Events:
2026
Friday, March 13 - Friday, 20, 7 p.m.
"Mom at the Movies" celebrating actress Eileen Heckart, hosted by Luke Yankee
Palm Springs Cultural Center [https://www.psculturalcenter.org/]
2300 E. Baristo Road, Palm Springs
Kennedy will join Luke Yankee in conversation for the following screenings:
Friday, March 13, Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
Friday, March 20, Miracle in the Rain (1956)
Sunday, April 19 - Sunday, June 20, 2026, 3 p.m.
"Screwball Sundays" screening great classic American comedies.
Palm Springs Cultural Center [https://www.psculturalcenter.org/]
2300 E. Baristo Road, Palm Springs
Kennedy will introduce the following films:
Sunday, April 19, The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Sunday, May 24, Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Sunday, June 20, His Girl Friday (1940)
Friday, May 1, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker, Movies at Mechanics', Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
415/393-0101, [https://www.milibrary.org/]
Screening: Sabrina (1954) starring Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and William Holden
2025
Saturday, November 1, 11:00 a.m.
Author book signing, "Local Authors Under the Big Tent"
Pride on the Page Book Festival
Palm Springs Cultural Center
2300 E. Baristo Rd., Palm Springs
PrideonthePage.org
Friday, September 12, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker, Movies at Mechanics', Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
415/393-0101, https://www.milibrary.org/events/23042
Screening: The Women (1939) starring Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, and Rosalind Russell
Tuesday, January 14, 7:00 p.m.
Book signing and reading On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide
Vroman's Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena
626/449-5320
https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-01-14/matthew-kennedy-discusses-elizabeth-taylor-opinionated-guide
2024
Friday, May 3 - Friday, May 31, 2024, 6:00 p.m.
"Elizabeth Taylor: Actress and Superstar" four film series inspired by Kennedy's new book "On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide"
Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Kennedy will host the following screenings:
Friday, May 3, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), plus interview with Michael Fox
Friday, May 10, A Place in the Sun (1951), co-hosted by David Thomson
Friday, May 17, National Velvet (1944)
Friday, May 31, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Wednesday, August 7, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
Book signing and reading, On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide
Book Soup
8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood
310/659-3110
https://www.booksoup.com/
Tuesday, August 27, 1:00 p.m.
Book signing and film screening, National Velvet (1944)
Orinda Theatre
Orinda Theatre Square, Orinda, California
925/254-9060, https://www.orindamovies.com
2020-2025
Host and Curator, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screenings every Friday at 6:00 p.m.
2019
Friday, November 22, 2019, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: Love (1927) starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert
Friday, July 26, 2019, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: The Patsy (1928) starring Marion Davies and Marie Dressler
Friday, August 9, 2019, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: Lover Come Back (1961) starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson
Friday, April 19, 2019, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: The Great McGinty (1940) starring Brian Donlevy and Muriel Angelus
Friday, January 4, 2019, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: Gigi (1958) starring Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier
Friday, December 7, 2018, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: Evil Under the Sun (1982) starring Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, and James Mason
Friday, September 14, 2018, 7:00 pm
"Marie Dressler: Social Activist"
Celebrate Marie Dressler 150th Birthday
Victoria Hall, Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
www.mariedressler.ca
Friday, April 20, 2018, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: Brigadoon (1954) starring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse
2017
Friday, September 22, 2017, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: Humoresque (1946) starring Joan Crawford and John Garfield
Friday, March 3, 2017, 6:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: Mata Hari (1931) starring Greta Garbo and Ramon Novarro
2016
Friday, November 4, 2016, 6:30 pm
Book signing and introduction, "Joan Blondell: Blonde Crazy" retrospective
UCLA Film & Television Archive
Billy Wilder Theater
10899 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310/206-8013, www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2016/blonde-crazy-joan-blondell
Screening: Blondie Johnson (1933), Blonde Crazy (1931), and Big City Blues (1932)
Saturday, September 24, 2016, 8:00 pm
Guest Speaker, Marie Dressler Celebration Dinner, Dressler Museum reopening
Woodlawn Inn, Cobourg, Ontario
647-638-3025, www.mariedressler.ca/news
Friday, February 12, 2016, 6:00 pm
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: Now, Voyager (1942) starring Bette Davis and Paul Henreid
2015
Friday, April 10, 2015, 6:00 pm
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: Grand Hotel (1932) starring Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, and Lionel Barrymore
Plus book signing of Edmund Goulding's Dark Victory, Kennedy's biography of Grand Hotel's director
Friday, March 20, 2015, 6:00 pm
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: Night Moves (1975) starring Gene Hackman and Jennifer Warren
2014
Thursday, June 26, 2014, 7:00 pm
Book signing and reading with clips, Roadshow!
Folio Books
3957 - 24th Street, San Francisco, CA
415/821-3477
www.foliosf.com
Saturday, April 12, 2014, 7:00 pm
Book signing and reading with clips, Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s
The Regulator Bookshop
720 - 9th Street, Durham, NC
919/286-2700
www.regulatorbookshop.com/event/matthew-kennedy
Saturday, February 1 – Friday, February 7, 2014
"Roadshow: The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s" five film series based on the book,
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd Street, New York
212/708-9400
Press Release
Film Schedule
Kennedy will introduce the following screenings:
Saturday, February 1
Gigi (1958) at 1:30 and Finian's Rainbow (1968) at 4:30
Book signing at 7:30
Funny Girl (1968) at 8:30
Sunday, February 2
Camelot (1967) at 2:00 and Cabaret (1972) at 6:15
Friday, February 7, 2014, 6:00 pm
Guest Speaker, CinemaLit Film Series, Mechanics' Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
Screening: Caged (1950) starring Eleanor Parker and Agnes Moorehead
Friday, January 17, 2014, 7:00 pm
Book signing and reading, Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s
Book Soup
8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood
310/659-3110
booksoup.com
