75th Anniversary "Drumbeat" Events
Mark Your Calendar!
Begins Saturday May 12
FILM AND FREE EXPRESSION
The Maryland ACLU and The Charles Theatre take a retrospective look
at the subtle and not-so-subtle intrusions on free expression in the making of films in the US.
BABY FACE (1933) With an introduction Saturday at 11:40am by Mike Giuliano. Doors open 11am for complimentary bagels and coffee on Saturday 5/12. Film begins Saturday 5/12 noon; Monday 5/14 7pm; Thursday 5/17 9pm.
FORCE OF EVIL(1948) ONE SHOW ONLY! Saturday May 19 noon.
BABY DOLL (1956) Saturday May 26 noon; Monday May 28 7pm; Thursday May 31 9pm.
FEMALE TROUBLE (1974) With a dicussion lead by Elsbeth Bothe and Arnold Weiner at 11am on Saturday. Doors open at 10:45am for complimentary bagels and coffee. Film begins Saturday June 2 noon; Monday June 4 7pm; Thursday June 7 9pm.
ADMISSION: Noon shows $6; Evening shows $8.
SATURDAY MAY 12, MONDAY MAY 14, THURSDAY MAY 17.
BABY FACE (1933 Alfred E. Green) Barabra Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook, Alphonse Ethier, Theresa Harris, John Wayne. Lily Powers (Barbara Stanwyck) is encouraged by her friend the Nietzschean cobbler to stop turning tricks for her dad and to “use men to get the things you want.” This is the Library of Congress print of the recently discovered unreleased version that includes footage rejected by the NY State Board of Censors. One of the “pre-code” films that lead to stricter enforcement of the Hays Code. Original story by Darryl Zanuck (as Mark Canfield). 76m. bw.
SATURDAY MAY 19 ONLY!
FORCE OF EVIL (1948 Abe Polonsky) John Garfield, Thomas Gomez, Marie Windsor, Howland Chamberlin, Roy Roberts, Paul Fix, Stanley Prager, Beatrice Pearson. The mob comes between two brothers in this legendary film noir by John Garfield’s Enterprise Productions. “Moodily and brilliantly photographed in New York streets, gloweringly well-acted and generally almost as hypnotic as Citizen Kane.” (Leslie Halliwell) In 1947 Abe Polonsky was nominated for Best Original Screenplay (Body and Soul). In 1951 He refused to name names before HUAC and was blacklisted for 16 years. “The Front” starring Woody Allen is based on Polonsky and other writers’ lives during the blacklist. “It’s one of the great losses to American Film and world cinema.” (Martin Scorsese) A rare screening of the UCLA Film and Television Archive print.? ONE SHOW ONLY! (Noon 5/19) 78m. bw.
SATURDAY MAY 26, MONDAY MAY 28, THURSDAY MAY 31.
BABY DOLL (1956 Elia Kazan) Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Eli Wallach, Mildred Dunnock, Lonny Chapman, and Rip Torn as Brick (uncredited). Eli Wallach drives Karl Malden crazy by pursuing his teenage bride. Kept out of hundreds of U.S. theaters due to the “C” (condemned) rating by the Legion of Decency. “Evil in concept...certain to exert an immoral and corrupting influence on those who see it.” (Cardinal Spellman) “Catholic Layman Joseph P. Kennedy, ex-U.S. Ambassador to Britain and father of Massachusetts Senator John Kennedy, announced that he would keep the picture out of his chain of 23 theaters in Maine and N.H.” (Time Magazine Jan. 1957) 114m bw.
SATURDAY JUNE 2, MONDAY JUNE 4, THURSDAY JUNE 7.
FEMALE TROUBLE (1974 John Waters). Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, Susan Lowe, Michael Potter, Cookie Mueller, Susan Walsh, Ed Peranio, Paul Swift, George Figgs, Bob Adams. One of John Waters' personal favorites, this film follows the inevitable path from teenage delinquency to the electric chair. Divine is Dawn Davenport: teenage delinquent, unwed mother, working girl and murderer. Follow her outrageous life of violence, and learn why "crime is beauty," in John Waters' cult comedy. 92m.
