QC Film Blog

55th Anniversary of "Hello Dolly!" Showcased at Cinemark Aug. 11 & 14

Fathom Events, TCM and 20th Century Fox present a special 55th anniversary screening of the beloved musical Hello, Dolly! at the Cinemark Theater in Davenport, Iowa on August 11th and 14th.

In 1890s New York City, the bold and enchanting widow Dolly Levi (Barbra Streisand) is a socialite-turned-matchmaker. Her latest clients seeking assistance are the cantankerous "half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder (Walter Matthau) and a young artist named Ambrose (Tommy Tune), who is in love with Horace's niece, Ermengarde (Joyce Ames). Dolly's scheming soon involves Horace's employees as well as a New York hatmaker, as she tries to cover up her own secret romantic designs.  Directed by Gene Kelly, Hello, Dolly! won 3 Academy Awards. 

This event includes exclusive insight from Turner Classic Movies. Sunday, August 11 at 1PM and 4PM, and Wednesday, August 14th at 12PM and 7PM.

Cinemark Davenport is located at 3601 E 53rd St, Davenport, Iowa.

Tickets can be purchased at Cinemark. 

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"The Sound of Music" can be Seen (and Heard) at The River's Edge

I first saw The Sound of Music with my parents and sister at the old Coronet Theater in Davenport.  It was a transformative and magical evening and the film became one of our familys' favorites.  We dutifully watched it each year on television during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Years later we were living in Los Angeles where we ran into director Robert Wise at a special screening of The Sound of Music in Westwood.  Well, we didn't exactly run into him, but he was sitting directly behind us with Carmian Carr, the woman who played Liesl in the the now classic musical.  We were so close that we could hear the great director's every groan as the faded, color-shifted, scratched, and otherwise damaged film print sent over by 20th Century Fox snaked its way through the projector and onto the screen.  In spite of the problems, the movie is so good that the audience was still hanging on almost every wide-screen cinematic moment.

Then, without warning, the projectionist began showing a reel out of order.  A collective moan rose up from now deeply disappointed theater-goers.  They'd had enough.  The lights came up while the trouble upstairs got straightened out.  Mr. Wise did the slow burn behind us.  Soon people noticed his presence and began approaching him for autographs.  He courteously soldiered on with pen in hand (a pen we loaned him), while the chaos in the projection booth seemed to take forever to untangle.

Then Mr. Wise decided he'd had enough.  He left the screening along with Ms. Charmian and their guests.  I couldn't blame them.  20th Century Fox should have been ashamed of themselves for sending over a battle-weary print of this classic (and very profitable) film to a director's screening.

Later the lights went down and the film continued.  We still enjoyed it.

[I am reminded that Mr. Wise edited Citizen Kane, and actually dragged fresh "newsreel" footage across the floor to purposely give it the scratched up road-show quality that this print of his renouned musical had been exhibiting during this special screening.]

Fiasco.

Enough reminiscing.  You too, can see The Sound of Music with an audience (a much different experience from a solitary DVD viewing), without the realtime commentary of its director, at the River's Edge in Daveport at 700 River Drive on July 16, 2010 at 8:00 pm.

Admission is FREE.

563.326.7812

Davenport Public Library's "Friday Films @ Fairmont" Features a Summer of Musicals

Jesus Christ Superstar will open a summer of classic and contemporary movie musical showings at the Davenport's Public Library Fairmont branch.  The library provides free popcorn and lemonade.  All films screen at the audience-limiting time of 2:00 pm on Fridays during June and July 2010.  The complete Friday Films @ Fairmont schedule is provided below:

June 11
Jesus Christ Superstar

June 18
The Phantom of the Opera

June 25
Cats

July 2
A Chorus Line

July 9
Chicago

July 16
Momma Mia

July 23
Cabaret

July 30
Grease

Davenport Public Library - Fairmont Branch
3000 N. Fairmont Street
Davenport, Iowa

Phone: 563.326.7893

Website: http://www.davenportlibrary.com/