SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our ALFRED HITCHCOCK: THE MASTER and THE HEART WANTS Series, Saturday, February 4, 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 SPELLBOUND (1945, dir. Alfred Hitchcock, Disney, USA, 111mns, Format Unconfirmed)
9:45pm MR. AND MRS. SMITH (1941, dir. Alfred Hitchcock, Warner Bros, USA, 95mns, 35mm)
For all the writing around Hitchcock’s mastery of the suspense genre, relatively little writing has been devoted to his amazing facility portraying romantic relationships on the screen.
Unlike many other directors who might excel at technique but not story, style but not character, Hitchcock had a firm grasp of it all. And he often made sure to have a fascinating, complex love relationship at the heart of his stories.
Spellbound re-paired Rebecca director Hitchcock with producer David O Selznick. Already though, after just five years in Hollywood, Spellbound feels more a Hitchcock movie than a Selznick production.
Psychoanalyst Dr. Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) falls in love with new young Dr. Edwardes (Gregory Peck) who turns out to be an imposter. But while all evidence points to Edwardes/John Brown also being behind a string of murders, Petersen is convinced analysis and dream interpretation might be the key to unlocking Edwarde’s amnesia.
Hitchcock often loved to embrace and explore new technologies, sciences, aspects of pop culture, other directors were afraid to touch. Here, Hitchcock goes all in on psychotherapy and its potential ability to help people deal with their fears, phobias, repressed memories, emotions.
Spellbound includes an incredible dream sequence designed by Salvador Dali, a stunning flashback to a child’s accidental death, and a very famous villain’s POV shot.
Hitch had an unparalleled talent for being able to translate his obsessions into movies that were somehow commercially viable and popular with audiences. It may have just been that Hitch and the public (like Spielberg and the public in the next generation) were aligned in their fascinations. But Hitch truly had an insight into how to fortify a career.
We follow this with one of Hitch’s only forays into a genre other than suspense: the romantic screwball comedy Mr. and Mrs. Smith starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery. The premise is pure 1930’s/1940’s screwball-married couple Ann and David discover that, via a bureaucratic error, they are not actually married. Because they have been fighting, this gives them both an out if they want it. But despite their best attempts to prove they are NOT in love with each other, circumstance proves they actually were meant for each other.
What’s most surprising about this utterly entertaining escapist romance is how one can see what Hitchcock’s style would have been like had he opted to be a “director for hire” rather than the obsessive auteur committed to pursuing dark corners of the human psyche. The filmmaking is utterly cinematic and the movie very very funny. Hitch may have actually been adept at musicals, dramas, action-adventures. Who knows? But one can also sense that Hitch yearns for darker, more complex, challenging fare.
Still, come for the chance to see an out and out Hitchcock comedy starring none other than the great Carole Lombard herself (who insisted Hitch direct her in this).
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.