Summer Movie Series Begins with “The Raven” July 17

The “Movies in the Amphitheatre” series hosted by the Camden Public Library kicks off on Tuesday, July 17, with the 1963 film “The Raven.” Vincent Price is joined for the first time by Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre, creating the trio of classic horror-movie actors. The movie is more campy than horror, and features a wizard’s duel some four decades before Hogwarts. The movie also features the first film appearance of the young Jack Nicholson, and some impressively cheesy special effects. The movie is loosely based on the poem by Edgar Allan Poe. It’s a perfect example of Vincent Price’s B movies. The library will serve cheese puffs to appropriately enhance the evening, Tuesday, July 17, at 8:15 pm. Bring blankets or chairs for comfortable seating.

The movie series is generously supported by The First Bancorp, and continue on the next four Tuesday evenings at dusk. The rain venue for “The Raven” will be in the Picker Room in the Library. The schedule for the movie series is:

July 17,  Tuesday, 8:15 pm – Movie “The Raven” (1963, “Approved” rating)
July 24,  Tuesday, 8:15 pm – Movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral” (1994; 116 min., rated R for language and some sexuality)
July 31, Tuesday, 8:15 pm – Movie “A River Runs Through It” (1992; 123 min.; PG)
August 7,  Tuesday, 8:00 pm – Movie “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971; 100 min.; G)
August 14, Tuesday, 8:00 pm – Movie “A Knight’s Tale” (2001; 132 min.; PG-13)

The theme for the summer, including the Adult Summer Reading Program, the Summer Music Series, and the Summer Movie Series, is a poetry theme, “Reading Between the Lines: A ‘Renascence’ Summer.” The theme commemorates the 100th anniversary of the “discovery” of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay at Camden’s Whitehall Inn in 1912. Visit the library’s website at www.librarycamden.org to download a complete schedule.

The highlight of the summer will be the appearance of The Edna Project in a free concert in the Amphitheatre on Sunday afternoon, August 5, at 3:00 pm. The Edna Project is a contemporary folk duo of Liz Queler and Seth Farber who have put the music of Edna St. Vincent Millay to music. They perform eclectic, imaginative songs spanning folk, bluegrass, rock, and jazz styles. Theirs is an ambitious project, covering a wide musical swath, and all of it done excellently.