LEGENDARY COMPOSER: BERNARD HERRMANN (1911-1975)

After an early career in radio, Herrmann moved on to film and television where he would become forever linked to the work of Alfred Hitchcock.

By the 1970s, the new generation of filmmakers utilized his talents both for his dedicated artistry and in homage to their cinematic influences.

June 1 DOUBLE FEATURE
F 2:30p, 7p: Vertigo
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock; Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Henry Jones; 1958, 129 mins
Steeped in the obsessions that permeate the rest of Hitchcock’s work, Vertigo remains his quintessential personal statement. In many of the key scenes Herrmann’s score takes center stage, acutely conveying Stewart's disturbing obsession for the woman he tries to shape into a long dead love.

5p, 9:30p: Obsession
Directed by Brian De Palma; Cast: Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, John Lithgow; 1976, 98 mins, ‘SCOPE
De Palma and co-writer Paul Schrader take the basic premise of VERTIGO and turn it upside down, creating a full-blown melodramatic tour-de-force of wild noir gimmicks and unrestrained emotions. Herrmann’s overpowering score haunts the proceedings like a phantom limb.

June 2 RAY HARRYHAUSEN TRIPLE FEATURE!!!
$10 General / $7 Seniors & Kids
These three films highlight the magic of animator Ray Harryhausen and his “DynaMation” process. SEE Sinbad on his seventh voyage battle Cyclops, a two-headed Roc, and a dragon! SEE the castaways on Mysterious Island encounter a giant crab, a giant flightless bird, giant bees, and a giant Chambered Nautiloid! SEE Jason and his Argonauts at odds against harpies, the bronze giant Talos, the many-headed Hydra, and an army of skeletons! HEAR Herrmann’s most sought-after music in soundtrack collector history!

Sa 3:20p, 9:05p: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
Directed by Nathan Juran; Cast: Kerwin Matthews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyre, Torin Thatcher; 1958, 88 mins

5:05p: Mysterious Island
Directed by Cy Endfield; Cast: Michael Craig, Joan Greenwwod, Michael Callan, Gary Merrill, Herbert Lom; 1961, 101 mins

1:15p, 7p: Jason and the Argonauts
Directed by Don Chaffey; Cast: Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith, Michael Gwynn 1963, 104 mins

June 3 DOUBLE FEATURE
Su 2:30p, 7p: Citizen Kane
Directed by Orson Welles; Cast: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Ruth Warrick, Agnes Moorehead, Dorothy Comingore, Everett Sloane; 1941, 119 mins
Herrmann scored many of Welles’ radio programs and their first venture into movies is now hailed as The Greatest Film Of All Time. In its day innovative in every way, today it continues to dazzle.

Su 4:50p, 9:20p: Taxi Driver
Directed by Martin Scorsese; Cast: Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Jodie Foster, Peter Boyle, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel; 1976, 113 mins

From the instant a yellow cab prowls through a cloud of sewer smoke, to the neon drenched blur of the final montage, Herrmann’s menacing brass has you in its grasp. It was to be the last score for this legendary composer.

June 4 THEATRE CLOSED

June 6 DOUBLE FEATURE
W 3:15p, 7p: Cape Fear
Directed by J. Lee Thompson Cast: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Lori Martin, Martin Balsam, Telly Savalas 1962, 105 mins
In one of the last great gasps of film noir, Peck confronts his worst nightmare in the form of Mitchum, a rapist he helped to incarcerate 81/2 years previous. Now set free, he begins to terrorize Peck and his family with a psychological intensity many other noirs only develop indirectly. The atmosphere is so marvelously sustained by Herrmann’s driving, grinding score that Martin Scorsese actually used it for his 1991 remake.

1:40p, 5:20, 9:05p: On Dangerous Ground
Directed by Nicholas Ray; Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond, Charles Kemper; 1952, 82 mins
The highly underrated Ryan is a dehumanized NYC cop sent upstate to assist in a murder investigation. There he finds spiritual renewal through a bond with the blind Lupino. The story’s turn from brutal noir to romantic noir was jarring to audiences of the day but perspective has revealed another Ray classic. Here, Herrmann prefigures his NORTH BY NORTHWEST score.

June 7 DOUBLE FEATURE
Th 2:20p, 7p: Psycho
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock; Cast: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam; 1960, 109 mins
PSYCHO forever changed the face of American horror and Herrmann’s score has been imitated ad nauseam. Though Hitchcock often insisted his film was a comedy, there’s no denying the creepiness of it all. Pure cinematic perfection.

4:30p, 9:10p: Marnie
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock; Cast: Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery, Diane Baker; 1964, 130 mins
Hedren is a compulsive thief blackmailed into marriage by Connery, seeing her as a wild animal to be trapped and tamed. One of Hitchcock’s most fascinating films, with a cohesive mixture of mystery, crime, sexual dysfunction and psychoanalysis. Herrmann’s lush score was last Hitch used before their creative falling out.