January’s free Classic Movie Night is a double feature with two classic movies based on novels by Larry McMurtry and set in Texas: 1963’s Hud starring Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas and Patricia Neal, and the 1971 coming-of-age drama, The Last Picture Show, with Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd and Timothy Bottoms. Come for both, or just one. Hud starts at 6:00 pm and The Last Picture Show about 8:00 pm.
Hud premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, and was a critical and commercial success at its general release. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1964 and won three: Best Actress in a Leading Role (Neal) , Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Douglas) and Best Cinematography. In 2018, the film was included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Hud centers on the ongoing conflict between hard-working and morally upstanding patriarch Homer Bannon and his hard-drinking, arrogant, womanizing son, Hud, during an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease putting the family's cattle ranch at risk. Lonnie, Homer's grandson and Hud's nephew, is caught in the conflict and forced to choose which character to follow.
The Last Picture Show received eight Oscar nominations in 1972 and won two: Best Actor in a Supporting role (Ben Johnson) and Best Actress in a Supporting role (Cloris Leachman). In 1998, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."
In the film, high school seniors and best friends, Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Bridges), live in a dying Texas town. The handsome Duane is dating local beauty, Jacy (Shepherd), while Sonny is having an affair with the coach's wife, Ruth (Cloris Leachman). As graduation nears, both boys contemplate their futures. While Duane eyes the army and Sonny takes over a local business, each boy struggles to figure out if he can escape this dead-end town and build a better life somewhere else.
The January Classic Movie double feature is sponsored by Amelia and Scott Zesch.
The Odeon’s Classic Movie Night is the third Wednesday of each month. Admission is always free but we appreciate your donations, which enable us to continue offering these special movie presentations.
If you’re interested in sponsoring your favorite Classic Movie* by underwriting the licensing fee (typically $50 to $250 depending on the film) in part or whole, please email us at notify@theodeontheater.com.
* Movies must appear on the AFI’s “100 Greatest Movies of All Time” list.