Classic Film Series at the Old Greenbelt Theatre

Greenbelt theatre operator Paul Sanchez has observed a move in Hollywood to convert films into digital copies for theatre distribution – and finds it depressing to think playing films may be coming to an end.

He was inspired to offer a classic film series at the the because “It could be the last time you’ll be able to see these like they were,” he said.

Saturday's feature is Stanley Kubrick’s “The Killing” (1956), starring Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray and Vince Edwards.

“It’s kind of like going back in time,” Sanchez said, discussing his love for playing the old 35 mm films on the big screen. “You’re seeing it exactly as they saw it back then.”

Next month, “Kiss Me Deadly,” is slated to play at noon on June 4. Sanchez said this film, in particular, takes viewers back in time because it was shot on location, so the audience gets to see how Los Angeles looked in the 50s.

“Some of these black and white movies are as sharp as a tack,” Sanchez said. “They look like they were shot yesterday.”

The two remaining features in the Old Greenbelt Theaters’ classic movie series are:

Saturday, May 7 at noon: Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing" (1956).

Starring Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray and Vince Edwards. The story follows ex-prisoner Johnny Clay, who meticulously plans a racetrack heist with one weak link – the human factor, in the form of a greedy shrewish wife and her unscrupulous boyfriend. The two cause Clay's brilliant scheme to go madly awry, while mobsters make off with the money. Told from the perspective of different characters, the technique broke the mold of 1950s cinema.

Saturday, June 4 at noon: Robert Aldrich’s “Kiss Me Deadly” (1955).

Based on a Mickey Spillane novel, the film stars Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart and Cloris Leachman in her film debut. A tragic female hitchhiker draws Mike Hammer into a deadly search for clues to her fate, sending him through a labyrinth of scientists, art dealers and thugs to solve the mystery. This Aldrich film is considered a classic of the noir genre.