The Dryden Theatre had an official opening on March 4, 1951, with a live national radio broadcast and most of Rochester’s movers and shakers in attendance. The first feature film screened at the theater, Jean Renoir’s Nana, was projected on March 14. Seventy-five years later we are celebrating this momentous date over two days with an encore screening of Nana, free screenings that represent what the Dryden does best, and a rare chance to see our newest 35mm print projected.
Dates and Titles:
March 13: Nana (Jean Renoir, France 1926, 115 min., 35mm)
March 14 (11 a.m.): Short Silent Comedies - Free Admission!
March 14 (2 p.m.): Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, US 1938, 102 min., 35mm) - Free Admission!
March 14 (5 p.m.): Portrait of Jennie (William Dieterle, US 1948, 86 min., 35mm) - Free Admission!
March 14 (8 p.m.): Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson, US/Canada 2021, 133 min., 35mm)
Events in this Series
Licorice Pizza (35mm)
Dryden 75th Anniversary Celebration! Paul Thomas Anderson’s film prior to One Battle After Another was this sweet-and-sour 1970s coming-of-adulthood film starring Cooper Hoffman in his film debut.
Portrait of Jennie (35mm)
Dryden 75th Anniversary Celebration! | Free Screening! David O. Selznick muse Jennifer Jones plays Joseph Cotten’s muse in this magical realist story about the elusive nature of love. Eben Adams, (Cotten) a struggling painter, meets a young Jennie Appleton (Jones) in Central Park.
Bringing Up Baby (35mm)
Dryden 75th Anniversary Celebration! | Free Screening! In the mother of all screwball comedies, Cary Grant stars as a stuffy paleontologist who knows more about dinosaurs than he does about the modern woman.
Short Silent Comedies (35mm, 16mm)
Dryden 75th Anniversary Celebration! | Free Screening! One of the things the Dryden does best is silent film screenings. With over twenty-five silent programs each year, the Dryden brings the silent period to life with live accompaniment.
Nana (35mm)
Dryden 75th Anniversary Celebration! Here it is, the very first film ever projected on the Dryden's screen, drawn from the novel by Emile Zola, and appropriately, the first great work of one of cinema's masters, Jean Renoir.