Park Ridge Classic Film Series Heats Up In Autumn
By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 16, 2013 6:50PM
The Northwest Chicago Film Society isn’t the only group plumbing the depths of movie history and curating screenings of classic and cult films. Film historian Matthew C. Hoffman earned his film programming stripes at the old LaSalle Bank Cinema in Portage Park (the precursor to the NWCFS) and is now curating events at the Park Ridge Library and Pickwick Theatre in the northwest suburb under the banner of Park Ridge Classic Film.
Hoffman began booking a monthly film series at the Pickwick earlier this year. Starting Sept. 26 the programming kicks up a notch with a screening of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. “It’s the greatest live action Disney film ever made,” Hoffman says. “A lot of attention went into the casting and production values, and it doesn’t feel dated.” Silent Film Society of Chicago executive director and former Portage Theater manager Dennis Wolkowicz, under his pseudonym “Jay Warren,” will play organ before the film
The series continues with a Halloween screening of The Blob, the film that first introduced Steve McQueen to a wide audience. Nov. 21 sees Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad and Laurel and Hardy’s holiday classic March of the Wooden Soldiers closes out the year’s screenings Dec. 12.
The series will retain its ties to the Park Ridge Public Library, with opening remarks before each series promoting ongoing events at the library including Hoffman’s screenings there. The lead-in to The Blob, for example, will tie in with the library’s “Drive-In Terrors: Men, Monsters, and Mayhem,” which showcases the work of Hollywood special effects artists during the 50s and 60s.
The Pickwick Theatre is located at 5 S. Prospect Ave. in Park Ridge. The Park Ridge Classic Film screenings start at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors.