The Cinema Museum - Misty Moon, Tea & Sympathy (1956), Greater Than Love (1921), Liz Taylor & Sophia Loren Travelogues, French Sundaes

 

Misty Moon April 30th Tea & Sympathy (1956) May 1st Greater Than Love (1921) May 4th Liz Taylor & Sophia Loren Travelogues May 6th French Sundaes April 15th Misty Moon presents; The Bill Reunion 6, Saturday April 30th @ 6pm Misty Moon is delighted to be coming back to our home at The Cinema Museum after 2 years away with The Bill Reunion 6. The Bill Reunion 6 will be hosted by Misty Moon’s Curator and Producer Stuart Morriss and Oliver Crocker, presenter of The Bill Podcast since 2017, where he has interviewed over 50 of Sun Hill’s finest. In 2020, his book Witness Statements: Making The Bill (Series 1-3) was published, featuring interviews with 40 cast and crew and dozens of previously unpublished behind the scenes photographs – devonfirebooks.com. More information can be found here. Advance tickets are £20 - click below to purchase via Ticketlab.  Alternatively, please call 020 7840 2200 during office hours to purchase direct from the Museum. Buy Now Vito Project LGBTQ + Film Club presents; Tea & Sympathy (1956), Sunday May 1st @ 6pm The Vito Project is proud to present its new 2022 Spring season: Re-Opening the Celluloid Closet, a series of screenings exploring the challenging and yet endlessly fascinating ways that classic Hollywood films depicted queer representation under the restraints of the infamous Hays Code. This was a set of self-regulating guidelines dictating what was deemed unacceptable in American movies from 1934-1968 – and homosexuality was on the “highly objectionable” list! Despite this, filmmakers took on the creative challenge to show what couldn’t be shown through veiled subtexts and exploitation. Tea and Sympathy (1956) was brought this to the screen in lush colour and CinemaScope by Vincente Minnelli, one of Classic Hollywood’s most flamboyant directors, winning Oscars for An American In Paris (1951) and Gigi (1958). Let’s not forget he had also been married to Judy Garland and yes, is Liza’s father. Adapted for the screen from his own play by Robert Anderson, this is regarded as one of the era’s most sensitive, hard-hitting portrayals of the corrosive effect of homophobia and toxic masculinity. Seventeen-year-old Tom Robinson Lee (John Kerr, who won a Golden Globe for his portrayal), a new senior at an all boys’ prep school, finds himself at odds with the machismo culture of his classmates who love sports, roughhouse, fantasise about girls, and worship their coach, Bill Reynolds (Leif Erickson). Tom prefers classical music, goes to the theatre, and generally seems to be more at ease in the company of women. Tormented for his ‘unmanly’ qualities and called ‘sister boy’ Tom is treated unfeelingly by his father who believes a man should be manly. However, the headmaster’s wife (Deborah Kerr, screen legend of From Here To Eternity (1953), The King And I (1956)) sympathises with him, but her efforts to help only lead to confronting her own insecurities about her marriage. The film will be followed by a conversation about the context of its production and the content of the movie. Advance tickets are £8 and can be purchased from Ticketlab or direct from the Museum by calling 020 7840 2200 during office hours. Kennington Bioscope presents; Greater Than Love (1921), Wednesday May 4th @ 7:30pm Greater Than Love (1921), directed by Fred Niblo, stars Louise Glaum, Patricia Palmer, Rose Cade, Eve Southern, and Willie Mae Carson. The copy to be shown, which is part of the Cinema Museum’s collection, is believed to be the only complete print of this film to survive. Grace Merrill (Louise Glaum), one of six young girls who idle their lives away staging jazz parties in a New York apartment, advises the youngest, Elsie (Patricia Palmer), who is disillusioned by Frank Norwood, that men are worthless creatures… More information can be found here. Tickets are £7, but seats are limited.  To avoid disappointment, please arrive early or request an invitation via email; kenbioscope@gmail.com. Network presents; Liz Taylor & Sophia Loren TV Travelogues, Friday May 6th @ 7:30pm Two movie legends, two unforgettable cities. To celebrate their release on BluRay (DVD to follow later in the year), and unseen anywhere for decades and highly sought after, these early ’60s TV specials showcase two of the 20th century’s most iconic women travelling through and reflecting upon the cities they love. Newly-transferred in High Definition from original film elements, both shows feature sweeping, evocative scores from world-famous composer John Barry. Elizabeth Taylor in London (1963) In her very first television appearance Elizabeth Taylor, who was born in London and lived there as a child, returns to the city that will forever be in her blood and gives her impressions of and reactions to the mosaic of London and Londoners she encounters during her visit. Sophia Loren in Rome (1964) Never seen in the UK, Sophia Loren follows Taylor’s lead, but this time in Rome. She meets Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio de Sica as she visits the sights, affectionately commenting on the grandeur of the Eternal City and the irrepressible nature of its people. Advance tickets are £8 - click below to purchase via Ticketlab.  Alternatively, please call 020 7840 2200 during office hours to purchase direct from the Museum. Buy Now French Sundaes presents; Le Dernier Combat (1935), Sunday May 15th @ 2pm Le Dernier Combat (1935), also known as The Last Battle, is Luc Besson’s storming look at a dystopian post nuclear French landscape with tension, humour and all the traits that led him to become one of France’s most popular directors.  Trailer here.  We will be looking at the director Besson became as introduction. Each film is accompanied by an introductory illustrated talk by Jon Davies, Tutor in French Cinema at Morley College. Advance tickets are £7 and can be purchased from Ticketlab or direct from the Museum by calling 020 7840 2200 during office hours.