Seniors: Cinema 114 December previews

Maggie Ciaglo, your lovely video technician, and I were pressed for time at the last viewing of Cinema 114 on November 30. Instead of using rating sheets as we did for the November selections, we went to a voice vote from the audience. (FYI, the audience that day was our largest. “The King’s Speech” was the DVD of the day.)

Our discerning audience chose “Miracle on 34th Street” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.”

• Wednesday, December 14, we’ll show “Miracle on 34th Street” in an all-new colorized version. The year is 1947; the holiday spirit is in full swing in New York, New York. A cultured gentleman with twinkly eyes, an ample belly and a snowy beard (Edmund Gwenn) is hired by Macy’s as its department store Santa. He says his name is Kris Kringle and soon has everyone at the store filled with holiday cheer except his boss, Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara), who’s raising her daughter (Natalie Wood) not to believe in Santa.

Kringle is declared insane and put on trial, testing everyone’s faith in the age-old question: Do you believe in Santa Claus?

Rating: G. Running Time: 96 minutes.

• Wednesday, December 28, we’ll feature “North by Northwest” starring Cary Grant in a suspenseful tale of espionage, rated as one of the American Film Institute’s top 100 American films. Grant plays a Manhattan advertising executive caught up in a game of spy (James Mason) and counterspy (Eva Marie Saint). He is abducted, framed for murder and left hanging on for dear life at Mount Rushmore. Don’t expect Hitchcock to leave him hanging.

Rating: None. Running Time: 136 minutes.

Maggie and I still look forward to Janet Rescigno’s return, perhaps in February. Meanwhile we will be at the Senior Activity Center on movie day to serve soft drinks and popcorn. Don’t forget — show time is 2:30 p.m. Hope to see you. Bring a friend.