Megan McGurk introduces a classic woman’s picture each Thursday in May 2023.
Tickets are available through Eventbrite
My Dream Is Yours (1949)
Screens 4 May at 7.00
Michael Curtiz borrows elements from Doris Day’s life story for a snappy look at the climb to stardom. Day started out as a nightclub singer, just like her character on screen. Jack Carson plays an agent who knows right away that she has what it takes, but talent alone isn’t enough for a hit radio show. She needs the right sound. Eve Arden’s gift for scene-stealing is unrivalled.
Born to Be Bad (1950)
Screens 11 May at 7.00
Joan Fontaine plays the butter-wouldn’t-melt blonde who knows exactly what men like and uses it to her own advantage. She’s supposed to be enrolled in business school, but is already an expert in sass mouth economics. Joan Leslie shares her flat without realising that she’s about to lose everything to the soft-spoken Fontaine. Director Nicholas Ray adds Zachary Scott, Robert Ryan, and Mel Ferrar as pawns in the game
Home Before Dark (1958)
Screens 18 May at 7.00
After spending a year in a psychiatric hospital, Jean Simmons returns home to her husband, a cold fish professor played by Dan O’Herlihy. Is Simmon’s character having another nervous breakdown? Or is she being gaslighted? Director Mervyn LeRoy explores the trauma for women who try to be what men want instead of who they really are inside. Rhonda Fleming (in a blonde wig!) stirs up the drama.
Portrait in Black (1960)
Screens 25 May at 7.00
Once again, Lana Turner is up to her neck in trouble and glamour. Trapped in a sexless marriage to a cruel shipping magnate (Lloyd Nolan), she decides she’d rather plan his funeral with help from her lover (Anthony Quinn). Soon they are driven witless by a blackmailer. Lana is also tormented by stepdaughter Sandra Dee, who insists on slumming with a tugboat captain (John Saxon). Virginia Grey and Anna May Wong join an outstanding cast.
Refunds are available up until noon on the day of the screening.
