2025 Guest Speakers:
Media Events
Aliece Pickett, Film Society founder, joined Grammy winner Don Wardell on ““Martinis, Mimosas, and Music” (ModFM 107.3) to discuss Screwball Sundays.
Legendary film critic, historian and author Molly Haskell will be speaking and signing books at the Camelot Theater’s screenings of The Palm Beach Story starring Claudette Colbert on April 27, and Design for Living starring Gary Cooper on April 28.
Ms. Haskell is the author of six books. From Reverence To Rape, the Treatment of Women in the Movies is cited as one of the most influential books in film history. She has written for The New York Times, The Guardian UK, Esquire, The Nation, Town and Country, The New York Observer, The New York Review of Books, The Village Voice, New York Magazine, and Vogue. She has served as associate Professor of Film at Barnard, and as Adjunct Professor of Film at Columbia University.
Steven C. Smith will be speaking and signing his book Music By Max Steiner, The Epic Life of Hollywood’s Most Influential Composer on March 3 at the Camelot Theater’s screening of Arsenic and Old Lace starring Cary Grant.
Mr. Smith is a film historian, author, and national speaker. He is a four-time Emmy nominated producer of over 200 documentaries, and has also authored A Heart at Fire’s Center, The Life And Music of Bernard Herrmann.
Kristen Lopez will be speaking and signing her TCM book, But Have You Read The Book? on April 7 at the Camelot Theater’s screening of Sullivan’s Travels, starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake.
Ms. Lopez is an entertainment journalist and the Film Editor for TheWrap. She is a regular contributor to TCM, has written for Variety, Roger Ebert and MTV, and was the TV editor for IndieWire. Ms. Lopez is the creator of the classic film podcast, Ticklish Business, now running for eight years. Her next book is set to be published in 2025.
Rob Kozlowski will be speaking and signing his book Becoming Nick & Nora, The Thin Man and the Films of William Powell and Myrna Loy on April 14, at the Camelot Theater’s screening of After The Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy.
Mr. Kozlowski is a film historian, journalist, and author. He has taught comedy writing at Second City Chicago and at the Cinema and Television Arts Department at Columbia College Chicago. Mr. Kozlowski has authored two other books on the entertainment industry, The Art of Chicago Improv: Short Cuts to Long-Form Improvisation, and The Actor’s Guide to the Internet.
Kimberly Truhler will be speaking and signing her book Film Noir Style: The Killer 1940s at the May 5th screening of HOLIDAY, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Holiday will be exhibited on 35mm film.
Ms. Truhler is a film and fashion historian and the founder of GlamAmor.com. She has contributed to TCM, The National Film Registry, the BBC, Elle, the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, CNN’s series American Style, the Encyclopedia of Film and Television Costume Design and American Cinematheque. Ms. Truhler has taught History of Fashion in Film at Woodbury University.
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Olympia Kiriakou will be speaking at the May 19th screening of Twentieth Century, starring Carole Lombard and John Barrymore.
Olympia Kiriakou is the author of Becoming Carole Lombard: Stardom, Comedy and Legacy (2020). She teaches film history and theory at Florida Atlantic University, hosts the podcast The Screwball Story, and created the website TheScrewballGirl.com. Dr. Kiriakou earned her PhD in Film Studies from King’s College London. She also holds an MA in Cinema Studies from the University of Toronto, and a BA, Honors in Multimedia Studies from FAU.
Aliece Pickett will speak at the Screwball Sundays film series. She will discuss the genre’s origins during its classic period from the Great Depression through World War II, plot elements, character archetypes, and distinguishing dialogue. Ms. Pickett will also interview special guest speakers, noted film authors Molly Haskell, Steven C. Smith, Rob Kozlowski, Kristen Lopez and Kimber Truhler.
Ms. Pickett is co-founder of the Film Society of Screwball Comedy has created a comprehensive catalog and database of screwball comedy films to be used for film research and restoration, and for use by film enthusiasts.
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April 27 – THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942) Preston Sturges
Starring Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea
*Saturday 6pm Screening with Reception*
SPECIAL GUEST: Author and Film Critic Molly Haskell
This screwball comedy finds married couple Tom (Joel McCrea) and Gerry Jeffers (Claudette Colbert) in a strained relationship, largely due to financial difficulties. Gerry decides to leave Tom, a struggling architect, and head to Palm Beach in order to marry a wealthy man who could fund Tom’s projects. When Tom follows Gerry, they cross paths with the quirky millionaire John D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee) and his chatty, husband-seeking sister, Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor).
More Past Events:
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Aliece Pickett, Film Society founder, will join broadcast legend and Grammy award winner Don Wardell on 107.3 MOD FM radio to discuss the cinematic life of screwball comedy icon Cary Grant. Mar 13, 2023, 2:00 pm.
