The Cabin in the Cotton

True West turns its lens on the influential career of trailblazing Hollywood icon Bette Davis with a five film retrospective spanning four decades. Never one to shy away from complicated and morally-compromised characters, Davis paved the way for a new screen heroine with her intense and combative style and radical physical transformations. Beginning with her breakthrough role in Michael Curtiz’ The Cabin in the Cotton (1932) and ending with Robert Aldrich’s Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), we’ll trace her evolution into the grande dame of Hollywood and the highest paid woman in America.

Join Board President Hillary Kambour and Artistic Director Mike Traina as we do a deep dive into Davis’ life in front of and behind the camera as well as the changes that took place in the Hollywood studio system and American cinematic storytelling. Additional titles include William Wyler’s noir masterpiece The Letter (1940), John Huston & Raoul Walsh’s pulpy melodrama In This Our Life (1942), and Joseph Mankiewicz’s Oscar-winning showbiz satire All About Eve (1950).

Concessions available for purchase - Popcorn, soda, candy, wine + beer.

HOT TIP: Bring dinner with you!

THE CABIN IN THE COTTON
Michael Curtiz, 1932, USA
When Marvin (Richard Barthelmess), the son of a poor tenant farmer in the American South, tries to escape poverty by getting an education, he is aided by a wealthy plantation owner who expects loyalty in return. But ethical dilemmas arise when other farmers claim exploitation and Marvin is forced to choose sides. To complicate matters, he becomes involved with Madge (Bette Davis), the plantation owner’s daughter. Surprisingly nuanced, the film is a provocative pre-Code social melodrama that sought to expose a rigged Capitalist system that amounted to slavery in everything but name. 78 minutes.