NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Providing a glimpse into New Rochelle’s past, the New Rochelle Public Library is hosting a second film series for the community’s 325th Anniversary.
“Movies Set in New Rochelle” will take place on Monday afternoons, beginning at 2:00 pm, in the library’s Ossie Davis Theater. New Rochelle has been home to many notable Americans, and the lives of three were immortalized in the first three films in the series. The fourth film, a comedy, relates a most unusual slice of New Rochelle in the 1960s. All films are free of charge and will be shown on the big screen of the Ossie Davis Theater.
Just in time for the opening of baseball season, the series will begin with a viewing of Pride of the Yankees on Monday, April 1st, at 2:00 pm. Nominated for 11 Academy awards, Lou Gehrig’s boyhood dreams come true when he signs on with the New York Yankees and takes the field alongside his idol, Babe Ruth. In fact, Lou considers himself “the luckiest man in the world” until unthinkable misfortune strikes, and he must summon all his courage to face his toughest battle yet. Gehrig lived in New Rochelle, buying a house at 9 Meadow Lane for his parents in 1927. He was an original inductee into the New Rochelle Walk of Fame in 2011.
On Monday, April 15, the films will be The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as Vernon and New Rochelle native Irene Castle.
The Seven Little Foys, starring Bob Hope as New Rochelle resident and vaudevillian Eddie Foy, will be shown on Monday, April 22nd.
The North Avenue Irregulars, an action-packed comic caper from Disney that is based on the true story of the North Avenue Presbyterian Church’s efforts to rid New Rochelle of organized crime, will be shown on Monday, May 13th.