Sylvia Scarlett (dir. George Cukor, 1936)
Watershed, 1 Canons Road, Harbourside, Bristol BS1 5TX
Saturday 19 November, 10am-12noon

Running time: 1hr 35min; Rating U

A rom-com with shades of drama and enough hints of queerness and criminality to upset the Catholic League of Decency on its release. Katharine Hepburn adopts the guise of a boy to help her crooked father (Edward Gwenn) escape embezzlement charges. She keeps the disguise when they team up with a Cockney rogue (Cary Grant) for a series of cons, and when she attracts the attention of a woman. But she is forced to choose which identity to keep when handsome artist (Brian Aherne) confesses to experiencing “queer feelings”. With an introduction by Jade Evans, followed by a Q&A chaired by Leanne Dawson.

“A hidden gem of 1930s cinema that showcases the on-screen chemistry between Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn before they would go on to star together in some of cinema’s most memorable screwball comedies. Sylvia Scarlett is a film that deserves to be experienced on the big screen.” (Jade Evans)

“Alongside a concoction of drama, romance and Grant’s characteristic comedic charm, the film’s exploration of gender identity is stylishly exemplified through Hepburn’s variety of on-screen looks” (Jade Evans)

Jade Evans is working on an AHRC funded collaborative PhD with the British Film Institute and Queen Mary University of London. Her research investigates the creation and promotion of British film stars between 1920 – 1970 through an examination of the objects in the BFI National Archive. @enchantedbyfilm

Dr. Leanne Dawson is a Senior Lecturer in German and Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh and the former Chair of the Scottish Queer International Film Festival. Her research focuses on gender, sexuality, and socio-economic position and class, as well as LGBTQ representation in film, literature, theatre, performance art, and archives. Her publications include Queering German Culture (Camden House, 2017), Queering European Film Festivals (Taylor & Francis, 2017), and The Other: Gender, Sexuality and Ethnicity in European Cinema and Beyond (Taylor & Francis, 2014). She is currently writing a monograph theorising the intersection of LGBTQI+ and working-class representation on British screens (film, television, online) as well as working as an EDI consultant working with cinemas in order to make film and arts events more inclusive and accessible and she has been commissioned by BFI to create podcasts and a video working on working class inclusion in independent cinemas and film festivals. @Dr_LeanneDawson

Tickets

£8.50 full / £5.00 concessions.

Watershed Box Office 0117 927 5100

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With support of the BFI Film Audience Network, awarding funds from the National Lottery in order to bring this project to more audiences across the UK

With the support of Col and Karen Needham and IMDb

In Association with UWE Bristol Moving Image Research Group

Celebrating Bristol’s status as a UNESCO City of Film, in recognition of the city’s vibrant screen heritage, of which Cary Grant is one of our brightest stars

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