Summer Films Conclude with Sunset Boulevard and The General

Media Contact:

Kristen Gleason
Director of Marketing
The Paramount Theater
215 East Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.979.1922 ext. 103
kristen@theparamount.net

For Immediate Release

August 23, 2006

 The Paramount's Summer Film Series will conclude in September with two movies to help kick off the theater's 2006-07 Season — Sunset Boulevard on Friday, September 8 and The General on Saturday, September 9.  The films are offered for a special Opening Weekend admission of 25 cents.

 
One of the greatest Hollywood films about Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard (1950) is director Billy Wilder's take on the dying world of silent films.  Gloria Swanson, herself one of the best-known silent film stars, plays deluded, tragic, ambitious actress Norma Desmond, whose career declined with the coming of the talkies.  Dreaming of a triumphant return to the screen, Desmond entraps unsuspecting screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) in her fantasy world to re-write her screenplay Salome.   All appears to going well until she discovers Gillis' rendezvous with fellow writer Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olsen).  Hollywood notables such as Cecil B. DeMille, Hedda Hopper, and Buster Keaton also make appearances in this classic film noir that was nominated for eleven Academy Awards.

Buster Keaton stars in the second Opening Weekend movie, The General (1927), regarded as one of the greatest silent comedies.  Based on a real incident, the film tells the story of train engineer Johnny Gray (Keaton), whose two loves are his engine, The General, and his girl, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack).  Set during the Civil War, Gray is rejected for service to the South because he is more valuable as an engineer — a refusal that also estranges him from Annabelle Lee.   When Yankee spies steal The General with Annabelle Lee on board, it’s up to Gray to rescue both the engine and his sweetheart from behind enemy lines.   Known as "The Great Stoneface" for his deadpan expressions, Keaton is at his comic best in this classic, which is accompanied by a musical soundtrack.

Sunset Boulevard will show at 6 and 9 pm on Friday, September 8 and The General will show at 1, 4, and 7 pm on Saturday, September 9.  Admission to all showings is 25 cents.  The Box Office will open one hour prior to each showing, and all seats are general admission. 

The Paramount will continue showing films as part of the 2006-07 Season of live performances that opens with Paul Anka on Wednesday, September 6. 

The new schedule of movies is forthcoming.  Please visit our movie calendar page for the most recent information.