An eligible, socially awkward heir to a brewery empire boards a cruise ship bound for New York and soon becomes the target of the single ladies on the vessel, as well as a trio of card sharks out to swindle the pushover out of his money, until one of them starts to fall for him romantically. Starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda, directed by Preston Sturges.
Alone at his fantastic estate known as Xanadu, 70-year-old Charles Foster Kane dies, uttering only the single word Rosebud. So ends the odyssey of a life ... and begins a fabulous tale of the rise to wealth and power—and ultimate fall—of a complex man: A boy abandoned by his parents inherits a fortune, builds a global newspaper empire and aspires to become President of the United States, but he loses everything over an affair with an untalented nightclub singer. This fascinating story unfolds through the eyes of the people important to the tycoon—each showing a different aspect of Citizen Kane. Frequently regarded as the best American film ever made; winner of an Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay; and nominated for an additional eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.
Join the River Valley Film Club once a month on Sundays as they screen a specially selected movie. Follow RVFC on Facebook for details, or stop by the Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret for more information. Come 30 minutes before showtime to grab a drink, meet fellow movie-lovers, and bring your own popcorn or dinner.
A silver screen gem about an aging silent-film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity and enlists a down-on-his-luck, opportunistic young screenwriter to aid her comeback, but her maniacal ego turns the challenge into an uphill battle. Starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson, and Erich von Stroheim; directed by Billy Wilder.
Romance becomes psychodrama in the elegantly crafted Rebecca, Alfred Hitchcock’s first foray into Hollywood filmmaking. A dreamlike adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel, the film stars the enchanting Joan Fontaine as a young woman who believes she has found her heart’s desire when she marries the dashing aristocratic widower Maxim de Winter (played with cunning vulnerability by Laurence Olivier). But upon moving to Manderley—her groom’s baroque ancestral mansion—she soon learns that his deceased wife haunts not only the estate but the temperamental, brooding Maxim as well. The start of Hitchcock’s legendary collaboration with producer David O. Selznick, this elegiac gothic vision, captured in stunning black and white by George Barnes, took home the Academy Awards for best picture and best cinematography.
