Dan Kamin will appear in-person for "Charlie Chaplin's Red Letter Days" at the Orinda Theatre, May 18 at 6:30 p.m.
What do Darth Vader, Tallulah Bankhead, Humphrey Bogart, Louis Armstrong, Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Edward G. Robinson, Charlie Chaplin and Ethel Merman all have in common?
They are just a few of the great stars that will illuminate the Orinda Theatre screens this May.
The special-to-the-Orinda-Theatre Disney Restorations Series continues with the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Restoration and Library Management Department’s stunning presentation of Alfred Hitchcock’s production of “Lifeboat” by John Steinbeck. The 1944 thriller stars Tallulah “Daahling” Bankhead and will be presented Saturday, May 2, at 1 and 7 p.m.
May the 3rd and 4th be with you! The recent screening in the Disney series of “Star Wars” was the single most successful movie at the Orinda in years, so as they say in Hollywood, “Do it again!”
The Orinda will present “The Star Wars Trilogy” May 3 and 4, with the original three movies in their 1997 Special Edition anniversary re-release versions, which were restored by Disney and Lucasfilm in 2019. The schedule for both days: at 1 p.m. “Star Wars: A New Hope,” 4 p.m., “The Empire Strikes Back” and at 7 p.m., “The Return of the Jedi.”
The popular Wide Screen Roadshow Series, held the second Sunday of each month, offers “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” with over 75 famous stars including Ethel Merman and Mickey Rooney, and is presented in the slightly higher ticket price roadshow format which includes a musical overture, special sound effects at intermission, an entr’acte overture to the second half and walk-out music, offering laughter and smiles from ear to ear for all. Starts promptly at 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 10.
An extraordinary interactive live stage and screen show will be offered by author, actor, magician and pantomime artist Dan Kamin, a world-wide authority on Charlie Chaplin, on Monday, May 18, at 6:30 p.m.
Kamin famously trained Robert Downey, Jr., for his Oscar-nominated performance in “Chaplin” and created Johnny Depp’s physical comedy routines for the movie “Benny and Joon.”
With “Charlie Chaplin’s Red Letter Days” at the Orinda, Kamin will illustrate, live, how Chaplin risked fame, fortune and reputation by making a comedy about World War I while the conflict was still happening.
Through the use of on-screen images, stories and remarkable history he has uncovered through years of research, the program will culminate with a screening of “Shoulder Arms” (1918) in a newly compiled version to most closely match its original release.
It is an unflinching look at the horrific realities of trench warfare through the Tramp’s experiences as a doughboy. It became a blockbuster ‘round the globe, establishing Chaplin as the preeminent artist of the defining art form of the 20th century, motion pictures.
This month’s Orinda Classic Movie Matinee, presented with 40 minutes of short subjects, recalling the Orinda’s golden era, is “Key Largo’ with Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor and Lionel Barrymore.
The 1948 movie, based on Maxwell Anderson’s play, is directed by John Huston. The entire program of shorts, followed by the feature, begins at 1 p.m. the last Tuesday of this month, May 26.
The month will conclude with a rarely shown film in the Cinema Craft Series on Sunday, May 31. From 1961, “Paris Blues,” directed by Martin Ritt, features a musical score by Duke Ellington and finds Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Diahann Carroll and Sidney Poitier in love and in Paris, with Louis Armstrong and his trumpet. One show only, 1 p.m.
As ticket prices vary with so many different types of movie events and shows, it is best to visit orindamovies.com for more information and to purchase tickets in advance.
