Category Archives: Film

World Premiere of THE STORY OF DR. WASSELL movie in Little Rock

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All right Mr. DeMille, Little Rock was ready for its close up.

From April 24 to 26, 1944, Cecil B. DeMille was in Little Rock for the world premiere screening of The Story of Dr. Wassell.  This 1944 Paramount Pictures Technicolor release told the story of wartime hero Dr. Corydon Wassell.

Why was Little Rock chosen?  It was the hometown of Dr. Wassell.  His paternal grandfather, John Wassell, was Little Rock’s 27th mayor.  His first cousin, Sam Wassell, was serving on the City Council at the time of the film’s release and would become Little Rock’s 51st mayor.

Based on a book by James Hilton, it was inspired by the heroic efforts of Dr. Wassell, a naval officer, as he led the evacuation of several sailors (and treated their wounds) in Java in February 1942.  President Roosevelt highlighted Dr. Wassell in his May 26, 1942, fireside chat.

Little Rock rolled out the red carpet (literally and figuratively) for DeMille and a contingency from Hollywood.  Dr. and Mrs. Wassell also returned to Little Rock for the festivities.  Unfortunately, Gary Cooper (who played Wassell in the film) was unable to attend due to illness.  His costar, Laraine Day, was making another film and could not attend either.    Those in attendance with DeMille (and Mrs. DeMille) included actresses Signe Hasso and Carol Thurston, and actor Melvin Francis.  The latter played himself; he had actually been one of the sailors saved by Dr. Wassell.

On April 24, 1944, DeMille and Dr. Wassell appeared on a radio program broadcast live from the music hall of Robinson Auditorium.  The next day, the troupe toured Camp Robinson and spoke to the soldiers there.  Later that day, Miss Hasso and Miss Thurston sold war bonds at Pfeiffers and M.M. Cohn’s.

April 26, 1944, was a full day for the DeMilles, the Wassells, and the others.  It started with a luncheon at the Hotel Marion, hosted by the Lions Club and Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.  Governor Homer Adkins presented DeMille with an Arkansas Traveler certificate.  DeMille, in return, presented Governor Adkins with a copy of the script.

When it was Dr. Wassell’s time to speak, he praised Little Rock’s efforts on the home front.  He also asked for a standing tribute to longtime Little Rock school superintendent R.C. Hall, who had died the day before.  Dr. Wassell had taught with Mr. Hall decades earlier.

Following the lunch, there was a parade on Main Street.  It started at 10th and Main and proceeded to Markham before ending at the War Memorial Building (now the Old State House Museum).  Newspaper accounts said that it was four miles long and featured many military units and marching bands.

Dinner that evening was at the Lafayette Hotel before screenings of the movie at the Capitol and Arkansas Theatres. Both screenings were sold out.  On April 27, 1944, a regular run of the movie started at the Capitol Theatre.  It would be released nationally on July 4, 1944, which also happened to be Dr. Wassell’s birthday.

Learn about the life and times of Hedy Lamar in HEDY! tonight presented by ACANSA

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Hedy Lamar.  If she is remembered today, it is probably as a screen siren in the golden days of Hollywood.  Written and performed by Heather Massie, this award-winning one-woman show highlights that she was much more than that.  It explores the life, inventions, and person of Lamarr,a  Viennese-born Hollywood film star of the 1930s-50s.

“Hedy Lamarr, glamorous siren of the silver screen, was more than the most beautiful woman in the world. She invented frequency hopping and spread spectrum technology that make the world of wireless communication tick. From Austria to Hollywood, WWII, torpedoes, ecstasy, and intrigue to the very cell phone in your pocket, she was there!”

The performance begins at 7pm tonight at the Argenta Community Theatre.  It is presented by ACANSA Arts Festival.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (or is it Fronkensteen?) tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater as part of 2019 Arkansas Literary Festival

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Young Frankenstein PosterThe laughs come alive as the Arkansas Literary Festival presents Mel Brooks’ comic masterpiece YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

This 1974 comic riff on Mary Shelley’s story, features Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, and Madeline Kahn (along with a cameo by Gene Hackman).

