JACKSON, Wyo. — Theater company Riot Act, Inc. will host five screenings of classic films in its summer series “Fighting Fascists in the Forties,” which runs Thursday nights from July 24 through Aug. 21.
The brainchild of Riot Act Board Member Brian VanHatten, the series will feature a film screening beginning at 7 p.m. and a post-movie discussion in the Riot Act studio, Room 305 in the Center for the Arts.
The series features “Mrs. Miniver” (July 24), “The Great Dictator” (July 31), “Casablanca” (Aug. 7), “The Mortal Storm” (Aug. 21) and “Edge of Darkness” (Aug. 21). These events are free, but Riot Act suggests a donation of $10 for each screening attended.
“There’s an awful lot to unpack here,” VanHatten told Buckrail about the films he selected. “Each of these movies came along and struck a chord.”
Some of the titles are already widely considered to be WWII classics, like “Casablanca” (1942), which is about escaping Nazi-occupied Europe, and “The Great Dictator” (1941), in which Charlie Chaplin plays a thinly veiled Adolf Hitler stand-in named Adenoid Hynkel. “Mrs. Miniver” (1942), which follows an English family as it becomes more and more affected by the war with Germany, is said to have been worth “five battleships” by Winston Churchill in terms of its impact on Allied sentiment.
VanHatten noted that the other two films, though perhaps less familiar to contemporary audiences, offer powerful images of the era. “The Mortal Storm” (1940), starring James Stewart, follows a family divided by the Nazi party as it takes over Germany, and “Edge of Darkness” (1943), starring Errol Flynn, depicts a Norwegian village rising up against Nazi occupation.
“We’ve had to fight fascism before in this country,” VanHatten said. “We had a consistent message. Fighting fascism wasn’t controversial in 1942. Now, let’s look back and see what that looked like.”
VanHatten said he hopes people come ready to discuss the movies and their historical context.
“There’s a part of me that might want to be a little provocative,” VanHatten said.
