Cinema Under the Stars and America’s Love Affair with the Drive-In

‘ When Richard M. Hollingstead Jr. first projected a movie onto a white bedsheet stretched between two trees at his home in Camden, New Jersey in 1933, little did he know that he was on the verge of creating an entirely new entertainment industry. With America just beginning its romance with the automobile, it is no surprise that the general public found this new form of movie going irresistible.’ —extract taken from Elizabeth McKeon and Linda Everett’s book (pictured above) Cinema Under the Stars: America’s Love Affair with the Drive-In Movie Theater, which can be found in the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library. Click on the image to reserve your copy.

The Norwich Business Improvement District and the Forum are providing the people of Norwich a glimpse of this American love affair with the Drive-In or outside movie experience with their OpenAir Screen and Norwich Evenings Film Nights.

Showing every Thursday at 8pm from 12 June 2014 until 10 July 2014, classic retro films will be shown on the Open Air Screen outside The Forum. The series began last night with the showing of the American film Ghostbusters!

The film nights form part of Norwich BID’s Head Out, Not Home free summer entertainment programme and they are offering a long list of classic films as possibilities for screening–many of them quintessential American films like Grease, Singing in the Rain, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and Breakfast at Tiffany’s many of which are based on either classic American novels or American Broadway shows!

If you want to get all the behind the scenes information about the film before or after the screenings, stop by your local American library on the way! We are located just inside the Forum and we offer an extended selection of books on American film, Broadway, Hollywood and the original novels in which the films are based. Here is a list of just a few that we have in stock for you to explore! Click on the image to reserve your copy today!

 

 

 

Lights! Camera! Action!

A joint effort between Creative Arts East and South Norfolk Council, the Across the Pond Film Festival is in full swing. Visit this website for full film listings and information.

The Philadelphia Story, Twelve O’Clock High, The Way to the Stars, Mrs. Miniver, and Memphis Belle are showing soon at local venues!

 

Hollywood in Norfolk (and vice versa)

In an article on Wednesday, The Guardian named Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 film Vertigo the greatest film of all time, upsetting long-standing favourite Citizen Kane. Well done to its late star, James Stewart, former Lieutenant Colonel of the 448th Bomb group! Here’s a link to the full article.

Red Tails: Remembering the Tuskegee Airmen

One of our patrons told us about a new film that’s currently out on limited release in selected cinemas: Red Tails (2012), starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard. It tells the story of a crew of African American USAAF pilots in the Tuskegee training program who, having faced segregation while kept mostly on the ground during World War II, are called into duty under the guidance of Col. A.J. Bullard. Check your local listings for show times.

To learn more about the Tuskegee airmen, check out:

• Freedom Flyers: The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II by J. Todd Moye
• Red Tail Angels: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War 2 by Patricia C. McKissack
• Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen by Lynn M. Homan
• Tuskegee Airman: The Biography of Charles E. McGee by Charlene E. McGee Smith
• Flight: The Story of Virgil Richardson, a Tuskegee Airman in Mexico by Ben Vinson