The Film Society of Lincoln Center Announces COWARD ON FILM Lineup, 5/11-13

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the schedule for COWARD ON FILM (May 11-13), which will run in conjunction with the ongoing citywide festival STAR QUALITY: THE WORLD OF Noël Coward honoring the British playwright, actor, director and composer. The series will trace the breadth of his film work, which ranges from British silent and sound adaptations of his early plays to the later prestige productions of his works made in Hollywood. Notable films from his multi-film collaboration with the young David Lean will also be highlighted, as well as his celebrated cameo appearances in others' films.
 
"I'm not very keen on Hollywood. I'd rather have a nice cup of cocoa, really," Noël Coward (1899-1973) wrote in a 1930 letter to his mother. At the time, his verdict was not surprising. Several of his early plays filmed by British studios were silent, even though his plays relied heavily on witty dialogue. The highpoint of Coward's involvement with the cinema came in the 1940s, with two masterworks: IN WHICH WE SERVE, one of the greatest war films ever made, and which was written, scored and co-directed (with David Lean) by Coward-who also starred in the film; and BRIEF ENCOUNTER, fondly remembered as one of the great screen romances.  In the 1950s and 1960s, he played character parts in other directors' films and when told that he invariably "stole" the scenes in which he appeared, Coward replied, "Yes, but it was only petty larceny."
 
"Noël Coward's enormous gifts were spread across an extraordinary range of activities and media--from theater to film to acting to composing to singing. We're delighted to be part of this long-deserved tribute to this "one-man Lincoln Center," presenting the best of his cinematic achievements," says Film Society of Lincoln Center's Program Director Richard Peña.
 
Free Guided Tours: During the Coward on Film series, curator Brad Rosenstein will offer two guided tours of the concurrent New York Public Library exhibition "Star Quality: The World of Noël Coward," featuring an extensive selection of manuscripts, paintings, set and costumes designs, costumes, and personal memorabilia, add VIDEO from the Coward archive. The tours will be offered on Friday, May 11 at 12:45 PM and Saturday, May 12 at 12:30 PM at the Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza.
 
Tickets are on sale both at the box office and on-line at filmlinc.com. Ticket prices are $13 for the general public, $9 for students and seniors and $8 for members. Special ticket package: create your own double feature! Select any two films in the series for just $20 for the general public and $15 for students, seniors and members. Screenings will be held at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater (located at 165 West 65th Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway). This series is programmed by Richard Peña and Barry Day, editor of The Noël Coward Reader and The Letters of Noël Coward. For information on the film series visit filmlinc.com/noelcoward. For more information on the citywide Coward festival visit noelcowardinnewyork.com.