It’s time for you to add the Harbor Theater Classic Film Series to your winter calendars. This year, with the assistance of our good friend Dr. Jon Cavallero, chair of the Bates College, Rhetoric, Film and Screen Studies program, we have chosen the theme, “Great Directors: The Early Years.” Join us, from October through March, as we sample some of the finest work of six American directors.

We kick off our virtual journey with a real journey, John Huston’s, “The African Queen,” starring the iconic Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, a film with as much behind the scenes drama as on screen.

For November, we showcase Maine’s own John Ford with Dr. Jon’s recommendation, “The Searchers,” starring John Wayne. While not Ford’s most well-known movie, it is the one that’s cinematography must be experienced on a big screen and provides maybe Wayne’s best performance.

Enjoy the December holidays a little more with Audrey Hepburn’s first starring role in Roman Holiday directed by William Wyler. And then welcome the new year with George Stevens,’  “A Place in the Sun,” a heartbreaking saga that is truly “An American Tragedy” (the Theodore Dreiser book on which it is based).

Switch gears again for a Valentine’s romp with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night,” a movie worth watching just for the sleeping arrangements scene alone. And, finally, finish off this stellar group with Elia Kazan’s East of Eden, based on Steinbeck’s retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel and starring James Dean, in the first of the only three films he made.

Following our tradition of much-enjoyed “add-ons” to each movie, pick up a trivia sheet full of fun facts about the actors, the making of the film, and things to watch for. Enjoy a short introductory video before each film made especially for us by Dr. Cavallero. Then, watch the movie the way it was meant to be seen – on the big screen!

All showings at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12 and Saturday Oct. 14 - “The African Queen,”  Thursday, Nov. 9 and Saturday, Nov. 11 - “The Searchers,”  Thursday, Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 16 - “Roman Holiday,” Thursday, Jan. 11and Saturday, Jan. 13 - “A Place in the Sun,” Thursday, Feb. 8 and Saturday, Feb. 10 - “It Happened One Night,”  Thursday, March 14 and Saturday March 16 (third Saturday) - “East of Eden.”