It was a success! We counted 150 community members who attended our three screenings of classic films.
The third and final film of the series, “The Apartment, screened on February 16, drew 62 guests. The Apartment is an irrepressible comedy-drama starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray. Billy Wilder directed and produced this film, coming right after his critical success in directing “Some Like It Hot.”
The first featured film in the series was “You Can’t Take It With You,” shown on February 2. Fifty attendees viewed this screening of the 1938 classic comedy romp by the legendary director Frank Capra. That film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The second film in this series was “All About Eve” from 1950, shown on February 9, and attended by 38 guests. The film stars Bette Davis and George Sanders, and is a classic drama directed by Joseph L. Makiewicz and produced by Daryl F. Zanuck. It was nominated for a remarkable 14 Academy Award categories, and actually won in six, including Best Picture.
Local film critic Derric Bang introduced each film and gave the audience the “back story”.
Because of the popularity of this first festival, the Davis Odd Fellows Lodge Film Festival Committee – a fixture in Davis since 1870 – is already planning the Second “Davis Odd Fellows Classic Film Festival.”