What we’re about
We are a group of passionate fans of classic movies (say films that are 25 years old minimum, with emphasis on 1920s-1960s). We started as a local fan club for Turner Classic Movies, and we still keep in close touch with other TCM fans. We plan outings for most of the Fathom/Turner Classic Movies Big Screen Classics series, but also take in other classic film screenings at local cinemas, and always go out for refreshments and discussion after. We recently met Eddie Muller at the Noir City Boston festival in June 2019, and have gathered to appreciate one of our own members curated compilation of 'best of' film clips. We encourage anyone to join us who loves classic film or just wants to explore what films they've missed!
Upcoming events (2)
See all- Generations in Film Part 2: Running on Empty (1988)Link visible for attendees
Join us for Part 2 of our exploration into the ways film captures the nuances of different generations. In Part 1 in 2023, historian and member David Kaiser focused on Apartment for Peggy and Wall Street. For a new introduction to the idea of generations in film focusing on the Depression and the Second World War, David suggests that you watch this 30-minute video.
Then David will introduce a discussion of Sidney Lumet's acclaimed drama Running on Empty (1988). This poignant film follows the lives of the Pope family, who have been on the run for years as former political radicals. The key generational relationships are between the Boomer parents (Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti) and their Gen X older son (the late River Phoenix, in his best role.) Members of the Silent and GI generations also play important parts in the story.
David feels that Running on Empty is one of the great American family dramas, and urges you to think about other family dramas that you have enjoyed to provide an additional basis for discussion. The movie also provides food for thought about our own relationships with our parents and children, whether we choose to discuss them or not.
All are welcome—bring your thoughts and join the conversation!Check this link for various sources the film can be accessed online (including Kanopy): https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/running-on-empty-1988
Or check out the DVD from your local library.
If you RSVP for the discussion, the Zoom link will be visible to you on this event page.
- Book Discussion: Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg by Kenneth TuranLink visible for attendees
Our members have spoken! Let's discuss the fascinating partnership of early Hollywood MGM moguls Irving Thalberg and Louis B. Mayer! Read the Kenneth Turan book, just published in February of this year, and join us to discuss it virtually. Film historian, critic, and writer Raquel Stecher will lead us in the discussion.
From Yale University Press (edited for length):
"One was a tough junkman’s son, the other a cosseted mama’s boy, but they dreamed the same mighty dream: that the right movies could make a profit and change both the culture and individual lives. Sharing a religion and an evangelical zeal for film, Louis B. Mayer (1884–1957) and Irving Thalberg (1899–1936) were unlikely partners in one of the most significant collaborations in movie history.
And while Mayer initially viewed Thalberg as the son he never had, the two would go from passionate friends to near enemies before Thalberg’s shocking death at the age of thirty-seven.
In the first joint biography of the two men in fifty years, film critic Kenneth Turan traces their fraught relationship while examining the complicated history of Jewish identity in Hollywood."Check your local library or bookstore for the book, although because it's so new it may not be available in too many libraries. It can be purchased here: (and if you use the following links, you will support Raquel's work):
Powell's
Barnes & Noble
AmazonWe will also plan which related movie to watch and discuss in a Meetup later this fall.
