The Artist (2011)
When George, a silent movie superstar, meets Peppy Miller, a dancer, sparks fly between the two. However, after the introduction of talking pictures, their fortunes change, affecting their dynamic.
Bob Fosse’s 1972 Cabaret
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Bob Fosse’s 1972 Cabaret
A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.
“Everybody in Cabaret is very fine, and meticulously chosen for type, down to the last weary transvestite and to the least of the bland, blond open-faced Nazis in the background”
- New York Times
Princess and the Frog
A waitress, desperate to fulfill her dreams as a restaurant owner, is set on a journey to turn a frog prince back into a human being, but she has to face the same problem after she kisses him.
Silent Films from MoMA
Silent Films from MoMA: Stella Dallas
Saturday, May 11, 2024 | Reception at 5:30 p.m. | Program begins at 6:30 p.m.
Experience silent film as never before in the first-ever partnership between the Peoria Riverfront Museum and The Museum of Modern Art, New York, featuring new restorations from MoMA’s renowned collection.
The Peoria Riverfront Museum is proud to present a digitally restored version of Henry King’s 1925 Stella Dallas with live musical accompaniment featuring the Peoria Symphony Orchestra. This special performance offers an extraordinary evening combining the art of film with a live musical score that elevates the cinema into a truly immersive experience.
Saturday, May 11, 2024
5:30 p.m. - Welcome reception with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres
6:30 p.m. – Performance begins in the Giant Screen Theater
Tickets $75 for members, $100 for non-members
Get tickets HERE
Stella Dallas. 1925. USA. Directed by Henry King. Screenplay by Frances Marion, based on the novel by Olive Higgins Prouty. With Ronald Colman, Belle Bennett, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Digital restoration by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Foundation, from a 35mm print held by MoMA. Accompanied by a new orchestral score composed by Stephen Horne. 110 min.
This film program is organized by Dave Kehr, Curator of Film, Sean Egan, Senior Producer, Film Exhibitions and Projects, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Live musical accompaniment featuring the Peoria Symphony Orchestra
Presented by Flo and Sid Banwart
Bob Fosse’s 1972 Cabaret
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Bob Fosse’s 1972 Cabaret
A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.
“Everybody in Cabaret is very fine, and meticulously chosen for type, down to the last weary transvestite and to the least of the bland, blond open-faced Nazis in the background”
- New York Times
Alien
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
Hal Kanter’s 1957 Loving You
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Hal Kanter’s 1957 Loving You
A musician and a publicist help a delivery man achieve stardom.
“Presley is enthusiastic, not a bit self-conscious and shows potential acting ability”
- New York Reader
Luca
On the Italian Riviera, an unlikely but strong friendship grows between a human being and a sea monster disguised as a human.
The Mummy (1999)
At an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Hamunaptra, an American serving in the French Foreign Legion accidentally awakens a mummy who begins to wreak havoc as he searches for the reincarnation of his long-lost love.
Hal Kanter’s 1957 Loving You
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Hal Kanter’s 1957 Loving You
A musician and a publicist help a delivery man achieve stardom.
“Presley is enthusiastic, not a bit self-conscious and shows potential acting ability”
- New York Reader
Field of Dreams
Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.
Richard Lester’s 1965 Help!
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Richard Lester’s 1965 Help!
Sir Ringo Starr finds himself the human sacrifice target of a cult, and his fellow members of The Beatles must try to protect him from it.
”The boys themselves are exuberant and uninhibited in their own genial way.”
- New York Times
Shark Tale
When a son of a gangster shark boss is accidentally killed while on the hunt, his would-be prey and his vegetarian brother decide to use the incident to their own advantage.
Jaws
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
Richard Lester’s 1965 Help!
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Richard Lester’s 1965 Help!
Sir Ringo Starr finds himself the human sacrifice target of a cult, and his fellow members of The Beatles must try to protect him from it.
”The boys themselves are exuberant and uninhibited in their own genial way.”
