Old Pasadena Film Festival July 7-30

Old Pasadena Management presents the fourth annual Old Pasadena Film Festival, a four-week film celebration happening at 8PM Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, July 7-30, 2011. The popular festival hosts eighteen screenings throughout Old Pasadena’s historic downtown and is expecting to draw upwards of 8,000 attendees.



This year Old Pasadena pays tribute to the iconic Elizabeth Taylor by offering an array of films highlighting the impact this leading lady has had on the motion picture industry. Each Friday evening, the festival will showcase many of Academy Award winner Elizabeth Taylor’s greatest roles. The screening will include films like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof nominated for multiple Academy Awards, comical classic Father of the Bride (1956), the heartfelt National Velvet, and six-time Academy award winning film A Place in the Sun.



Saturday evenings the Old Pasadena Film Festival celebrates dashing leading men including breakthrough roles from James Dean, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Cary Grant. Popular films screened at the One Colorado Courtyard include three-time Oscar nominated drama Rebel without a Cause, adventurous thriller Thomas Crown Affair (1968), famous western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and perhaps the most famous romantic film ever made An Affair to Remember.



Thursday nights the festival presents fun date movies, opening with cult 90’s classic Clueless. Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands starring Johnny Depp, the original Pink Panther and the 80’s family flick A Princess Bride will round out the fun Thursday date night series.



Distant Lands, the specialty travel bookstore in Old Pasadena will once again host travel films including Sliding Doors set in London staring Gwyneth Paltrow. Other movies showcased at Distant Lands include the five-time Academy Award winning Around the World in 80 Days, popular drama A Passage to India and Mosquito Coast set in beautiful Central America. Due to popular demand, this year’s festival hosts two cult classic horror films including the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the Alfred Hitchock avian thriller The Birds. All screenings are free and open to the public and begin at 8pm.



Old Pasadena Film Festival schedule





Thursday July 7 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

Clueless (1995)

Starring Alicia Silverstone, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd, this cult and camp classic is still a favorite.

A US West Coast teen lifestyle parody centered around Cher, a popular high school girl who spends her days playing match-maker, helping her friends with fashion choices, and looking for a boyfriend.





Thursday July 7 – Distant Lands, 20 South Raymond Ave., Pasadena, 91105

Sliding Doors (1998)
Sliding Doors is a British-American Romantic comedy-drama starring Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah and John Lynch.
The film follows Helen Quilley who has been fired from her PR firm. The plot then splits into two parallel universes, based on the paths her life could take depending on whether or not she catches a train.



Friday July 8 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

Starring a breathtakingly beautiful Liz Taylor and a stunningly handsome 33 year-old Paul Newman, as well as Burl Ives, this Tennessee Williams story was nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Picture.

Brick, an alcoholic ex-football player, drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife, Maggie. His reunion with his father, Big Daddy, who is dying of cancer, jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.



Saturday July 9 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Starring James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo, and nominated for 3 Oscars.

A rebellious young man with a troubled past comes to a new town, finding friends and enemies. Perhaps the most iconic screen role for the tragically short-lived James Dean.



Thursday July 14 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Directed by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, and Vincent Price in his last big-screen appearance.

An uncommonly gentle young man, who happens to have scissors for hands, falls in love with a beautiful teenage girl.


Thursday July 14 – Distant Lands, 20 South Raymond Ave., Pasadena, 91105, Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
This film adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel stars David Niven, Cantinflas, and Finlay Currie, and won 5 Oscars.
A Victorian Englishman bets that he can travel the world in 80 days due to new technological innovations in steamships and railways. He sets off on an incredible journey from Paris and is joined by his clever valet and a young princess.



Friday July 15 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

Father of the Bride (1950)

Directed by Vincente Minelli, and starring Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor, Father of the Bride was nominated for 3 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actor.

In this touching and comical script, a father of a young woman deals with the emotional pain, the financial and organizational pain of arranging her wedding.



Saturday July 16 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

Starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, and nominated for 2 Oscars.

A debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist, only to match wits with a sexy insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man.



