^^ This promo, gigantic on the Paris Theatre website, is now my favorite thing on the planet. My name up there, my outlet, and the MASSIVE faces of Elvis and Ann-Margret. Life is a curious thing. You never know where your passions will take you!
The Paris Theater is the oldest arthouse theatre in New York (it opened its doors in 1948). It’s an amazing location too, on the southern end of Central Park, facing the park, with a great old-school marquee. It’s a gorgeous theatre, gorgeous interior too. I’ve seen a bunch of things there (including the Directors Guild screening of Phantom Thread, with the QA after with all of them, Daniel Day Lewis, Paul Thomas Anderson, Lesley Manville, and Vicki Krieps. They all were there.
The Paris and the NYFCC has an ongoing collaboration: each NYFCC member can choose a movie to screen, and the screenings happen every other Sunday at 3 p.m. The NYFCC member will introduce the film (and sometimes – like with Moonstruck – there’s a QA afterwards, moderated by the member). It’s been a great lineup of films. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to screen for my pick. I knew I wanted to screen an Elvis movie, but I waffled on what it should be. King Creole? Jailhouse Rock? They were strong front-runners. I even thought about introducing maybe lesser-known movies – like Girl Happy – or, my personal favorite, Live a Little Love a Little. But then I thought: No. There is only one choice for this screening. And that is Viva Las Vegas.
And, AND, the Paris Theatre got us a 35mm print of the film from Paramount. Viva Las Vegas in 35 mm!!
I can’t wait. I know I have readers from all over the world, but if you happen to live in the New York-ish area, feel free to grab a ticket and come join the fun!
A big congratulations!
Thanks, James! Really looking forward to it – especially since I’ve never seen it with a crowd!
Viva Las Vegas is scheduled to play on TCM on May 23, 9 PM Central, for those of us not in convenient proximity to the Paris.
Yes ! Always a good time to watch Viva Las Vegas – especially today (it’s Ann-Margret’s birthday!)
I’d love to see Viva Las Vegas, and hear your comments, but LA is a long way from NYC. Good luck and congratulations! (You should make a print of that promo, frame it, and hang it on your wall. That’s a memory worth preserving.)
Bill – You and I think the same way. I am totally going to make a print of it. I’ll have to do a custom size – I tried to have it printed at Walgreens and – horror of horrors – my name was cut off – this just won’t do!!
It was so fun – there was a great showing, my speech went over well – and people had so much fun watching. The 35 mm print was STUNNING.