Friday, May 17, 2024 - 6:00 pm
May 17 - National Velvet (1944), 125 minutes, directed by Clarence Brown, starring Mickey Rooney and Elizabeth Taylor.
There is a special pleasure in watching a star-making performance many years later. What were the first traits visible that turned Elizabeth Taylor into one of the biggest movie stars the world has ever seen? Look to National Velvet for the answers. At the age of 12, she took on her first leading role as Velvet Brown, an English country girl who competes in the Grand National by cross-dressing as a male jockey. Taylor claimed she wasn’t really acting in National Velvet, that her genuine love of horses animated her performance. But the joy and heartache she expresses in National Velvet reveal a preternatural gift for sincere emotions coupled with an understanding of the moving camera’s power. National Velvet is often billed as family entertainment, and it is, but it holds plenty of appeal for moviegoers of any age.
May 2024 CinemaLit - Elizabeth Taylor: Actress and Superstar
Very few embodied the twentieth century invention of the movie star more than Elizabeth Taylor. From her breakthrough role in National Velvet in 1944 at age 12, to her death in 2011 at 79, she was the subject of public and media fascination like no one else. The great fuss made over her beauty, marriages, health crises, jet setting, dazzling jewels, and late life dedication to people with AIDS often eclipsed her very real talent and artistry as an actress. CinemaLit curator and host Matthew Kennedy’s new book, On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide from Oxford University Press, examines and appreciates her epic film career up close. In May, we will be screening four of her most consequential films, each capturing her extraordinary star charisma and powerhouse acting at different phases of her career: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), A Place in the Sun (1951), National Velvet (1944), and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).
Former CinemaLit host Michael Fox will interview Matt Kennedy on May 3 after the screening of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and acclaimed film critic and historian David Thomson (The New Biographical Dictionary of Film) will join us on May 10 as guest co-host for A Place in The Sun.
Matthew Kennedy, CinemaLit’s curator, has written biographies of Marie Dressler, Joan Blondell, and Edmund Goulding. His book Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s, was the basis of a film series on Turner Classic Movies. His most recent book, On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide, examines the screen legend's entire career.
“I don't have a favorite film,” Matthew says. "I find that my relationships to films, actors, genres, and directors change as I change over the years. Some don't hold up. Some look more profound, as though I've caught up with their artistry. I feel that way about Garbo, Cary Grant, director John Cassavetes, and others."
“Classic films have historical context, something only time can provide,” Matt observes. “They become these great cultural artifacts, so revealing of tastes, attitudes, and assumptions.”
Mechanics' Institute Members Free
Non-Members $10
Cafe opens at 5:30 pm with wine, beer, sparkling water, juice, and fresh-popped popcorn for sale.
Register with Eventbrite below.
Please note: Photos and/or video may be taken during this event.
CinemaLit Films
Future CinemaLit Films
Apr 26 - 6:00 pm
CinemaLit: The Way He Looks (2013)
April CinemaLit: International Coming of Age Films
May 3 - 6:00 pm
CinemaLit: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
May 2024 CinemaLit - Elizabeth Taylor: Actress and Superstar
