October 24: Park Ridge Public Library 7 PM October 31: Pickwick Theatre 7:30 PM

View of the spacious auditorium from the projection booth… This past Tuesday morning (10/8/13) WGN-TV came out to visit the Pickwick Theatre– home of the new classic film series. This was part of the “Around Town” feature seen on the WGN Morning…

Thank you to the 300+ movie fans who came out and supported us on Opening Night. Our screening of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) received a huge ovation from an audience of young and old. One of the nicest comments we overheard came from…

If you can find it, check out the May 1984 issue (Volume 14 Number 3) of Cinefantastique. There’s a 20-page retrospective article on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea written by Joel Frazier and Harry Hathorne. It’s one of the best “making of” articles on…

A toast to the upcoming Pickwick Theatre Classic Film Series! I have a Nemo-like desire to escape the world at the surface– the movie world where violence and noise vibrate against the walls of every multiplex across the country. Away from that I will take audiences…

On September 26, 2013, we will be showing the definitive screen version of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. However, a lot of people do not realize there was an earlier silent version of the film made in 1916. The…

I thought for this entry I would quote at length from film director Richard Fleischer’s wonderful memoir, Just Tell Me When to Cry (1993). In Chapter VIII, Fleischer offers insightful revelations on working with Walt Disney, hunting and killing sharks, and handling a difficult star like Kirk Douglas. The…

Our first show has to be something special. Something that would look great on a big screen: in Technicolor and Cinemascope! It would have to be a film the parents could bring their kids to–  a well-loved family classic… There were many films to choose…

Now that your film operator has a main switchboard, I thought I’d go back to earlier days and record what I feel was the turning point of our Classic Film program at the Park Ridge Public Library. Sections of this entry were actually…

Power Family Visits Park Ridge Classic Film Series: Part II Originally published on 6/1/13 in the Crossed Swords movie blog… On Thursday night, May 16, the Park Ridge Public Library screened The Black Swan (1942) starring Tyrone Power. Beforehand, I mentioned that…