Vintage Film Festival 2025 will explore Family Dynamics

Published: 05 March 2025

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Next year’s Vintage Film Festival, October 17-19, 2025, at Port Hope’s “atmospheric” Capitol Theatre, will present a wide range of movies centered around the theme of Family Dynamics (or: “If you knew my family, you would understand”).

This unusually light-hearted program will include no less than five great comedies from the Thirties, Forties, Fifties and Sixties:

• You Can't Take It With You (Frank Capra, 1938) – Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Jean Arthur
• Kind Hearts and Coronets (Robert Hamer, 1949) – Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson
• Bell, Book and Candle (Richard Quine, 1958) – James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon
• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Stanley Kramer, 1967) – Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn
• The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967) – Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katherine Ross

plus two silent comedies (with live musical accompaniment):

• Our Hospitality (Buster Keaton & J.G. Blystone, 1923) – Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge
• I Was Born, But… (Yasujiro Ozu, 1932) – Tatsuo Saito, Tomio Aoki

plus two ultra-popular musicals:

• Mary Poppins (Robert Stevenson, 1964) – Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson
• Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944) – Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor

The remaining four films include a unique thriller:

• The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955) – Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish

a sensational gangster film:

• White Heat (Raoul Walsh, 1949) – James Cagney, Edmond O'Brien, Virginia Mayo

a remarkable cult classic:

• Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932) – Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova

and an undisputed member of the “greatest films of all time” club:

• Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955) – Subir Banerjee, Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee

And, of course, VFF 2025 will include all the usual extras: the Sunday lunchtime film talk, new VFF merchandise, the silent auction, free popcorn all weekend, free passes and tickets for anyone 25 or under – plus some yet-to-be-announced surprises!

Mark your calendars now for the 2025 Vintage Film Festival – Friday, October 17th through Sunday, October 19th – at the Capitol Theatre, 20 Queen Street, Port Hope!