June 14, 2017 Sevens Are Up in Library's July Packard Campus Films

A series of films released in the seventh year of the decade, ranging from silent romantic comedy “Breakfast at Sunrise” (1927) to the 1997 blockbuster “Titanic,” will be screened the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus Theater in July. Many National Film Registry titles are featured in the lineup including “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967), and Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937).

Four classic Westerns will be shown at the end of the month as part of the Film Foundation’s “Story of the Movies: The American West and Western Film Genre” development workshop for classroom teachers, which is being held at the Packard Campus July 27–29. Evening screenings of “Rio Bravo,” “The Searchers” and “Once Upon a Time in the West,” along with a Saturday matinee of “Tumbleweeds” starring William S. Hart will be open to the public with an introduction by Julie Wayne, educational project manager of the Film Foundation.

Programs are free and open to the public, but children age 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Seating at the screenings is on a first-come, first-served basis unless otherwise noted. For general Packard Campus Theater information, call (540) 827-1079 ext. 79994 or (202) 707-9994. For further information on the theater and film series, visit loc.gov/avconservation/theater/. In case of inclement weather, call the theater information line no more than three hours before showtime to confirm cancellations.

The Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation is a state-of-the-art facility funded as a gift to the nation by the Packard Humanities Institute. The Packard Campus is the site where the nation’s library acquires, preserves and provides access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of motion pictures, television programs, radio broadcasts and sound recordings (loc.gov/avconservation/). The Packard Campus is home to more than 7 million collection items. It provides staff support for the Library of Congress National Film Preservation Board (loc.gov/film/), the National Recording Preservation Board (loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/) and the national registries for film and recorded sound.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States—and extensive materials from around the world—both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office.  Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

Library of Congress Packard Campus Theater Schedule

Thursday, July 6 (7:30 p.m.)
“Bonnie and Clyde” (Warner Bros., 1967 – R rated*)
Setting trends in filmmaking and style, “Bonnie and Clyde” broke new ground with its iconic violent ending. Arthur Penn deftly directs David Newman and Robert Benton's script, aided by the film's star and producer Warren Beatty, who was always eager to push the envelope. Faye Dunaway captures the Depression-era yearning for glamour and escape from poverty and hopelessness. The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, and five Best Acting nominations in all four categories. Estelle Parsons won the Oscar for best supporting actress and Burnett Guffey won for best cinematography. “Bonnie and Clyde” was added to the National Film Registry in 1992.  * No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian.

Friday, July 7 (7:30 p.m.) 
“Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope” (20th Century Fox, 1977)
This first installment of the American space opera created by George Lucas continues to be one of the most popular movies of all time. Young Luke Skywalker is aided by a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the universe from the Empire's world-destroying battle-station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the evil Darth Vader. Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Alec Guinness, the film received 10 Academy Award nominations including best picture, winning six. The original-release version of “Star Wars” was added to the National Film Registry in its inaugural year of 1989.  This will be a screening of the special edition released in 1997.

Saturday, July 8 (7:30 p.m.) 
“Cool Hand Luke” (Warner Bros., 1967)
Paul Newman, who was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, portrays the classic antihero loner Luke: a prisoner on a Southern chain-gang who refuses to give in to the guards' efforts to break his spirit. As Luke becomes a symbol of hope and resilience to the other inmates, prison captain Strother Martin drawls sadistically, "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." George Kennedy received a best supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of “Dragline,” the unofficial leader of the cons who yields first place to Luke. Additional Oscar nominations went to Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson for their screenplay and to Lalo Shifrin for his original score. “Cool Hand Luke” was selected for the National Film Registry in 2005.

Thursday, July 13 (7:30 p.m.) 
“The Lady from Shanghai” (Columbia, 1947)
Orson Welles wrote, directed and produced this film-noir thriller based on a novel by Sherwood King. Welles also stars as Irish seaman Michael O'Hara, who joins a bizarre yachting cruise and finds himself caught up in a complex murder plot. Rita Hayworth, Welles’ wife at the time, plays the stunning Elsa Bannister with Everett Sloane as her a corrupt tycoon husband Arthur. The film is renowned for its hall-of-mirrors climax and cinematography by Charles Lawton, Jr. Though not a success in the U.S. upon its release, “The Lady from Shanghai” is now considered by many modern film critics as a masterpiece. Also on the program is the 1947 Oscar-winning Warner Bros. cartoon “Tweetie Pie.”

Friday, July 14 (7:30 p.m.)
1987 Double Feature
“Dirty Dancing” (Vestron, 1987)
While spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey) falls for the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze). This romantic drama became a major box-office hit and was the first film to sell more than a million copies on home video. The “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack generated two multi-platinum albums and multiple singles, including “(I've Had) The Time of My Life,” which won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for best original song, and a Grammy Award for best duet for Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes.

“Predator” (20th Century Fox, 1987 – R rated*)
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in this science-fiction action film as the leader of an elite special forces team on a mission to rescue hostages from guerrilla territory in Central America's Northern Triangle. Directed by John McTiernan and also starring Carl Weathers and Kevin Peter Hall, the film was Oscar-nominated for best visual effects. It spawned two sequels, “Predator 2” (1990) and “Predators” (2010) and two crossover films with the “Alien” franchise, “Alien vs. Predator” (2004) and “Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem” (2007). * No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian.