Hoping to update his chapter on modern slang, encyclopedia writer Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) ventures into a chic nightclub. Inside, he meets the snarky burlesque performer “Sugarpuss” O’Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). Fascinated by her command of popular jargon, Potts invites her to stay with him. But, unknown to Potts, she is the fiancée of a mobster (Dana Andrews) and wanted by the police. In the ensuing mayhem, Potts must stay on his toes or be swallowed up by bigger fish. (Screened June 18, 2023).
Fifth Avenue socialite Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard) needs a “forgotten man” to win a scavenger hunt, and no one fits that description more than Godfrey Park (William Powell), who resides in a dump by the East River. Irene hires Godfrey as a servant for her riotously unhinged family, to the chagrin of her spoiled sister, Cornelia (Gail Patrick), who tries her best to get Godfrey fired. As Irene falls for her new butler, Godfrey turns the tables and teaches the frivolous Bullocks a lesson or two. (Screened June 11, 2023).
When hard-charging New York newspaper editor Walter Burns (Cary Grant) discovers that his ex-wife, investigative reporter Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell), has gotten engaged to milquetoast insurance agent Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy), he unsuccessfully tries to lure her away from tame domestic life with a story about the impending execution of convicted murderer Earl Williams. But when Hildy discovers Williams may be innocent, her reporter instincts take over. (Screened June 4, 2023).
A courtroom rivalry finds its way into the household when prosecuting lawyer Adam Bonner (Spencer Tracy) faces off against his wife, Amanda (Katharine Hepburn), who happens to be a defense attorney. Working on opposite sides of a lawsuit where a woman (Judy Holliday) has shot her cheating husband (Tom Ewell), Adam and Amanda are both determined to win the case, and their home becomes the setting for comical showdowns, with neither spouse willing to relent. (Screened May 28, 2023).
When a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) of being a home-wrecker, and she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit, the publication’s frazzled head editor, Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy), must find a way to turn the tables on her. Soon Haggerty’s harried fiancée, Gladys Benton (Jean Harlow), and his dashing friend Bill Chandler (William Powell) are in on a scheme that aims to discredit Connie, with amusing and unexpected results. (Screened May 21, 2023).
It’s no accident when wealthy Charles (Henry Fonda) falls for Jean (Barbara Stanwyck). Jean is a con artist with her sights set on Charles’ fortune. Matters complicate when Jean starts falling for her mark. When Charles suspects Jean is a gold digger, he dumps her. Jean, fixated on revenge and still pining for the millionaire, devises a plan to get back in Charles’ life. With love and payback on her mind, she re-introduces herself to Charles, this time as an aristocrat named Lady Eve Sidwich. (Screened April 16, 2023).
This classic romantic comedy focuses on Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn), a Philadelphia socialite who has split from her husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), due both to his drinking and to her overly demanding nature. As Tracy prepares to wed the wealthy George Kittredge (John Howard), she crosses paths with both Dexter and prying reporter Macaulay Connor (James Stewart). Unclear about her feelings for all three men, Tracy must decide whom she truly loves. (Screened April 9, 2023).
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After a four-year absence, one-time detective Nick Charles (William Powell) returns to New York with his new wife, wealthy heiress Nora (Myrna Loy). After reconnecting with his old cronies, Nick is approached by Dorothy Wynant (Maureen O’Sullivan) whose inventor father Clyde Wynant is suspected of murdering her father’s mistress (his former secretary). Nick isn’t all that keen on resuming his former profession, but egged-on by wife Nora, who thinks this all very exciting, he agrees to help. (Screened March 19, 2023).
Screwball sparks fly when Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn let loose in one of the fastest and funniest films ever made—a high-wire act of invention that took American screen comedy to new heights of absurdity. Hoping to procure a million-dollar endowment from a wealthy society matron for his museum, a hapless paleontologist (Grant) finds himself entangled with a dizzy heiress (Hepburn) as the manic misadventures pile up—a missing dinosaur bone, a leopard on the loose, and plenty of gender-bending mayhem among them.
Bringing Up Baby’s sophisticated dialogue, spontaneous performances, and giddy innuendo come together in a whirlwind of comic chaos captured with lightning-in-a-bottle brio by director Howard Hawks. (Screened March 12, 2023).
In Frank Capra’s acclaimed romantic comedy, spoiled heiress Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) impetuously marries the scheming King Westley, leading her tycoon father (Walter Connolly) to spirit her away on his yacht. After jumping ship, Ellie falls in with cynical newspaper reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who offers to help her reunite with her new husband in exchange for an exclusive story. But during their travels, the reporter finds himself falling for the feisty young heiress.
The first film to accomplish the very rare feat of sweeping all five major Oscar categories (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay), It Happened One Night is among the most gracefully constructed and edited films of the early sound era, packed with clever situations and gags that have entered the Hollywood comedy pantheon and featuring two actors at the top of their game, sparking with a chemistry that has never been bettered. (Screened March 5, 2023).