Paramount Summer Classics Are Back!
Celebration of classic cinema with Brando, Hitchcock, and 1971
By Richard Whittaker, 1:20PM, Wed. May 19, 2021
Where were you in 1971? Failing that, 1996? The Paramount Summers Classic Film Series is welcoming you back with a slate of vintage films that include the best movies that celebrate the gold and silver anniversaries this year.
Paramount film programmer Stephen Jannise echoed the sentiments of generations of movie lovers when he wrote, “It doesn’t really feel like a summer in Austin without the Paramount Summer Classic Film Series. That’s why we’re so excited to be bringing the annual tradition back this year in all its three-month-long glory!"
Today's lineup announcement is only the first of three, with extra titles to be added in June and July. Of course, it wouldn't the Paramount summer season without the traditional opening night screening of Casablanca, which this year not only kicks off the Summer, but also opens a run of films about travel under the banner Planes, Trains and…Ocean Liners? So pack your toothbrush and pillows for Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Monkey Business, and Strangers on a Train (which is far from the only Hitchcock title).
Homing in on legendary talents, there'll be a special tribute to Marlon Brando (Guys and Dolls, A Streetcar Named Desire, and On The Waterfront). Plus, as promised, there's the eagerly-awaited return of Hitchcock week, with To Catch a Thief, Psycho, North by Northwest, and a pair of screenings for the 75th anniversary of Notorious.
The anniversaries come thick and fast, with the special 50 Years Later series. It's the ultimate primer to 1971, with the gloriously mordant Harold and Maude and the just glorious Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. For the Gen-Xers out there, Silver Anniversaries on the Silver Screen brings back the best of 1996, and that's quite a best-of list, including Fargo, Romeo + Juliet, and the home-grown vampires vs crooks classic, From Dusk Till Dawn.
In the summer when it seems like musicals are back (courtesy of In the Heights and Steven Spielberg's new version of Westside Story), there's a torrent of Terpsichore as Let's Dance brings Swing Time, The Red Shoes, and, yes, the original West Side Story to get your feet tapping.
And as a reminder that super heroes are nothing new on the big screen, some old favorites are back to fight evil, with the 1989 Batman and 1978 Superman, plus everyone's favorite bullwhip-wiedling archeologist/Nazi smasher, Dr. Indiana Jones, in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Of course, pandemic safety is still an issue, so screenings will run at limited capacity with a socially distanced seating map, and everyone over 10 must keep their mask on unless eating or dinking (and, to make life easier, there'll be touchless ticketing and concessions).
Here's the full schedule. Tickets and info at www.austintheatre.org/film/classic-film-series.
May 27
7:30pm Casablanca
May 29
1pm Casablanca
4:05pm Planes, Trains and Automobiles
May 30
1pm Monkey Business
3:40pm Strangers on a Train
June 1
7:30pm Harold and Maude
June 2
7.30pm McCabe and Mrs. Miller
June 3
7:30pm The Last Picture Show
June 5
1pm Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
4:10pm Young Frankenstein
June 6
1pm Moulin Rouge!
4:30pm Marie Antoinette
June 7
7:30pm Moulin Rouge!
June 8
7:30pm Notorious
June 9
7:30pm Notorious
June 10
7:30pm Psycho
June 11
7:30pm Psycho
June 12
1pm To Catch a Thief
4:10pm North by Northwest
June 13
1pm North by Northwest
4:40pm To Catch a Thief
June 15
7pm Guys and Dolls
June 16
7:30pm A Streetcar Named Desire
June 17
7:30pm On the Waterfront
June 19
1pm Superman
4:45pm Raiders of the Lost Ark
June 20
1pm Raiders of the Lost Ark
4:15pm Batman
June 22
7pm West Side Story
June 23
7:30pm Swing Time
June 24
7:30pm The Red Shoes
June 29
7:30pm Fargo
June 30
7:30pm Mission: Impossible
July 1
7:30pm From Dusk till Dawn
July 2
7:30pm Romeo + Juliet
July 3
1pm The Watermelon Woman
3:50pm Independence Day
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Paramount Summer Classic Film Series, Stephen Janisse, Casablanca
