It’s too late to elect Henry Fonda president - he died in 1982. But in Alexander Horwath’s new documentary essay, and in a land where actors can become presidents, we can imagine an America led by Fonda, reflecting his ancestors’ immigration to North America and his own work ethic, as represented by the films he made. Horwath uses Fonda’s films to track the history of this country, from the central New York town where his forefathers settled and that bears his name, through multiple wars into the twentieth century, where new national and global concerns took precedence. Running into 2025, this series will pick up some of the threads Horwath weaves, following Fonda in his multiple roles through American history and how these roles reflected not just the America of the time the film took place, but also of the time of its release.
Dates and Titles:
November 8: Henry Fonda for President (Alexander Horwath, 2024, 184 min., DCP)
November 14: Drums Along the Mohawk (John Ford, 1939, 104 min., DCP)
November 23 (2 p.m.): Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford, 1939, 100 min., 35mm)
November 27: Young Mr. Lincoln (John Ford, 1939, 100 min., 35mm)
January 15: Fort Apache (John Ford, US 1948, 128 min., 35mm)
January 18 (2pm): Fort Apache (John Ford, US 1948, 128 min., 35mm)
January 22: The Ox-Bow Incident (William A. Wellman, US 1942, 75 min., 35mm)
January 29: The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, US 1940, 129 min., DCP)
February 5: The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941, 94 min., 35mm)
February 8 (2 p.m.): The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, 1940, 129 min., DCP)
February 12: The Male Animal (Elliott Nugent, 1942, 101 min., 35mm)
February 15 (2 p.m.): The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941, 94 min., 35mm)
February 18: Strange Victory (Leo Hurwitz, 1948, 71 min., 35mm)
February 19: Mister Roberts (John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, Joshua Logan, 1955, 123 min., 35mm)
February 26: 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957, 96 min., 35mm)
March 5: The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956, 105 min., 35mm)
March 8 (2 p.m.): The Wrong Man (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956, 105 min., 35mm)
March 12: The Best Man (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1964, 102 min., 35mm)
March 18: Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969, 95 min., 35mm)
March 19: Fail Safe (Sidney Lumet, 1964, 112 min., 35mm)
March 26: On Golden Pond (Mark Rydell, 1981, 109 min., 35mm)
March 27: Henry Fonda for President (Alexander Horwath, 2024, 184 min., DCP)
Events in this Series
Henry Fonda for President
Henry Fonda for President Alexander Horwath’s new documentary essay, and in a land where actors can become presidents, we can imagine an America led by Fonda, reflecting his ancestors’ immigration to North America and his own work ethic, as represented by the films he made
On Golden Pond (35mm)
Henry Fonda for President . Norman and Ethel Thayer are an aging married couple who keep their annual tradition of summering at their cottage on Golden Pond.
Fail Safe (35mm)
Henry Fonda for President The Pentagon breaks out in a Cold War cold sweat when a glitch sends a group of Moscow-bound bombers past the point of no return.
Easy Rider (35mm)
Henry Fonda for President One of a handful of American films of the late 1960s to use the social context of the period to express discontent towards the status quo, Easy Rider follows hippie bikers Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper from somewhere in the west to New Orleans, the promised land of the Mardi Gras.
The Best Man (35mm)
Henry Fonda for President Gore Vidal’s 1960 play about a presidential campaign that turns exceedingly nasty hasn’t aged a bit: The Best Man recently made a triumphant return to Broadway in a widely acclaimed new production.