Big-screen revivals over the next few weeks take aim at Generation X with a pair of 1986 blockbusters — that year’s No. 1 movie, “Top Gun,” starring Tom Cruise, and another from the ’86 top 10, Matthew Broderick's “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
But baby boomers and those from the Greatest Generation won’t be left out as many of their favorite stars are also on tap, including Marlon Brando, Judy Garland, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy, among many others.
• “Comedy of Prisoners” (1917/1920/1927, b/w, silent). Three hilarious escaped-convict slapstick shorts are included: Charlie Chaplin in “The Adventurer,” Buster Keaton in “Convict 13” and Laurel & Hardy in “The Second Hundred Years.” (Thursday-Friday, April 21-22, The Organ Loft, 7:30 p.m.)
• “On the Waterfront” (1963, b/w). Marlon Brando heads a stellar cast in one of his best films, a crime melodrama set against union corruption on the New Jersey docks. The film won eight Oscars, including for work by Brando, co-star Eva Marie Saint and director Elia Kazan. (Sunday, April 24, and Wednesday, April 27, 2 and 7 p.m., Fathom Events/Turner Classic Movies; at Cinemark Theatres)
• “The Robe” (1953). This slow, underdeveloped but still enjoyable biblical epic stars Richard Burton as the Roman centurion who presides over the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Famous as the first CinemaScope film, which helped establish widescreen movies as the standard format. (Tuesday, April 26, 10 a.m., SCERA Center for the Arts, Orem)
• “Thunderball” (1965). The fourth James Bond adventure stars Sean Connery as 007, taking on SPECTRE in the Bahamas in a race to recover nuclear warheads. (Remade with Connery in 1983 as “Never Say Never Again.”) (Wednesday, April 27, 2 p.m., free, Salt Lake City Library)
• “A Star Is Born” (1954). Arguably Judy Garland’s best performance, this classic musical casts her as a young up-and-coming singer who marries and then eclipses a fading matinee idol (James Mason, also excellent). (Sunday, May 1, 2 p.m., and Wednesday, May 4, 2 and 7 p.m., Cinemark Theatres)
• “Midnight Lace” (1960). Doris Day is an American heiress in London who is newly married to financier Rex Harrison when she becomes the victim of threatening phone calls and near-miss accidents. Is she in danger or going crazy? John Gavin, Myrna Loy and Roddy McDowall co-star. (Tuesday, May 3, 10 a.m., SCERA Center for the Arts, Orem)
• “Broken Blossoms” (1919, b/w, silent). Lillian Gish is in top form as a victim of her father’s physical abuse, taken in by a Chinese immigrant (Richard Barthelmess) in this creaky but compelling tragedy. It is directed without flourish by D.W. Griffith. (Thursday-Friday, May 5-6, The Organ Loft, 7:30 p.m.)
• “Enter the Dragon” (1973, R for violence, nudity). Considered by many to be the greatest martial-arts film ever, this one made Bruce Lee a superstar, though he died at age 32 before its release. Jim Kelly co-stars, and young Jackie Chan has a small role. (Sunday, May 8, 2 p.m., and Wednesday, May 11, 2 and 7 p.m., Cinemark Theatres)
• “Victory” (1981, PG). This is a silly but action-packed blend of “The Longest Yard” and “The Great Escape,” with Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone and Brazilian soccer star Pele as POWs in Germany during World War II, practicing for a morale-building soccer game while planning an escape. Max Von Sydow co-stars. (Tuesday, May 10, 10 a.m., SCERA Center for the Arts, Orem)
• “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). This must-see classic musical of L. Frank Baum’s tale of a Kansas farm girl (Judy Garland) who is transported to a colorful fantasyland is even more magical on the big screen. (Wednesday, May 11, 7 and 9 p.m., Peery’s Egyptian Theater, Ogden)
• “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986, PG-13). Matthew Broderick is perfect in this comedy about a Chicago teen skipping school to enjoy a day in the city, and he occasionally faces the camera to tell the audience about his philosophy of life. (Sunday, May 15, and Wednesday, May 18, 2 and 7 p.m., Fathom Events/Turner Classic Movies; at Cinemark Theatres)
• “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (1954). This lively, thoroughly engaging musical comedy is about a frontiersman (Howard Keel) finding a wife (Jane Powell) and taking her home — only to surprise her with the news that they will be living with his six rowdy brothers. (Tuesday, May 17, 10 a.m., SCERA Center for the Arts, Orem)
• “The Pilgrim”/“The Idle Class” (1923/1921, b/w, silent). Charlie Chaplin stars as the Little Tramp in two riotous slapstick comedies, “The Pilgrim,” about an escaped convict impersonating a minister, and the “The Idle Class,” in which he plays two roles: the Tramp, crashing a masquerade ball, and the wealthy businessman for whom he is mistaken. (Thursday-Friday, May 19-20, The Organ Loft, 7:30 p.m.)
• “Winged Victory” (1944, b/w). This fascinating Hollywood propaganda film, a depiction of pilot training made during World War II with the cooperation of the U.S. Army Air Forces, features a bevy of rising stars in support, including Judy Holliday, Lee J. Cobb, Red Buttons, Barry Nelson, Karl Malden and George Reeves. (Friday, May 20, 7 p.m., free, Harold B. Lee Library, BYU, Provo)
• “Top Gun” (1986, PG-13). This one is a more contemporary take on pilot training and was a huge hit that shot Tom Cruise to superstardom and added the phrase “I feel the need, the need for speed” to the lexicon. Co-stars include Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Tim Robbins and Meg Ryan. (Sunday, May 22, 2 p.m., and Wednesday, May 25, 2 and 7 p.m., Cinemark Theatres)
• “National Velvet” (1944). This wonderful Technicolor charmer tells of young Velvet Brown (12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor) winning a horse in a raffle and deciding to make him a Grand National steeplechase champion. Mickey Rooney reluctantly becomes her jockey. Angela Lansbury, Donald Crisp and Anne Revere, who won an Oscar for her role as Taylor’s mother, co-star. (Tuesday, May 24, 10 a.m., SCERA Center for the Arts, Orem)
• “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (1964). Debbie Reynolds earned her only Oscar nomination for an energetic and charming performance in this boisterous, fictionalized musical. Reynolds stars as the titular backwoods girl who marries wealth but still can’t fit into high society until she becomes a celebrity after surviving the sinking of the Titanic. (Wednesday, May 25, 2 p.m., free, Salt Lake City Library)
Chris Hicks is the author of "Has Hollywood Lost Its Mind? A Parent’s Guide to Movie Ratings." He also writes at www.hicksflicks.com and can be contacted at hicks@deseretnews.com.