Thursday July 21 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

The Pink Panther (1963)

This comedy classic was directed by Blake Edwards and stars Peter Sellers, David Niven and Robert Wagner, and includes one of the most famous theme songs of all time.

Bumbling and conceited French police inspector Clouseau tries to catch The Phantom, a daring jewel thief whose identity and features are unknown - and is acting right under his nose.



Thursday July 21 – Distant Lands, 20 South Raymond Ave., Pasadena, 91105,

A Passage to India (1984)

Starring Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, and Peggy Ashcroft, Passage to India won two Oscars and is based on the novel by E.M. Forester.
The story revolves around an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman, a city magistrate, and an English educator, whose friendship is put to the test after a false accusation is made during a trip to British colonial India. Racial tensions and prejudices flare during the aftermath as the four characters try to understand what really happened.



Friday July 22 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

National Velvet (1944)

The break-out role that catapulted Elizabeth Taylor to major stardom, this film also stars Mickey Rooney and was nominated for 5 Oscars.

A jaded former jockey helps a young girl prepare a wild but gifted horse for England's Grand National Sweepstakes.



Saturday July 23 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

One of the greatest “buddy” movies of all time, this stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and was nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Director and Best Picture.

Two Western bank/train robbers flee to Bolivia when the law gets too close.



Saturday July 23 – Central Park, 99 S. Raymond Ave, Pasadena, 91103

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

This original version of the film is an all-time horror classic and stars Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter.

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.



Thursday July 28 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

The Princess Bride (1984)

This cult comedy classic directed by Rob Reiner, features an all star cast including Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Peter Falk, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane and others.
A kindly grandfather sits down with his grandson and reads him a bedtime story that has been passed down from father to son for generations. As the grandfather reads the story, the action comes alive: a classic tale of love and adventure as the beautiful Buttercup, engaged to the odious Prince Humperdinck, is kidnapped and held against her will in order to start a war. It is up to Westley (her childhood beau, now returned as the Dread Pirate Roberts) to save her. On the way he meets a thief and his hired helpers, an accomplished swordsman and a huge, super strong giant.



Thursday July 28 – Distant Lands, 20 South Raymond Ave., Pasadena, 91105,

The Mosquito Coast (1986)
Starring Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and River Phoenix, and based on a novel by Paul Theroux.
The Mosquito Coast was nominated for two golden globes. An eccentric inventor decides to take his family to Central America in order to build an ice factory and to find a simpler life in the jungle. However, as he becomes increasingly becomes erratic and aggressive, their happiness is threatened, and their paradise turns into a nightmare.



Friday July 29 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

A Place in the Sun (1951)

Starring Liz Taylor, Montgomery Clift and Shelley Winters, A Place in the Sun was nominated for 9 Oscars and won 6, including Best Director for George Stevens.

Young up-and-comer George Eastman is thrust into the blue collar life of a rich uncle's family business. While paying his dues, Eastman becomes involved with Alice, a simple, trusting girl on the assembly line. When he is finally introduced to high society he meets the gorgeous, sophisticated Angela Vickers and promptly forgets all about Alice. Only Alice won't be gotten rid of so easily…



Saturday July 30 – One Colorado Courtyard, 41 Hugus Alley, Pasadena, 91103

An Affair to Remember (1957)

Starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, this all-time favorite love story was nominated for 4 Oscars.

Handsome playboy Nicky Ferrante and beautiful night club singer Terry McKay have a romance while on a cruise from Europe to New York. Despite being engaged to other people, both agree to reunite at the top of the Empire State Building in six months. However, an unfortunate accident keeps Terry from the reunion, and Nicky fears that she has married or does not love him anymore. Will he discover the truth behind her absence and reunite with his one true love, or has fate and destiny passed them by?



Saturday July 30 – Central Park, 99 S. Raymond Ave, Pasadena, 91103

The Birds (1963)

This story by Daphne Du Maurier became one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous screen gems, starring Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren and Suzanne Pleshette…as well as thousands of feathered villains.

A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town. However slowly her trip takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack the town’s people in increasing numbers and with intensifying viciousness.

General Public: All screenings are free and open to the public, for more information including a complete schedule visit www.oldpasadena.org