movie that is pure escape and good, clean, unadulterated fun.” Roger Ebert wrote, “Superman is a pure delight… Reeve is perfectly cast in the role.”

Several of the supporting cast members will participate in our Q&A after the screening, including Jack O’Halloran (the 1976 King Kong, The Flintstones), Marc McClure (Back to the Future, Apollo 13), and Valerie Perrine (Oscar nominee for Lenny).

SUPERMAN screens Tuesday, October 9 at 7:30pm at the Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills. Click here for tickets.

Format: 4K DCP

The Return of Scary Subtitles: Frightening Foreign Films Every Throwback Thursday in October at the NoHo 7

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At Laemmle we say, “Not Afraid of Subtitles.” But this October, subtitles get downright horrifying! Join us for the second installment of our month-long tribute to frightening foreign films at the NoHo 7… just in time for Halloween!

Our “Scary Subtitles” Throwback Thursday series begins on Thursday, October 4th with THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE! Doors open at 7pm, trivia starts at 7:30, and movies begin at 7:40pm. Check out the full schedule below!

October 4: The Devil’s Backbone [El Espinazo del Diablo]

After Carlos, a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War, arrives at an ominous orphanage for boys, he learns that the school is haunted and has many dark secrets that will confront him. Directed and co-written by Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labrynth, The Shape of Water). Produced by Pedro Almodóvar. In Spanish with English subtitles. TICKETS.

October 11: Black Sabbath [I Tre Volti della Paura]

In this 1963 horror anthology, Boris Karloff hosts a trio of stories concerning a stalked call girl, an vampire who can only feed on those he loves, and a nurse who is haunted by her ring’s rightful owner. Actor/producer Mark Damon, who stars in the third segment, will participate in a Q&A at the screening. In addition to his acting career, Damon has produced many films including MONSTER and DAS BOOT. In Italian with English subtitles. TICKETS.

October 18: I Saw the Devil [Angmareul Boatda]

A shockingly violent and stunningly accomplished tale of murder and revenge from Korean genre master Jee-woon Kim (The Good, The Bad, The Weird and A Tale of Two Sisters). It transcends the police procedural and serial killer genres in surprising and thrilling new ways. In Korean with English subtitles.  TICKETS.

October 25: Dead Snow [Død Snø]

A group of friends had all they would need for a successful Easter vacation; cabin, skis, snowmobile, toboggan, and copious amounts of beer. Certainly, none of them had anticipated not returning home alive. However, the Nazi-zombie battalion haunting the mountains surrounding the aptly named Oksfjord (Axefjord) had other plans… In Norwegian with English subtitles. TICKETS.

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

ROSEMARY’S BABY plus Q&A, book sale and signing with ‘This Is No Dream: Making Rosemary’s Baby’ author James Munn September 26th in Pasadena

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In conjunction with the publication of This is No Dream: Making Rosemary’s Baby by James Munn, Laemmle Theatres, the Anniversary Classics Series and Vroman’s Bookstore present a 50th anniversary screening of one of the most terrifying movies of all time, ROSEMARY’S BABY.

Ira Levin’s ingenious best-selling novel imagined a witches’ coven hiding in plain sight in contemporary Manhattan and hatching a plot to bring the Devil’s son to earth. Producer William Castle, the mastermind behind many successful B-horror movies, graduated to the A ranks with this classy production. Paramount’s head of production, Robert Evans, hired acclaimed European director Roman Polanski to make his Hollywood debut with the film.

The casting of the film was inspired. As the innocent woman at the center of the diabolical conspiracy, the filmmakers chose a relatively new face to movies, Mia Farrow, and she played the role with endearing vulnerability.

The film’s success catapulted her to full-fledged stardom. John Cassavetes took a break from his own independent productions to play Farrow’s conniving husband. The brilliance of the casting extended to the supporting players, a veritable Who’s Who of vintage Hollywood and Broadway actors, including Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy, Patsy Kelly, and Elisha Cook Jr. Gordon won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her spot-on portrayal of a nosy neighbor with a sinister agenda. Polanski earned an Oscar nomination for his adapted screenplay.

Behind-the-scenes credits were just as impressive. Six-time Oscar nominee William Fraker (‘Bullitt,’ ‘Heaven Can Wait’) was the cinematographer, while two-time Oscar winner Richard Sylbert (‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,’ ‘Chinatown,’ ‘Dick Tracy’) was the production designer. The eerie score was composed by a gifted friend of Polanski, Christopher Komeda, who died tragically at the age of 37 soon after the release of the film.

