Sep 13, 2007

Run Time: 1 hr 46 min

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
1949 - Musical/Performing Arts
Bing Crosby, Rhonda Fleming, William Bendix, Cedric Hardwicke & Murvyn Vye
The musical version of Mark Twain's 1889 novel. Bing plays a blacksmith who is knocked out and wakes up in the days of King Arthur. He is proclaimed a wizard and experiences many knightly adventures. Songs crooned include "Busy Doing Nothing" and "Once and For Always."

Oct 11, 2007

Run Time: 1 hr 11 min

Frankenstein
1931 - Drama
Colin Clive, Boris Karloff, Mae Clarke, John Boles & Edward Van Sloan
Frankenstein is James Whale’s first stylish, expressionist film to grace the Universal horror cycle of the 1930s and 1940s. Scientist Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his hunchbacked assistant, Fritz (Dwight Frye), embark on an unholy mission by stealing a body from a graveyard and a human brain from a medical college. Unbeknownst to Frankenstein, however, Fritz takes a violent and murderous abnormal brain. Henry’s strange letters about his experiments worry his fiancée, Elizabeth (Mae Clark), and friends Victor (John Boles) and Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan). They arrive at Frankenstein’s laboratory to find the spectacular scene of creation under way--and Frankenstein intoxicated with his own godlike power.

Dec 13, 2007

Run Time: 1 hr 41 min

The Court Jester
1956 - Action/Adventure, Comedy and Musical/Performing Arts
Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury & Cecil Parker
The throne of rightful king of England, the small babe with the purple pimpernel birthmark, has been usurped by the evil King Roderick. Only the Black Fox can restore the true king to the throne--and all he needs is the king's key to a secret tunnel. And while he's trying to steal it, someone has to change the king's diapers. The task falls to Hawkins, the gentlest member of the Fox's band. The Fox's lieutenant, Maid Jean, guards Hawkins and the babe while they travel, but when they meet the King's new jester on the road, they decide to initiate a daring plan for Hawkins to replace him, become an intimate at the court, and steal the key. So, humble Hawkins becomes Giacomo: the king of jesters and jester to the king. But things begin to get zany when the King's daughter falls for Giacomo, the King falls for Jean, people randomly sing what are supposed to be recognition codes, and a witch with very effective spells (and poison pellets) begins to interfere.

Jan 10, 2008

Run Time: 1 hr 52 min

Rear Window
1954 - Drama, Thriller and Adaptation
James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter & Raymond Burr
A magazine photographer, housebound on account of a broken leg, becomes voyeur to the apartment building facing his rear window for lack of anything to do. Soon, he draws his visiting girlfriend in on the thrill and eventually they witness a murder in progress that gets them into hot water.

Feb 14, 2008

Run Time: 1 hr 51 min

Sunset Boulevard
1950 - Classics, Drama and Musical/Performing Arts
William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson & Fred Clark
Billy Wilder's masterpiece SUNSET BOULEVARD, a corrosive black comedy that remains the most memorable assault on the emptiness and vanity of the movie business, stars William Holden as young, down-and-out screenwriter Joe Gillis. Narrated in flashbacks by the now-deceased scribe, the film unwinds the series of events that left him lying face down in a pool. Unable to sell his most recent chef-d'oeuvre, and in hock up to his eyeballs, Joe stashes his car in the driveway of what appears to be an abandoned mansion on Sunset Boulevard while trying to elude some persistent repo men. Closer inspection reveals the decrepit property to be inhabited by grandiose former silent movie goddess Norma Desmond, and her zombie-like manservant Max. Upon hearing that he's a writer, the lonely but still wealthy woman offers to pay him generously to stay at the house and work on her 'comeback' script on the life of Salome. Although spooked by the people and the surroundings, in desperate straits, Joe takes the job, little suspecting the madness of the netherworld he's entered. Wilder's merciless portrait of the dangers of a profession that trades in fantasy cagily couples the cynical amorality of the never-was with the near-psychotic narcissism of the has-been to reveal the vacuity of wealth and the transience of fame.

Mar 13, 2008

Run Time: 2 hrs 15 min

The Robe
1953 - Special Interest
Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Michael Rennie, Jay Robinson
Historically important as the first CinemaScope feature film, 20th Century-Fox's The Robe is fine dramatic entertainment in its own right. Based on the best-selling novel by Lloyd C. Douglas, the film stars Richard Burton as the wastrelly Roman tribune who is assigned by a weary Pontius Pilate to supervise the crucifixion of Christ. After the Seven Last Words, the jaded Burton wins Christ's robe in a dice game. Gradually, the mystical influence of the holy garment transforms Burton from a roistering cynic into a True Believer--at the cost of his own life, which he willingly gives up in the service of his Lord.

Apr 10, 2008

Run Time: 1 hr 39 min

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
1944 - Comedy
Eddie Bracken, Betty Hutton, William Demarest & Diana Lynn
Norval Jones is a feckless wartime 4-F who must stand by helplessly as his sweetheart Trudy Kockenlocker entertains every visiting GI in town. One morning, a hung-over Trudy labors under the apprehension that, the night before, she'd married a soldier named Ratzkywatzky or something. Evidently something had happened that night, for soon Trudy discovers that she's pregnant. Hiding this information from her bombastic policeman father, Trudy begs Norval to tell the world that he's the father. He agrees, but only after secretly wedding Trudy under an assumed name. Complications and disasters pile up thick and fast, and before long Norval is in way over his head...

May 8, 2008

True Grit
1969 - Western and Adaptation
John Wayne, Glen Campbell, Kim Darby, Jeremy Slate & Jeff Corey
The sudden death of her father sends a young tomboy of a girl, 'Mattie Ross' (Kim Darby) on a mission to find justice, and the avenging of her father's death. She recruits a tough old marshal in the person of Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne), because he has "grit", and a reputation of getting the job done. Mattie accompanies Cogburn, and also a Texas Ranger ('La Boeuf' played by Glen Campell; who is looking for 'Tom Chaney' [Jeff Corey] for a separate murder in Texas) as the leave from Fort Smith, Arkansas into the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) to find her father's killer.

The Liberty Theater
344 East Main Street
Dayton, Washington 99328
(509) 382-1380
E-Mail Us: info@libertytheater.org