Bryn Mawr Film Institute: July at a Glance

July brings two new film series to the —one showcasing Alfred Hitchcock’s films and another bringing 3D 1950s classics back to the big screen. There will be an encore presentation of Stephen Sondheim’s Company after its popularity last month, and the summer sing-alongs continue with Brigadoon.

Public Relations Coordinator Devin Wachs tells us what to expect at BMFI this month:

Children of Paradise (1:30 p.m. Saturday, July 9)

A ballet simulcast live from the Paris Opera Ballet, Children of Paradise is a recent ballet choreographed by dancer Jose Martinez. The ballet is loosely based around the 1949 film of the same name. 

Company (1 p.m. Sunday, July 10)

After selling out  the June 19 broadcast of this play that was performed only a couple of times, BMFI added an encore presentation. The star-studded cast of the Stephen Sondheim production that was a 1970 hit on Broadway includes Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert, Patti LuPone, Jon Cryer, Christina Hendricks, Martha Plimpton and Craig Bierko. The story is about a bachelor (Neil Patrick Harris) celebrating his 35th birthday and the non-chronological events surrounding it and involving five of his married couple friends. 

Open Screen Monday (9:30 p.m. Monday, July 11)

Open Screen Monday is a monthly free event during which anyone can submit films and watch films for free. The event is typically held the first Monday of each month but was pushed back a week because of the July 4th holiday. 

Alfred Hitchcock: The Best of the Rest (6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 12; 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 19; 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 26; 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2)

This four-week film course beginning this month features four Hitchcock classics on the big screen, and anyone can attend the screenings without participating in the class. The films included in the class are Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Strangers on a Train (1951), North by Northwest (1959) and, in August, Notorious (1946).

Shadow of a Doubt (7 p.m. Tuesday, July 12)

This 1943 Hitchcock film is about a teenage girl, excited that her uncle is coming to visit. Then, it turns out he might be a serial killer.

It Came from Outer Space (7 p.m. Wednesday, July 13)

This 1953 sci-fi classic, about a spaceship that crashes into the earth and triggers some strange happenings, is going to be shown on the big screen in original 3D on 35mm film. Before the movie, there is a members-only event from 6 to 7 p.m. with popcorn and drinks in the community room. 

The Cherry Orchard (1 p.m. Sunday, July 17; 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 20) 

This broadcast of London’s National Theatre production of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard stars Zoe Wanamaker as Madame Ranevskaya and is directed by Howard Davies.

Strangers on a Train (7 p.m. Tuesday, July 19)

This Hitchcok film is about, well, two men who meet on a train. One is a tennis star considering a career in politics and the other is a bit peculiar. He suggests getting rid of the tennis star’s inconvenient wife and that the tennis star should get rid of his dad. The tennis star laughs it off, but then things start happening. The memorable climax of the film happens on a carousel in an amusement park.

North by Northwest (7 p.m. Tuesday, July 26) 

Cary Grant stars in what is perhaps the most iconic of the four films in the Hitchcock series. There are plenty of memorable moments, from a crop duster attack to a United Nations murder, in this case of mistaken identity. 

Brigadoon (7 p.m. Wednesday, July 27)

This is the second sing-along in the summer sing-along series. This 1954 musical, directed by Vincente Minnelli, is a time-traveling romance about two guys from New York who go on vacation in the Scottish highlands and discover a 17th century village that appears only every 100 years. One of the men (Gene Kelly) falls in love with a girl from the village. As always with BMFI musical screenings, costumes are encouraged with free popcorn, and people have two time periods to choose from with this movie.