CinemaLit - Dinner at Eight (1933) – 113 minutes
October 2021 CinemaLit: Classics With Wit

CinemaLit is Live Again!

After more than a year of Friday night CinemaLit discussions on Zoom, we're going live again at the Mechanics' Institute screening room. Join us at 6pm for a film followed by a lively discussion.

CinemaLit October 2021: Classics With Wit

Our first back-to-the-screening-room theme highlights sophisticated comedies of the 1930s. Each one sparkles with fantastic dialogue, peerless acting, and a few of the great screen teams of all time.

Friday, October 1 – Dinner at Eight (1933) – 113 minutes

Directed by George Cukor, starring Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, and Jean Harlow

A flighty high society hostess plans a fancy dinner party for Lord and Lady Ferncliff amidst love affairs and shady deals in this sublime all-star ensemble comedy-drama.

 

Matthew Kennedy, CinemaLit’s curator, has written biographies of Marie Dressler, Joan Blondell, and Edmund Goulding. His book Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s, was the basis of a film series on Turner Classic Movies. 

 

“I don't have a favorite film,” Matthew says. "I find that my relationships to films, actors, genres, and directors change as I change over the years. Some don't hold up. Some look more profound, as though I've caught up with their artistry. I feel that way about Garbo, Cary Grant, director John Cassavetes, and others."

“Classic films have historical context, something only time can provide,” Matt observes. “They become these great cultural artifacts, so revealing of tastes, attitudes, and assumptions.”

 

MI Members Free

Public sliding scale Free to $10

 

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