This Christmas season, The Harold B. Lee Library is giving students a special Christmas gift, besides just a quiet place to study during finals week.
On Thursday, Dec. 6, the BYU Motion Picture Archive Film Series, part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, will screen “Miracle on 34th Street.” This will be the final film in the Fall series and will be a change from the traditional Friday showtime.
James D’Arc is the BYU curator of Arts, Communications, Film & Music and orchestrates the BYU Film Series each semester.
“‘Miracle on 34th Street’ is one of the great classic Christmas films of all time,” D’Arc said. “Normally we show one Christmas movie each year and rotate between movies, but these are so beloved by the public that I made the decision that this year we would show two films instead.”
The second Christmas film shown this season will be “The Bishop’s Wife” and will be screened on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. in the HBLL auditorium.
Students will find that films look slightly different at the BYU Motion Picture Series. This is because the original film prints are used to screen the films rather than a digital copy.
D’Arc says that this is done intentionally and that many of the original film prints have interesting stories behind them.
“These are the original prints; we don’t use video,” D’Arc said. “The film has a warmer look to it than a digital copy, and it really reminds you of the time period it came from. Directors and actors used to receive a copy of these film prints when they completed filming. The film prints we use are donated by them. The film we have of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is actually Jimmy Stewart’s original copy.”
This noticeable difference is one of the reasons why many students love the BYU Motion Picture Series. Lexi Allsop, a junior from Dallas majoring in finance, likes the film series for this reason especially.
“You can definitely tell a difference between seeing a movie here (at the film series) and if you just watched it on DVD,” Allsop said. “I mean, I have ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ on DVD, but it’s cool to see them here.”
Whether it is to see an original film copy or to simply watch a classic Christmas movie, the BYU Motion Picture Series will offer students some Christmas spirit and a break from studying. Films are screened in the library auditorium on level one. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the film will be shown at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
