“Cat People”

Monday 2/4
4 p.m.
Brown 100

Considered by many to be one of the all-time classic horror movies, “Cat People” plays out like a supernatural film-noir. Simone Simon plays a Serbian-born artist who marries a New York everyman, only to succumb to her superstitious fears that sexual arousal of any kind will turn her into a murderous panther. By utilizing noir style, like a sense of moral ambiguity and a seductive femme fatale, and letting the audience scare themselves, director Jacques Tourner crafts a scary movie that sticks with you. Notable for waiting to show the audience whether or not the main character actually is a cat woman and for creating the “bus,” the horror technique that prepares the audience for danger only to have the scene end with nothing scary ever happening. Innovative and daring, “Cat People” was remade in the 1980s with less success.

“Trouble in Paradise”

Monday 2/4
7 p.m.
Brown 100

A pre-production code classic, Ernst Lubitch’s comedy uses bawdy innuendo to highlight the love affair of a master thief and a pretty pickpocket.

“The Quiet Man”

Tuesday 2/5
4 p.m.
Brown 100

One of the few famous John Ford/John Wayne movies that isn’t a western, “The Quiet Man” features lush photography of the Irish country-side. Wayne plays an ex-pat boxer who returns to the Ireland hoping to reclaim his family’s farm.

“Blackmail”

Tuesday 2/5
7 p.m.
Brown 100

Considered to be the first British movie filmed completely in sound, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Blackmail” tells the suspense-filled tale of a woman who is blackmailed after murdering in self-defense.

“Story of a Young Couple”

Wednesday 2/6
7 p.m.
Brown 100

A little seen East German film from early in the Cold War, “Story of a Young Couple” explores the marriage of two people with very different political views.

“Sullivan’s Travels”

Wednesday 2/6
4 p.m.
Brown 100

Preston Sturges is often overlooked in discussions and lists compiling America’s best writers/directors, but for those informed, he blends broad comedy and surprisingly natural dialogue with a style way ahead of his time. “Sullivan’s Travels” is one of Sturges’ best-remembered films, perhaps because it features a young, stunning Veronica Lake, but more so because of its hilarious and touching story. Joel McCrea plays John Sullivan, a successful Hollywood director who wants to make a different kind of picture: one entitled “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” that highlights the plight of the downtrodden. Sturges has more in common with the Coen brothers than taste in titles, and he makes a kind of movie modern audiences will be surprisingly comfortable with.

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