Among the stellar reviews for the film, Leonard Maltin hailed a “classic modern-day thriller by Ira Levin, perfectly realized by writer-director Polanski.” Stephen Witty of the Newark Star-Ledger called it “one of the finest horror films ever made.” In 2014 ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

Q&A, book sale and signing with author James Munn after the screening. Munn is a freelance writer, film historian and former editor at Architectural Digest; he grew up in rural Nebraska and currently resides in Hollywood, California.

ROSEMARY’S BABY screens Wednesday, September 26 at 7pm at the Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena. Click here for tickets.

Format: DCP

Bloody Disgusting Presents Retro Nightmares Cinema Series in Pasadena, North Hollywood, and Santa Monica!

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Bloody Disgusting presents Retro Nightmares Cinema Series brings campy fun back to theaters starting this September in Pasadena, North Hollywood, and Santa Monica.

Just in time to kick off the Halloween season, five HD digitally remastered cult horror classics–as voted online by fans–will be coming to the big screen for three nights only: The House on Sorority Row (Thursday, September 27th), Amityville: The Evil Escapes & Amityville: It’s About Time – Double Feature Event (Thursday, October 4th), and Sweet Sixteen & The Convent – Double Feature Event (Thursday, October 11th).

https://youtu.be/tD0SX_DeHFA

Many of these films haven’t been shown on the big screen in decades, so now is the opportunity for horror fans to share the experience together and enjoy exclusive in-theater content, including videos produced by Attack Media, the folks behind “The Attack” web show on Twitch and behind-the-scenes footage.

SEPTEMBER 27th

THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW (1983) at 7:30pm and 9:55pm
After a seemingly innocent prank goes horribly wrong, a group of sorority sisters are stalked and murdered one by one in their sorority house while throwing a party to celebrate their graduation.

Special in-theater bonus content includes Attack Media’s comedic makeover of The House on Sorority Row (1983) in a five-minute re-edit presented as a ladies’ etiquette school recruitment video.

Cast: Katie McNeil, Eileen Davidson, Janis Ward, Robin Meloy, Harley Jane Kozak, Barbara Harris

OCTOBER 4TH Amityville Double Feature

AMITYVILLE: THE EVIL ESCAPES (1989) at 7:30pm
The demonic forces that were lurking in the infamous house in Amityville for over 300 years escape to a remote California mansion by inhabiting a lamp. This evil latches onto a little girl living in the home by taking on the form of her dead father. Soon it manipulates her completely, overtaking her body to the point of possession. It’s up to a young priest to perform an exorcism and attempt to lift the curse from the desperate family.

Cast: Patty Duke, Jane Wyatt, Fredric Lehne, Lou Hancock, Brandy Gold, Alex Rebar, Aron Eisenberg, David Elliott, Peggy McCay, Robert Alan Brownem, Warren Munson, Zoe Trilling

AMITYVILLE: IT’S ABOUT TIME (1992) at 9:25pm
Widowed father Jake Sterling returns home from a business trip with an antique clock, intended as a gift to his two teenage children. Having been created by a 15th century French necromancer and belonging to the infamous haunted house in Amityville, sinister incidents begin to transpire around the neighborhood after Jake places the clock on his mantle. After a dog attack, fires, and forces that fracture the passing of time, Jake’s son and a neighbor race to uncover the history and mystery of the clock before it’s too late.

Fans will also be treated to exclusive in-theater bonus content from Attack Media, as Amityville: The Evil Escapes (1989) and Amityville: It’s About Time (1992) get the game show treatment in a five minute re-edit presented as a meme montage.

Cast: Stephen Macht, Shawn Weatherly, Megan Ward, Damon Martin, Jonathan Penner, Dean Cochran, Dick Miller, Terrie Snell, Willie C. Carpenter

OCTOBER 11TH Double Feature

SWEET SIXTEEN (1983) at 7:30pm
Big city girl Melissa Morgan (Aleisa Shirley) tries to make new friends in the small Texas town she just moved to. The only problem is, each of the boys that she spends time with ends up brutally murdered. Her sixteenth birthday is on the way, but Melissa turns out to be a suspect when it seems she’s the last person who has seen her boyfriends alive.

Cast: Bo Hopkins, Susan Strasberg, Patrick Macnee, Don Stroud, Dana Kimmell, Don Shanks, Glenn Withrow, Michael Pataki, Sharon Farrell, Steve Antin

THE CONVENT (2000) at 9:20pm
In 1960, a young woman commits a grisly massacre at St. Francis Boarding School, brutally murdering the clergy and nuns inside. Forty years later, college student Clarissa and her fickle friends break into the abandoned convent to tag it with their Greek letters before the Kappas beat them to it. Before long, the group discovers that it’s inhabited by demons that are intent on possessing them. As the group dwindles in numbers and the bodies pile up, those who remain uncover the convent’s long history with malevolent demonic forces and learn about the buried circumstances surrounding that fateful Sixties night.

