Free Screening of Oscar-Winning Comedy Tootsie Tonight
Boston Harbor Hotel’s Movies by Moonlight series starts at sunset
Tootsie, Sydney Pollack’s 1982 Oscar-winning comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, will be shown for free this evening on the Boston Harbor Hotel’s Harborwalk Terrace, part of its annual Summer in the City Series. Photo by Jack Daryl
For nearly two decades, the Boston Harbor Hotel has drawn residents from all over the city to its Summer in the City entertainment series of free outdoor concerts and film screenings. Tonight it’s the gender-bending 1982 Oscar-winning comedy Tootsie, starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, and Geena Davis (Hon.’99), making her film debut.
In Tootsie, talented but mercurial actor Michael Dorsey (Hoffman), whose difficult-to-work-with reputation makes it nearly impossible for him to land a role, dresses as a woman, and as actress Dorothy Michaels, auditions for the part of a female hospital administrator on a popular soap opera. He gets cast and becomes an immediate hit. Hoffman is brilliant as he tries to keep his real identity secret from fellow cast members and the public. Romantic entanglements ensue, especially after he falls in love with show costar Lange, who is trying to hook him up with her father, played by Charles Durning.
A critical and commercial success, Tootsie was the second highest grossing film of 1982 (behind E.T.), and was nominated for 10 Oscars. Lange won for best supporting actress. In 1998, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Guests arriving early for tonight’s screening can purchase cocktails and appetizers from the hotel’s Rowes Wharf Sea Grille and take in stunning views of Boston Harbor at sunset. The film screens at dusk, 7:57 p.m.
The next two films in the hotel’s Friday classic movies program are 1942 Oscar-winning best picture Casbalanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman (August 11), and The Jungle Book (2016) (August 18). Screening times change from week to week, as days shorten. Find a complete list of movies and screening times here .
The Boston Harbor Hotel’s Summer in the City series runs through September 8. Tootsie, free and open to the public, screens tonight at dusk (7:57 p.m.). Purchase food and drinks at the Rowes Wharf Sea Grille. Find directions here.
Liz Vanderau can be reached at vanderau@bu.edu.
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