Vera Ellen – We Are Movie Geeks

WHITE CHRISTMAS Screening This Saturday Morning at The Hi-Pointe

“I wanna wash my hands, my face, my hair with snow!”

The spirit of Christmas is alive and well at The Hi-Pointe Theater here in St. Louis. IT”S A WONDERFUL LIFE played last weekend to a nearly-sold out crowd – and that’s a big theater!

This Saturday, December 16th at 10:00am, head over to the Hi-Pointe for a WHITE CHRISTMAS

WHITE CHRISTMAS was made in 1954 (exactly 20 years before BLACK CHRISTMAS!) and was directed by Michael Curtiz. Bing Crosby teamed up with madcap funny man Danny Kaye and partnering with those two show biz pros as sisters were Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. One of the most popular films of 1954, WHITE CHRISTMAS opens and closes with the title song, while in between it’s filled with one great musical number after another. Crosby and Kaye play entertainers who went through W.W.II together and decide to host a fundraising event at the Vermont Lodge of their old commanding officer Dean Jagger. Apparently, Jagger’s lodge isn’t doing great business and is about to close. A high profile fund raising event is just the ticket to draw national attention to Jagger’s Vermont lodge and thereby, save the day! Not real complex plotting but watch it instead for the fifties fluff, lots of Technicolor being splashed about, each of the performers getting to do their schtick, and course, the required holiday finale at the end of the movie. And who can forget that dead girl in the attic with that plastic bag over her head (oh wait – I’m getting it confused with BLACK CHRISTMAS!)

WHITE CHRISTMAS is the third and final film of Hi-Pointe’s Classic Christmas Film Series (after HOME ALONE and IT”S A WONDERFUL LIFE) This Saturday morning (December 16th), you and your family will have the opportunity to see WHITE CHRISTMAS on the big screen when it plays at 10:00am at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe.

Admission is just $5.

Hi-Pointe Theatre is located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117

Their website is HERE

http://hi-pointetheatre.com/

Go ON THE TOWN With Sinatra and Kelly Saturday Morning at The Hi-Pointe

“Getting involved is so… so… involving.”

ON THE TOWN screens at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, September 10th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117. The film will be introduced by Harry Hamm, movie reviewer for KMOX. Admission is only $5

Three sailors on a day of shore leave in New York City look for fun and romance before their twenty-four hours are up. That summary to the beloved 1949 musical ON THE TOWN should be sung to the tune of “New York, New York,” the most famous song to come from this rollicking adaptation of the Broadway musical. There’s nary a dull moment as we watch Gene Kelly search desperately for Vera-Ellen, Frank Sinatra play a young and naive sailor (!) who tries to resist going up to Betty Garrett’s place but eventually gives in, and Jules Munshin add comedy to the proceedings while his young lovely, Ann Miller, adds her dancing skills. In fact, everyone sings and dances at one point or another (usually at several points), and all are excellent. Add the sly pop-culture references in the witty Betty Comden-Adolph Green script, the hilarious performance of Alice Pearce, recreating her Broadway role of the wacky roomate, and wonderful shots of New York itself, and you’ve got a fun-filled morning at The Hi-Pointe. Sure, the plot is nothing, and this can’t touch SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, but who cares? It’s a fun film, and that’s more than enough for me.

You’ll have the opportunity to see ON THE TOWN on the big screen this Saturday at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater. Doors open at 10:00am, the film starts at 10:30 and admission is only $5

The Hi-Pointe’s site can be found HERE

http://hi-pointetheatre.com/

Bring Your Mittens – The Academy Is Predicting A WHITE CHRISTMAS On December 6 & 7 In Hollywood

Even though it’s Southern California, you’ll need to dress warm for one of the BEST Christmas movies ever. In celebration of actor Danny Kaye’s centennial, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will screen the holiday classic WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954) at Oscars Outdoors in Hollywood on Thursday, December 6, and Friday, December 7, at 7 p.m. Special guests include Dena Kaye, Mary Crosby and Monsita Ferrer Botwick, the daughters of Kaye, Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, respectively.

And get this – Hollywood special effects wizards are predicting a 100 percent chance of snow at the open-air theater on the Academy Hollywood campus, bringing the evening to a dramatic conclusion. December marks the start of the celebration of Danny Kaye’s centennial, a year of festivities across the country spotlighting the legendary entertainer and humanitarian.

Directed by Michael Curtiz with songs by Irving Berlin, WHITE CHRISTMAS tells the story of song-and-dance team Bob Wallace and Phil Davis (Crosby and Kaye), two World War II veterans who team up with sister act Betty and Judy Haynes (Clooney and Vera-Ellen) to raise money for a struggling Vermont inn run by Bob and Phil’s former commanding general. The film earned an Oscar® nomination for the original song “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep,” music and lyrics by Berlin.

Tickets to WHITE CHRISTMAS are $5 for the general public, free for children 10 years and younger, and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Seating is unreserved. Tickets for Friday’s screening are sold out, and tickets for Thursday night are available online at oscars.org/outdoors. Gates open at 6 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring low lawn chairs, blankets and warm clothing. Hot chocolate and holiday treats will be available for sale from some of Los Angeles’s most popular food trucks. Picnic baskets, beer and wine are permitted.

The Academy Hollywood campus is located at 1341 Vine Street in Hollywood (between De Longpre Avenue and Fountain Avenue, and between Vine Street and Ivar Avenue). The campus is accessible via the Metro Red Line train and the Metro Local 210 bus. Free parking is located behind the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study. Enter from Homewood Avenue off Vine Street, one block north of Fountain Avenue. The lot opens 90 minutes prior to the event and closes 30 minutes afterwards. For additional information, visit oscars.org/outdoors or call (310) 247-3600.

The Academy’s Science and Technology Council will also present a special screening of WHITE CHRISTMAS on Sunday, December 9, at 1 p.m. at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. Hosted by Academy member Rob Hummel, the program will feature a discussion with Academy Award®-winning visual effects supervisor Craig Barron on VistaVision, the widescreen film format that was first used to create this holiday favorite and subsequently used on more than 90 films in the 1950s and beyond. The Smith Rafael Film Center is located at 1118 4th Street. For ticket information, visit cafilm.org.

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