LOC Mount Pony Theater remembers Cyd Charisse

It’s a return to the innocent, idyllic ’50s Friday night in the Library of Congress Mount Pony Theater with Fred Astaire and the lovely, late Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953, MGM).

The romantic comedy family musical screens at 7:30 p.m. and is a continuation of LOC’s month-long tribute to stars who passed away in 2008.

Charisse, recognized as one of the most brilliant and beautiful big screen dancers, died in June at the age of 86. She’s the bombshell in green dancing with Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain.”

In The Band Wagon, Charisse stars as a ballet star primed to shine in a new Broadway musical alongside Astaire. It’s sure to be a rowdy old time with some of the best singing and dancing around — the movie was nominated for the Best Music Oscar in 1954.

Saturday in the Mount Pony Theater it’s the late Paul Newman and his, bad blue eyes in The Hustler at 2 p.m.

***

Public service announcement: The Library of Congress Mount Pony Theater reservation line will be closed Monday and Tues-day in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Inauguration Day.

***

Make your reservations for Tuesday’s double feature tribute to the late Ann Sothern, a classically trained singer known for her movie musicals, work on Broadway and later, television.
Her Let’s Fall in Love (1933, Columbia) shows first at 7 p.m. with Sothern as a Brooklyn-born actress transformed into a Swedish temptress for the role of a lifetime. Smartest Girl in Town (1936, RKO) screens immediately thereafter. Sothern plays a gold-digging model named Cookie who mistakes a millionaire for a male model.

After a full day’s worth of Inauguration Day coverage, escape from politics with these couple of fun, escapist movies from 70 years ago. Sothern is gorg!

***

By the by, last Friday’s screening of All That Jazz with the riveting Roy Scheider was most enjoyable! Racy and full of rhythm, this R-rated retrospective on the life of outrageous theater director Bob Fosse left us all breathless.

Live hard, die harder.

***
Coming soon to the Library of Congress Mount Pony Theater in Culpeper:

*Friday, January 23
$5 Per Carload: The Best & Worst of Drive-In Movies — Faster Pussycat! Kill Kill! (1965, Eve Productions)

*Saturday, January 24
Culturally, historically or aesthetically significant: films from the National Film Registry — Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933, Warner Bros.)

*Tuesday, January 27
Book of the Month Club: A Tale of Two Cities (1935, MGM)

*Friday, January 30
Dana Andrews Centenary: Laura (1944, 20th Century Fox)

*Saturday, January 31
Saturday Silents Warm Up: The Golden Age of Comedy (1957)

RESERVATIONS: (540) 827-1079 x79994 –or- (202) 707-9994.

Don’t have reservations? Show up in the lobby early to get on stand-by. All outstanding reservations will be awarded 10 min-utes prior to showtime to those with stand-by tickets. All movies are free