SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our JOHN FORD FUNDAMENTALS Series, Saturday, December 10, 2022
LOCATION: The Secret Movie Club Theater, 1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90021
*Please note entrance/parking is actually in the back of the building. Make a right on Wilson Street, then a right behind the building. We’re the first set of black steps after the big gate.
12pm CHEYENNE AUTUMN (1964, dir. John Ford, WB, USA, 154mns, Digital)
Today we screen John Ford’s last western, his epic Cheyenne Autumn. Ford made the movie, in part, to atone for his sins and the sins of much of Hollywood, in often representing the Indigenous Americans as attackers rather than the attacked. Violent instead of having violence continually thrust upon them.
Off-screen, Ford had been beloved by the Navajo Tribes of Arizona and Utah for decades. He employed them, made sure they were taken care of. He was even given the name “Natani Nez” (Tall Leader) by the Navajo, a respect not paid to almost anyone else.
But Ford, who despite the poses he put on as just a hard nosed director, was incredibly well read and sensitive and knew the US had done a tremendous injustice. So he devoted his very last western to telling a story from the Native American point of view. Cheyenne Autumn tells the story of a forced migration of starving Cheyenne from the Oklahoma territory to Wyoming.
The movie doesn’t completely work and Ford wedges in strangely comic interludes with Jimmy Stewart as Wyatt Earp. But the movie still stands as a precursor to movies honoring Native Americans that really wouldn’t get made (and still really aren’t being made) at all for another 30 years. As always, Ford was ahead of his time and incredibly progressive.
Join us and watch this classic.
Best always,
Craig Hammill
Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer
*Please note that though we strive to always show titles on 35mm film if advertised, we may have to screen digitally if the print we receive is in such bad shape or if we don't receive the print in time because of a shipping delay. We will do our best to alert the audience. When this does occur, we will offer each ticket holder who chooses not to attend a complimentary ticket to a future event in exchange. (Disclaimer: Good for 90 days – Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
REFUNDS:
We can offer refunds up to 24 hours before showtime. Please request a refund through Eventbrite and we will process ASAP. After that, no refunds. Sorry.
However if something last minute comes up and you can’t make the screening, for whatever reason, just write to us before showtime: community@secretmovieclub.com and we’ll offer you complimentary tickets to a future screening, good for 90 days. (Disclaimer: Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
HELPFUL SECRET MOVIE CLUB (1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LA, CA 90021) THEATER PARKING TIPS:
We recommend that you park just outside our theater. Remember our theater is actually in a beautiful street art alleyway in the back of the 1917 Bay Street building. You get to our entrance by taking a right on Wilson, then a right behind the building. We are the first set of black steps on the right after the big gate.
There is also a parking lot at the corner of Mateo and Violet Street, just 2 blocks from our theater, which costs $7 per car.
HOW CAN WE STAY ON TOP OF NEWLY ANNOUNCED 35MM SCREENINGS, EVENTS, ETC?
You can follow us on Instagram/Twitter: @secretmovieclub or Facebook: @secretmovieclub35mm
You can also subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at secretmovieclub.com or by writing to us at community@secretmovieclub.com and using the header “SUBSCRIBE ME TO NEWSLETTER”.
HOW CAN I CONTACT YOU IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:
You can always email us at community@secretmovieclub.com with any other questions, concerns, thoughts, recommendations.