SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our JOHN FORD FUNDAMENTALS Series, Friday, December 2, 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.
7:30pm SERGEANT RUTLEDGE (1960, dir. John Ford, WB, USA, 111mns, 35mm)
9:45pm 7 WOMEN (1966, dir. John Ford, WB, USA, 87mns, Digital)
Tonight we’re proud to screen two of Ford’s late period “reckoning” movies (like The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and Cheyenne Autumn) where Ford took on taboo subjects on American’s history and current society head on in stark and startling ways.
First up is his 1960 Sergeant Rutledge about an African-American Sergeant in the US Cavalry wrongfully accused of the rape and murder of a white woman. A much more brutal and frank take on the same subject matter explored in To Kill A Mockingbird, Sergeant Rutledge finds Ford adopting narrative strategies from his own acolyte Akira Kurosawa by employing flashbacks to recount the truth of the story. Rutledge (starring Woody Strode) was one of the first mainstream US movies to feature an African American actor in a lead role and to expose the racism and injustice African Americans suffer daily at the hands of unscrupulous white folks.
We follow this up with Ford’s very last full feature and one of his best late period movies 7 Women. 7 Women tells the story of a group of women based in a Christian mission in the Chinese countryside of 1935 as they fight disease and local violent warlords. The Ladies at the Mission are delighted to learn they’re getting a new doctor only to discover the new doctor is Anne Bancroft who hates religion, smokes, wears pants, swears, drinks, and does whatever the hell she wants to.
But in typical Ford fashion, Bancroft’s rough exterior belies a compassionate and empathetic heart. 7 Women again showed Ford ahead of his time by making a feature in which the majority of main characters and movers of action are women instead of men. And Ford shows a female protagonist every inch as flawed, interesting, and ultimately heroic as any of his prior male protagonists.
So come join us for two late period Ford masterpieces.
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.