Cinematheque opens with classic musical treat

Whether setting the stage for action or enfolding a tender moment, music has always enhanced the filmmaker’s art. For its first offerings of the 2009–10 school year, Cinematheque offers two gems with timeless musical charm.

On Friday, Sept. 4, enjoy Vicente Minnelli’s 1944 Technicolor classic “Meet Me in St. Louis,” featuring Judy Garland and a host of familiar tunes. On Saturday, Sept. 5, enjoy live piano accompaniment by David Drazin while silent film superstar Harold Lloyd charms audiences as “The Kid Brother” — a parting gift following Cinematheque’s successful spring series of UCLA restorations. Both shows take place at 7:30 p.m. in Cinematheque, 4070 Vilas Hall, and are free and open to the public.

In “Meet Me In St. Louis,” Minnelli easily captures the spirit of Sally Benson’s nostalgic memoirs. Seamlessly integrating musical numbers into the fabric of the Smith family’s life over four seasons in 1903. A proposed move from St. Louis to New York City demonstrates just how fragile their (and wartime America’s) domestic happiness actually was. (35mm, color, 113 min.) On the 1927 release of “The Kid Brother,” Variety called it “as gaggy a gag picture as [Lloyd] has ever done.” Lloyd plays the youngest son of a small-town sheriff who is hoodwinked into giving a performance license to a traveling medicine show. (1927, 35mm, b/w, 103 min.)

See a full schedule of Cinematheque’s offerings and additional information on these showings, or contact Cinematheque at 262-3627 or email kfkolb@wisc.edu.