On Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. in January, the Humboldt County Library brings back its film series The Affairs of Women (free). Expect a month of femme fatales, fast-talking dames, tragic heroines and struggling starlets.
First, Barbara Stanwyck plays a con artist charmed by snake nerd Henry Fonda in The Lady Eve (1941) on Jan. 5, hosted by Jan Ostrom. Stanwyck lures him not once, but twice, returning in disguise as an English lady in this romantic comedy.
Next up, on Jan. 12, Charity Grella introduces some noir into the mix with The Man I Love (1947). Ida Lupino plays a nightclub canary dodging the advances of a wolfish boss with underworld connections, and pining for a hangdog piano player.
On Jan. 19, Bob Doran presents what might be the first political makeover movie, Born Yesterday (1950). In it, a brassy broad (Judy Holiday) goes from arm candy to informed constituent while falling for the journalist tutor her backroom-dealing boyfriend hired to get her up to social snuff.
Finally, on Jan. 26, sneak backstage and watch the drama unfold between boarding house roomies and aspiring actresses played by Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers and Lucille Ball in Stage Door (1937). Yours truly hosts this one, which actually passes the Bechdel test.
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