The Film Society of Lincoln Center kicks off summer with Family Films series titled DYNAMIC DUOS

Films featured include such legends as Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, Robert Redford & Paul Newman, Abbott & Costello and more

New York, NY (April 25, 2012) — Families can continue to enjoy kid-friendly films with The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s delightful Family Films matinee series with a new summer lineup with classic Hollywood pairings. Beloved Hollywood hits include romantic classics (WOMAN OF THE YEAR, SHALL WE DANCE) from the Golden Age of Hollywood to slapstick buddy guy comedies (THE STING, ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN) and even a celebrated cartoon classic (TOM & JERRY).

The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Family Films are an ongoing weekend film series presented in the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center’s Amphitheater. The series is programmed by Isa Cucinotta and Marcela Goglio.

The colorful, roomy theater was recently bestowed the honor of being one of New York’s newest “classic” places to visit by Time Out New York and boasts the largest plasma screen in the world!

With a special ticket price of $6.00 and Indie Food & Wine’s $6.00 “Indie Lunch Box” which includes a grilled cheese with apples and house made hot chocolate, the entire family can embark on this perfect budget-friendly joyride every weekend!

Films and Descriptions for
FAMILY FILMS: DYNAMIC DUOS
May 5 – July 1

Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy
WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942) DVD 114m
Director: George Stevens
Country: USA
In their first film together, the sparks fly as Tracy and Hepburn portray Sam, a sports journalist, and Tess, a foreign correspondent. They meet and fall in love after arguing in print about the usefulness of baseball, but even in married life they constantly test each other’s tolerance of their different interests. Tess is voted “Woman of the Year” and Sam feels put out by her willingness to leave alone for the evening the refugee child they have taken in. Sam takes the boy back to the shelter leaving Tess to try to prove she has a domestic side, which she doesn’t. Oscar winner for the best original screenplay for its fast-talking comedy, the film launched a durable pairing on and off the screen. Ages 10+
Sat, May 5 and Sun, May 6 at 2:00pm

Tom & Jerry
TOM & JERRY (1963-1966) DVD 90m
Country: USA
Weekend mornings were made for cartoons and Tom and Jerry are the definitive animated duo!  Spend 90 minutes with the contentious cat and mouse from their Chuck Jones years. Some beloved classic cartoons to be included are The Cat Above and The Mouse Below, Is There a Doctor in the Mouse, Haunted Mouse and Jerry, Jerry, Quite Contrary.
Sat, May 12 and Sun, May 13 at 2:00pm

Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers
SHALL WE DANCE (1937) DVD 100m
Director: Mark Sandrich
Country: USA
This dazzling musical comedy boasting a spectacular score by George Gershwin (including the Oscar-nominated “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”) is the seventh of the Astaire-Rogers musicals. Astaire plays legendary ballet dancer, Pete “Petrov” Peters, who embarks on a transatlantic trip in order to be with musical star Linda Keene (Rogers), with whom he has fallen in love even though they hardly know one another. When the ocean liner arrives in New York, the city is buzzing with the rumor that Peters and Keene are secretly married.  Ages 7+
Sat, May 26 and Sun, May 27 at 2:00pm

Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis
ARTISTS AND MODELS (1955) DVD 109m
Director: Frank Tashlin
Country: USA
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis began making moves together after the success of their vaudeville act. Their film partnership lasted for 7 years and 16 films. In ARTISTS AND MODELS, Eugene (Lewis) is a comic book-obsessed children’s author with an overactive imagination and Rick (Martin) is his struggling artist roommate. Upstairs lives a successful comic book artist, Abigail (Dorothy Malone), and her roommate and model, Bessie (Shirley MacLaine). Eugene starts talking in his sleep about a superhero, Vincent the Vulture, and Rick decides to use the stories to launch his own comic book series. It’s a success, but he’s keeping it a secret from Eugene (in case he remembers his dreams) and from Abigail, who loathes violent comics. One day Eugene dreams of half of a rocket formula that ends up to be the real thing! Soon after it is printed in the comic, Rick and Eugene are surrounded by spies trying to find the missing part of the equation. Directed by former Looney Tunes director Frank Tashlin. Ages 7+
Sat, June 9 and Sun, June 10 at 2:00pm

Bud Abbott & Lou Costello
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948) DVD 83m
Director: Charles T. Barton
Country: USA
In a truly over-the-top plot, Abbott and Costello get to meet not one, but three supernatural creatures in one movie! As two baggage handlers, they deliver the “remains” of Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster to McDougal’s House of Horrors. The monster is weak after the journey, but Dracula is there to help him find a new brain to regain his strength. Costello is abducted for this purpose and Abbott has to find him before it’s too late. Who arrives on the scene to help thwart Dracula’s plan? The Wolfman himself! The cast includes Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi and Glenn Strange as the monsters. The film was preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2001 for being  “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Rated PG.
Sat, June 17 and Sun, June 17 at 2:00pm

Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall
THE BIG SLEEP (1946) DVD 114m
Director: Howard Hawks
Country: USA
In the second of their four iconic teamings, Humphrey Bogart is private eye Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall is the elder daughter of the millionaire general who hires Marlowe to settle his spoiled younger daughter’s gambling debts. But the bookie ends up murdered and the daughter is being blackmailed. Bacall’s Vivien has her own secrets to hide, but finds herself falling for Marlowe anyway as he finds himself faced with an increasingly large body count. A classic noir that captures the feel and tone of the original novel by Raymond Chandler.
Sat, June 23 and Sun, June 24 at 2:00pm

Paul Newman & Robert Redford
THE STING (1973) Blu Ray 129m
Director: George Roy Hill
Country: USA
Set in Depression-era Chicago, director George Roy Hill’s action-packed and immensely entertaining heist film stars Robert Redford and Paul Newman as two con men who team up when one of them wants to avenge the death of his partner, a murderous swindler. Winner of seven 1973 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay, THE STING also features an army of great character actors including Harold Gould and Ray Walston; gorgeous set designs by Henry Bumstead; and, of course, those lovely Scott Joplin rags. Rated PG
Sat, June 30 and Sun, July 1 at 2:00pm

Film Society of Lincoln Center
Under the leadership of Rose Kuo, Executive Director, and Richard Peña, Program Director, the Film Society of Lincoln Center offers the best in international, classic and cutting-edge independent cinema. The Film Society presents two film festivals that attract global attention: the New York Film Festival, currently planning its 50th edition, and New Directors/New Films which, since its founding in 1972, has been produced in collaboration with MoMA. The Film Society also publishes the award-winning Film Comment Magazine, and for over three decades has given an annual award—now named “The Chaplin Award”—to a major figure in world cinema. Past recipients of this award include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, and Tom Hanks. The Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming, panels, lectures, educational programs and specialty film releases at its Walter Reade Theater and the new state-of-the-art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from Royal Bank of Canada, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit www.filmlinc.com and follow #filmlinc on Twitter.

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