Mal's classic movie fest offers seldom seen treats

The guessing is over. The fifth annual festival of classic films at the Naro Expanded Cinema will open Monday with "From Here to Eternity" starring Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed - all nominated for Oscars.

In past years, the summer festival of seven films on seven Monday nights has been greeted by big crowds and served as a showcase for movies that are not likely ever again to be shown in a theatrical setting. Yet again, I am hosting the event with pre-screening introductions and post-screening personal remembrances of the stars and filmmakers.

And, yes, I remember plenty. Burt Lancaster explained to me his embarrassing troubles in filming love scenes with Ava Gardner. I was there for Laurence Olivier's one and only visit to Norfolk. I'll tell you about the long-time resident of Norfolk who was set designer for "The Magnificent Seven." There's much more.

This year's festival does not have a tight theme, as previous ones did. You might call it the Every-Genre Festival. One drama - "From Here to Eternity." One Western - "The Magnificent Seven." One musical - "Silk Stockings." One thriller - "Bunny Lake is Missing." And three comedies that, collectively, might make up a minifestival all their own - films that found laughter in what was formerly called the Cold War.

If there is a dominant figure in this year's festival, it is Billy Wilder, who co-wrote "Ninotchka" as Greta Garbo's first comedy, co-wrote "A Foreign Affair" for Marlene Die-trich and wrote and directed "One, Two, Three" starring James Cagney as a Southerner in Berlin. All three movies concern East vs. West, with most of the laughs coming at the expense of Russia.

In choosing the films, I went for some little gems rather than familiar warhorses.

The most traditional classic is Monday's opener, "From Here to Eternity," based on James Jones' controversial and racy novel that many thought could never be made into a movie. Set in Hawaii in and around Schofield Barracks just before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, it was directed by Fred Zinnemann. Released in 1953, it tied "Gone With the Wind" for the most Oscars won by a single film at that time - eight. All five actors were nominated, with Sinatra and Reed winning.

I met and interviewed four members of the cast (Lancaster, Kerr, Reed and Ernest Borg-nine) and will discuss this after the film. (And you can bet there are plenty of stories about the Gardner-Sinatra marriage and the fact that Gardner did much to get her husband the part in this movie. This was Sinatra before he became chairman of any board. Gardner was nominated the same year, for "Mogambo," making them a rare husband-and-wife team to be nominated. She did not attend the ceremonies, commenting, "I couldn't be elected dog catcher in that town."

The screening is at 7:15 p.m. Monday, June 6,  at the Naro, 1507 Colley Ave., in the Ghent section of Norfolk.

The rest of the lineup is:

"Ninotchka," July 13. The inimitable Greta Garbo stars with Melvyn Douglas in this comedy about a Russian woman who comes to Paris and learns that capitalism is more fun than communism. This is one of the most popular comedies of all time and got Oscar nominations both for Garbo and for best picture in the banner year, 1939, that is now celebrating its 70th anniversary as the greatest year in film history.

"The Magnificent Seven," July 20. This 1960 Western stars Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen and five other professional gunfighters who turn heroic to protect Mexican peasants from bandits led by Eli Wallach. Elmer Bernstein's musical score is among the most famous in movie history. The event will serve as a tribute to the film's art director, the late Edward Fitzgerald, a longtime Norfolk resident.

"Silk Stockings," July 27. The musical version of "Ninotchka" has Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse taking over the roles played by Douglas and Garbo. The music in this 1957 film is by Cole Porter and features some of his greatest tunes, including "All of Me" and "Stereophonic Sound."

"A Foreign Affair," Aug. 3. Marlene Dietrich is featured in this 1948 comedy about a stuffy U.S. congresswoman who goes to Berlin after World War II to stop U.S. soldiers from partying with German girls. Dietrich is one of those girls, and she sings the sultry "Illusions," among other songs. ("Would you like to buy my illusions? Slightly used.") After the screening, we'll tell you all we know about Dietrich, which is plenty. One of her best friends, Mitzi Gaynor, told me most of these stories.

"Bunny Lake Is Missing," Aug. 10. This is a 1965 mystery about a small child who has disappeared. Laurence Olivier stars with Carol Lynley, Keir Dullea and Noel Coward, directed by Otto Preminger. It is a thriller but does not emphasize violence - just the threat of harm.

"One, Two, Three," Aug. 17. The festival will close with the presentation of awards voted on by the audience for the four best actors. The feature will be this all-out-funny 1961 comedy starring James Cagney as a Coca-Cola manager who faces trouble in Germany when his boss' daughter (a Southern girl named Scarlett) falls in love with a Russian hippie.