July 9

ROBERTS & FORDE

THE MAN WHO BROKE THE BANK AT MONTE CARLO  (1935)  USA  B/W  71 MINUTES
Director:  Steven Roberts
Cast:  Ronald Colman, Joan Bennett, Colin Clive, Nigel Bruce.

Famous gambling casino doesn’t stand a chance with charming Ronald Colman.
 

BUY ME THAT TOWN  (1941)  USA  B/W  70 MINUTES
Director:  Eugene Forde 
Cast:  Lloyd Nolan, Constance Moore, Albert Dekker, Edward Brophy.

Clever “B” comedy about some gangsters who save a town from bankruptcy by using the jail as a refuge for their law breaker pals. Great cast of veteran tough guys.
 

July 16

MAYO & GREEN

THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LEGS  (1935)  USA  B/W  77 MINUTES
Director:  Archie Mayo
Cast:  Warren William, Genevieve Tobin, Patricia Ellis, Lyle Talbot, Allen Jenkins.

A stylish whodunit, Perry Mason (Williams) pursues a sleazy beauty contest promoter.  A dose of humor is added by having bon vivant Perry struggling to stay on the wagon
 

THE GRACIE ALLEN MURDER CASE (1939)  USA  B/W  78 MINUTES
Director:  Alfred E. Green
Cast:  Warren William, Gracie Allen, Ellen Drew.

Philo Vance attempts to solve the murder of a convict and is “helped” by screwball Gracie.  Tailor made for Gracie, this time without George.
 

July 23

BACON & TASHLIN

MISS GRANT TAKES RICHMOND  (1949)  USA  B/W  87 MINUTES
Director:  Lloyd Bacon
Cast:  Lucille Ball, William Holden, James Gleason.

A very funny comedy about a real estate business that’s a front for a bookie syndicate.  Lucy plays a wacky secretary innocently involved with the crooks.
 

THE MAN FROM THE DINER'S CLUB  (1963)  USA  B/W  96 MINUTES
Director:  Frank Tashlin
Cast:  Danny Kaye, Martha Hyer, Telly Savalas.

In this wild bit of slapstick, an inept employee (Kaye) makes out an application for a gangster trying to leave the country, and the troubles begin.
 

July 30

BERKELEY & ROACH

FAST AND FURIOUS (1939)  USA  B/W  73 MINUTES
Director:  Busby Berkeley
Cast:  Franchot Tone, Ann Sothern, Ruth Hussey, Lee Bowman.

A husband and wife team of rare-book sellers (Tone and Sothern) investigate murder at a seaside beauty pageant.  The last of three light-hearted MGM mysteries modeled after the Thin Man series.

THE HOUSEKEEPER'S DAUGHTER  (1939)  USA  B/W  71 MINUTES
Director:  Hal Roach
Cast:  Joan Bennett, Adolphe Menjou, William Gargan.

Chic Bennett helps crack a homicide case in this neat little murder mystery, with a bang up finish.  Victor Mature's film debut.

NO SCREENING ON MONDAY AUGUST 6 WE'LL BE IN ROCHESTER FOR OUR ANNUAL "RAIDING THE VAULTS" AT GEORGE EASTMAN HOUSE. CLICK HERE ON Eastman House TO FIND OUT HOW TO JOIN US THERE!

August 13

CARSTAIRS & DAY

SPARE A COPPER  (1940)  UK  B/W  77 MINUTES
Director:  John Paddy Carstairs
Cast:  George Formby, Bernard Lee, Dorothy Hyson, John Warwick.

A hidden gem of UK comedy.  At Merseyside, a police war reservist helps catch shipyard saboteurs who are using the fairground as a front.  One of Formby's best films.

TWO WAY STRETCH  (1960)  UK  B/W  78 MINUTES
Director:  Robert Day
Cast:  Peter Sellers, David Lodge, Lionel Jeffries.

A classic comedy of cons breaking in and out of prison to commit robberies.  Wry shenanigans from a stellar cast.

August 20

BACON & SIMON

FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK (1941)  USA  B/W  96 MINUTES
Director:  Lloyd Bacon
Cast:  Errol Flynn, Ralph Bellamy, Brenda Marshall, Alan Hale, Allen Jenkins, Roscoe Karns.

An investment banker and amateur Sherlock (Flynn) becomes involved in a real murder and the action heats up.  Flynn is very funny in this zany comedy.

WHISTLING IN THE DARK  (1941)  USA  B/W  78 MINUTES
Director:  Sylvan Simon
Cast:  Red Skelton, Conrad Veidt, Ann Rutherford, Virginia Grey, Eve Arden, Rags Ragland.

In Red's first starring film, he's the radio sleuth "The Fox," imprisoned in a mansion by the fiendish Veidt and forced to help commit the "perfect murder."

August 27

HALL & WALLACE

THE AMAZING MR. WILLIAMS  (1939)  USA  B/W  80 MINUTES
Director:  Alexander Hall
Cast:  Melvyn Douglas, Joan Blondell, Ruth Donnelly, Edward Brophy.

Blondell's attempts to get Douglas to the altar take second fiddle to his murder investigations, which have a way of popping up all the time.

IT'S IN THE BAG!  (1945)  USA  B/W  87 MINUTES
Director:  Richard Wallace
Cast:  Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Don Ameche, William Bendrix, Rudy Vallee, Binnie Barnes, Robert Benchley, John Carradine.

Flea circus promoter Fred Floogle (Allen) plays host to a plethora of radio comics in this bit of craziness about a search for a chair in which thousands of dollars are hidden.  Very loosely based on the Russian story "The Twelve Chairs."