SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our THE MASTER: ALFRED HITCHCOCK DIRECTOR OF 2023 Series, Saturday, December 16, 2023
LOCATION: The Million Dollar Theater Movie Palace, 307 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013
*Please note, there is parking available at the Grand Central Market Parking Structure at the corner of 3rd and Hill Street (entrance on Hill Street) and at various lots. We have a limited number of $6 all day parking passes available for purchase via add-ons on Eventbrite!
6p NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959, dir by Alfred Hitchcock, Warner Brothers, 136mns, DCP) *We are working to source a 35mm but want audience ready for DCP in case.
845p VERTIGO (1958, dir by Alfred Hitchcock, Universal, 129mns, 35mm-confirmed)
The finale! As with all good things, there is an ending and here we are. Tonight we wrap up our Alfred Hitchcock Director of 2023 series with two of his most celebrated feature films of his entire career: North by Northwest and Vertigo, made back to back (!!), in 1959 and 1958 respectively.
It's hard to fully appreciate just how effective and successful Hitchcock was by the late 1950's. He was directing 1-2 features a year while lending his name to a TV show, books, records. Hitchcock, along with Steven Spielberg, and a few other moviemakers, is one of the rare directors to become a household name.
North by Northwest made following the relative initial lackluster reception of Vertigo was Hitchcock's move to show he was the once and future king of suspense thriller cinema.
Here Cary Grant plays Roger Thornhill, a New York ad exec, mistaken for a non-existent spy. The mix up sends Grant on a cross country adventure to find the real spy, clear his name, and avoid getting killed at the hands of urbane bad guy James Mason and his terrifying henchman (played by Martin Landau).
North by Northwest is clearly Hitchcock's American The 39 Steps. Trimming all the fat, Hitch bounces from one breath taking set piece to the next, held together by the adhesive of Cary Grant's debonair bon vivant sense of humor, James Mason's likable villain, and Eve Marie Saint's resourceful, romantic spy.
Writer Ernest Lehman said that Hitchcock was bubbling over with images, ideas, sequences that he tasked Lehman to stitch together into a narrative. North by Northwest ends up being the pinnacle of Hitchcock's escapist cinema in the United States. By the time we get to a Frank Lloyd Wright house that seems to exist just behind Mount Rushmore we don't question the illogic. We embrace it the way we embrace the best dream we ever had.
We follow this with the Hitchcock movie Sight and Sound's once a decade poll has named one of the top 10 movies of all time for over forty years: Vertigo. Initially received with some confusion upon its release in 1958, Hitchcock himself blamed aging Jimmy Stewart on the movie's lack of blockbuster success.
Maybe Hitch should have suspected that America wasn't quite ready for a 2+ hour hypnotic dream movie about obsession, manipulation, longing, desire, and twisted psycho sexual relationships.
Vertigo tells the story of retired police detective Scotty (Stewart) who suffers from vertigo (a loss of equilibrium when at great heights). When Scotty is hired by an old friend to tail Madeline, the friend's wife (Kim Novak), who thinks she's possessed by the spirit of a dead woman, he finds himself falling in love with the enigmatic woman as he tails her around San Francisco.
After a tragedy, Scotty meets Judy (also played by Novak) who looks exactly like Madeline. And soon he's trying to make Judy look like Madeline. What Scotty doesn't know is that Judy harbors a much darker secret...
A haunting, strange, hypnotic, beautiful, disturbing film powered by one of Jimmy Stewart's best performances (whatever Hitch thought it's undeniable that Stewart gave it his all), Vertigo gets to the heart of those who can never be satisfied with what they have. Who always want an idealized version of something that may have never existed. And who can't see the value of what they have before them. An unsettling brilliant picture. One of Hitchcock's best. One of the best ever.
Join us for these two masterpieces at the Million Dollar Theater Movie Palace.
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 MILLION DOLLAR THEATER MOVIE PALACE PARKING TIPS:
If you are attending any or all movies on any given day, you can go to ADD ONS and pre-order an all day $6 Grand Central Parking Structure Pass (while SUPPLIES last). This parking pass provides all day validation at the Grand Central Market Parking Structure located on Hill St between 3rd and 4th St. one block north of the Million Dollar Theater, accessible only on Hill St.
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.