OPENING LECTURE: 50 YEARS AND FORWARD 
Saturday, December 16, 11 am 

Manton Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Anne Leonard introduces the pair of exhibitions 50 Years and Forward: Works on Paper Acquisitions in the Clark Center lower level and 50 Years and Forward: British Prints and Drawings Acquisitions in the Eugene V. Thaw Gallery for Works on Paper, located in the Manton Research Center. These exhibitions mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Manton Research Center with a choice selection of prints, drawings, and photographs acquired since 1973. Featuring recent acquisitions and other works never shown at the Clark before, the presentations trace not only the growth of classic areas of strength but also the emergence of fresh collecting territories. 

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 549 0524. 

MANTON FILM SERIES: I/O FEST PRESENTATION OF THE LODGER 
Thursday, January 11, 6 pm 

With his third feature film, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, Alfred Hitchcock took a major step toward greatness and made what he would come to consider his true directorial debut. This haunting silent thriller tells the tale of a mysterious young man (matinee idol Ivor Novello) who takes up residence at a London boardinghouse just as a killer known as the Avenger descends upon the city, preying on blonde women. 

Screening as part of I/O Fest weekend, The Lodger is animated by the palpable energy of Matthew Gold and Paul de Jong, decisively establishing the director’s formal and thematic obsessions with their live musical accompaniment. 

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 549 0524. 

NEW RESTORATIONS FILM SERIES: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME 
Thursday, January 18, 6 pm 

Universal’s largest-scale silent film made Lon Chaney a legend. It also paved the way for their enduring legacy of gothic horror. In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasimodo (the inarticulate, deformed bellringer of the Cathedral of Notre Dame) sacrifices his life to save Esmeralda (a Gypsy girl who once befriended him) from Jehan, the hunchback's evil master and brother to Dom Claude, chief priest of the cathedral. 

This film series is presented in celebration of the opening year of the Manton Research Center building in 1973. 

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. 

NEW RESTORATIONS FILM SERIES: ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY 
Thursday, January 25, 6 pm 

Set in 1840s rural New Hampshire, the Faustian gothic fantasy All That Money Can Buy (aka The Devil and Daniel Webster) centers around down-on-his-luck farmer Jabez Stone (James Craig). His desperation leads him to a seven-year deal with the devil, known as “Mr. Scratch” (an impish Walter Huston). Though great success awaits Stone immediately following this cursed contractual relationship, his fortune is won only through a nimbus of darkness and greed that swiftly finds his life—and his moral center—unraveling. Adjacent to Stone is the plight of the lauded congressman and orator Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold), who is also wooed by Mr. Scratch. The convergence of the lives of Webster and Stone stretches their tale beyond its simplistic roots and into a knotty narrative that speaks to America then and now. 

This film series is presented in celebration of the opening year of the Manton Research Center building in 1973. 

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. 

NEW RESTORATIONS FILM SERIES: FORCE OF EVIL 
Thursday, February 1, 6 pm 

This hard-hitting film concerns an unscrupulous lawyer Joe Morse (John Garfield), who by consolidating a numbers racket has the opportunity to partner with ruthless gangster Ben Tucker (Roy Roberts). As a fitting backdrop for this tale of moral corruption, director Abraham Polonsky referred his production team to the stark New York paintings of Edward Hopper to establish a noir-like atmosphere. Accordingly, the film’s cinematographer George Barnes (Spellbound, 1945) and art director Richard Day (The Grapes of Wrath, 1940) utilize the film’s New York City locations to full effect, mirroring the brooding sense of doom experienced by the story’s anti-hero. Force of Evil was originally released by Garfield and Polonsky’s independent studio that was formed with an eye towards making films reflecting the realities of society. 

This film series is presented in celebration of the opening year of the Manton Research Center building in 1973. 

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. 

WHEN JUSTICE FAILS
Saturday, February 10, 2 pm
A newly acquired drawing at the Clark depicts the imprisoned Joseph Lesurques (1763–96), whose name in France is synonymous with judicial error. In a case of mistaken identity, Lesurques was convicted of a murder-robbery he did not commit and was guillotined. His wrongful execution helped inspire Victor Hugo’s campaign against capital punishment decades later. Marc Howard, Professor of Government and Law at Georgetown University, is one of the nation’s leading advocates for criminal justice and prison reform. He examines the Clark’s newly acquired drawing, The Painful Fairwell, or Lesurques’s Farewell to His Family (Les Pénibles Adieux, dit les Adieux de Lesurques à sa famille), by Hilaire Ledru, and discusses historical and contemporary perspectives on what constitutes fairness in the justice system.

Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. 

LONDON NATIONAL THEATRE: GOOD
Sunday, February 11, 3 pm

David Tennant (Doctor Who) makes a much-anticipated return to the West End in a blistering reimagining of one of Britain’s most powerful, political plays. As the world faces its Second World War, John Halder, a good, intelligent German professor, finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences. Olivier Award-winner Dominic Cooke (Follies) directs C.P. Taylor’s timely tale, with a cast that also features Elliot Levey (Coriolanus) and Sharon Small (The Bay).

The Clark broadcasts a recording of this production, filmed live from the Harold Pinter Theatre in London.

Tickets $18 ($16 members, $14 students, $5 children 15 and under). Advance registration required; capacity is limited. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. 

LONDON NATIONAL THEATRE: KING LEAR
Sunday, February 25, 2 pm

Considered by many to be the greatest tragedy ever written, Ian McKellen is King Lear in Shakespeare’s tender, violent, moving, and shocking play. King Lear sees two aging fathers—one a King, one his courtier—reject the children who truly love them. Their blindness unleashes a tornado of pitiless ambition and treachery, as family and state are plunged into a violent power struggle with bitter ends. Johnathan Munby directs this ‘nuanced and powerful’ (The Times) contemporary retelling.

The Clark broadcasts a recording of this production, filmed live from London.

Tickets $18 ($16 members, $14 students, $5 children 15 and under). Advance registration required; capacity is limited. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524.