- New York Times
Tucker: The Man and his Dream
The story of Preston Tucker, the maverick car designer and his ill-fated challenge to the auto industry with his revolutionary car concept.
Jonathan Demme’s 1993 Philadelphia
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Jonathan Demme’s 1993 Philadelphia
When a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.
“[An] extremely well-made message picture about tolerance, justice and discrimination is pitched at mainstream audiences, befitting its position as the first major Hollywood film to directly tackle the disease.”
- Variety
Jonathan Demme’s 1993 Philadelphia
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Jonathan Demme’s 1993 Philadelphia
When a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.
“[An] extremely well-made message picture about tolerance, justice and discrimination is pitched at mainstream audiences, befitting its position as the first major Hollywood film to directly tackle the disease.”
- Variety
Mr. Turner
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner (Timothy Spall) lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper (Paul Jesson) bears an unrequited love for him.
Gavin O’Conner’s 2011 Warrior
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Gavin O’Conner’s 2011 Warrior
The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament - a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.
“The movie is so skillfully made, and the performances are so convincingly real (Hardy is sensational), that, as it reaches its cathartic, winning finish, it achieves a surprising compassion and honesty.”
- New Yorker
Gavin O’Conner’s 2011 Warrior
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Gavin O’Conner’s 2011 Warrior
The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament - a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.
“The movie is so skillfully made, and the performances are so convincingly real (Hardy is sensational), that, as it reaches its cathartic, winning finish, it achieves a surprising compassion and honesty.”
- New Yorker
The Navigator (1924)
Directed by Buster Keaton, Donald Crisp. Screenplay by Clyde Bruckman, Joseph A. Mitchell, Jean C. Havez. With Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Frederick Vroom. 4K digital restoration by The Museum of Modern Art and Lobster Films. Funding provided by The Celeste Bartos Fund for Film Preservation and Lobster Films. Lab work by Lobster Films. 69 min.
To Save and Project presents the world premiere of Buster Keaton and Donald Crisp’s The Navigator (1924) in a new 4K digital restoration by MoMA and Lobster Films. Derived from the world’s oldest and best surviving 35mm print, which curator Iris Barry acquired for MoMA’s collection in the 1940s, and from continuity scripts used to recreate the film’s original tinting, The Navigator will be experienced anew by passionate Keaton devotées and newcomers alike. In a series of surreal, graceful, hilarious—and risky—gags unmatched in the history of cinema, rich and pampered nitwit Buster Keaton finds himself lost at sea with his would-be bride Kathryn McGuire, parrying with feisty swordfish, bloodthirsty cannibals, and the mother of all machine props: a vast deserted ocean liner.
Featuring LIVE piano accompaniment.
The Marriage Circle (1924)
With Ernst Lubitsch’s second American film, The Marriage Circle, the director discovered the genre that he would elevate to the heights of formal perfection and emotional resonance: the sophisticated romantic comedy. Working from a forgotten European play (as he so often did), Lubitsch establishes the parallels between two marriages—one beginning to fray (Viennese physician Monte Blue and his neglected wife Florence Vidor) and one in open rupture (professor Adolphe Menjou has hired a private detective to track his unfaithful wife, Marie Prevost, who has set her sights on Blue). Shifting his focus from the grand social canvases of his German films (Madame DuBarry, Carmen) to a handful of characters in drawing rooms brings out Lubitsch’s genius for synecdoche—the art of taking a part to express the whole. When sound came in, Lubitsch (in collaboration with George Cukor) remade The Marriage Circle as the musical One Hour with You in 1931. This new digital restoration of The Marriage Circle is based on a 35mm print in the Museum’s collection.
Featuring LIVE piano accompaniment.
