Just returned from the Syosset Public Library, where I presented the first of three sessions on The Hollywood Musical, with a focus on dance on film. Today’s focus was on the ten films featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: the nine they made at RKO Studios, and their reunion film at MGM, produced in 1949. The lecture was well received, and many will return for next week’s program on Busby Berkeley: Spin A Little Web of Dreams. The series will close with a session on Gene Kelly: Dance For The Common Man.

Guess what I will be doing on Wednesdays and Thursdays for the next seven weeks (actually eight weeks, since Queens College is closed one week for Spring Break)? In addition to coordinating the Queens College Life Long Learning Institute, I will also be teaching two workshops on Wednesday and Thursdays: The Film Director’s Vision, in which I will be focusing on such renowned Directors as Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Cecil B. Demille, and Steven Spielberg; and on Thursdays, I will be teaching Music For The Movies, which will focus on how music has acted as a psychological thread in film, with such composers as Max Steiner, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Sergei Prokofiev, Miklos Rozsa, Bernard Herrmann, John Williams, and Jerry Goldsmith. There are seats available for both. For more information, be sure to call Queens College at 718-997-5700.

This Friday, March 9th, I will be presenting the third and last lecture in the Hutton House Lectures series, All Aboard For Hitchcock, at Long Island University: C.W. Post campus, with a discussion and screening of Hitch’s only MGM film, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. It is the Hitchcock/Bernard Herrmann collaboration sandwiched in between Vertigo and Psycho. This has been a great series, with wonderful post film discussions. There will be a week break, and then I will be presenting a Hutton House Special Event lecture,  I WANNA BE A DANCIN MAN: Fred Astaire Solos. This will close the Winter, 2012 semester of Hutton House lectures at C.W. Post.

Stay tuned for film lectures coming up the week of March 11th!

This afternoon, I will be returning to the Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center of Commack, NY, to present an hour long discussion on the 1961 Academy Award winning musical, West Side Story. The last time I was at the Suffolk Y was last Spring, to present a lecture on Screwball Comedies. Since I only have an hour, I will focus on the genesis of West Side Story, from  development to Broadway, to the Screen. Then, will focus on five musical sequences: Maria, America, Gee, Officer Krupke, Tonight, and A Boy Like That. Time permitting, will show the transition from storyboard to actual filmed scenes. Nice that I am presenting this the morning after the 84th Academy Awards.

Just received confirmation on dates for my Hutton House Lecture courses for the Summer, 2012 semester at Long Island University: C.W. Post campus. On June 7th, 14th, and 21st, I will present Chasing Rainbows: Tyrone Power and Alice Faye at 20th Century Fox. Films to be discussed will include In Old Chicago (1937), Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938), and Rose of Washington Square (1939).  On July 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th, I will be presenting Judy Garland at MGM, and will include For Me And My Gal (1942), Meet Me In St. Louis (1944),Easter Parade (1948), and In The Good Old Summertime (1949).  And, on August 3rd, 10th, and 17th, I will present Bon Voyage: Ocean Liners On Film, and will include A Night At The Opera (1935), Shall We Dance (1937), and Now Voyager (1942). All sessions begin at 1pm.

On April 13th, at 7:30PM, Silent Film Composer and Historian Ben Model, and I return to the Port Washington Public Library, where we will discuss, Ben will accompany, and will screen the 1923 Harold LLoyd silent comedy classic, Safety Last, which Ben and I had presented at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library, a few years back.  The film features one of the most iconic images from silent film comedy: Harold Lloyd, while climbing up a building, hanging from the hands of a clock. The film was the last to feature Harold with Mildred Davis, who would soon become Mrs. Harold LLoyd. This screening will be dedicated to Gloria Lloyd, the eldest daughter of Harold and Mildred, who passed away earlier this month.

After a week off from the Hutton House Lectures, at Long Island University: C.W. Post campus, I will be returning on Friday, February 24th, to teach a three session course, All Aboard For Hitchcock.  There have been many film courses devoted to Alfred Hitchcock. I took Donald Spoto’s weekend course at the New School, in April, 1991; At Queens College, in the Life Long Learning Institute program, one of my instructors will be teaching a course, titled Hitchcock’s Women.  It thought it would be an interesting idea to discuss and screen three films directed by the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, that had a train motif. Thus, I will be discussing and screening The Lady Vanishes (February 24th), Strangers On A Train (March 2nd), and North By Northwest (March 9th).

I have two film events coming soon to the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library: on Sunday, March 11th, at 2PM, Silent Film Composer and Historian Ben Model and I return with another Let’s Hear It For The Silent Films event: we depart from comedy, for the tragic romance and first pairing of John Gilbert and Greta Garbo, in Clarence Brown’s 1926 MGM film, The Flesh And The Devil. As always, Ben will discuss the history of music and silent films, and I will discuss the making of The Flesh And The Devil.

On Tuesday, April 10th, at 1pm,  I present a program, What A Glorious Feeling: Singin In The Rain 60th anniversary. I will discuss the background of the making of the film, and will disuss the impact of the film on the musical genre. It’s nice that we are having the screening  a day before the actual 60th anniversary of the film’s New York release.

As a side note on Singin’ In the Rain, my article on Singin’ In The Rain, part of a series on Films of 1952, was published this month in the current issue of Temple Avodah’s Temple Topics. My temple is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Had my next to last session of my Hutton House Lecture series, 1939 In Technicolor, with the first half of the David O’ Selznick monumental production of Margaret Mitchell’s GONE WITH THE WIND (up until Scarlett’s oath and intermission). Discussed the genesis of the Mitchell novel, and the search for Scarlett and production background. Question came up about Max Steiner’s score, and I discussed the fact that Steiner had a very busy year in 1939. After part one, I showed some behind the scenes photos, and some Scarlett screen tests.  Next week, in our last session of 1939 In Technicolor, we will see the second part of GONE WITH THE WIND, and more visual surprises afterwards.

My Hutton House Lecture series, 1939 In Technicolor continued yesterday, with a discussion on, and screening of Michael Curtiz’ The Private Lives of Elizabeth And Essex, starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, with Olivia DeHavilland, Donald Crisp, Vincent Price, and a very young Nanette Fabray in supporting roles. The backstory of the film is just as entertaining as the film itself. First, Davis and Flynn HATED working with each other.  Davis wanted to work with Laurence Olivier, since she felt Flynn was not the best man for the role. Flynn disliked Davis’ attitude throughout the shooting, especially when she strikes him during one scene. In reality, Flynn saw stars. Then, there was the problem with the title of the film: the film is based on Elizabeth The Queen, a play by Maxwell Anderson. At first, the title of the film was going to be, The Knight And The Lady. To which Davis squawked, “What, are you out of your minds, The Knight And The Lady? I am playing the Queen of  England. Then, the title was switched to The Lady And The Knight, to which Flynn was annoyed since he was not getting top billing. Davis would constantly storm into Jack Warner (the head of Warner Brothers) and complain. Jack sometimes did not want to be bothered, so he would hide in the men’s room, which was connected to his office, until Davis would go away. Warners could not title the film, Elizabeth And Essex, since that was already a copyrighted title of a book. Thus, they went with The Private Lives of Elizabeth And Essex. Next week, I present the first of two sessions on GONE WITH THE WIND.