'Gone With The Wind' Screened At Sunday Cinema Series
With shoulders extended by rods hung with green curtains and a yellow sash, Newtown Cultural Arts Commission (NCAC) member Donna Mangiafico was a perfect Starlet O’Hara, a parody of the iconic film character Scarlett O’Hara from the 1939 film Gone With The Wind. Decades after the film’s release, comedian and television show host Carol Burnett performed as Starlet in her skit Went With The Wind, a parody that created a lasting fictional persona of its own.
Ms Mangiafico and her husband Paul — dressed as Scarlett’s hero Rhett Butler (and Starlet’s hero, Rat) — greeted guests Sunday, November 30, to a Red Carpet Event, and screening of the film. The afternoon was part of The Newtown Cultural Arts Commission’s Sunday Cinema Series. The monthly series at Edmond Town Hall has, since May, been celebrating the “75th Anniversary of the Greatest Year in Film — 1939.”
Guests were encouraged to dress their “Oscar best” and attend a red carpet reception between 1 pm and show time in the theater at 1:30. Many couples entered the lobby arm-in-arm dressed as movie personalities, including Jim and Laurie Borst. Other attendees were dressed fashionably in suits or gowns, and received a free popcorn with their tickets.
NCAC member and Sunday Cinema Series Coordinator Jen Rogers was pleased with Sunday’s event.
“I was so thrilled that our audience embraced the spirit of the event, many dressing in period dress or Oscar best, and a few as Rhett & Scarlett, or Rat and Starlet,” she said. “I was happy to reward such enthusiasm with a little gift.”
At the end of intermission, a door prize went to Newtown High School student Jerusha Wright, “who was thrilled,” according to Ms Rogers. The gift package included a 75th anniversary edition of the book Gone With The Wind; Time magazine’s commemorative issue about the last year of the Civil War, the time during which the movie is set; a commemorative Life magazine that celebrated the film; a Hallmark ornament, and jams from Blue Jay Orchard.
The day’s “crowning touch,” said Ms Rogers, were the special cookies NCAC gave out after the movie. The cookies, custom made by Cindy Marino, looked like six of Scarlett’s dresses.
Among those who gathered in the town hall lobby before the screening began were Andrea Andrew, who held a golden scar trophy, and dressed in a gown as if she were a Hollywood movie star at the movie premier. She was with friend Nicole Christensen, who was dressed as a 1940s fan, and carried a book from the movie premier.
Also dressed in gowns and flashy clothing were Mary Bennett and Karen Keating, who posed for photos. Ms Keating enjoyed dressing up, saying, “I have dresses in my closet and we thought this was a great idea.”
Sunday Cinema Series
Ten movies were nominated for Outstanding Production for the 12th Academy Awards, celebrated February 29, 1940, and hosted by Bob Hope. David O’ Selznick’s Gone with the Wind was undoubtedly the big winner with 13 nominations and 10 awards, but 11 other films received multiple awards, none of them more enduring and beloved than The Wizard of Oz. Ms Rogers has arranged for most of the nominated films to be screened this year at the historic Main Street venue.
Ms Rogers hopes to continue to raise awareness for the Edmond Town Hall’s new digital theater, which can host films to entertain generations. Every movie in the cinema series bridges generational gaps, which she likes to see, she said.
“This was a good way to bring in people who are not necessarily interested in current movies, but the older movies,” she said. Attendees from young children to grandparents were among guests, she said.
Tickets for each screening are $2 — the regular cost of movie tickets for Edmond Town Hall Theatre — with the exception of last weekend’s Gone with the Wind Red Carpet Event. Those tickets, which combined the movie, popcorn, festivities plus intermission nourishment, were $8 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.
The final program for Sunday Cinema Series is scheduled for Sunday, December 28.
Planned are screenings of At the Circus, starring the Marx Brothers, at 1 pm; and babes in Arms, with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, at 4 and 7 pm.