Sass Mouth Dames Film Club series 40

Megan McGurk introduces three exquisite romances from Hollywood’s classical era in The Dot Theatre.

Grab a complimentary glass of wine and snacks!

Tickets available at Eventbrite.

Vivacious Lady (1938)

Screens Thursday 5 November at 19.00 in The Dot Theatre

Nightclub singer Ginger Rogers marries botany professor Jimmy Stewart hours after they meet. When they travel to his small college town, a series of events conspire to keep the newlyweds apart. Will the canary and the hot nerd overcome the obstacles before the spark fizzles out? Director George Stevens boosts the will-they-or-won’t-they plot into a heightened mood of ecstatic longing.

Love Affair (1939)

Screens Thursday 19 November at 19.00 in The Dot Theatre

On a transatlantic voyage, Irene Dunne falls for Charles Boyer, a notorious playboy. They share a deep connection and promise to meet again in New York, once he can make himself worthy of her affections. Will they reconnect, or are they just two ships that passed in the night? Director Leo McCarey remade the picture with Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant, and it was also redone with Annette Bening and Warren Beatty. Neither update can hold a candle to the peerless original.

Humoresque (1946)

Screens 26 November at 19.00 in The Dot Theatre

After a dramatic comeback and Oscar win for Mildred Pierce, Joan Crawford delivers a tour de force as restless socialite Helen Wright. Stuck in a loveless marriage, she becomes a patron to John Garfield, a struggling musician. Gowned by Adrian, and fuelled by lust, disappointment, and top-shelf liquor, Crawford launches into a mesmerising downward spiral. Director Jean Negulesco orchestrates a symphony of ambition and sexual obsession.

Sass Mouth Dames Film Club series 39

Megan McGurk introduces two gems from Hollywood’s classical studio era in The Dot Theatre, Dublin.

Wine and crisps are complimentary.

Get your tickets at Eventbrite.

Devil and the Deep (1932)

Screens 27 August at 19.00 in The Dot Theatre.

Tallulah Bankhead received top billing over Gary Cooper and Cary Grant in the only picture the two men made together. Cast as a battered wife trapped in a miserable marriage to paranoid and jealous Charles Laughton, Tallulah flees his accusations that she’s carrying on with Cary Grant and runs straight into the arms of Gary Cooper. Devil and the Deep blends melodrama, romance, and action in a sultry pre-Code with double swoon merchants. Dressed by Travis Banton, Tallulah radiates the sharp, intense, controlled energy of a woman pushed to her limits.

There’s Always a Woman (1938)

Screens 3 September at 19.00 in The Dot Theatre

How do you like your detective duos? If you prefer a married couple who bicker and compete to solve the case first, look no further than Joan Blondell and Melvyn Douglas. When Mel’s private eye office is out of funds and ready to shutter, instead of closing shop, Joan scores new a new client (Mary Astor) to keep the lights on. Joan gives a freewheeling performance built on clever gags and set pieces that made the bubbly screwball comedy a big hit for Columbia. The studio re-teamed the director, Alexander Hall, and the stars for two other pictures.

Refunds are available up to noon on the day of the screening.

Sass Mouth Dames Film Club series 38

Megan McGurk introduces two gems in Technicolor and Metrocolor in The Brooks Hotel.

Get your tickets at Eventbrite.

Please note that refunds are no problem if requested by noon on the day of the screening.

(Give me a chance to re-sell the ticket, please).

Grab a drink at the bar. Outside food and drinks are not permitted.

Woman’s World (1954)

Screens Wednesday 18 March at 7.00

Clifton Webb plays an automotive titan who intends to promote one of his men, but before he chooses a top executive, he wants to meet their wives, because in the business world, the woman makes the man. Dowdy June Allyson and ambitious Cornel Wilde are the small-town hayseeds with a large brood. Chic Lauren Bacall is ready for divorce since Fred MacMurray is an ailing workaholic. Arlene Dahl is the bombshell social climber who drags her husband, Van Heflin, up the corporate ladder. Which wife wins? Director Jean Negulesco’s shots of historic Manhattan locations, such as the 21 Club, combined with Charles LeMaire’s lavish mid-century wardrobe, produces a magnificent feast in Technicolor.

BUtterfield 8 (1960)

Screens Thursday 26 March at 7.00

Elizabeth Taylor, in a fury over a torn dress, gives a man hell to pay. Instead of reading the plot about a disillusioned call girl, it’s easy to interpret Taylor’s anger at a personal level, directed at a clutch of MGM executives who worked her like a dog since she was a child, not to mention the outrage she felt at being called a homewrecker by the press. Taylor’s brilliant performance as Gloria Wandrous is a highly stylised portrait of rage done in lipstick, mink, and stiletto heels. Even though Taylor considered the script ‘a piece of shit,’ it still netted her an Oscar for Best Actress. Metrocolor and designs by Helen Rose showcase Taylor’s ability to weaponise glamour.

Sass Mouth Dames Film Club series 37

Megan McGurk introduces two gems from the 1940s in The Dot Theatre.

Tickets are available at Eventbrite.

I Wake Up Screaming (1941)

Screens 5 February at 7.00

Victor Mature is a publicist who decides that waitress Carole Landis has what it takes to make it in Manhattan’s café society. After she’s murdered, Vic becomes the prime suspect, but her sister, played by Betty Grable, isn’t so sure. Twentieth Century Fox mogul Darryl Zanuck believed that typecasting was as immutable as an astrological sign. Once typed, a star had little hope of changing their aspect in the studio. Zanuck was especially resolute in keeping women in limited roles. I Wake Up Screaming is the only non-musical picture Betty starred in during her Fox tenure. Betty exhibits a knack for dramatic roles in a downplayed performance.

The Harvey Girls (1946)

Screens 12 February at 7.00

In the Old West, we are told, nice women can ruin a town. Instead of the usual beef between ranchers and outlaws, the story whips up a feud among waitresses and saloon girls which looks like a candy-coloured treat. The picture boasts peak Judy Garland, Angela Lansbury with coiffures to die for, deadpan Virginia O’Brien, Marjorie Main, Cyd Charisse, John Hodiak, gorgeous costumes by Helen Rose and Irene, and songs by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren. Director George Sidney and the Arthur Freed unit corral a sprawling cast in one of Metro’s most free-wheeling and feel-good musicals. Judy brandishing two six-shooters is not to be missed.

Sass Mouth Dames Christmas

Megan McGurk introduces a gem on 11 December in the historic Dot Theatre.

Tickets are available at Eventbrite.

Join Sass Mouth Dames Film Club as we celebrate Christmas with a screwball murder mystery that’s pure gold. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer adapted Dashiell Hammett’s best selling novel The Thin Man starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, who play the screen’s ideal married couple, Nick and Nora Charles. Directed by ‘One-Take Woody’ Van Dyke in only sixteen days, the picture’s brisk pace, sophisticated style, and urbane banter spawned five sequels and a whole raft of imitations. Nominated for four Academy Awards, the picture was one of the biggest hits at the box office in 1934. We musn’t forget mention their dog Asta, played by Skippy, who steals every scene he’s given.