The Cat and the Canary (1927)
A Broadway hit that helped to launch the theatrical craze for “old dark house” thrillers, John Willard’s 1922 play was already starting to seem old hat by the time Universal acquired it in 1927. But Universal chief Carl Laemmle had the inspiration to send to Germany for Paul Leni, a promising young director who had blended the shadowy lighting and tortured perspectives of German Expressionism with more commercial material for his acclaimed Waxworks (1922). And so was born the look and feel of Universal’s classic horror films. Laura La Plante is the first-generation scream queen, a stylish young woman invited to a decaying mansion for the midnight reading of a will, along with half a dozen other scheming heirs and likely suspects.
Where previous restorations of The Cat and the Canary have been based on the B negative, composed of second-choice takes for release in Europe, this is the first to be based on the A negative used for the US release, and it makes a difference. Panels slide, curtains billow, hands clutch, and mysterious figures roam hidden corridors, all with renewed panache.
Featuring LIVE piano accompaniment.
The Adventurer (1917)
One truism of film restoration is that the best-loved titles are almost always in the worst shape. Negatives wear out from overuse, old prints are duped to create new ones, and image (and sound) quality are lost with every new analog generation. That’s long been the case with Charles Chaplin’s Mutual shorts, a series of 12 two-reel comedies that Chaplin made in 1916 and 1917. Considered by many to be Chaplin’s funniest, most formally accomplished work, the Mutual shorts have nearly been loved to death after over a century in constant circulation.
MoMA’s new restoration of The Adventurer, the final and, for many, finest of the Mutuals, comes as a revelation. Assembled from seven different sources, almost all from the domestic A negative, often combining elements within a given shot, the MoMA restoration has a clarity and grain structure missing from the film for generations, and has been fitted with remade intertitles that match samples from original prints of other Mutual films. The film now looks—almost eerily—very much as it did when it first appeared on American screens.
The restoration was supervised by Peter Williamson, MoMA’s Film Conservation Manager, and Dave Kehr, Curator, Department of Film, and was carried out at Metropolis Post in New York City. We are especially grateful to Metropolis for their amazing work despite the COVID shutdowns.
Featuring LIVE piano accompaniment.
Federico Fellini’s 1960 La Dolce Vita
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Federico Fellini’s 1960 La Dolce Vita
A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.
“In sum, it is an awesome picture, licentious in content but moral and vastly sophisticated in its attitude and what it says.”
- New York Times
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
After rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, the Rebel Alliance attempt to destroy the second Death Star, while Luke struggles to help Darth Vader back from the dark side.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Star Wars: A New Hope
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Wonka (2023)
With dreams of opening a shop in a city renowned for its chocolate, a young and poor Willy Wonka discovers that the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers.
Federico Fellini’s 1960 La Dolce Vita
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Federico Fellini’s 1960 La Dolce Vita
A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.
“In sum, it is an awesome picture, licentious in content but moral and vastly sophisticated in its attitude and what it says.”
- New York Times
Final Portrait
Based on real events, Final Portrait is an adaptation of a memoir by American writer James Lord (Armie Hammer) who is flattered when asked to pose for a portrait by Giacometti. Believing it may be a single session, it turns out to take almost three weeks of daily sittings. - R
Community Pix: That Thing You Do!
Coming to the Giant Screen Theater thanks to Community Host Kelly VanLaningham, join us Tuesday, April 30, 2024 for Community Pix: That Thing You Do!
Watch wily band manager Mr. White (Tom Hanks) as he helps a small town band achieve big time success when they release a Beatles-style pop song in 1964. Pennsylvania band the "Oneders" become a sensation after their drummer breaks his arm, and is replaced by jazz enthusiast, Guy Patterson, who injects something a bit different into their music.
Olivia Newman’s 2022 Where the Crawdads Sing
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Olivia Newman’s 2022 Where the Crawdads Sing
A woman who raised herself in the marshes of the Deep South becomes a suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once involved.
“This is a movie about fighting back against male intransigence that has the courage of its outsider spirit.”
- Variety
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire's ultimate weapon of destruction.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
When Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll and he has burned through eight of his nine lives, he launches an epic journey to restore them by finding the mythical Last Wish.