An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
The movie was nominated for two Oscars: Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The screening starts at 7pm.

GOLDFINGER at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater as part of the 2019 Arkansas Literary Festival

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Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, and Shirley Eaton in Goldfinger (1964)Before Goldfinger was an iconic film (with a great song sung by Shirley Bassey), it was a novel by Ian Fleming.

Kick off the 2019 Arkansas Literary Festival with a screening of the 1964 film Goldfinger, the third in the franchise.

The screening starts tonight at 7pm at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

Directed by Guy Hamilton from a screenplay adapted by Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn, this is considered by many to be the best classic Bond film.

Goldfinger is stockpiling gold reserves. Bond investigates and uncovers an audacious plan to commit the heist of the century.

Sean Connery returned as the suave spy. Joining him in this outing were Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman, Harold Sakata, Bernard Lee, Martin Benson, and Lois Maxwell.

The film won the Oscar for Best Sound Effects, which went to Norman Wanstall.

 

End of Life and Palliative Care is focus of film and discussion tonight

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April 17 is National Health Decision Day.  In conjunction with that, there will be a screening of the Oscar–nominated short documentary “End Game“, followed by a presentation by Dr. B. J. Miller. The evening will end with opportunity for interactive Q&A.

The program will begin at 6:30pm (doors open at 5:30pm) at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.  It is presented by the UAMS Division Of Palliative Medicine funded by a grant from the Dorothy Snider Foundation.

BJ Miller, M.D., is a palliative care physician in San Francisco who began his “formal relationship with death”at age 19 when he was involved in an accident that resulted in the amputation of one arm below the elbow and both legs below the knee. Drawing on his expertise as a physician, former executive director of Zen Hospice Project, and as a patient, he is an advocate for a health care system that maximizes quality of life and that minimizes unnecessary suffering.

His TED Talk, “What Really Matters at the End of Life,” about keeping the patient at the center of care and encouraging empathic end-of-life care, and has garnered over 6 million views and ranks among the most viewed talks. He encourages us to reorient and reframe our relationship to the inevitable, that which we don’t control, and brings creative power and meaning-making to death, believing that death is the agent that helps us experience anything precious in life.

Go on THE SEARCH FOR GENERAL TSO tonight at CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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Tonight (4/16) at the Ron Robinson Theater, the 2014 documentary The Search for General Tso will be shown.  This screening, which starts at 7pm, is a part of the Becoming American: Immigration and Popular Culture documentary film and discussion series.

This mouthwateringly entertaining film travels the globe to unravel a captivating culinary mystery. General Tso’s chicken is a staple of Chinese-American cooking, and a ubiquitous presence on restaurant menus across the country. But just who was General Tso? And how did his chicken become emblematic of an entire national cuisine?

Director Ian Cheney (King Corn, The City Dark) journeys from Shanghai to New York to the American Midwest and beyond to uncover the origins of this iconic dish, turning up surprising revelations and a host of humorous characters along the way. Told with the verve of a good detective story, The Search for General Tso is as much about food as it is a tale of the American immigrant experience. A Sundance Selects release from IFC Films.

CALS Butler Center’s The Galleries at Library Square and AETN present “State of the Art” film premiere

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Join CALS and AETN for the Arkansas premiere of a one-hour documentary by Brent and Craig Renaud that captures the personal stories of seven diverse artists who are redefining the American aesthetic.

The screening is tonight (April 13) at 8pm at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

These artists were a part of “State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now”, a groundbreaking exhibition at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. To create this exhibition, the curatorial team crisscrossed the nation to find extraordinary contemporary art happening in unexpected places. Be one of the first to experience this powerful story of artists working across our country, including here in Arkansas, prior to its debut on PBS nationally on April 26.

This event is FREE and open to the public. Doors open at 7:00pm with general admission seating on a first come, first served basis.

Presented by The Galleries at Library Square and AETN/PBS.