Saturday, July 15 (7:30 p.m.)
“Breakfast at Sunrise” (First National, 1927)
Wealthy Parisienne Madeline (Constance Talmadge) and penniless Pierre (Don Alvarado) decide to teach their respective unfaithful sweethearts a lesson by getting married to each other, and then divorce when their current partners are properly repentant. But things do not necessarily go according to plan. Malcolm St. Clair directed this light romantic comedy that features Bryant Washburn and Alice White as the other halves of the foursome along with Marie Dressler, cast as a worldly-wise queen. Also on the program is the 1927 Our Gang Comedy short “Baby Brother.” Ben Model will provide live musical accompaniment.

Thursday, July 20 (7:30 p.m.)
“The Graduate” (Embassy Pictures, 1967)
Director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Buck Henry concocted a funny and satirical look at a certain slice of Americana and the generation gap of the 1960s. This coming-of-age story stars Dustin Hoffman as the clueless college graduate Benjamin Braddock, Anne Bancroft as the worldly Mrs. Robinson and Katharine Ross as her innocent daughter Elaine. “The Graduate” won the Academy Award for best director and was nominated in six other categories. It was added to the National Film Registry in 1996.

Friday, July 21 (7:30 p.m.)
“Con Air” (Buena Vista Pictures, 1997 – R rated*)
In this action crime thriller directed by Simon West, a group of dangerous inmates are transferred to a new super-maximum security facility. Parolee Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) hitches a ride on their Con Air transport flight only to find himself caught up in a mid-air hijacking masterminded by Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom (John Malkovich). U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin (John Cusack) must prevent the takeover and keep his overzealous superiors from blowing up the aircraft. * No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian.

Saturday, July 22 (2 p.m.)
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (Disney, 1937)
Walt Disney’s groundbreaking “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”—the first American animated feature film and a warm and joyful rendition of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale—is still in a class by itself. In addition to winning an Honorary Academy Award as a “significant screen innovation, which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field,” the film was also nominated for best musical score. The animated classic was named to the National Film Registry in the registry’s inaugural year, 1989.

Saturday, July 22 (7:30 p.m.)
“Titanic” (Paramount Pictures, 1997)
A fictional romance between first-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and impoverished itinerant artist Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) is set on the 1912 maiden voyage of the R.M.S Titanic. The story is told in flashback by a102-year-old Rose (Gloria Stuart) when she is taken to the site of the shipwreck by American treasure-seeker Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton). Director James Cameron and his crew shot the actual shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean in a series of high-risk dives before he began writing the screenplay. “Titanic” garnered 14 Academy Award nominations, winning 11 including best picture and best director.

Thursday, July 27 (7:30 p.m.) 
“Rio Bravo” (Warner Bros., 1959)
As legend goes, this western, directed by Howard Hawks, was produced in part as a riposte to Fred Zinnemann’s “High Noon.” The film trades in the wide-open spaces of “High Noon” for the confines of a small jail where a sheriff and his deputies are waiting for the anticipated attempt by his equally unlawful brother’s hired gunmen to help the prisoner escape. John Wayne stars as Sheriff John T. Chance and is aided in his efforts to keep the law by Walter Brennan, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson. Angie Dickinson is the love interest and western regulars Claude Akins, Ward Bond and Pedro Gonzalez are also featured. A smart western where gunplay is matched by wordplay, “Rio Bravo” is a terrific ensemble piece and director Hawks’ last great film. It was named to the National Film Registry in 2014.

Friday, July 28 (7:30 p.m.)
“The Searchers” (Warner Bros., 1956)
Considered by many to be John Ford’s best film, “The Searches” is equal parts majestic spectacle and soul-searching, the anticipated complex themes and characters that would dominate films of the 1970s. John Wayne, a Confederate soldier, returns after the war to find his niece has been kidnapped by Comanches. He sets out to find her – not to rescue her, but to destroy what he sees as a creature no longer human. Today we see it through enlightened eyes, but in 1956 many audiences accepted its harsh view of Indians. The film was added to the National Film Registry in its inaugural year of 1989.

Saturday, July 29 (2 p.m.)
Silent Western Double Feature
“The Last of the Line” (Mutual Film, 1914)
Sioux leader Chief Gray Otter (Joe Goodboy) sends his son Tiah (Sessue Hayakawa) off to a school run by Anglo-Saxons so Tiah can become a great leader. But the son returns home as a worthless drunk and soon joins a group of renegades, forcing the father to make a decision. This Thomas Ince-produced short drama features Sioux actors in most of the parts. Live musical accompaniment will be performed by Ben Model.

“Tumbleweeds” (United Artists, 1925)
Famed silent Western actor William S. Hart stars as cowboy Don Carver, who decides to get in on the Cherokee Strip Land Run in Oklahoma of 1893 and stake a claim as a homesteader. Directed by King Baggot, and produced by Hart in what was his final starring role, “Tumbleweeds” has been lauded as a seminal film of the silent era, unique in its depiction of Native Americans, not as villains but as Hart's friends and for including African Americans among the land boomers. Live musical accompaniment for the program will be performed by Ben Model.

Saturday, July 29 (7:30 p.m.)
“Once Upon a Time in the West” (Paramount, 1968)
Disdained as “Spaghetti Westerns” when they first appeared in American movie theaters, films such as “Once Upon a Time in the West” are now recognized as among the greatest achievements of the western movie genre. Director Sergio Leone's operatic visual homage to the American western legend is a chilling tale of vengeance set against the backdrop of the coming of the railroad. Ennio Morricone's magnificent score is likewise recognized for its brilliance. The film stars Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale and Woody Strode. It was chosen for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2009.