HEIGHTS THEATER

Originally planned by United Artists to be a quickie B movie to cash in on The Beatles popularity. A Hard Days Night emerged as a boldly contemporary rock n' roll comedy unleashing the fledgling Beatles into a maelstrom of screaming fans, paranoid producers, rabid press and troublesome family members. Maybe one of the greatest rock and roll movies ever made?

Before STAR WARS, George Lucas tapped into a beleaguered America's urge for a more innocent time with AMERICAN GRAFFITTI. This warm and hilarious coming of age comedy invokes the music and the memories of falling in love and cruising Main Street in 1962... just over ten years before the film's release date, before the American dream became "the long national nightmare" of the Nixon years. Featuring a cast that would go on to big things, including Harrison Ford, Candy Clark (who received an Oscar nomination), Suzanne Somers, Richard Dreyfuss, Cindy Williams and Richie Cunningham… er, Ron Howard.

One of the most beloved of Hollywood's dark comedies returns to the Heights Theater. When Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) visits his Brooklyn home to show off his new wife to his spinster aunts and oddball uncle, he figures nothing can go wrong. But when Mortimer's psychopathic brother shows up with a doctor (who just happens to be Peter Lorre) the body count rises and the laughs never cease.

“Beware of what you wish for… you may be so unfortunate as to get it.” – Artie Shaw. This critically acclaimed documentary tells the story of Artie Shaw, legendary jazz clarinetist, with interviews of the 75-year-old about his life. Born in 1910 in New York City, Shaw leaves home to tour as a musician at the age of 16 and slowly rises to national prominence, becoming as famous for his eight marriages as for his musical skill, which earns him comparisons to Benny Goodman. Shaw discusses his musical and cinematic career, his retirement in 1954 and his many interests, from writing to fishing.

In the year 2688, society is perfect thanks to the teachings of the great Bill & Ted. One of the 27th Century's citizens, George Carlin's Rufus, must go back in time to ensure that the truly dimwitted Bill & Ted pass their history exam, or the future is doomed. Naturally, Rufus hauls them to meet historical figures in his phone booth time machine, because... why not? Perhaps the most proudly stupid film of all-time, BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE is also hilarious and always charming, never cynical or cruel, its two leads, Keanu's Ted and Alex Winter's Bill, as affable as they come. This winsome mix was the surprise hit of 1989.

Steve McQueen was never better than in this iconic 1960s cop film that was the very definition of cool. Tasked with protecting a witness from the mob, pressured by a powerful Congressman, Bullitt (McQueen) tries to keep it all under control. But when he’s double-crossed and the witness is murdered, Bullitt pretends the witness survived, and has the body kept under wraps in the hopes of flushing out the killers. McQueen produced this film and changed the lead detective from a frumpled cop into a fashionably dressed man-about-town, a jazz-loving hipster with a stunning girlfriend (Jacqueline Bisset), and whose quiet manner radiated confident masculinity. Featuring one of, if not the best, car chase scenes ever, “BULLITT” has rarely been screened in town, and should be enjoyed on the big screen.

When Lancelot, the nephew of the Baron of Chanterelle, is told by his uncle that he must marry, he balks. He is not in the least bit interested in having little Lancelots running underfoot, and so when the Baron puts out a reward to local maidens to wed his nephew, the poor fellow flees! But then he gets an idea—in the forest lives a man whose mechanical dolls are so true to life they fool everyone. He’ll marry one of them. But when the dollmaker’s daughter falls for the timid Lancelot, she switches places with his doll of choice, with hilarious, and sexy, results. Ernst Lubitsch’s THE DOLL (DIE PUPPE) is one of the funniest sex comedies ever made, a riotous look at love and marriage, and one of the director’s most sophisticated films. With live accompaniment by Jackie Beckey.

A scathing satire on the Cold War, Dr. Strangelove is also Stanley Kubrick's love-letter to the manic comic stylings of Peter Sellers. But Sellers isn't alone (even though he plays three roles): George C. Scott, Slim Pickins, Keenan Wynn, and Sterling Hayden all play against type and are absolutely hilarious.

