Is value a function of the price of things, or of the deeper meaning we find and create? In conjunction with the exhibition Maintenance Art, a survey of Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ work, this seven-week film series focuses on characters in urban settings who confront class distinctions and forge unlikely alliances.

Each movie is introduced by Mark Ethan Toporek, who also leads a post-screening discussion. He is a member of the Actors’ Studio, who has appeared in films including The Secret Lives of Dentists, The Confession, and Lesser Prophets. He has been presenting the Film Series at the Queens Museum since 1998, and at the 92Y since 2003.

Today’s Film:

Oct 26 The Hospital (1971), directed by Arthur Hiller, 103 minutes. Paddy Chayevsky’s Oscar winning screenplay about the overburdened head of a hospital (George C. Scott) struggling with personal depression, a deteriorating New York neighborhood, and a murderer stalking the halls. Co-stars Diana Rigg.

This film series takes place in the second-floor theater and is free with Museum admission and open to the general public (with a special invitation to seniors).

Complete 2016 Season:

Isolation and Community:

Sept 28 Street Scene (1931), directed by King Vidor, 120 minutes. Elmer Rice adapted his Pulitzer Prize winning play, set in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen on two hot summer days. The story of families in a tenement is a microcosm of the American melting pot. Starring Sylvia Sydney and Beulah Bondi.

Oct 5 Faithless (1932), directed by Harry Beaumont, 77 minutes. In this pre-Code drama, a high-society socialite (Tallulah Bankhead) is forced to experience the low end of street life after the 1929 stock market crash. Co-stars Robert Montgomery.

No film screening on Oct 12

Neighborhoods in Transition:

Oct 19 The Last Angry Man (1959), directed by Daniel Mann, 100 minutes. Paul Muni plays an elderly family doctor in Brooklyn who is dedicated to preserving his practice in a changing neighborhood. Co-stars David Wayne, Betsy Palmer, Luther Adler.

Oct 26 The Hospital (1971), directed by Arthur Hiller, 103 minutes. Paddy Chayevsky’s Oscar winning screenplay about the overburdened head of a hospital (George C. Scott) struggling with personal depression, a deteriorating New York neighborhood, and a murderer stalking the halls. Co-stars Diana Rigg.

Rich and Poor:

Nov 2 The Devil and Miss Jones (1941), directed by Sam Wood, 92 minutes. Social comedy about a tycoon (Charles Coburn) who masquerades as a clerk in his own department store to investigate employee complaints. Also starring Jean Arthur and Robert Cummings.

Nov 9 Changing Lanes (2002), directed by Roger Michell, 98 minutes. A car accident on the FDR drive involving a young affluent white lawyer (Ben Affleck) and a working class black man (Samuel L. Jackson) escalates into a feud which changes their lives.

Nov 16 Inside Man (2006), directed by Spike Lee, 129 minutes. A Wall Street bank heist mutates into a hostage crises and a tangled test of wills among the robbery leader (Clive Owen), a police detective (Denzel Washington) and a bank ‘fixer’ (Jodie Foster).