Location:
1711 North Charles Street, Baltimore Maryland
http://thecharles.com/
June 2-3
* Discounted tickets – Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture
* Discounted tickets – The American Visionary Arts Museum
(With purchase of tickets to our celebration on June 3)
PREVIOUS "DRUMBEAT" EVENTS....
January 23 (Tuesday) at 6:15 p.m. - Free
Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties
Film screening and discussion
Enoch Pratt Central Library, Wheeler Auditorium
This 2004 documentary provides the facts and stories that illuminate administration lies, wrongheaded policies, and real victims of these actions -- the American people. Sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union and full of bipartisan testimony by lawyers, politicians, and victims of Patriot Act abuse, Unconstitutional makes an eloquent case for the careful interpretation of Constitutional law. This is a chilling reminder of how seemingly good intentions can corrupt even our most cherished American values.
January 31 (Wednesday) at 6:30 p.m. - Free
Free Speech and Censorship
Panel Discussion
Enoch Pratt Central Library, Poe Room
Featuring Dr. Carla Hayden, Executive Director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, John Roemer, former ACLU Executive Director, and other panelists discuss issues of free speech and censorship and what they’ve done to protect your First Amendment rights. Susan Goering, current Executive Director of the ACLU of Maryland, will moderate.
February 3 (Saturday) at 1 p.m.
On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the Twenty-First Century
Book launch and discussion
Presented and hosted by the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture
Featuring author Sherrilyn A. Ifill, civil rights lawyer and University of Maryland law professor, presenting concrete ways for all communities with histories of racial violence to move toward reconciliation.
February 13 (Tuesday) at 6 p.m. - Free
(CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER)
Freedom on My Mind
Film screening and discussion
Enoch Pratt Central Library, Wheeler Auditorium
Nominated for an Academy Award, winner of both the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians awards for best documentary, this landmark film from 1994 tells the story of the Mississippi freedom movement in the early 1960s when a handful of young activists changed history. Freedom summer helped transform political power in the South forever, leading to passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
February 17 (Saturday) at 2 p.m. - Free
The Struggle for Racial Justice in Maryland
Panel Discussion and Short Film Presentation
Enoch Pratt Central Library, Wheeler Auditorium
Racial justice is extended to all who live in this country by the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and various civil rights statutes. It’s your right to get an education, buy or rent a house, marry whom you want, get a job of your choice, and vote -- all without anyone stopping you because of your race. Featuring Maryland’s Chief Judge Robert Bell, Director of the Maryland Attorney General's Office for Civil Rights Carl O. Snowden, former ACLU Deputy Director Lea Gilmore, and other panelists will describe their personal experiences fighting for racial justice in Baltimore and Maryland. Plus, Kids on the Hill, a Baltimore arts-based community organization for inner city youth, will screen their animated civil rights film shorts.
March 18 (Sunday) at 2 p.m. - Free
The Road to Guantanamo
Film screening and discussion
Enoch Pratt Central Library, Wheeler Auditorium
Since 9/11 there has been a tension between national security and the need to preserve fundamental privacy protections, the rule of law, and our system of checks and balances. The acclaimed film “The Road to Guantanamo” tracks the true story of three British citizens of Pakistani descent, captured in Afghanistan in 2001, and detained without trial at Guantánamo Bay by the US government. Following the screening, hear Marine Col. Dwight Sullivan, former ACLU-MD staff attorney and now Chief Defense Counsel for the Guantánamo detainees.
April 7 (Saturday) at 8 p.m. - $15
Political satire performance by "The Loyal Opposition"
Creative Alliance at the Patterson Theatre
The Loyal Opposition’s ACLU Birthday Party! Celebrating the ACLU of Maryland’s 75th birthday with their incisive and satirical take on politics, The Loyal Opposition returns with their stellar cast—Bill Clinton, Larry King, Dick Cheney and more! Timely sketches featuring the 1,000 watt Bob Heck, Kevin Brown, Shari Elliker, Wes Johnson, and Brenna McDonough. Audience improv and music by David Zee. Librarian Holly Tominack jumps out of a birthday cake!
Click here to get your tickets today!
http://www2.missiontix.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=5367