Southern Movies
The Films of Tennessee Williams
When: Monday evenings (June 23-Aug. 11), 7-10 p.m.; and Wednesday afternoons (July 2-Aug. 13)
Where: Mondays in Room 3, Schott Center, 310 W Padre St.; Wednesdays at the Maravilla Senior Living Community Theatre
Cost: FREE
The Lowdown: June 20 marked the first day of summer, and for movie fans, ’tis the season for blockbuster movies, like this year’s line up of Ironman, Speed Racer, and The Incredible Hulk. But what if you’re the sort of movie fan who prefers well-crafted dialog over action, and complex characters and relationships over special effects? If that sounds like you, and you also enjoy discussing what you see and learning what goes on behind the scenes, Adult Ed has a couple of classes you’ll definitely want to check out.
“The Golden Age of Film: The Writing Behind the Movies” and “The Wonderful World of Movies” are two classes regularly offered by local favorite, Richard Alpert. Each term he selects a different group of films and organizes them around a theme. The theme this summer is “The Films of Tennessee Williams,” 16 movies adapted from the Broadway plays of one extraordinary playwright. These screen adaptations feature some of the finest performances of classic Hollywood’s most famous stars, including Katherine Hepburn, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Natalie Wood, Robert Redford, and Burt Lancaster. While several of the films show up regularly on various “Top 100” lists of classic films, (Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, for example), others are lesser known gems (like Summer and Smoke and This Property is Condemned). Here’s your opportunity to see the complete collection. If you’d like a list of all the films and the class dates they’ll be shown, send an email to gill@sbcc.edu (with the subject line “golden age of film list”).
