Brigham Young University’s Motion Picture Archive Film Series’ Memorial Day tribute will feature James Cagney in the World War II drama “Captains of the Clouds” Friday, May 25, at 7 p.m.
The screening will take place in the Harold B. Lee Library auditorium. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and admission is free, but seating is limited. Children age 8 and older are welcome to attend.
The film will be preceded by an introductory lecture by James D’Arc, curator of the BYU Motion Picture Archive. The showing also marks the closing weeks of the Lee Library’s exhibit, “Remembering World War II: Pearl Harbor & Beyond.”
According to D’Arc, the timely 1942 release of “Captains of the Clouds” helped prepare the United States, which was largely isolationist, for its inevitable participation in World War II.
“The story concerns Cagney, who forsakes a career as a cavalier bush pilot in the Canadian northlands to join the Royal Canadian Air Force,” said D’Arc. “He’s also in a love triangle, competing with co-star Dennis Morgan for the affections of Morgan’s girlfriend, played by Brenda Marshall.”
The BYU Motion Picture Archive Film Series is co-sponsored by the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, friends of the Harold B. Lee Library and Dennis and Linda Gibson. All films shown in the series come from the permanent collection of rare film prints in the Lee Library’s BYU Motion Picture Archive.
For more information, contact James D'Arc at (801) 422-6371.
Writer: Aaron Searle
