BLFF MOVIE NIGHTS
Movie Nights are back and better than ever! Movies will be shown at the Sprague Theatre. June begins the season. Check back here for updates on the movie schedule.
SHOWING IN 2022
Saturday, June 18, for The Natural with Robert Redford, Glenn Close, and Kim Basinger
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress (Glenn Close), and it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger). Many of the baseball scenes were filmed in 1983 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, New York, which was built in 1937 and demolished in 1988.
About the new 2022 Movie Night format:
Movie Nights are returning in a new form. The BLFF will again present Movie Night this time in partnership with the Sprague Theatre. Films will be shown at the Sprague Theatre. There will be no cost to attend, although refreshments will be available for purchase at intermission. The Sprague Theatre’s sound system has been upgraded to provide a movie theatre-type experience. We hope this will be a fun family night that can be repeated.
SHOWING IN 2020
Jan 13
The Cowboys
John Wayne, Bruce Dern, Roscoe Lee Browne, Colleen Dewhurst, Slim Pickens. Director Mark Rydell (1972 Warner Bros. 123 min.)
A cattleman attempts a 400-mile drive with a crew of schoolboys he must mentor after his regular crew abandons him in order to strike gold.
Feb 10
Roberta
Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Helen Westley. Director William A. Seiter (1935 Warner Bros. 105 min.)
A football player gets a crash course in the fashion world thanks to an unexpected inheritance.
Mar 9
Citizen Kane
Orson Welles, Dorothy Comingore, Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane, George Coulouris. Director Orson Welles (1941 Warner Bros. 119 min.)
Following the death of publishing tycoon, Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance ‘Rosebud.’
April 13
A New Kind of Love
Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Eva Gabor, Thelma Ritter, George Tobias, Maurice Chevalier. Director Melville Shavelson (1963 Paramount Pictures 110 min.)
They love Paris, they hate each other. Can the city of light become the city of love?
May 11
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee. Director Frank Capra (1939 Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. 129 min.)
A wide-eyed patriotic bumpkin appointed to the Senate by corrupt politicos, chief among them and unbeknownst to him is a senior senator whom he idolized.
June 8
After the Thin Man
William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Elissa Landi, Joseph Calleia. Director W.S. Van Dyke (1936 Warner Bros. 113 min.)
Married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles investigating a murder case in which her lovely cousin is a suspect.
July 13
Lili
Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jean-Pierre Aumont. Director Charles Walters (1953 Warner Bros. 81 min.)
A teenage orphan joins a carnival after her father’s death and falls in love.
Aug 10
The Long, Long Trailer
Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Marjorie Main, Keenan Wynn, Gladys Hurlbut. Director Vincente Minnelli (1954 Warner Bros. 96 min.)
Upwardly mobile honeymooners decide to buy a “home on wheels” so they can live together while his job takes them around the country. Unfortunately, the joyride hits some bumps in the road.
Sept 14
Blackboard Jungle
Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern, Sidney Poitier, Margaret Hayes. Director Richard Brooks (1955 Warner Bros. 100 min.)
Teens gone wild details the efforts of an idealistic and dedicated teacher trying to cope with his incorrigible students in an urban high school.
Oct 12
The Mummy
Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward Van Sloan, A.S. Byron. Director Karl Freund (1932 Universal Pictures 72 min.)
Boris Karloff portrays an Egyptologist. A prince is brought back to life after nearly 3700 years and wreaks havoc upon the archaeologists who disturbed his tomb.
Nov 9
Mata Hari
Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, C. Henry Gordon. Director George Fitzmaurice (1932 Warner Bros. 90 min.)
The infamous exotic dancer mixes spying for Germany with romance during World War I.
Dec 14
Ziegfeld Follies
Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, William Powell, Lucille Bremer Directors Vincente Minnelli, Lemuel Ayers, Charles Walters, Roy Del Ruth, George Sidney (1946 Warner Bros. 110 min.)
In heaven, Florenz Ziegfeld dreams of staging an all-star revue featuring contemporary comedians and song-and-dance stars.
SHOWING IN 2019
January 14
You Only L
ive Twice
Sean Connery, Donald Pleasence, Tetsuro Tamba, Mie Hama, Akiko Wakabayashi. Director Lewis Gilbert 1967 MGM 117 min.
James Bond agent 007 must find a space capsule, which went down near Japan, before World War III breaks out.
February 11
The Fountainhead
Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey. Directed by King Vidor 1949
King Vidor Warner Bros. 114 min.
Ayn Rand’s portrait of an idealistic architect.
March 11
Affair in Trinidad
Glenn Ford, Alexander Scourby, Valerie Bettis, Torin Thatcher, Howard Wendell. Director Vincent Sherman 1952 Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. 98 min.
Rita Hayworth in a steamy espionage tale.
April 8
The Naked Spur
James Stewart, Robert Ryan, Millard Mitchell, Ralph Meeker, Janet Leigh. Director Anthony Mann 1952 Warner Bros. 91 minutes.
