Classic Film Series This Fall At Montauk Library

This fall, Montauk Library is presenting a series of classic films and movies that have been regarded by critics, film scholars and audiences as some of the most enduring, fascinating, influential and significant films ever made.

Directors represented in the lineup include Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Sir Carol Reed and Billy Wilder. A Q&A and discussion follows each screening. The series is curated by Carolyn Balducci, the library’s adult programs coordinator. The series runs September 9 to December 30. All films screen Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m. No screenings September 23, November 11 or November 25. The films are free and open to the public. Sign up by calling 631-669-3377. Visit montauklibrary.org for details. Montauk Library is at 871 Montauk Highway in Montauk.

“Notorious” is a film noir starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains as three people whose lives become intertwined during a post-war espionage operation. The film is considered to be an artistic watershed for Hitchcock as it was his first attempt at creating a serious love story about two men who fall in love with the same beautiful woman. Devlin (Grant) sets up Alicia (Bergman) as bait to spy on her late father’s Nazi colleague Alex (Rains)—a man who genuinely loves her, perhaps even more than Devlin does.

“Strangers on a Train” is film noir that stars Farley Granger and Robert Walker. It concerns events that follow a conversation between two passengers who sit across from one another in a train car. Bruno (Robert Walker) proposes to Guy (Farley Granger) that they each commit a murder of someone they don’t know, so neither will become suspects. Guy would kill Bruno’s father and Bruno would do away with Guy’s blackmailing wife.

This thriller stars Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, Anthony Dawson, and John Williams. Wealthy heiress Margot Mary Wendice (Kelly) had a brief love affair with an American mystery writer Mark Halliday (Cummings) while her husband, Tony Wendice (Milland), a tennis pro, was competing at a tennis tournament. Margot had destroyed Mark’s love letters except for the one that was inside her stolen purse. Soon, a blackmailer threatens to show the letter to her husband. Tony, however, knows more about Mark than he lets on and figures he could do a lot worse than being a wealthy widower.

After an accident that leaves him with a broken leg, professional photographer Jeff Jefferies (Jimmy Stewart) is confined to a wheelchair. He spends his days voyeuristically watching his neighbors surrounding the courtyard behind his building. When the bedridden wife of a traveling salesman disappears, Jeff becomes convinced she has been murdered by her husband, Lars Thornwood (Raymond Burr). This sets off a dangerous chain of events that risks the lives of Jeff’s girlfriend, Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly), his nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter) and himself.

This romantic thriller is set on the French Riviera. The film stars Cary Grant as John Robie, a former jewel thief and ex-con who redeemed himself by joining the Resistance during the war. Now that someone has started to use his old modus operandi to prey on wealthy tourists — including a wealthy widow and her nubile daughter, Frances, played by Grace Kelly — the police suspect he has returned to his old ways. Robie realizes that the only way to clear his name is to find the new cat burglar.

A film noir shot on location in San Francisco and the Bay Area, “Vertigo” stars James Stewart as detective Scottie Ferguson who had to retire from the SFPD when he began experiencing post-traumatic acrophobia and vertigo after he nearly fell from a rooftop in pursuit of a criminal. An acquaintance, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) knows about Scottie’s condition and hires him to follow his wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak), claiming that she is behaving erratically. But that’s just the beginning of Scottie’s troubles.

In this tale of mistaken identity, Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) has been framed for murder and pursued from New York City to the Black Hills of South Dakota by sinister agents of a mysterious organization as well as by the police. The film also stars Eva Marie Saint and James Mason.

“Citizen Kane” is a drama starring its director, Orson Welles , that explores the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane. Though a critical success, “Citizen Kane” failed to recoup its costs at the box office and it gradually faded from view until it was praised by French film critics. Currently, “Citizen Kane” is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made and film scholars and critics have praised the film for its innovative cinematography, editing, music, and narrative structure.

This film noir follows Wilson (Edward G. Robinson) a Nazi hunter who is sent by the Allied Commission for Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals to track down Franz Kinzler (Orson Welles). Kinzler, now known as Charles Rankin, has managed to reach the U.S. and joined the faculty of a private school in bucolic Connecticut. His bride, Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young) refuses to believe Wilson when he reveals the truth. “The Stranger” is the first feature film to include documentary footage of Nazi concentration camps.

Directed by British director, Sir Carol Reed, “The Third Man” stars Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles and Trevor Howard. The film centers on Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton) an American writer of pulp fiction who arrives in Vienna to meet his friend Harry Lime — played by Welles — only to learn that Lime has just died. Regarding his friend’s death as suspicious, Martins decides to investigate. Combined with iconic theme music and acclaimed performances, the cinematic style evokes the sinister atmosphere of post-war Europe. “The Third Man” is considered the greatest British film of the 20th Century.

Based on a novel of the same name by James M. Cain, this film noir stars Fred MacMurray as Walter Huff, an insurance salesman, Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson, a seductive and avaricious married woman, and Edward G. Robinson as Barton Keyes, a meticulous insurance claims investigator. Phyllis persuades Huff to murder her husband for the insurance money but soon things grow tense as the near perfect crime unravels

Set in Hollywood, this film stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star who dreams of making a triumphant comeback. Several small roles and cameos are played by former silent film stars. Legendary Hollywood director, Erich von Stroheim plays Max von Mayerling, her butler.

This screwball comedy stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, and features George Raft, Pat O’Brien and Joe E. Brown in supporting roles. The film is about two Chicago musicians who stumble upon The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. To avoid being killed by gangsters, they disguise themselves as women and join an all-female band whose next gig is in Florida. “Some Like It Hot” opened to critical and commercial success and earned numerous distinctions.

This romantic comedy-drama stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray. The film follows C.C. Baxter (Lemmon), a clerk in an insurance company, who lets senior executives use his apartment for their extramarital trysts, in the hope of getting a promotion. Baxter is attracted to Fran Kubelik (MacLaine) an elevator operator in his office building, unaware that she is having an affair with his boss, Jeff Sheldrake, (MacMurray). A commercial and critical success that won five Oscars and several other distinctions and awards, “The Apartment” is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made.