When hot-tempered bartender Richard (Jon Finch) loses his job, he mopes around London, eventually visiting his ex-wife to cadge a tenner. The visit turns sour, they argue, and he storms away. Soon after, she's visited by the gruesome Necktie Murderer, who leaves her dead--and the nosy neighbors are ready to pin the crime on Richard. Hitchcock's return to England resulted in a grimy, violent, but often hilarious thriller that was perfectly suited for the realistic thrillers 1970s. Maligned in its time, FRENZY is now recognized as a classic.

When a Japanese freighter is mysteriously destroyed off Odo Island, and the fishing there is suddenly reduced to nothing, the islanders demand an explanation. When it comes, it’s a doozy—Godzilla, an ancient sea creature, awoken by underwater hydrogen bomb testing. He’s mad, he’s got all the power of a nuclear bomb, and he’s ready to kick butt. Ishirō Honda’s GODZILLA became an instant international masterpiece, spawning an enormous franchise that exists to this day. Don’t miss the stunning original, unlike any of its newer incarnations. NOTE: We will be screening the original Japanese version, not the edited American release.

GONE WITH THE WIND is many things, The most epic of Hollywood films, arguably the most popular film ever released in the world, and finally, an inaccurate fantasy version of the old south and the “Noble cause” of the Civil War. The enormously popular bestselling novel was bought by David O. Selznick, who almost literally moved heaven, and definitely moved earth, to bring the story of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler, and their tempestuous love affair during the Civil War, to the silver screen. Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable were the iconic stars, forever cementing their place in cinema's firmament, and the film went on to win a then record ten Academy Awards, and break every box office record, which still stands when adjusted for inflation. If you love GWTW you will not want to miss this epic on the big screen!

Douglas Sirk's Hollywood swan song is also rightfully regarded as his masterpiece, and a cutting indictment of racial and sexual mores that was years ahead of its time. The story of two women, Lora (Lana Turner), who seeks Broadway success, and her housekeeper Annie (Juanita Moore), who wants nothing more than love and security, IMITATION OF LIFE peels away the shiny veneer of the American Dream to reveal a heartless landscape of loneliness and discrimination.

NEW DIGITAL RESTORATIONS! The enormously popular LAUREL AND HARDY FESTIVAL returns! This year we’re screening the classic 1936 feature OUR RELATIONS, in which Stan and Ollie discover their identical twins, long thought dead, are actually sailors who have come to port in their hometown. What could go wrong? Thankfully, everything, in one of the duo’s most hilarious movies. With the short film “TWICE TWO”.

Joe Buck (Jon Voight) is a handsome Texas kid eager to make his way in the Big Apple… by selling his love to lonely older women. When that fails miserably and he finds himself homeless, his only friend is the equally despondent Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), a con man with no one to con. One of the grittiest and most emotional Best Picture Winners—and the only one to be originally given an “X” rating!—MIDNIGHT COWBOY stands as not only a searing portrait of loneliness, but a beautiful examination of male affection, not to mention a look at a New York City that is long gone. Winner of three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay.

Germany’s answer to THE WIZARD OF OZ and THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, the lush Agfacolor extravaganza, MUNCHHAUSEN stars Hans Albers as the incredible lying hero, a man who has seemingly lived for over two centuries, and whose tall tales stretch the imagination (and the special effects budget). Filmed in wartime Germany and meant to divert the public from the war and compete with Hollywood, what was supposed to be a sweet family film instead turned into an adult fairytale replete with nudity and ribald jokes, scripted by a writer banned by the regime (who worked under a pseudonym) and starring Albers (who refused to abandon his Jewish lover, who was safely in London). “Munchhausen” kept censors on their toes, and it went on to become a post-war classic, rarely seen in Minnesota.

Romance! Intrigue! Politics! Is this the epic NAPOLEON? NO! It’s the epically weird NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, unleashed on American audiences 20 years ago! Napoleon is a bumbling 16-year-old trying to endure high school in rural Idaho with his best friends Deb and Pedro. Learning to dance, falling in love, helping his friend win a school election, and even impressive horsemanship make Napoleon Dynamite one of the great heroes of the 21st Century.

