35mm Akira Kurosawa's RED BEARD at the Vista, Los Feliz

SAT, DEC 14, 2019 9:30a: Red Beard (1965, Janus/Toho/Kurosawa, dir by Akira Kurosawa, 185mns, 35mm) VISTA [12 Months of Kurosawa]  We end our Kurosawa series in the same non-linear fashion in which we started. That is to say the middle.  Our final feature is Kurosawa’s 1965 masterwork Red Beard which also marked the last time he would ever work with Toshiro Mifune.  The movie took two years to make and forced Mifune to turn down countless lucrative acting jobs.  Kurosawa had an entire 19th century Japanese city built from scratch. Red Beard tells the story of a heart broken and cocky young doctor who thinks he is bound for great things only to discover his father has agreed to commit his son’s services to Mifune’s Red Beard of the title, a local doctor who runs a medical clinic for the indigent and poor.   The haughty young doctor is shocked. There is no honor, fame, or gain to be had in helping such people. No one will hear of his accomplishments.  The young doctor promptly decides to behave so poorly that Red Beard will excuse him. But bit by bit, episode by episode, Red Beard slowly wins over the Young Doctor by revealing himself to be a doctor of supreme talent, skill, and most importantly compassion and wisdom for those people unjustly ignored by society. The movie is a tour de force of storytelling, style, them, and philosophy.  After it, Kurosawa would never again quite scale such heights.  In this programmer’s opinion, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, and Red Beard mark the three highest summits of Kurosawa’s Himalayan mountain range of a career. And it is from this summit that we will peer out one last time at a cinematic career that guides a path forward for any aspiring moviemaker. Kurosawa died planning his next movie. He had already drawn the storyboards and designed the costumes.  May we all be only so lucky to have one tenth that drive, ambition, vision, and commitment. Best always, Craig Hammill 35mm Secret Movie Club Programmer.Organizer  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:  TICKETS: Tickets for all our events are available online at https://secretmovieclub.eventbrite.com or through each individual event on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/secretmovieclub35mm/.  Unless otherwise noted, all our movies screen at The Vista Theater, 4473 Sunset Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027.   We currently are showing 1-2 movies a season at the Los Feliz 3, 1822 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027; about 8 blocks from the Vista Theater in Los Feliz.   We also make tickets available at the Vista Box Office. REFUNDS: We will honor all refund requests as long as they are made 24 hours or more before the listed start time of the screening. After that, no refunds. Sorry. HOW DOES A SECRET MOVIE CLUB 2019 WINTER SEASON ALL-ACCESS PASS WORK: If you buy an ALL-ACCESS PASS (access to all 32 movies we’re showing from January 5th 2019 @ 11:59pm-March 2019), you get entrance into every single movie we show throughout our Winter 2019 Season (including any special events we may announce at a later time; so your value may increase!).  This is our best deal at $192.00 (or $6 per movie).  This offer is available through the following EVENTBRITE LINK:  If you decide to buy the ALL-ACCESS PASS and have already bought a series pass or individual ticket, just write us: secretmovieclub@curiousproductions.com and we’ll issue you a refund for the individual tickets you bought before the all-access pass. The All-Access Pass is available for purchase until January 5th, 2019 @ 11:59p which is the evening of PAN’S LABYRINTH, our first movie of the Winter 2019 season. After that, series passes and individual tickets will remain available.  With the ALL-ACCESS PASS, we generate a special list with your name on it. All you have to do is come to our table ahead of each movie, give us your name, and get your ticket. HOW DOES A SERIES PASS WORK: If you buy an Individual Series Pass, you gain entrance to all movies in that series.  This is our next best deal after the Season All-Access pass.  If you know you can make a series in January but not a series in March, this is the way to go.   The price of each Series Pass depends on how many movies we show in that series. So for instance if we are showing 6 movies in the series, the pass would cost $54 (or $9 per movie).  If we are showing 4 movies in that series, the pass would cost $36, and so on.  You can buy the Series Pass through any individual Eventbrite link for a movie in that series. Then, we generate a special list with your name on it. All you have to do is come to our table ahead of each movie, give us your name, and get your ticket. MOVIEPASS (as of late November 2018): While we do accept and want you to use your MoviePass, we advise all moviegoers to first check the current MoviePass rules and regulations to make sure they can still use their MoviePass for our events.  Secret Movie Club and the Vista Theater are not associated with nor responsible for any changes in policy on the part of MoviePass or any similar service. CONCESSIONS: The Vista Concessions stand is open for all our events. So you will always have access to popcorn, soda, candy, coffee the works! PARKING: The Vista has no dedicated parking lot. Thankfully, there is parking in the residential areas around the Vista Theater. Just plan to get to the theater 20 minutes earlier than normal so you have enough time to park, walk to the theater, get your tickets, get in line. Make sure you read the street signs!  Hillhurst and Sunset Drive tend to be the best for street parking.  Avoid Rosalia and Commonwealth as they have permit-only parking rules.  We don’t want any Secret Movie Clubbers getting parking tickets.  SHOWTIMES: We screen our movies before or after the Vista’s official movies. This is why most of our showtimes are either at midnight or between 10am-11am in the morning.  Always check the listed showtime before buying your ticket.  MAILING LIST: We started as a secret email list way back in April of 2016. In respect to our origins, we will always announce our upcoming seasons, special events, and speakers with the ability to get tickets via the email list first before posting to Facebook or anywhere else. If you’d like to get on the secret email list, email us at: secretmovieclub@curiousproductions.com. OTHER QUESTIONS: You can always email us at: secretmovieclub@curiousproductions.com . We work to respond asap within receipt of your email. If you don't get a response within 48 hours, please email us again.