HEIGHTS 95TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF CINEMA!

First opened in 1926, The Heights Theater is the Twin Cities' longest continually running movie theater, and arguably the most beautiful theater in town. Since its first screening of the now-lost silent film Miss Nobody in December, 1926, the Heights has entertained audiences with the finest that cinema has to offer, a tradition that continues to this day. Owner Tom Letness bought the theater in 1998, renovating the entire building, and he has made it his goal to seek out rare silent films, classics on 35mm, 35mm three-strip Technicolor and DCP (digital). For the seventh straight year, we present the annual CELEBRATION OF CINEMA, a 20-film series offering audiences the best films from around the world. From silent classics to film noir, French and German masterpieces, comedies and horror, there is truly something for everyone.

FARGO

Nov. 11, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

DIGITAL CINEMA PRESENTATION

Todd Melby, author of the A Lot Can Happen in the Middle of Nowhere: The Untold Story of the Making of Fargo, will be on hand to introduce the film and share some of the incredible stories behind the classic film.

Fargo's outrageous story of a kidnapping gone very wrong is grounded by Frances McDormand's Oscar-winning role as Marge Gunderson, the very pregnant police chief of Brainerd, whose persistence and wisdom wins the day. Fargo is at once an intensely violent and painful look at loneliness and greed, and a hilarious send up of hot dish Minnesota nice.

DCP courtesy Park Circus.


MODERN TIMES

May 10, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

DIGITAL CINEMA PRESENTATION

Working in the soul-crushing drudgery of a modern factory, the Little Tramp gets caught up in conveyor belts and massive gears, force fed by machines, but in the end keeps hold of his dignity and wins the girl! Charlie Chaplin's classic is a hilarious yet stirring critique of modern industrialization and the ways in which capitalism destroys the soul.

DCP courtesy Janus Films.


FRANKENSTEIN

May 23, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

THESE SCREENINGS ARE SOLD OUT!

35MM PRESENTATION

Dr. Henry Frankenstein and Fritz, the hunchback, are in a cemetery, seeking fresh corpses. Before long, they return to a magnificent laboratory in a castle on a hill, and thus the legendary tale begins. Forget what you know about Frankenstein, for this astounding production is both a visual and emotional cinematic feast, that has inspired audiences and filmmakers around the world.

35mm print courtesy Universal Pictures.


FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF

June 7, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

THIS SCREENING IS SOLD OUT!

DIGITAL CINEMA PRESENTATION

Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) is bored. He's a Senior, it's a gorgeous day in Chicago, and he wants to paint the town red with his best friend, Cameron (Alan Ruck) and girlfriend, Sloane (Mia Fara). Stealing Cameron's dad's Ferrari, the trio heads into the big city, pursued by Vice Principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones). Virtually plotless, this surprise hit was the joy of teenagers in the summer of 1986, and a movie whose pleasures continue to delight audiences to this day.


DRACULA

June 21, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

BONUS SCREENING ADDED Tuesday June 22, our Monday June 21st screening is SOLD OUT!

35MM PRESENTATION

Despite numerous attempts at bettering Bram Stoker's terrifying tale of the eponymous Count, no one tops Bela Lugosi and Tod Browning's gothic vision. Leaving Transylvania for England (after dispatching most of the ship's crew to satisfy his bloodlust), Dracula preys on London's elite. Equally sensual and horrifying, Dracula consistently stuns even the most jaded modern audiences.

35mm print courtesy Universal Pictures.


SUNRISE

June 27, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

DIGITAL CINEMA PRESENTATION

One of the greatest love stories of silent cinema, F.W Murnau's masterpiece Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is a stirring melodrama filled with very modern performances that make this a truly timeless film. Bored with his wife (Janet Gaynor), their baby and the dull routine of farm life, a farmer (George O'Brien) falls under the spell of a flirtatious city girl (Margaret Livingston). The vixen convinces him to drown his wife so they can escape to the city together. Of course nothing goes as planned in this film classic of true love and forgiveness.

This film will be presented with it's original 1927 Movietone music score

DCP courtesy Swank Motion Pictures.