Charming ad man Roger O. Thornhill (or ROT, to his friends) must run for his life when he's mistaken for an American spy by a dastardly criminal organization. Avoiding death by drunk driving; by gun and knife and gravity; and, most famously, by a crop-dusting, gun-toting plane in the middle of Illinois, poor Thornhill must eventually not only save himself, but the beautiful Eve. Hitchcock urged screenwriter Ernest Lehman to pull out all the stops, resulting in a breathtaking adventure whose insane plot twists somehow work in spite of themselves. Cary Grant was never more charming, Eve Marie Saint never more alluring, and Hitchcock never more assured. The only way to witness such suspenseful majesty is on the Heights' silver screen.

We’re bringing back this ode to late 60s Hollywood on glorious 35mm, just as it should be seen, and just to highlight Damian Lewis’ brief but memorable turn as Steve McQueen. The story of Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth's (Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, whose chemistry is amazing) attempts to revive Dalton's flagging career is really an excuse to pay homage to the Southern California world that Quentin Tarantino loved, and so do we.

Lulu is a reckless young woman, the mistress of the respectable publisher, Ludwig, but very willing to have more men on the side… including Ludwig’s attractive son, Alwa. Later, after she drives Ludwig’s fiancé away, he kills himself—and then Lulu pounces on his son. And now she beings her stunning descent, dragging Alwa with her in this devastating portrait of a young woman caught up in the ribald insanity of Weimar Germany. Louis Brooks is astonishing as Lulu, giving what many consider the greatest of all silent film performances.

Jeffries (James Stewart), a prize-winning photographer, has broken his leg and now sits sweating out his days spying on his fellow apartment dwellers. At first aghast at his pursuits, girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly) and nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) eventually join him as he uncovers--or thinks he uncovers—a murder. This classic is at once sexy, thrilling, hilarious, and one of the most entertaining pictures Hitchcock ever gave us.

Do we really need to explain this one? Perhaps no movie musical is as beloved as Singin' in the Rain, which has sold out the Heights Theater three times in the last four years! What a wonderful feeling!

Was it really thirty years ago that a relatively unknown Sandra Bullock’s Annie Porter climbed aboard an LA bus rigged with a bomb that would arm once it reached 50 MPH and detonate once it went below the same speed? Sure enough. Who but Keanu’s SWAT commander Jack Traven would come to the rescue and dispatch the evil Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper)? What sounded like a ridiculously high-concept brainless film turned out to be an edge-of-your-seat thriller that became an instant classic.

McQueen is “Doc” McCoy, a criminal mastermind four years into a ten-year sentence. When his wife, Carol (Ali McGraw), visits, he tells her to do what she can to get him sprung—so she agrees to get Doc to help with a half-million-dollar heist organized by corrupt businessman (and parole board member) Jack Beynon (Ben Johnson). Nothing goes as planned, the bodies fall, and Doc and Carol make a beeline for Mexico to save their skins. Director Sam Peckinpah captured the intense chemistry of real-life couple McQueen and McGraw all the while keeping the stunning brutality of Jim Thompson’s source novel.

A drab hotel owned by the charming Zero Moustafa is the basis for this story-within-a-story, as the older Zero recounts his life to a mysterious Author. The Grand Budapest Hotel, high in the mountains of Zubrowka, is the backdrop for the story of the great concierge Gustave H. Gustave ran a tight ship, and on this side seduced the old women of the hotel, one of whom may or may not have left him a priceless painting in her will. But her evil son doesn't like this, and so heists, romance, jailbreak, and other unbelievable plot twists, played by one of the most star-studded casts in modern cinema, make The Grand Budapest Hotel Anderson's most ambitious and successful film (by far). Nominated for nine and winner of four Academy Awards.

1942, behind enemy lines. A cunning group of Allied POWs have escaped from camps one too many times, and so they’re rounded up and kept under lock and key by the brutal Colonel von Luger, who threatens instant death for anyone who dares try again. Does that stop them? What do you think? Despite being a star-studded ensemble picture, Steve McQueen steals the film as Captain Virgil Hilt, the irreverent American who loves motorcycles.

