THE HISTORIC CAMELOT THEATRE TURNS UP THE HEAT WITH THE SUMMER HEAT FILM SERIES

BY DEVIN ORGERON

The Palm Springs Cultural Center’s Historic Camelot Theatre is cranking up the air conditioning and lowering the lights for a cinematic journey to the top of the thermometer! Starting July 2nd, the Palm Springs based nonprofit film archive, Deserted Films, presents the Summer Heat Film Series, a curated collection of movies where the heat is practically a character. Sit in air-conditioned comfort and behold a series of films set against the weather we are all seeking relief from!

“Interesting things happen when it’s hot,” says series curator Devin Orgeron of Deserted Films. “And we think that’s pretty cool.”

Each screening will feature a live introduction and thematic film ephemera provided by Deserted Films.

The Summer Heat Film Series kicks off Sunday, July 2nd at 6pm with Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954). It’s New York City. It’s a heatwave. Everyone’s windows are open. What could possibly go wrong? We can count on Hitchcock to show us!

On July 9, the heat moves south to the French Quarter with Elia Kazan’s A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). With literal and metaphorical temperatures rising, Tennessee Williams’ characters simmer in tense and heartbreaking scenes that helped catapult Marlon Brando’s career.

Billy Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch (1955) is up on July 23. A cartoonish look at midcentury marriage, Wilder’s film finds its characters cooling off in a variety of ways. That notorious image of Marilyn Monroe is just one of them.

August 6 will showcase Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989), where soaring temperatures are an evocative metaphor for racial tensions. This landmark film remains relevant in contemporary discussions of race in the U.S.

On August 27, Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men (1957) will intensify our collective sense of discomfort and closeness. Mostly taking place in one confined space, this influential courtroom drama remains an engrossing conversation starter.

September 3 brings Norman Jewison’s In the Heat of the Night (1967), where a murder in steamy Mississippi unfolds into a poignant exploration of 1960s race relations.

The series concludes on September 17 with Roman Polanski’s neo-noir masterpiece Chinatown (1974), set in a hot, thirsty 1930s Los Angeles.

Located at 2300 E Baristo Rd, the Palm Springs Cultural Center’s Historic Camelot Theatre is renowned by movie lovers, boasting one of the largest screens in the Coachella Valley and a state-of-the-art sound system. For info and tickets visit www.psculturalcenter.org