Olivia Newman’s 2022 Where the Crawdads Sing
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Olivia Newman’s 2022 Where the Crawdads Sing
A woman who raised herself in the marshes of the Deep South becomes a suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once involved.
“This is a movie about fighting back against male intransigence that has the courage of its outsider spirit.”
- Variety
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 The Birds
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 The Birds
A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.
“Mr. Hitchcock and his associates have constructed a horror film that should raise the hackles of the most courageous and put goose-pimples on the toughest hide.”
- New York Times
The Shining
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 The Birds
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 The Birds
A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.
“Mr. Hitchcock and his associates have constructed a horror film that should raise the hackles of the most courageous and put goose-pimples on the toughest hide.”
- New York Times
Arrival
A linguist works with the military to communicate with alien lifeforms after twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world.
Antonie Barraud’s 2021 Madeleine Collins (French)
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Antonie Barraud’s 2021 Madeleine Collins (French)
Judith leads a double life: two lovers, two sons in France and one daughter in Switzerland. Entangled in secrets and lies, her lives begin to shatter.
“Directed by Antoine Barraud, the film... cleverly fills out the picture through tiny hints and glances, creating suspense through fresh turns of ambiguity in each scene.”
- New York Times
Alexander Mackendrick’s 1957 Sweet Smell of Success
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Alexander Mackendrick’s 1957 Sweet Smell of Success
Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.
“With some of the sharpest dialogue ever cut in Hollywood, only on the most superficial level is this a movie about gossip and publicity. We're talking show business. We're talking America. We're talking cast-iron classic.”
- Empire Magazine
Michael Mann’s 1981 Thief
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Michael Mann’s 1981 Thief
An ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.
“[Michael Mann] pounds his film into you in a combination of big, clean images; taut, edgy performances and a score which intertwines both sound and music. There is no respite from Thief; it is bravura movie making.”
- LA Times
Babe (1995)
Gentle farmer Arthur Hoggett wins a piglet Babe at a county fair. Narrowly escaping his fate as Christmas dinner, Babe bonds with motherly border collie Fly and discovers that he too can herd sheep. But will the other animals accept him?
Curtis Hanson’s 1997 L.A. Confidential
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Curtis Hanson’s 1997 L.A. Confidential
As corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.
“ L.A. Confidential is a movie bull's-eye: noir with an attitude, a thriller packing punches. It gives up its evil secrets with a smile.”
- Chicago Tribune
Tickets:
Douglas Sirk’s 1959 Imitation of Life
Marc Eliot’s Art of Film
Douglas Sirk’s 1959 Imitation of Life
A struggling widow and her daughter take in a Black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter; the two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.
“Sirk unleashed a melodramatic torrent of rage at the corrupt core of American life-the unholy trinity of racism, commercialism, and puritanism.”
- New Yorker
The Blues Brothers
Jake Blues rejoins with his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.
Hamilton
The real life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Captured live on Broadway from the Richard Rodgers Theater with the original Broadway cast.
Zootopia
In a city of anthropomorphic animals, a rookie bunny cop and a cynical con artist fox must work together to uncover a conspiracy.
The Blues Brothers
Jake Blues rejoins with his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.
Napoleon: In the Name of Art
To mark the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s death, this documentary explores the complex relationship between Napoleon, culture and art. Experience a unique tour from Brera Academy in Milan to the Louvre in Paris in the company of the best art historian experts and Jeremy Irons who passes his fascination to the viewers. Not Rated.
Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé
Beyoncé in performance at her record-breaking RENAISSANCE World Tour and the creative mastermind behind it. - Not Rated
Hop
E.B., the Easter Bunny's teenage son, heads to Hollywood, determined to become a drummer in a rock 'n' roll band. In LA, he's taken in by Fred after the out-of-work slacker hits E.B. with his car. - PG
Sixteen Candles
A girl's "sweet" sixteenth birthday is anything but special: her family forgets about it, and she suffers from every embarrassment possible.