In addition, fans will get exclusive new in-theater content featuring a behind the scenes and in-depth look at the filming and restoration of The Convent.

Cast: Joanna Canton, Coolio, Megahn Perry, Renee Graham, Adrienne Barbeau, Allison Dunbar, Bill Moseley, Chaton Anderson, Dorenda Moore, Elle Alexander, Liam Kyle Sullivan

Click here for tickets.

PETULIA (1968) 50th Anniversary Screening with Actors Shirley Knight and Richard Chamberlain In Person on September 20th in West LA

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a screening of one of the groundbreaking movies from the tumultuous year of 1968, Richard Lester’s PETULIA. Set in 1960’s San Francisco, the story of a troubled love affair between a divorced surgeon and a free-spirited socialite captures some of the disruptions of a society in transition.

The extraordinary cast includes Oscar winners George C. Scott and Julie Christie, Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Shirley Knight, Golden Globe winner Richard Chamberlain, Pippa Scott, Kathleen Widdoes, and veteran actor Joseph Cotten, one of the stars of ‘Citizen Kane.’

Lester, the winner of the Career Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in 2014, first came to attention as the director of comedies like ‘The Mouse on the Moon’ and the brilliantly innovative Beatles musicals, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and ‘Help!’

PETULIA marked his first foray into dramatic filmmaking, though it retained the comic and satiric touches of his early movies. Lester’s daring approach to non-linear storytelling had a tremendous influence on a later generation of filmmakers, including director Steven Soderbergh, who published a series of interviews with Lester.

PETULIA, produced by Raymond Wagner, was adapted from a novel by John Haase. Lawrence B. Marcus, who later earned an Oscar nomination for his script of ‘The Stunt Man,’ wrote the screenplay. The technical team behind the movie was also first-rate.

Master cinematographer Nicolas Roeg went on to become the acclaimed director of such films as ‘Don’t Look Now’ and ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth.’ Film editor Antony Gibbs worked on such films as ‘A Taste of Honey’ and Lester’s ‘The Knack,’ as well as Oscar winners ‘Tom Jones’ and ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’

Five-time Oscar winner John Barry composed the score, with some help from on-screen performances by Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Grateful Dead, and other San Francisco bands of the ’60s.

Roger Ebert reviewed the film at the time and wrote, “I am unable to find a single thing wrong with it.” Life Magazine’s Richard Schickel declared, “PETULIA is a terrific movie, at once a sad and savage comment on the ways we waste our time, our money and ourselves in upper-middle-class America.” Leonard Maltin praised the film’s “terrific acting, especially by Scott and Knight, in one of the decade’s best films.”

Shirley Knight earned two Oscar nominations early in her career, for ‘The Dark at the Top of the Stairs’ and ‘Sweet Bird of Youth.’

She went on to star in the film version of Leroi Jones’ controversial play ‘Dutchman,’ in Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Rain People,’ Sidney Lumet’s film version of Mary McCarthy’s best-selling novel ‘The Group,’ and in James L. Brooks’ Oscar winner ‘As Good As It Gets.’

For television she starred in Ingmar Bergman’s script ‘The Lie’ and won an Emmy for her performance in ‘Indictment: The McMartin Trial.’

Richard Chamberlain, star of stage, screen, and television, will join the Q&A of PETULIA with actress Shirley Knight. Chamberlain was best known for the Dr. Kildare TV series when director Richard Lester decided to cast the actor against type as the abusive husband of Julie Christie in PETULIA. The role helped to alter Chamberlain’s image and enhance his reputation and his visibility.

He went on to co-star in Lester’s enormously popular ‘Three Musketeer’ movies. He played Tchaikovsky in Ken Russell’s film ‘The Music Lovers’, also co-starred in such films as ‘The Towering Inferno’ and Peter Weir’s ‘The Last Wave.’

Chamberlain became best known for his starring roles in several popular TV movies and miniseries, including ‘Centennial,’ ‘Shogun,’ ‘The Thorn Birds,’ and ‘Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story.’

PETULIA screens on Thursday, September 20th at 7pm at the Laemmle Royal in West LA. Q&A with Shirley Knight and Richard Chamberlain. Click here for tickets.

Format: DVD

Screwball Comedies Every Throwback Thursday in September at the NoHo 7!