Thomas Anderson (Keanu) is a bored computer programmer who goes by Neo when he’s hacking. When a group of federal agents appears at his workplace, he flees, aided by Trinity (Carrie Ann-Moss), who takes him to visit Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), who gives our man a choice: take a red pill to see the Matrix as it is, or a blue one to return him to his life as he knows it. Needless to say, Neo joins Morpheus and enters into a revolutionary world that is Alice in Wonderland as Cyberpunk dystopia with a lot of martial arts thrown in. This genre- and gender-bending sci-fi masterpiece took the world by storm, it cemented Keanu as an action superstar, and its incredible effects changed filmmaking forever.

Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) arrives at Shawshank State Prison in Maine after having been sentenced to spend the rest of his days there after being found guilty of murdering his wife and her lover. His best friend there is "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), also serving a life sentence. With little plot other than the day-to-day grind of life in the slammer, endured brutality, and eventually, a sliver of hope, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION was the surprise hit of 1994—while doing moderately well at the box office, the film became an enormous home video hit, and consistently ranks as the #1 film of all time in audience polling. Based on Stephen King’s short story—it remains the writer’s favorite adaptation—SHAWSHANK is widely regarded as a modern classic in the style of Golden Age cinema.

Jack Torrence, a recovering alcoholic, retreats to the Overlook Hotel with his wife, Wendy, and son, Danny, in tow, in the hopes of breaking his writer's block. But the hotel is host to a variety of dark secrets, none more disturbing than those in Room 237. The Shining is one of Kubrick's more startling masterpieces, and Jack Nicholson's performance is the stuff of legend.

Written by Graham Greene, and starring Joseph Cotten, Aida Valli, and of course Orson Welles as Harry Lime, The Third Man is a classic espionage film that also undermines the trope of the American sleuth solving the crime and winning the love of the femme fatale. A gorgeous, thrilling and melancholy film, The Third Man has influenced countless other films through the decades.

Thomas Crown (McQueen) is probably the coolest millionaire ever. Suave, a sportsman and man-about-town, he’s also the brains behind a stunning heist that nets him and his compatriots (who never discover their leader) a sweet couple million. Enter Vicki Anderson (Faye Dunaway), a sharp insurance investigator hungry for the 10% commission to bring the culprits to justice. When she meets Crown, sparks fly and soon Vicki begins to question her motives. THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR was a massive hit, which, along with BULLITT that same year, cemented McQueen’s status as the king of the box office.

Brother and sister Rick and Patricia purchase Windward House, in Cornwall, England, as the perfect retreat where Rick can compose his music. But the house sold cheap, due to rumors that the woman who committed suicide within its boundaries still haunts it to this day. This moody and influential film--thought by some to be the first ghost film in which the ghosts are real creatures, not tricks--is at once despairing and frightening. Considered by Martin Scorsese and Guillermo del Toro to be one of the most frightening films of all time, The Uninvited is not to be missed.

A young girl has disappeared on the island of Summerisle, and Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) is sent to investigate. There, no one admits the girl ever existed, and worse, to the very conservative Sgt. Howie, the islanders engage in ritual paganism. But as his investigation widens, Sgt. Howie uncovers shocking truths about the islanders and their very charismatic leader, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). Derided upon its original release and then vanished, THE WICKER MAN almost immediately became a cult hit, and is one of the most disturbing and original horror films ever made.

35MM TECHNICOLOR DYE-TRANSFER PRINT!! One of the greatest motion pictures of all-time is one of our most popular events and sells out year after year. As always, we’re screening the rare 35mm Technicolor Dye Transfer print, whose astounding colors must be seen to be believed. Has there ever been a more essential piece of movie magic than the journey of Dorothy and Toto? Never. And the lush Technicolor makes the colors so rich it's like seeing a painting.

A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a farcical and occasionally sinister scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger than fiction true story, WICKED LITTLE LETTERS follows two neighbours: deeply conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). When Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues. However, as the town’s women - led by Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) - begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.