M

July 19, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

DIGITAL CINEMA PRESENTATION

In Weimar Berlin, a serial killer is preying on children, and the city is on edge. Pulling out all the stops, the police conduct daring raids of known criminals, disrupting the city's underworld. And so both gangsters, eager to get back to business, and police, eager to keep from looking like fools, work separately on the same goal: to capture the elusive murderer. Peter Lorre, in his first starring role, imbued his character with profound compassion. Fritz Lang simultaneously created the first serial killer film and the first police procedural, all the while condemning both the police and criminal states that flourished in his day. One of the most complex and disturbing films ever made.


GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933

Aug. 30, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

35MM PRESENTATION

This special screening will also include the 1934 TECHNICOLOR short "GOOD MORNING EVE!" presented in a restored 35mm print from The Library of Congress printed off the original 3 strip Technicolor nitrate negatives!

Four young actresses and a down-on-his-luck producer are holed up in a downbeat New York apartment, lamenting their lack of funds keeping them from sure stardom. On the scene comes a brilliant singer and pianist, who offers them enough money to put on the show--but is this guy a gangster, or worse, a spoiled socialite whose parents want him as far as possible from the gold digging girls of Broadway? This enormous pre-code hit has toe-tapping songs, hilarious and sexy dialogue, and, of course, a veritable army of leggy dancers undulating in Berkeley's hypnotic dance numbers. Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers, Joan Blondell make this a star-studded classic not to be missed!

35mm prints courtesy The Library of Congress


SHOW BOAT

Sept. 13, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

DIGITAL CINEMA PRESENTATION

Spanning four decades in the life of Magnolia Hawks (Irene Dunne), this is the story of a woman growing up on her family's show boat, the Cotton Blossom, which travels up and down the Mississippi River performing variety shows. A complex film about life in the South, racism and politics, Show Boat was considerably softened for its 1950s remake, but this one is the real deal. Featuring gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, songs by Jerome Kern and Roger Hammerstein, and stellar performances by Paul Robeson, Hattie McDaniel, Chales Winninger and scores of others, this rare screening is an absolute show stopper.

DCP courtesy Warner Bros.


THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

Oct. 11, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

DIGITAL CINEMA PRESENTATION

"Klaatu barada nikto!" On a beautiful day in Washington, D.C. a spaceship lands, and out of it emerges an alien, Klaatu (Michael Rennie) and the robot Gort. When the military, on high alert, wounds Klaatu, Gort proceeds to melt tanks and stop the world cold. Klaatu reveals himself to be from another, more powerful world, and brings a message: learn to live in peace or Earth will be destroyed. One of the first, and probably the most famous, anti-Cold War science fiction film of the era, The Day the Earth Stood Still has been called a classic. From the director of West Side Story and The Sound of Music!

DCP courtesy Swank Motion Pictures.


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (LA BELLE ET LA BETE) in 35MM

Nov. 8, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

35MM PRESENTATION

Forget the Disney version--Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast is the most magical and inspired version of this classic tale. When Belle's (Josette Day) destitute father (Marcel Andre) picks a rose for his daughter from the Beast's (Jean Marais) garden, he is sentenced to death. Belle offers to trade herself for the old man, and the Beast agrees, and their romance was the stuff of legend. Evoking the paintings of Vermeer, Cocteau's Beast is a sumptuous tale of love, passion, and violence.

35mm print courtesy Janus Films.


THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM

June 13, 2021, 7:30 p.m.

THIS SCREENING IS SOLD OUT!

35MM PRESENTATION

NEW gorgeous digitally restored Two-Color Technicolor 35mm print!

This pre-code two-color Technicolor horror picture should not be confused as mere historical movie novelty. The Mystery of the Wax Museum is creepy, disturbing and guaranteed to scare even the most jaded moviegoers! When a sculptor is burned in an arson fire, he returns a dozen years later, determined to create wax figures that are as close to real life as humanly--or inhumanely--possible. Don't miss this rare 35mm screening that will leave you screaming!

Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation.

35mm print courtesy The UCLA Film and Television Archive.