Les Blank, a Friend of the Cerrito Theater

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Friends of the Cerrito Theater mourn the passing of a great filmmaker, Les Blank. Blank, a soft-spoken man, made being soft spoken part of his style, as he became a fly on the wall observing — and filming — life around him.

Les Blank, November 4, 2005.

Les Blank at the groundbreaking for the reconstruction and restoration of the Cerrito Theater in 2005.

All the while he kept so quiet the people he filmed forgot he was there — hence the intense realism of his films, and their informality.

Les Blank lived in Berkeley but his film company Flower Films was right here in El Cerrito. He supported the preservation of the Cerrito Theater, attending several events in the early days, as Friends of the Cerrito Theater successfully urged the city to preserve the theater and raised funds for its preservation.

Blank is best known for his movies about folk music, ethnic music, and the like, “The Blues According to Lightnin’ Hopkins,” “Chulas Fronetras;” food (“Garlic is as Good as 10 Mothers“; and the classic “Werner Herzog eats his Shoe.”

But have you seen the two movies he made about the Maestro, the wonderful cowboy performance artist from Albany?

Les, who made 42 films, or maybe more, many with Chris Simon, was 77.

— Dave Weinstein, chairman, Friends of the Cerrito Theater

Take off with Airplane! April 11, 7pm

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Due to high interest in this movie, an additional showing of this Classic has been added at 9:20 pm. Please order tickets online or at the door.

Are you up for a zany spoof of airplane-disaster movies that will have you rolling in the aisles?  “Airplane!” from 1980 is the answer, the movie that spawned such hilarious movies as “The Naked Gun.”  Laugh every minute as you encounter an assemblage of types, including some of your favorite stars, such as Leslie Nielsen, Julie Hagerty, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The showing is on Thursday, April 11 at 7pm. All seats are $8. Getting to the theater early is always a good idea–for a choice of seating and to order freshly-made food and drinks. You are strongly advised to buy tickets in advance at the box office or online.

A Classic! Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn, March 14 at 7pm

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Audrey Hepburn? The Cockney flower girl who is magically transformed, as a caterpillar into a butterfly, into the incandescent Miss Liza Doolittle.

But, here’s a completely different Hepburn, equally unforgettable. “Wait Until Dark” is a suspense film that keeps you guessing until the very end.

Hepburn plays a young married woman who has recently lost her sight in an accident. Fate involves her with some vicious criminals who are desperate to locate contraband that has gone astray. Hepburn, Oscar-nominated for the role, gives a subtle and powerful performance that puts you inside her head, as the plot takes complex twists and turns.

You won’t forget this movie!

The showing is on Thursday, March 14 at 7pm. All seats are $8. Getting to the theater early is always a good idea–for a choice of seating and to order freshly-made food and drinks. You are strongly advised to buy tickets in advance at the box office or online.