The Fab Four run free-range in A HARD DAY’S NIGHT, with a free screening Wednesday night at the Count Basie as a special 50th anniversary event.
After blowing out the last of winter’s drab watercolors, you’d think the last thing we’d be willing to do is sacrifice summer’s brilliant Roy-G-Biv for another trip to grayscale gardens. But some of the most vividly colorful films in existence are in black and white, and this Tuesday and Wednesday, local audiences will be treated to a couple of favorites that are as free of charge as they are free of hue, tint and saturation.
On July 15, Shore Flicks returns to Riverside Gardens for the latest in a slate of Summer 2014 movies under the setting sun and stars, with Gene Wilder inheriting a retro castle and mad laboratory in Mel Brooks’ laughingly loving horror homage Young Frankenstein. Photographed with the misty glow and sparking electricity of a 1930’s Hollywood soundstage talkie — and packed with shticky gags that were already antiques in the Herbert Hoover administration — the 1974 comedy screens just after sundown, with attendees encouraged to bring nonperishable food items (for Lunch Break and other local charities) along with the folding chairs and beach towels.
On Wednesday, July 16 — a half century since the former Carlton Theatre on Monmouth Street first sceened A Hard Day’s Night for Beatle-batty crowds — the debut feature of the Liverpuddlian Lads returns to the rebranded Count Basie Theatre for a special anniversary showing at 7 pm.
Like the best rock and roll music, director Richard Lester’s manic, surreal, cerebral celluloid jam burns with an insane energy and an utter disregard for laws of nature and propriety that trump all attempts to “get” it, and seem timeless some 50 years gone.
Remixed and remastered by Beatles producer George Martin’s son Giles, the 1964 feature will sound perfect on the Basie’s new digital 5.1 surround-sound system — and admission is absolutely free, although patrons will be required to obtain tickets in advance here or through the Basie box office.
A combo package, including two tickets, two popcorns and two beverages for $12, is also available through the box office.
And for a complete schedule of Shore Flicks events in Red Bank, Fair Haven, Sea Bright and more, take it here. Then follow Shore Flicks on Facebook or Twitter for up-to-the-minute information on weather-related cancellations or other schedule changes.
