Film Appreciation
Kurt F. Stone, D.D., is in his 23rd year with Osher LLI. His passion for film is, he says, “genetic,” having been born in Hollywood, CA and raised both in and around the movie industry. A graduate of the University of California (B.A.), the Eagleton Institute of Politics and the Hebrew Union College (M.A.H.L. and D.D.), Professor Stone is the best-selling author of two books on the United States Congress and is currently continuing work on a massive history of Hollywood entitled “In the Land of Mink-Lined Pools.” A much sought-after lecturer, medical ethicist, occasional actor and ordained rabbi, his political op-ed column, “The K.F. Stone Weekly,” has, over the past 15 years, developed an international following. He now has a second blog called “Tales From Hollywood & Vine.”
Student Testimonials
- “Dr. Stone is very informative and knowledgeable about the movie industry and brings a great deal of personal and historical information forward and following the movie presentations.”
- “Dr. Stone has a wide breadth, depth and personal knowledge of movies and the film industry which makes his remarks about movies and the film industry interesting as well as educational.”
Zany Sophisticates
Great Screwball Comedies
In baseball, the term “screwball” denotes a pitch that breaks in the precise opposite direction of the curve. In Hollywood, the term “screwball” connotes a film genre peopled with characters who act the opposite from what one might expect. Often defined as “sex comedies without the sex,” screwball films are frequently set in high society, where eccentric behavior is perhaps more tolerable. Screwball comedies, which were a Hollywood staple between roughly 1934 and 1946, are known for their antic characters, improbable plots, overlapping dialogue, and language that can often be as dizzy as the characters themselves. Such comedies are also known for “gender power reversal” — in which it is the women who have the power over men — and a romantic element depicting couples who, although opposites, are destined to get together. During this series, we will view eight screwball comedies, which, in the opinion of Dr. Stone, are — or at least should be — classics in the genre.
Eight Lectures
- Twentieth Century (1934) - Directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Barrymore and Carol Lombard. Simply one of the funniest films ever made.
- Bombshell (1933) - Jean Harlow at her best as glamorous film star rebels against the studio, her pushy press agent and a family of hangers-on.
- Theodora Goes Wild (1936) - Irene Dunn as the author of a controversially racy best-selling book tries to hide her celebrity status from her provincial small-town neighbors, who'd be scandalized if they knew.
- Stand-In (1936) - Leslie Howard stars as a stuffy, bookish Brit sent to take over the reins of floundering Colossal Studios who finds the film community eyeing him with thinly-veiled amusement. Co-Starring Humphrey Bogart.
- The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) - Jean Arthur and Robert Cummings: A tycoon goes undercover to ferret out agitators at a department store, but instead finds himself getting involved in their lives.
- Love Crazy (1941) - Wm. Powell and Myrna Loy: A wife suspecting infidelity starts divorce proceedings, so the husband pretends to be insane in order to delay the divorce and clear up the misunderstanding.
- Easy Living (1937) - From master screenwriter Preston Sturges, starring Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold and Ray Milland. A wealthy business man throws his wife's expensive fur coat out the window and lands on a secretary, thereby beginning a series of events not to be believed.
- Midnight (1939) - John Barrymore, Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche. A chorus girl stranded in Paris is set up by a millionaire to break up his wife's affair with another man while being romantically pursued by a cab driver.
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| Course # F8M1 — Full 8 Weeks
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| Place: | Auditorium, Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus |
| Dates: | Mondays, October 24, 31; November 7, 14, 21, 28; December 5, 12 2022 |
| Time: | 5 - 7 PM |
| Fee: | $120 / member; $160 / non-member |
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