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Two summers ago, when the River City Cinema Society truly made its mark on the scene, they did so from the shadows of downtown Bangor’s Pickering Square, letting loose with a hail of classic movies in their successful film festival, “Noir Beneath the Stars.” Last summer, feeling a bit cheerier, they slayed audiences with “Smiles on a Summer Night.”
This summer, the society has packed its bags with a different agenda.
On Friday, June 30, their latest festival, “If It’s Friday, This Must be Bangor”-a spin on Mel Stuart’s 1969 movie, “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium”-wants us to see the world, but via the most agreeable sort of traveling.
Forget the hassles of busy airports and clogged highways. As society co-founder Jorge Gonzales notes, “With us, you don’t have to spend money on airfare or gasoline. You can travel the world without ever having to leave the comfort of your lawn chair.”
True to form, this year’s lineup of movies is a wanderlust of classics, each as solid as audiences have come to expect from the free festival, which over the course of its two-year run has drawn thousands.
Beginning next Friday evening is Michael Curtiz’s “Casablanca,” with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman mooning in Morocco. On July 7, the destination is wartime Europe in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 film, “Foreign Correspondent,” with Joel McCrea, Laraine Day and George Sanders.
On July 14, Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck are in Rome in William Wyler’s 1953 movie, “Roman Holiday,” and on July 21, it’s Hepburn again, this time glamming it up in Paris with Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson in 1957’s “Funny Face.” On July 28, the 1974 Agatha Christie-inspired “Murder on the Orient Express” rails through Istanbul with its huge, who’s-who cast of characters, and on Aug. 11, Raquel Welch has something of an inner-body experience (if that’s possible) in 1966’s “Fantastic Voyage.”
Once again, audiences are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Shows begin at sundown, with a rain date planned for Aug. 18. Since the festival has families in mind, all films are rated either G or PG.
“There are no PG-13 films this year,” says society co-founder Kathy Tenga-Gonzales. “For those bringing children, we offer links on our Web site (www.rivercitycinema.com) that allow people to research each film featured in the festival. This way, they can decide for themselves if a particular movie is suitable for them and their families.”
To raise funds for the event, the society secured 11 sponsors – WBRC Architects and Engineers, Bangor Savings Bank, Eaton Peabody, Groth & Associates, Bangor Center Corporation, Cuddy & Lanham, Bennett Auto Center, Main 1 Travel, Bangor True Value Hardware/Penobscot Paint, RBC Dain Rauscher and Bangor International Airport. Popcorn, soft drinks, ice cream and candy also will be sold, with all proceeds assisting the society in its mission of showcasing underseen films around the Bangor area via their traveling, state-of-the-art theater, “Cinema to Go.”
A typical night’s attendance at their summer series ranges anywhere between 400-500 people, filling Pickering Square to capacity, with room left only for standing. The happy buzz of those in attendance, the smell of fresh popcorn in the air, the cars circling along the periphery and the giant screen gifted to the society by the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, have made this community event a showcase for Bangor.
“A lot of people now have made it a tradition,” says Tenga-Gonzales. “At the end of each festival, we’ve had people ask us what they’re now going to do on Friday nights.”
No doubt the society would prefer that its patrons spend it with them. Founded in 2001 by the Gonzaleses, Michael Grillo and Sandra Johnson, as well as Barbara and David Clark, who have since relocated out of state, the society’s longtime goal has been to have their own cinema in the Bangor area. For those who have followed the society’s progress in these pages, the realization of that goal has been a while in coming.
At the start of 2006, a board was to be in place, with the society hoping to have their own space to show films at the beginning of 2007. Having missed that first goal, a board now is slated to be in place by summer’s end, with its mission to launch a fundraising campaign that will create a new film center in downtown Bangor.
“We are working on it,” says Gonzales. “We want to be part of the engine that drives people to downtown Bangor. We have a couple of locations in mind that would be ideal for such a complex. If anyone reading this shares our vision, please visit our Web site and contact us.”
Should their vision come together, the economic ripple of such a complex could be significant, as it was in Rockland with the recent renovation of The Strand. Downtown restaurants, in particular, have been positively affected by the festival. “When we’re in town, [area restaurants] have noticed more of a crowd carrying lawn chairs,” says Gonzales.
Chris Geaghan, owner of the Whig & Courier Pub, confirms it. “There is no question that the film festival makes a difference,” he says. “We have outdoor seating and you can see the movies from our seats. The festival also has a community feel to it,” he says. “I see people walking by with their lawn chairs, which is neat. The event gets people not only used to being downtown, but also parking downtown. Downtown Bangor has things that other places don’t offer. Anytime there is anything going on here, it shows that we are vibrant and existing. The film festival, the art show, the Folk Festival – all are important.”
This year, as last year, the society is collaborating with the Maine International Film Festival to bring two films to the Bangor Opera House on July 15.
First is the documentary “Top of the World,” which follows filmmaker Bill Kern’s trek to the top of Mt. Everest, and the rewarding, unexpected relationships he mines from his journey. Second is “I Shot Andy Warhol,” the 1996 movie in which Lili Taylor becomes Valerie Jean Solanas, the rough-and-tumble lesbian playwright who shot Warhol (nicely portrayed by Jared Harris) because he didn’t produce her play, the title of which can’t be printed in a family paper. The film’s director, Mary Harron, who currently is generating solid reviews for her new movie, “The Notorious Bettie Page,” will be on hand to discuss her films.
More information about the series, the society, and the Maine International Film Festival can be found on the society’s Web site, www.rivercitycinema.com. For information about arrangements in case of rain, call 989-9494, courtesy of Voyager Call Center.
Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays in Discovering, Fridays in Happening, and Weekends in Television. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.
Festival lineup
June 30: “Casablanca”
July 7: “Foreign
Correspondent”
July 14: “Roman Holiday”
July 21: “Funny Face”
July 28: “Murder on the Orient Express”
Aug. 11: “Fantastic Voyage”
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