Star Power Saturday Movie Matinee

Join the Portrait Gallery for our Saturday movie matinee series inspired by the museum’s exhibition “Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell.” Enjoy the glamour of the Golden Age and watch some of Hollywood’s most iconic stars in these classic 1930s films.

Saturday, March 22, Women’s History Month feature: The Women (2 hours, 13 min)

Directed by George Cukor, this 1939 melodrama follows the lives of three interconnected characters and their romantic entanglements. The film's star-studded all-woman cast features Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell.

Saturday, April 19: It Happened One Night (1 hour, 45 min)

Directed by Frank Capra, this sparkling Academy Award-winning 1934 romantic comedy stars Clark Gable as a down-on-his-luck reporter who aids runaway heiress Claudette Colbert in the hope of getting a big story.

Saturday, July 19: The Thin Man (1 hour, 33 min)

This 1934 comedic M**der-mystery stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as husband-and-wife detective duo Nick and Nora Charles. Watch the couple sip martinis and exchange witty banter as they investigate the mysterious disappearance of an inventor accused of M**der.

Saturday, September 6: Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood's First South Asian Star Book Talk & Screening ofWuthering Heights (1 hour, 43 min)

Merle Oberon rose to the highest echelons of fame in Golden Age Hollywood, all while keeping a secret that threatened to destroy her career: her South Asian identity. James Beard award-winning author Mayukh Sen brings the story of this often-forgotten star to life in his new book Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood’s First South Asian Star. Sen will join Dr. Theodore S. Gonzalves, curator of Asian Pacific American History at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, for a conversation about Merle Oberon’s complex legacy and the history of Asian American representation on-screen.

A screening of Wuthering Heights will follow. Oberon dazzles opposite Laurence Olivier as star-crossed lovers Cathy and Heathcliff in this romantic period drama based on Emily Brontë’s classic novel. 

Saturday, October 18: Libeled Lady (1 hour, 38 min)

A wealthy socialite sues a major newspaper for libel after being falsely accused of breaking up a marriage. The newspaper’s frazzled editor devises a scheme to frame her in this 1936 screwball comedy featuring a star-studded cast including Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Spencer Tracy.

Saturday, November 8: The Wizard of Oz (1 hour, 42 min)
In this timeless musical for all ages, a tornado whisks Dorothy (played by a young Judy Garland) and her dog Toto away from Kansas and to the magical Land of Oz. There, a ragtag cast of characters follows Dorothy on a fantastical journey down the Yellow Brick Road to find the mysterious Wizard of Oz.

The Portrait Gallery strives to provide programs that are accessible to all visitors. If you have questions about the accessibility of this program, or if you would like to request real-time captioning (CART), sign language interpretation, or any other accommodations, please contact [email protected]. Two weeks' advance notice is appreciated for requesting accommodations.

Image Credit: Clark Gable and Joan Crawford by George Hurrell / 1936, Gelatin silver print / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquired in part through the generosity of an anonymous donor.

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