The free film series "The Screening Room: Classics, Crowd-Pleasers, Cult Favorites and Neglected Gems" celebrates Hollywood’s royal family of laughter and lunacy with an 80th-anniversary revival of a madcap Marx Brothers classic.
The 1930 comedy ANIMAL CRACKERS – the second starring vehicle for the zany antics of Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo Marx – will be screened at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 20, at the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, 350 N. Wood Ave., downtown Florence.
Groucho plays one of his most memorable roles as wisecracking African explorer Capt. Jeffrey T. Spaulding, the honored guest at a posh society party thrown by wealthy socialite Mrs. Rittenhouse (played by the team’s favorite foil, Margaret Dumont). When a priceless painting is stolen during the party, Capt. Spaulding launches a most unconventional private investigation.
Directed by Victor Heerman, ANIMAL CRACKERS is based on a play by celebrated stage and screen writers George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, Bert Kalmer and Harry Ruby.
"The Screening Room" is sponsored by the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library and Pillar of Fire. The series is organized and hosted by film historian and Pillar of Fire founder Terry Pace, who teaches English at UNA.
The series’ May lineup continues with a 20th-anniversary screening of Joel and Ethan Coen’s period gangster film MILLER'S CROSSING (1990) – starring Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, Steve Buscemi and Michael Jeter – at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 27.
The month’s "Screening Room" features conclude at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 30, with a 50th-anniversary screening of George Pal’s spectacular film version of H.G. Wells’ classic science-fiction novel THE TIME MACHINE (1960), starring Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Alan Young and Sebastian Cabot.
All "Screening Room" programs are free and open to the public. For details, call the library at (256) 764-6564 or Pillar of Fire at (256) 366-4512, or e-mail pillaroffire@bellsouth.net.
“One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know.” – Capt. Jeffrey Spaulding (Groucho Marx) in ANIMAL CRACKERS (1930), voted one of the Top 100 Movie Quotes of all time by the American Film Institute.
Original Post