After a man loses his home while he’s off fighting the Civil War, he becomes a bounty hunter in Colorado territory to raise money to start over, and his first quarry is a fugitive killer.
May 13
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Shirley Temple, Rudy Vallee, Harry Davenport. Director Irving Reis 1947 Warner Bros. 95 min.
A judge orders a playboy art teacher to romance a willing young lady, who happens to be the judge’s teenage sister and who comes
with a hand’s-off order.
June 10
The Quiet Man
John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald,
Ward Bond, Victor McLaglen. Director John Ford 1952 Paramount Pictures 129 min.
A retired American boxer returns to the village of his birth in Ireland, where he finds love.
July 8
Butterflies Are Free
Edward Albert, Goldie Hawn, Eileen Heckart, Paul Michael Glaser, Michael Warren. Director Milton Katselas 1972 Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. 109 min.
A blind but independent 20-year-old man gets involved with a free-spirited actress who helps him break away from his overprotective mother.
August 12
Stalag 17
William Holden, Peter Graves, Robert Strauss, Harvey Lembeck, Don Taylor. Director Billy Wilder 1953 Paramount Pictures 120 min.
A POW in a Nazi prison camp is beaten by fellow inmates when he is suspected of being a mole.
September 9
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Reni Santoni, Carl Reiner, George Gaynes. Director Carl Reiner 1982 Universal Pictures 89 min.
A spoof on private-eye movies.
October 14
The Enchanted Cottage
Robert Young, Dorothy McGuire, Herbert Marshall, Spring Byington, Mildred Natwick. Director John Cromwell 1945 Warner Bros. 91 min.
A scarred World War II veteran and a plain young woman discover true love, beauty and a magical transformation for both after moving into a small house on a large estate.
November 11
The Good Earth
Paul Muni, Luise Rainer, Walter Connolly, Tilly Losch, Charley Grapewin. Director Sidney Franklin 1937 Warner Bros. 138 min.
Adaptation of Pearl S. Buck’s Pulitzer-winning novel about rural China in the early 1900s is an epic saga of a family’s struggles against famine, locusts and revolution.
December 9
Ocean’s Eleven
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Angie Dickinson. Director Lewis Milestone 1960 Warner Bros. 127 min.
Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack in a caper film about a war hero planning to rip off Vegas casinos on New Year’s Eve.
SHOWING IN 2018
Jan 8
Thunderball
Sean Connery, Adolfo Celi, Claudine Auger, Luciana Paluzzi, Rik Van Nutter – Director Terence Young – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer – 130 min., 1965.
James Bond travels to Nassau to track an espionage enterprise that is using stolen nuclear bombs to extort money in exchange for not detonating them. Thriller
Feb 12
It Happened One Night
Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, Walter Connolly, Jason Thomas, Roscoe Karns – Director Frank Capra – Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. – 105 min., 1934.
A runaway heiress on the run from her father and the reporter on her trail. As they travel northward and engage in a series of misadventures, the reporter and the young lady begin to fall for each other. Comedy
March 12
Shadows and Fog
Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, John Malkovich, Madonna, John Cusack, Lily Tomlin, Kathy Bates, Jodie Foster – Director Woody Allen – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer – 85 min. – b/w, 1991.
A cowardly clerk in 1920s Europe is forced to search for a notorious murderer. Comedy/Thriller
April 9
Sunset
Bruce Willis, James Garner, Malcolm McDowell, Mariel Hemingway, Kathleen Quinlan – Director Blake Edwards – Columbia Pictures – 107 min., 1988.
Wyatt Earp, hired as technical expert for a 1929 Tom Mix Hollywood movie, teams up to solve an unexpected murder. Thriller
May 14
The Terminal
Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones – Director Steven Spielberg – Paramount Pictures – 129 min., 2004.
An Eastern European man is forced to live at the JFK Airport after his visa is canceled due to a coup in his own country. The terminal becomes a virtual country within itself, complete with culture, ambition, status, diversity and the need for love. Drama
June 11
Secondhand Lions
Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Haley Joel Osment, Kyra Sedgwick, Nicky Katt – Director Tim McCanlies – New Line Cinema – 109 min. 2003.
An introverted young boy is sent to live with his eccentric great-uncles on a farm in Texas. Comedy/Drama
July 9
The Cincinnati Kid
Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Tuesday Weld, Karl Malden, Ann-Margret – Director Norman Jewison – Warner Bros. – 102 min. 1965.
A young poker player hustles in 1930’s New Orleans. (Roosters in cockfight have rubber knives, no birds harmed.) Outstanding drama
Aug 13
The Trouble with Harry
John Forsythe, introducing Shirley MacLaine – Director Alfred Hitchcock – Universal Pictures – 99 min. – 1955
A body is found in the forest, an adventure begins. The unexpected from Hitchcock! Murder, suspense, love and off center comedy!
Sept 10
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr. –
Director John Ford – Warner Bros. – 103 min. – 1949.
A cavalry captain about to retire is assigned a final mission, to check the growing alliance of belligerent Native American tribes, while squiring two women to a rendezvous with a stagecoach. Western
Oct 8
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens – Director Stanley Kubrick – Columbia Pictures – 95 min. – 1964.
