SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our ALFRED HITCHCOCK: THE MASTER Series, Saturday, June 3, 2023
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.
7:30pm DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954, dir. Alfred Hitchcock, Warner Bros., USA, 105mns, 35mm)
9:45pm TO CATCH A THIEF (1955, dir. Alfred Hitchcock, Paramount, USA, 106mns, 35mm)
Tonight we look at two mid-50’s movies Hitch made with one of the most luminescent actors ever to grace the silver screen: Grace Kelly.
First up is Hitch’s foray into 3D moviemaking (special note: we most likely will present this in 2D but on a 35mm print!) Dial M For Murder.
A thoroughly entertaining tight piece of nasty suspense, Dial M For Murder finds Hitch in Rope, Lifeboat, and Rear Window mode, working to create an all-consuming piece of cinema mostly in the confines of a single set: here a flat of an unhappily married couple.
Tony (an always game Ray Milland), the husband, knows that his wife, Margot (always incandescent Grace Kelly) is having an affair and hatches a plan to have her murdered so he can inherit her fortune.
From there, we get a fascinating game of moral, ethical, and just plain brutal power play cat & mouse to see who will outsmart who and who will end up among the living and the dead.
Hitch made this for 3D but the fad was already fading when the movie was released so it mostly played in 2D houses. Nevertheless, it signaled the beginning of one of Hitch’s most fruitful collaborations with an actor. He and Kelly would reach the apotheosis of their partnership later that year with Rear Window.
We follow this with one of those Hitchcock movies that are pure confection: To Catch A Thief. Hitchcock appears to be a man of many moods. Sometimes he wanted to dig into the darkness as in The Wrong Man or Psycho and sometimes he wanted to go the south of France for sunlight, champagne, suspense, and love as he did here in To Catch a Thief.
Cary Grant, an always dependable member of the Hitch troupe, stars as retired jewel thief John “The Cat” Robie. When a new spate of thefts occur in the south of France, Robie is suspected so. . .he decides he has to catch the new “Cat” in the act to prove his innocence.
Along the way he meets and falls for Frances (Grace Kelly) who, though she pretends to be bashful, turns out to very much be turned on by Robie’s history as a thief.
A total baker’s masterful cake of sugar and spice, To Catch a Thief finds Hitchcock at his most playful. The only downside is that Hitch would lose Grace Kelly to the Monaco monarchy (and she would become a princess upon her marriage) during the shooting of this movie. Thus robbing Hitch of his preferred female lead for future ventures like Vertigo and Marnie.
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.