ILLEANA DOUGLAS
IN-PERSON
with THE SWIMMER - THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT
Thursday, December 28th at 7 PM
Film, Discussion, & Book Signing
Tickets include a copy of Connecticut in the Movies: From Dream House to Dark Suburbia.
Join Author/Actress
Illeana Douglas with one of the movies featured in her new book Connecticut in
the Movies: From Dream House to Dark Suburbia.
The acclaimed adaptation of John Cheever’s book has become a cult favorite
while providing a fascinating portrait of cultural and personal malaise in late
1960s suburbia. In The Swimmer, Burt Lancaster fearlessly incarnates a
middle-aged man swimming home via a ‘river’ of backyard swimming pools. As he
encounters an array of couples, families, gatherings and acquaintances, it
becomes evident that things are not quite what they seem. (1968, 94 mins)
Illeana Douglas has long been known
for shining new light on forgotten films. Now the celebrated actress and film
historian turns her focus to a heretofore unrecognized brand: the Connecticut
movie Told from the passionate perspective of the author who grew up here, and
filled with behind-the-scenes stories as well as her own personal snapshots of
the places where these films were made, Illeana takes the reader on a cinematic
road trip through Hollywood history and Connecticut geography, bringing the
breezy, intimate, knowledgeable writing style acclaimed by reviewers of her
first book, I Blame Dennis Hopper (2015). Illeana defines how the perception of
on-screen Connecticut, originally created in Hollywood, has shifted more than
that of any other New England state over the decade and offers some surprising
conclusions about just what it means to be a "Connecticut movie."
Films from Hollywood's Golden Age, such as Theodora Goes Wild, Bringing Up
Baby, and Christmas in Connecticut, presented Connecticut as an antidote to the
metropolis--a place where you could find your true self. The slogan "Come
to Peaceful Connecticut" not only led to Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream
House, but to an exodus of urban moviegoers seeking their dream houses. In
post-war America, Gentleman's Agreement challenged Connecticut's well-cultivated
image, as did the suburban malaise of The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, and
contemporary takes on dark suburbia like The Swimmer, The Ice Storm, and
Revolutionary Road. From Sherlock Holmes to Mystic Pizza to Indiana Jones and
the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; from horror in The Stepford Wives to
historical in Amistad; picturesque in Parrish, to perverse in The Secret Life
of An American Wife, the Constitution State has been the background for
surprisingly over 200 feature films, yet these cinematic contributions have
long gone unrecognized; until now. Connecticut in the Movies is not
only a keepsake for denizens of the state, but a valuable resource for film
buffs everywhere.
![](https://prod3.agileticketing.net/images/user/cace_3663/conneticut_in_the_movies.jpg)
![](https://prod3.agileticketing.net/images/user/cace_3663/the_swimmer_1.jpg)