Today is a great day to be a Washingtonian for many reasons – the gorgeous, finally-seasonal weather being one of them – and the other being the fact that the 2007 Screen on the Green schedule was discovered online today by yours truly. Locals, mark your calendars. This amazing lineup has something for everyone – a little Hepburn, a little Allen, some signature bad sci-fi and excellent political commentary, and finishing off with Casablanca, which is a category unto itself. Delicious.
So what if the series doesn’t start for another three months… it’s never too early to be excited about picnic-blanket-and-stuffed
July 16 – Annie Hall
Turning thirty this year, 'Annie Hall' appears as fresh as ever. Neurotic N.Y. comic Alvy Singer looks back at various aspects of his life, including the women he has known. Annie may have been his one great love, but the relationship wasn't meant to be. For most fans, this is Woody Allen at his peak. 'Annie' took Oscars for Best Picture (beating out 'Star Wars'), Best Director (sorry Mr. Spielberg) and Best Script (a little California bashing is always fun). Diane Keaton, at her "la-di-da" finest, won a statuette too. Lobsters anyone?
July 23 – The Thing (From Another World)
"Keep watching the skies!" Things start to sizzle at the North Pole after a team of scientists and military personnel unearths a freeze-dried alien being. According to Hollywood gossip, producer Howard Hawks had a heavy hand in the direction of this legendary sci-fi thriller filmed in Glacier National Park and at a Los Angeles ice storage plant. In the title role, big James (Matt Dillon on TV's 'Gunsmoke') Arness reportedly complained that his monster make-up made him look like an oversized carrot.
July 30 – Wait Until Dark
Poor Audrey Hepburn! When last seen in 'Charade,' goons were menacing her all over Paris. Now, she's a poor blind lady fighting off goons in her Greenwich Village (scenic exteriors on St. Luke's Place) apartment. Alan Arkin is way over-the-top as the nastiest of the villains, while the ever-classy Hepburn scored a Best Actress nomination for her more restrained effort as the plucky and exceedingly resourceful heroine-in-distress. The lights-out climax of this jittery chiller is jump-out-of-your-skin scary. Let the screaming begin.
August 6 – All The King’s Men
Nothing much has changed since Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning morality tale was brought to the big screen. Power corrupts and politics can be a dirty business. Burly Broderick Crawford won a Best Actor trophy for his larger-than-life portrayal of Willy Stark, an honest man who gets ethically sidetracked on his way to the governor's mansion. 'Men' collected enough votes to win both an Oscar and a Golden Globe as Best Picture of 1949. Forget the recent remake and stick with the superior original.
August 13 – Casablanca
You must remember this ... Rick's Cafe, "play it, Sam," the usual suspects, "here's looking at you, kid," Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, "of all the gin joints," the Marseillaise, "we’ll always have Paris," Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet. Everyone's favorite Hollywood romance is barely #2 behind 'Citizen Kane' on the AFI list of America's Greatest Movies. The timeless melodrama of love, valor and compassion during WWII hasn't dated one whit. My, how time goes by.
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