Aero Theatre

Orson Welles' talent and imagination were so prodigious that he spanned radio, film, television, books and theatre and excelled in them all. His very first film, CITIZEN KANE, is generally considered one of the greatest movies ever made. The American Cinematheque will pay tribute to the multifaceted Welles with a doubl...e feature of two of his major directorial achievements (KANE and THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS), a pair of his finest performances (JANE EYRE and TOMORROW IS FOREVER) and a sneak preview of Richard Linklater's acclaimed new fiction film, ME AND ORSON, a tribute to Welles.


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Monday, November 16 - 7:30 PM
Sneak Preview! ME AND ORSON WELLES*, 2009, 114 min. Dir. Richard Linklater. Based on actual theatrical history, ME AND ORSON WELLES is a romantic coming-of-age story about a teen actor (Zac Efron) who lucks into a role in "Julius Caesar" as it's being reimagined by a brilliant, impetuous young director named Orson Welles (Christian McKay) at his newly founded Mercury Theater in New York City in 1937. Claire Danes co-stars as Sonja Jones, the unapologetically ambitious assistant to Welles whom Richard tries to woo.

Director Richard Linklater will introduce the screening.

*Tickets to this event are not available to the public. This is an American Cinematheque Member Screening and all members will receive an invitation and an RSVP number. To learn how to join the Cinematheque (and to get an invitation to this screening and other sneak previews throughout the year, visit http://www.americancinematheque.com/amcinebiz/jointhe.htm.


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Saturday, November 21 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
CITIZEN KANE, 1941, Warner Bros., 119 min. Orson Welles’ debut remains one of the most phenomenal motion pictures ever made. It unspools in flashback the life story of legendary newspaperman Charles Foster Kane (based on the real life of William Randolph Hearst), as a pack of reporters tries to decipher the meaning of Kane's final utterance: "Rosebud." Trailblazing in so many aspects, from Gregg Toland's complex camera and lighting to Bernard Herrmann's score to one of the finest ensemble casts (including Welles, Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane and Agnes Moorehead) ever assembled.

THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, 1942, Warner Bros., 88 min. Director Orson Welles' poetic, tragic adaptation of Booth Tarkington's novel, centering on the fall of one wealthy family, with Stanley Cortez's dynamic camerawork providing a panorama of turn-of-the-century America and the decay of the old aristocracy.

Advance tickets:
http://www.fandango.com/americancinemathequeattheaerotheatre_aacpd/theaterpage?date=11/21/2009


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Sunday, November 22 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
JANE EYRE, 1944, 20th Century Fox, 97 min. Dir. Robert Stevenson. Plain Jane Eyre (Joan Fontaine) goes to work as a governess for the bright and charismatic Edward Rochester (Orson Welles) and quickly falls for her boss. Before long, family secrets emerge in this adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's classic novel. Co-stars include Agnes Moorehead, Margaret O'Brien and, in an early role, Elizabeth Taylor.

TOMORROW IS FOREVER, 1946, MGM Repertory, 105 min. Dir. Irving Pichel. When Elizabeth (Claudette Colbert) receives word that her husband, John (Orson Welles), has been killed in World War I, she marries another man (George Brent). However, John is alive but unrecognizable, thanks to plastic surgery to treat his war injuries. John's discovery that Elizabeth has given birth to his son leads him to question whether to reveal his true identity.

Advance tickets:
http://www.fandango.com/americancinemathequeattheaerotheatre_aacpd/theaterpage?date=11/22/2009Read More

Since his directorial debut with BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE 40 years ago, filmmaker Paul Mazursky has been one of America’s most reliable comic storytellers. He began his career as an actor, appearing in an early Stanley Kubrick feature, FEAR AND DESIRE, before going on to roles in THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE and numerous cla...ssic TV series. Mazursky continued acting, but quickly became known as a formidable writer on series including "The Danny Kaye Show" and "The Monkees." After Mazursky and partner Larry Tucker wrote the script for I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS in 1968, they collaborated on BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE, the film that would establish Mazursky’s voice as a director: that of a brilliant but humane satirist, capable of illuminating his characters’ foibles without condescension. Mazursky’s form of sympathetic satire evolved over the next several decades in classics like BLUME IN LOVE, AN UNMARRIED WOMAN and DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS, and he has continued to act in everything from "The Sopranos" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" to his own films.

The American Cinematheque is proud to show a selection of Mazursky favorites, with the filmmaker in-person.

Advance tickets:
http://www.fandango.com/americancinemathequeattheaerotheatre_aacpd/theaterpage?date=11/19/2009


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Thursday, November 19 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature: AN UNMARRIED WOMAN, 1978, 20th Century Fox, 124 min. Dir. Paul Mazursky. Erica (Jill Clayburgh) is a wealthy New Yorker whose stability is shattered by the breakup of her marriage. But she turns tragedy into triumph by seizing the opportunity to find herself via a new life and a new relationship.

TEMPEST, 1982, Sony Repertory, 136 min. In Paul Mazursky's loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest," John Cassavetes plays an architect who leaves his wife (Gena Rowlands) and moves to a Greek island with his teenage daughter (Molly Ringwald). Complications emerge when Cassavetes falls for Susan Sarandon and his wife shows up on the island with a new lover.

Discussion in between films with director Paul Mazursky.


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Friday, November 20 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature: 40th Anniversary! BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE, 1969, Sony Repertory, 105 min. Dir. Paul Mazursky. A ground-breaking, hilarious and still-pointed satire of sexual hang-ups in America. "We came here for an orgy, didn't we?" says repressed housewife Dyan Cannon, just before she joins Natalie Wood and husbands Elliott Gould and Robert Culp in some classic, late-1960s wife-swapping, hot-tubbing action.

HARRY AND TONTO, 1974, 20th Century Fox, 115 min. Dir. Paul Mazursky. Art Carney won an Oscar for his performance as Harry, an aging man who hits the road with his cat Tonto. Their journey is funny and touching in equal measures, thanks to Paul Mazursky and Josh Greenfield’s reflective screenplay and a supporting cast that includes Larry Hagman, Ellen Burstyn and Josh Mostel.

Discussion in between films with director Paul Mazursky and other guests to be announced. Read More