Silver Screen Classics under the Stars
Free outdoor movie screenings at the Boston Harbor Hotel
Musicians and movies on a floating barge stage are part of the Boston Harbor Hotel’s Summer in the City entertainment series. Photo courtesy of the Boston Harbor Hotel
In what has become an annual summer tradition, visitors to Boston’s waterfront can enjoy outdoor screenings of critically acclaimed movies every Friday through August, courtesy of Boston Harbor Hotel’s Summer in the City Entertainment Series.
Tonight’s sunset screening, which is held on the hotel’s waterfront terraces, is The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), the steamy film noir based on James M. Cain’s 1934 novel of the same name. The drama, starring John Garfield and Lana Turner, is about drifter Frank Chambers (Garfield), who finds work at a local diner and falls in love with the restaurant owner’s wife, Cora Smith (Turner). Their steamy affair leads to a plot by Frank and Cora to kill her husband, Nick (Cecil Kellaway). The ill-fated duo succeed, but not without being forced to bear unexpected consequences for their deed.
In a twist of fate, both of the film’s stars would later be caught up in dramas of their own. Garfield was blacklisted in Hollywood after refusing to name names before Congress’ House Committee on Un-American Activities and died of a heart attack in 1952, at age 39. Turner’s daughter stabbed the actress’ lover, Johnny Stompanato, to death in 1961. It was later determined she had acted in self-defense.
Among the upcoming features in the Summer in the City series are Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (July 4), The Wizard of Oz (July 11), and Citizen Kane, the Orson Wells drama often cited as the greatest film of all time (July 18). Find a complete list of films here.
As part of its summer entertainment series—now in its 16th year—the Boston Harbor Hotel offers free live music each Tuesday through Thursday. The hotel’s floating barge stage hosts a variety of local and nationally recognized artists. Tuesdays are dedicated to soul music, Wednesdays to music made famous by Hollywood’s Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr.), and Thursdays to blues. But the Friday film series is the hotel’s most popular draw.
The Boston Harbor Hotel is at 70 Rowes Wharf. By public transportation, take any inbound Green Line trolley to Park Street; from there, the hotel is a 15-minute walk. Movies are screened at sunset; find exact screening times and a schedule of musical performances here. The series is free and open to the public.
Paula Sokolska can be reached at ps5642@bu.edu.
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