"Best of Enemies" Featured As Art@York Film for October

The new Art@York program continues on Wednesday, October 14, 2015, with a screening of the documentary "Best of Enemies."  

The York Theatre is located at 150 N. York Street in downtown Elmhurst. The film will be shown at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.  Admission is $6.50 matinee and $9 evening per person; seniors are $5 for the matinee.  Be sure to arrive early for the matinee to enjoy the preshow entertainment showcasing a performance on the Barton Theatre organ by Dave Rhodes, the house organist at Classic Cinemas/ Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove.

"The Best of Enemies" (R/87 min), which premiered at Sundance Film Festival, recounts the summer of 1968 when television news changed forever. Dead last in the ratings, ABC hired two towering public intellectuals to debate each other during the Democratic and Republican national conventions. William F. Buckley Jr. was a leading light of the new conservative movement. A Democrat and cousin to Jackie Onassis, Gore Vidal was a leftist novelist. Vidal and Buckley believed each other's political ideologies were dangerous for America. Like rounds in a heavyweight battle, they pummeled out policy and personal insult-cementing their opposing political positions. Their explosive exchanges devolved into vitriolic name-calling.  It was unlike anything TV had ever broadcast, and all the more shocking because it was live and unscripted. Viewers were riveted. ABC News' ratings skyrocketed. And a new era in public discourse was born - the dawn of pundit television as we know it today.

In response to many requests for more art-related films at the York Theatre, Classic Cinemas recently introduced the new program, Art@York, which features art and foreign movies on the second Wednesday of every month. An advisory panel has been formed to assist with the selection of films. Guest and community feedback and suggestions are important and can be sent to Shirley Johnson at sjohnson@classiccinemas.com.