Vintage Film Festival 2026 - "Best Dressed"

Published: 05 March 2025

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See 13 of the “Best Dressed” movies at VFF 2026!

The 2026 Vintage Film Festival – October 16, 17 & 18 at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre – will feature 13 of the “Best Dressed” movies of the 20^th century!

The theme of the 2026 program is, indeed, “Best Dressed”: each of the films we’ll be screening is, in its own way, significant from a fashion or costume perspective – in addition to being a great motion picture in its own right.

The connections begin with the three earliest films on the program, each of which established an iconic costume:

• 1915’s The Tramp, which introduced Charlie Chaplin’s “little man” and his shabby attire to the wider world
• The Sheik (George Melford, 1921) with Rudolph Valentino, which inspired a Middle Eastern vogue in fashion, jewelry and even hairstyles
• Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931) with Bela Lugosi, which set the standard for what the well-dressed vampire should wear

Our movies with fashion industry settings include:

• the musical comedy, Fashions of 1934 (William Dieterle & Busby Berkeley, 1934), starring William Powell and Bette Davis as fashion fraudsters, and Orry-Kelly costumes
• another musical, Stanley Donen’s Funny Face (1957), featuring Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, a fashion show, and glorious Givenchy creations
• Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 Blow-Up, with David Hemmings as a mod fashion photographer in Swinging London

Unforgettable wardrobe items are featured in:

• The Red Shoes (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1948), by the end of which the titular footwear have become a character in their own right
• Billy Wilder’s 1955 The Seven Year Itch – four words: “Marilyn Monroe’s white dress”
• Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976) with Sissy Spacek and her iconic pink prom gown

And there’ll be four more films with intriguing clothing connections:

• William Wyler’s 1949 The Heiress, for which the legendary Edith Head won the first of her record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design
• Federico Fellini’s 8½ (1963), another Best Costume Design Oscar winner, which shows off stylish 60’s Italian fashion (and pulls a neat trick with it in the final reel)
• Around the World in 80 Days (Michael Anderson, 1956), which is said to hold the record for the most costumes ever (74,685) in a Hollywood production
• – and Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961): will Cruella de Vil manage to make fur coats out of the Dalmatian puppies’ pelts?

Come to the 2026 Vintage Film Festival in the “best dressed” version of you, and show off your style for the camera in front of our step-and-repeat banner!

This year’s two silent films, The Tramp and The Sheik, will (as usual) be screened with live piano accompaniment. There will be fab new clothing items for sale – of course! The Festival will feature its usual great silent auction. And there’ll be yet-to-be-announced surprises!

VFF 2026 hits the catwalk at Port Hope’s atmospheric Capitol Theatre on October 16^th, 17^th and 18^th – join us for the fashion parade!

 

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This 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!