Nothing brings family together during the holidays quite like a trip to the movies, and the Hi-Pointe Theatre has audiences covered with murder mystery films both old and new throughout Thanksgiving weekend.
Brett Smith, director of programming and operations at the Hi-Pointe, says that the idea for the “Holiday Whodunit” program came about when he was able to book a two-week run of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, director Rian Johnson’s latest mystery starring Daniel Craig as the unconventional detective Benoit Blanc.
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“We were looking for some other repertory programming to do that might be fun while people are off for that weekend,” Smith says. “I wanted to find some other rep movies in the spirit of Wake Up Dead Man and the other Knives Out movies.”
The “Whodunit Holiday” program kicks off with Wake Up Dead Man on November 26 (it runs through December 9). From there, the program picks back up after Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday festivities for a Saturday afternoon screening of Sidney Lumet’s 1982 film, Deathtrap. The first of two films in this program starring Michael Caine, Deathtrap stars Caine as a struggling playwright who invites a student writer (Christopher Reeve) to his home to discuss a promising new script, with the intention of killing the student and taking the script as his own.
Next, screening later on November 29, is the 1985 cult classic Clue. Smith had been trying to find a place to squeeze this 40th anniversary restoration into the schedule and felt it was a perfect fit for this program. The film sees a group of strangers, played by Christopher Lloyd, Madeline Kahn, Michael McKean, Eileen Brennan, Martin Mull, and Lesley Ann Warren, take on the personas from the classic board game when they arrive for dinner at the mysterious Mr. Boddy’s home. From there, the guests are led through a night of campy intrigue and murder by Mr. Boddy’s butler Wadsworth (Tim Curry) and his maid, Yvette (Colleen Camp).
Rounding out the program on Sunday, November 30, is Joseph Mankiewicz’s 1972 film, Sleuth, which stars Laurence Olivier as a successful crime fiction author with a love for theatrics and games who invites his wife’s lover (Michael Caine) over to meet, setting in motion a battle of wits with potentially deadly results. Smith is particularly excited for this screening, as Sleuth is incredibly difficult to get the rights for, making this screening particularly special.
“I don’t think it’s streamable anywhere, I don’t think there’s a DVD you can get, and it certainly hasn’t played theatrically anywhere that I’m aware of in quite some time,” Smith says. “I am really excited about that.”
With an exciting program of repertory screenings tied to a big release like Wake Up Dead Man, Smith hopes that “Whodunnit Holiday” brings folks out to the theater to enjoy the experience of watching films together.
“What we advocate here is the moviegoing experience, and sharing that experience with others,” Smith says. “I think all of these movies fit into a theme with Wake Up Dead Man. They’re fun, kind of cozy mystery movies that will be a lot of fun to see on the big screen.”