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Join us for a September filled with mistaken identities, witty repartee, farcical situations, and… a pet leopard. Indulge in one of the most enduring genres of all time, screwball comedies, every Throwback Thursday in September at the NoHo 7.

Our Throwback Thursday (#TBT) series is presented in partnership with Eat|See|Hear every Thursday at 7:30pm in North Hollywood. Check out the full schedule below. For tickets and our full #TBT schedule, visit laemmle.com/tbt.

September 6: Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant star in this inspired comedy about a madcap heiress with a pet leopard who meets an absent-minded paleontologist and unwittingly makes a fiasco of both their lives. Format: DVD. Click here for tickets.

September 13: The Lady Eve (1941)

In Preston Sturges’ comedy, Henry Fonda stars as Charles Pike, the son of a beer magnate who becomes the target of the father-daughter team of card sharps ‘Colonel’ Harry and Jean Harrington (Charles Coburn and Barbara Stanwyck). Their plan to rob the naive young man blind hits a snag, however, when Jean actually falls head over heels for an equally-smitten Pike. Format: DCP. Click here for tickets.

September 20: The Seven Year Itch (1955)

When his family goes away for the summer, a thus-far faithful husband is tempted by a beautiful neighbor. Starring Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, and Evelyn Keyes. Format: DCP. Click here for tickets.

September 27: What’s Up, Doc (1972)

The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations in Peter Bogdanovich’s homage to the genre. Barbra Streisand, Ryon O’Neal, and Madeline Kahn star. Format: Blu-ray. Click here for tickets.

Tribute to Neil Simon: THE ODD COUPLE (1968) on Thursday, September 13 at the Royal in West LA

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Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series pay tribute to the late, great prolific playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon with a 50th anniversary screening of one of his most influential works, THE ODD COUPLE.

This film version of his hit Broadway play about the friction between two divorced men who decide to live together in a Manhattan apartment despite a difference in their personalities was a box office bonanza in 1968, the fourth highest grossing movie that year.

As noted by playwright Harvey Fierstein, “Simon could write a joke that would make you laugh, define the character, the situation, even the world’s problems.” Another successful television producer calls The Odd Couple, “a Master class in character creation.”

Seems like everyone wanted to see the comic complications between the neurotic neat freak Felix, played by Jack Lemmon, and the fun-loving slob Oscar (Walter Matthau). Simon had created those characters in 1965 for the stage, and he earned the first of four Oscar nominations for his screen adaptation. His other nominations were for adapting his plays The Sunshine Boys and California Suite, and for his original screenplay for The Goodbye Girl (a best picture nominee and best actor winner for Richard Dreyfuss in 1977).

Both Lemmon and Matthau would go on to star in several more movies written by Simon, including The Out-of-Towners and The Prisoner of Second Avenue (Lemmon), and Plaza Suite, The Sunshine Boys and California Suite (Matthau).

Gene Saks, a frequent Simon collaborator on Broadway, directed the film version with a spirited cast including Herb Edelman, John Fiedler, Monica Evans and Carole Shelley. Lemmon replaced Art Carney who had originated the role of Felix on the stage, with Matthau reprising his Tony-winning role. Both Lemmon and Matthau garnered acclaim for their performances, and the success of the play and film took Matthau to full-fledged star status after years as primarily a supporting player.

The film’s rousing reception at the box office spawned a hit television series in 1970 with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, and other incarnations in gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation diversity through the ensuing decades. The 1968 film stands out as a definitive version of Simon’s creation.

Simon drew from his personal life for inspiration, and his works explored the ethos of mid-to-late twentieth century America, often centered in New York. The Odd Couple in particular looks at old-school masculinity on the edge of profound change in American society. There is pathos (as played by Lemmon) underlining the comedy, and the movie touches on those dramatic elements.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A58OtN9h918

 
In Simon’s obituary, The New York Times noted that he “helped redefine popular American humor with an emphasis on the friction of urban living and the agonizing conflicts of family intimacy.” Among the tributes after his death, actor Treat Williams neatly summarized Simon’s contribution to American culture, “Neil Simon is the Norman Rockwell of comedy. His artistry will only gain ground as the years pass.”

THE ODD COUPLE screens at the Royal theatre in West LA on Thursday, September 13 at 7:00 PM. Discussion on Simon’s career and cultural impact with film critic Stephen Farber and guests TBA. Click here for tickets.

Format: Blu-ray

Bond Villain Robert Davi in Person with LICENCE TO KILL.

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LICENCE TO KILL actor Robert Davi will participate in a Q&A after the screening at the NoHo on Thursday, August 23.