The George Stevens Lecture on Directing presents The More the Merrier in 4K

The George Stevens Lecture on Directing presents The More the Merrier in 4K

Special guest: Annette Bening

Special guest: Annette Bening

George Stevens directed this classic romantic comedy just before joining the United States Army Signal Corps in 1943 to lead a unit shooting footage of World War II in Europe. An unusually topical romantic comedy, the film is set against the backdrop of the wartime Washington, DC, housing shortage. Charles Coburn won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his charming performance as the benevolent millionaire who appoints himself a matchmaker for his landlady (Jean Arthur) and a handsome young sergeant (Joel McCrea), as the three strangers share a crowded apartment. The dialogue sparkles and the romantic chemistry between Arthur and McCrea is palpable. The film, an oasis of goodwill in a war-torn world, was further nominated for Best Picture, Original Story (Robert Russell, Frank Ross), Screenplay (Russell, Ross, Richard Flournoy, and Lewis R. Foster), and Best Actress for Arthur’s effervescent lead. It also earned Stevens the first of his five Oscar nominations for Directing; he won twice, for A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956).

Initiated in 1982, the George Stevens Lecture on Directing was the first of the Academy’s ongoing lectures dedicated to the art of filmmaking. For this edition, five-time Academy Award-nominated actress Annette Bening joins us to share her relationship with The More the Merrier before the screening, presented in a beautiful 4K restoration.

Programmed by K.J. Relth-Miller.
Note by Robert Reneau.
DIRECTED BY: George Stevens. WRITTEN BY: Robert Russell, Frank Ross, Richard Flournoy, Lewis R. Foster. STORY BY: Robert Russell, Frank Ross. WITH: Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Charles Coburn, Richard Gaines. 1943. 101 min. USA. B&W. English. DCP.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation. 

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