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Monthly Screenings

Marilyn Monroe Month

As part of London's National Theatre on screen program, we will be screening Arthur Miller's The Crucible. This is the perfect opportunity to revisit Miller's only collaboration with his wife, Marilyn Monroe, and focus on her own career. The Misfits (1961), filmed as Miller (as screenwriter) and Monroe's (as actress) marriage was on the brick of crumpling, centers on an affair between an older man and a young, insecure woman. Monroe's appearance in the film is raw and stirring, and the fact that this was her last film (it is also Clark Gable's final film) adds to the film's mythology.
Monroe's broke through in the early 1950s', when she starred in two successful films - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Niagara. These two films revealed her rare talent - from a cabaret dancer who knows how to be innocent and cunning to a sensual and unsentimental femme fatale. And mostly, these two works revealed just how much the camera was in love with her. Her image, as the quintessential woman, was forged by the acclaimed directors she worked with - Billy Wilder, John Huston, Howard Hawks, Otto Preminger and her signature blonde hair and red lips. However, Monroe was much more than her overwhelming physical presence. And perhaps, it was the tension between that image and the woman herself, which led to her breakdown and ultimate death at such a young age. Sixty years on, it seems that it is the image that remains, which is a shame. This program will showcase what a great actress and powerhouse Monroe was.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Dir.: Howard Hawks
| 91 minutes

Two cabaret dances take a vacation in Paris. Before long, they discover a private detective is following one of them, trying to stop her future marriage to a wealthy naive man. Gentlemen is a beautiful, witty, ironic, and enjoyable film.

Some Like It Hot

Dir.: Billy Wilder
| 126 minutes

After witnessing the St. Valentine’s Day massacre, two musicians flee Chicago, posing as members of an all-girl band. Mayhem ensues as both fall for Sugar Cane and try to keep their true identities hidden. One of the best and most loved comedies of all time.

Niagara

Dir.: Henry Hathaway
| 92 minutes

A bored and unfaithful wife goes on vacation to Niagara Falls with her tormented husband. What the man doesn't know is that she is plotting his murder. Marilyn Monroe presence scorches the screen in this excellent Hitchcockian suspenser. 

The Misfits

Dir.: John Huston
| 125 minutes

The tentative affair between a divorcée and an aging cowboy is tested when they meet a sensitive rodeo rider. Sixty years on, this is simply an exquisite classic that one cannot take their eyes off - the stunning cinematography and the electrifying presence of its stars. A must-see.

The Seven Year Itch

Dir.: Billy Wilder
| 105 minutes

The wife and son of a typical American bourgeois go on summer vacation, and a beautiful blonde model moves into the apartment above him. The scorching weather and seductive image of the new neighbor send the conservative man into a series of erotic hallucinations.