A fanatical U.S. general launches a nuclear attack on Russia during the Cold War, but the President and his advisors are shocked to learn that the Russians have technology to destroy the world in the event of an attack on them. Drama
Nov 12
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Steve Martin, John Candy, William Windom, Michael McKean, Edie McClurg – Director John Hughes – Paramount Pictures – 93 min. – 1987.
A snob and a slob keep running into trouble, and each other, on their way home for Thanksgiving. Comedy
Dec 10
My Man Godfrey
Carol Lombard, William Powell – Director Gregory LaCava – Universal Pictures – 94 min. – 1936.
A madcap socialite heiress hires an erudite homeless man to be her butler. But Godfrey seems to be more than a vagrant. Drama/Comedy
BLFF CLASSIC FILM NIGHT 2017
Jan 9 – FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Sean Connery-115 min.-1963 – Metro Goldwyn Mayer-Director Terence Young
The evil SPECTRE organization has a plan to steal a decoder that will access Russian state secrets, causing unbalance in the world order. It is up to Bond to seize the device first.
Feb 13 – CHARLEY’S AUNT
Jack Benny, Anne Baxter-80 min.-1941-Warner Bros.-Director Archie Mayo
Jack and Charley, university students, need a chaperone to entertain young society ladies. They ask a male friend to be Charley’s aunt to escort them. Charley’s real aunt shows up and…shock, she’s already there! Comedy
Mar 13 – CHARLOTTE GRAY
Cate Clanchett, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon-120 min.-2001-Warner Bros.-Director Gillian Armstrong
A British, Australian, German film drama set in Vichy France during World War II. The story is based on the exploits of women in Great Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) who worked with the French resistance in Nazi-occupied France. The character Charlotte Gray is a composite based on such SOE agents as Pearl Cornioley, Nancy Wake, Odette Sansom and Violette Szabo.
Apr 10 – IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU
Bridget Fonda, Nicholas Cage, Rosie Perez-101 min.-1994 Columbia Pictures-Director A. Bergman
In this romantic comedy, a police officer promises to share his lottery ticket with a waitress in lieu of a tip if he wins.
May 8 – THE COTTON CLUB
Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane-128 min.-1984-Metro Goldwyn Mayer-Director FF Cappola
Coppola’s masterpiece exposes the most violent and passionate era America has ever known – the age of jazz and glamour in the kingdom of organized crime. Its violence startled the nation. Its music startled the world. Welcome to the Cotton Club!
Jun 12 – DESTRY RIDES AGAIN
Marlene Dietrich, Jimmy Stewart-94 min.-1939-MCA Universal- Director George Marshall
Destry, a mild-mannered deputy who doesn’t like guns, is called to restore order to the corrupt frontier town of Bottleneck. Reluctant to undertake such a task, he’s soon roped into action after meeting the seductive Frenchy, an alluring saloon girl who belts out unforgettable show-stoppers like “The Boys in the Back Room,” while winning the hero’s heart.
Jul 10 – LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON
Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper-130 min.-1957-Warner Brothers- director Billy Wilder
A middle-aged playboy becomes fascinated by the daughter of a private detective who has been hired to entrap him with the wife of a client. She gives him a dose of his own medicine!
Aug 14 – INHERIT THE WIND
Spenser Tracy, Gene Kelly-127 min.-1960-Metro Goldwyn Mayer- Director Stanley Kramer
Based on the famous Scopes Monkey trial of 1925 a Tennessee school teacher Bertram Cates is arrested for teaching his students Darwin’s theory of evolution. The case receives national attention. A newspaper reporter arranges to bring in renowned atheist defense attorney Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy) to defend Cates. The prosecutor is a former presidential candidate and famous evangelist.
Sept 11 – THE SEA HAWK
Errol Flynn-127 min.-1940-Warner Bros.-Director Michael Curtiz Geoffrey
Thorpe, a buccaneer, is hired by Queen Elizabeth I to nag the Spanish Armada. The Armada is waiting for the attack on England and Thorpe surprises them with attacks on their galleons where he shows his skills on the sword.
Oct 9 – ONE BODY TOO MANY
Bela Lugosi – 74 min. – 1944 – Universal Pictures – Director Frank McDonald
Spooky mansion, dead owner, lots of hungry relatives waiting for the reading of a will. An insurance salesman is mistaken for a private eye, forced to solve the murders.
Nov 13 – RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP
Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster-93 min.-1958-Metro Goldwyn Mayer- Director Robert Wise
A U.S. sub commander, obsessed with sinking a certain Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer and crew.
Dec 11 – DRIVING MISS DAISY
Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman-100 min.-1989-Warner Bros.-Director Bruce Beresford.
Over 25 years, as the American South changes, the friendship between a highly independent, eccentric Jewish matron and the stalwart and very patient African American widower chauffeur.
Sean Connery, Donald Pleasence, Tetsuro Tamba, Mie Hama, Akiko Wakabayashi. Director Lewis Gilbert 1967 MGM 117 min.