Wednesdays
Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner: The Kings of Comedy
Programmed by Anton Yu
2016-01-06 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
The Producers
(Mel Brooks, 1968) · Mel Brooks' directorial debut follows producer Max Bialystock and accountant Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder) as they set out to produce the worst musical ever made: Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden. When the play bombs, the duo plans to cash out the investor shares and escape to Brazil—but what are the two producers to do when their utterly tasteless "love letter to Hitler" becomes the biggest hit on Broadway?
runtime: 88 min format: 35mm
2016-01-13 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
The Jerk
(Carl Reiner, 1979) · One of the funniest comedies of all time (and ranked 89th on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Laughs list), Carl Reiner's The Jerk features Steve Martin, in his first starring role, as an idiot who hitchhikes to St. Louis and struggles to get by on his own. Martin, a successful comedian at the time, also co-wrote the gag-filled script, basing the idea of the film off a line from one of his acts.
runtime: 94 min format: 35mm
2016-01-20 @ 7:00 PM 9:30PM
The Elephant Man
(David Lynch, 1980) · Celebrate David Lynch's 70th birthday at Doc Films with a screening of his second film, The Elephant Man, produced by Mel Brooks' Brooksfilms. John Hurt stars as the disfigured "Elephant Man" John Merrick, mistreated by Victorian London society and forced to work in a freak show, with Anthony Hopkins as the surgeon who looks beyond Merrick's appearance and sees his true intelligence and humanity. The film influenced the creation of the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
runtime: 124 min format: Blu-Ray
2016-01-27 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
Blazing Saddles
(Mel Brooks, 1974) · Taking aim at Hollywood Westerns, Brooks's first movie spoof stars Cleavon Little as Bart, the black sheriff of all-white frontier town Rock Ridge, and Gene Wilder as his deputy, washed-up gunslinger "The Waco Kid." The duo work together to fend off corrupt lawmakers and shady land speculators before fading off into the sunset. Functioning as both comedy and social commentary, Blazing Saddles was a box office hit and helped popularize the film parody.
runtime: 93 min format: 35mm
2016-02-03 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(Carl Reiner, 1982) · With Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Carl Reiner and Steve Martin team up again, this time to parody and honor film noir classics of the 1940s. Martin stars as private eye Rigby Reardon, hired to investigate the death of a prominent cheese scientist. Shot in black-and-white, the film also incorporates shots from 19 different classic films (featuring, among them, legends like Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis), edited into the main narrative.
runtime: 88 min format: 35mm
2016-02-10 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
Young Frankenstein
(Mel Brooks, 1974) · Gene Wilder stars as medical lecturer Dr. Frederick Frankenstein in this comedic adaptation of the famous tale of Frankenstein's monster. Continuing the experiments of his late grandfather with the help of his three assistants, Igor, Inga, and Frau, Dr. Frankenstein creates his own monster; but when his fiancé arrives unexpectedly, complications occur. Entirely in black and white, this Mel Brooks film invokes the ambience of the original pictures.
runtime: 106 min format: DCP
2016-02-24 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
High Anxiety
(Mel Brooks, 1977) · Mel Brooks set his sights on suspense films and, in particular, Alfred Hitchcock's filmmaking style with his next parody, _High Anxiety_, which also stars Brooks in his first speaking lead role. Featuring a number of homages to famous scenes from Hitchcock films like The Birds and Psycho, the film was made in dedication to Hitchcock, who also helped Brooks with the film's screenplay and later sent him a case of wine in appreciation.
runtime: 94 min format: DCP
2016-03-02 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
All of Me
(Carl Reiner, 1984) · After learning that she's dying, eccentric millionaire Edwina Cutwater (Lily Tomlin) arranges to have her soul transferred to a beautiful, younger woman—but instead it ends up trapped inside the body of her unhappy lawyer, Roger Cobb (Steve Martin), alongside his own soul. Featuring terrific performances by the two leads, this slapstick comedy by Carl Reiner follows the zany antics that ensue when the two souls must learn to coexist in the same body.
runtime: 93 min format: 35mm
2016-03-09 @ 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
History of the World, Part 1
(Mel Brooks, 1981) · A five-segment comedy anthology, History of the World, Part I moves from the Stone Age through the Roman Empire to the Spanish Inquisition and French Revolution, parodying the entire historical film genre from epics to period costume dramas in the process. Featuring a large ensemble cast and narrated by Orson Welles, the film also stars Mel Brooks in five roles and, in a brief Old Testament episode, includes a cameo by Carl Reiner as the voice of God.
runtime: 92 min format: DCP
