MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON - Political Film Festival - w/ Reps Steve Israel & Peter King

Name: MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON - Political Film Festival - w/ Reps Steve Israel & Peter King
Start: 2024-10-07T19:00:00-04:00
Location: Cinema Arts Centre

Schedule

Mon Oct 07 2024 at 07:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Cinema Arts Centre | Huntington, NY

Political Film Festival
Curated by former congressman Steve Israel
Jimmy Stewart in Frank Capra’s
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
Film Screening & Discussion
Guest Speakers: Rep. Steve Israel, Rep. Peter King, & Michael Nathanson, film executive and former head of MGM
POSTPONED UNTIL
Monday, October 7th at 7PM
$16 Public | $10 Members
Decades before the “deep state” entered the parlance, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington explored how the corrupting power of money shapes American politics. When the idealistic young Jefferson Smith (in the role that catapulted Jimmy Stewart to fame) winds up appointed to the United States Senate, he gains the mentorship of Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains). However, Paine isn't as noble as his reputation would indicate, and he becomes involved in a scheme to discredit Smith, who wants to build a boys' campsite where a more lucrative project could go. Determined to stand up against Paine and his corrupt peers, Smith takes his case to the Senate floor. When the film premiered at Washington's Constitution Hall on October 17, 1939, over 45 real-life senators and 250 House members were in the audience. Most of the senators attending the premiere responded with good humor to the Hollywood treatment, with its realistic reproduction of the Senate Chamber. Several, however, were not amused. Majority Leader Alben Barkley complained that it made the Senate look like "a bunch of crooks." Years later, director Frank Capra alleged that several senators had actually tried to buy up the film to prevent its release.
Former Congressman Peter King represented New York’s 2nd and 3rd congressional districts for 28 years. Rep. King served in many key roles, including Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, where he oversaw congressional hearings on domestic terrorism. He was the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness and served on the Financial Services Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Throughout his career in public service, Congressman King cultivated bipartisan relationships with influential voices in Washington. Some of his most significant legislative successes included the continuum of 9/11 legislation, including the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, as well as Hurricane Sandy relief funding.
Former Congressman Steve Israel left Capitol Hill – unindicted and undefeated – to pursue a career as a writer. In addition to writing two critically acclaimed satires of Washington, he now owns Theodore's Books, an independent bookstore in Oyster Bay. He also heads the non-partisan Cornell University Institute of Politics and Global Affairs, where for several years he taught a course on "Politics, Media & Popular Culture." Israel was a Member of Congress for sixteen years. He left in 2017, having served as House Democrats chief political strategist between 2011-2015 as Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. President Bill Clinton called him “one of the most thoughtful Members of Congress.” Which, Israel states, isn’t really saying much at all. Israel is a frequent political commentator on MSNBC. His insights appear regularly in the New York Times, The Atlantic Magazine, as well as The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. He was profiled on HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and appeared on CBS’ Sixty Minutes.
Michael Nathanson began his career at NBC Sports in New York City and then moved to Los Angeles in 1975 where he worked as a production assistant on the 1977 films, The Deep and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. From 1980 to 1984, he worked at United Artists. In 1987, he went to work for Columbia Pictures and in 1989, was named as senior production executive and later president of worldwide production where he oversaw the production of such films as Awakenings, The Prince of Tides, Boyz n the Hood, and A River Runs Through It. In 1994, he was named as chairman and chief executive of Arnon Milchan's New Regency Productions where he oversaw such films as A Time to K*ll, Tin Cup, Natural Born Killers, Heat, Free Willy, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, and Copycat. In February 1997, Frank Mancuso hired him to serve as president of MGM Pictures replacing Mike Marcus. At MGM, he oversaw the production of Windtalkers, Bandits, Rollerball, Killing Me Softly, and Hart's War. He stayed at MGM for seven years and the took a position as CEO of production at ONC Entertainment where he oversaw such films as L.A. Confidential, Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach, and Yours, Mine & Ours. In 2012, Nathanson was named along with Bill Lischak as co-presidents of OddLot Entertainment by its CEO and founder, Gigi Pritzker.
Sponsored by Cornell's Institute of Politics and Global Affairs