heights theater
Minnesota's classic cinema experience.
Established 1926
THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
2025 | D: WES ANDERSON
BENICIO DEL TORO, SCARLETT JOHANSSON, TOM HANKS, BILL MURRAY.
Wealthy businessman, Zsa-zsa Korda appoints his only daughter, a nun, as sole heir to his estate. As Korda embarks on a new enterprise, they soon become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists, and determined assassins.
THUR 6/19 | 4:35pm
FRI 6/20 | 4:40pm, 7:10pm
SAT 6/21 | 4:40pm, 7:10pm
SUN 6/22 | 2:20pm, 4:40pm
MON 6/23 | 4:40pm, 7:10pm
TUE 6/24 | 4:40pm, 7:10pm
WED 6/25 | 4:40pm, 7:10pm
THUR 6/26 | 4:40pm
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMMON
THURSDAY JUNE 19 | 7:30 PM
THE ODD COUPLE
1968 | D: GENE SAKS
JACK LEMMON, WALTER MATTHAU
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
Felix (Lemmon) is a neurotic clean freak, whose wife has just left him. Oscar (Walter Matthau), divorced, is an incredible slob, and enjoys his independent squalor. When the latter offers the former a place to stay, life turns upside-down for both men. THE ODD COUPLE reunited Lemmon and Matthau and was a critical and box office smash and was turned into a classic television show.
DCP - Paramount Pictures.
FOOTLOOSE WIDOWS IN 35MM
1926 | D: ROY DEL RUTH
LOUISE FAZENDA, JACQUELINE LOGAN
ALL SEATS
$20.00 - in person$20.75 - on line
Flo and Marian are a pair of young New York girls looking to nab rich husbands. “Borrowing” a fine set of clothes from their employer, they head straight for the Florida beaches, pretending to be widows. Del Ruth’s hilarious silent comedy likely inspired Some Like It Hot and comes to us in a restored 35mm print from the Library of Congress.
This screening will be presented with a live accompaniment by Ed Copeland on the Heights Mighty Wurlitzer!
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMMON
THURSDAY june 26 | 7:30 PM
grumpy old men
1993 | D: DONALD PETRIE
JACK LEMMON, WALTER MATTHAU, ANN-MARGARET
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
In Wabasha, Minnesota, John Gustafson (Lemmon) and Max Goldman (Walter Matthau) are best frenemies, nursing decades-long grievances and eternally seeking to one-up the other with ever nastier practical jokes. When attractive professor Ariel Truax (Ann-Margaret) comes to town, John begins to court her, sending Max into a jealous fury whose limits know no bounds. GRUMPY OLD MEN was a surprise hit and one of the most Minnesota comedies you will ever find, shot in St. Paul and Faribault. Shooting in the cold literally almost killed Matthau, so you’d better enjoy it.
DCP - Warner Bros.
ALL ABOUT EVE IN 35MM
1950 | D: JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ
BETTE DAVIS, ANNE BAXTER, GARY MERRILL
ALL SEATS
$16.00 - in person$16.75 - on line
75TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING!
Widely regarded as the greatest film about Broadway, All About Eve unleashed Bette Davis at her most witty and eviscerating, here going toe-to-toe with Anne Baxter, who plays the title character. This story of a young actress who claws her way to stardom, and the wreckage she leaves behind, was nominated for a then-record 14 Academy Awards, winning Best Picture and Director (among others) and remains a classic.
35mm print - Walt Disney Pictures
35mm print - Walt Disney Pictures
LIFE'S A DRAG!
THURSDAY JULY 3 | 7:30 PM
SOME LIKE IT HOT
1959 | D: BILLY WILDER
MARILYN MONROE, TONY CURTIS, JACK LEMMON
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
When desperate musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) witness a gangland massacre in Chicago and the mob wants them dead, they've got to get out of town, and fast. But without any money, what can they do except, well, dress like women and join an all-girls band bound for sunny Florida? The cross-dressing duo find themselves in the same resort as the gangster who ordered the murders, but that's not the least of their troubles: Joe/Josephine is in love with Marilyn Monroe's "Sugar" and Jerry/Daphne's got a suitor in Osgood Fielding III, a man who won't take no for an answer. This groundbreaking comedy feels ahead of its time even in the 21st Century.
DCP - Park Circus.
THE WIZARD OF OZ IN 35MM TECHNICOLOR
BONUS SCREENING ADDED MONDAY JULY 7!
35MM DYE TRANSFER TECHNICOLOR PRINT!
1939 | D: VICTOR FLEMING
JUDY GARLAND, RAY BOLGER, JACK HALEY, BERT LAHR, MARGARET HAMILTON
ALL SEATS
$16.00 - in person$16.75 - on line
The Heights is one of the few theaters in the entire country showing this rare Dye Transfer Technicolor print, which must be seen to be believed. The yellow brick road, Dorothy's ruby slippers, the emerald city of Oz—The Wizard of Oz bursts from the screen in all of its Technicolor glory. These shows sell out each year and audiences marvel at the brilliant color that fairly drips from the big screen.
LIFE'S A DRAG!
THURSDAY JULY 10 | 7:30 PM
PARIS IS BURNING
1990 | D: JENNIE LIVINGSTON
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
Jennie Livingston’s groundbreaking documentary about 1980s ball culture in New York City is a revelation. This cinéma verité masterpiece was shot in the mid-1980s and follows performers vogueing their way into drag superstardom—the houses of Pendavis, Xtravaganza, and LaBeija will forever be a part of the drag firmament. Every season of RuPAUL’S DRAG RACE features a nod to PARIS IS BURNING, one of RuPaul’s favorite films. Perhaps the greatest examination of the roots of modern drag, PARIS IS BURNING should not be missed.
DCP - Janus Films.
CHILDREN OF PARADISE - LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS
1945 | D: MARCEL CARNE
ARLETTY, JEAN-LOUIS BARRAULT
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
80TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING!
Set in Paris’ theatrical society in the early 19th Century, Children of Paradise is the story of a mysterious courtesan who is beloved by four men: an actor, a thief, a count, and a mime. Director Marcel Carné and screenwriter Jacques Prévert create a lush world in stunning contrast to the Nazi-controlled France in which they were filmmaking. One of the most beloved French films of all-time, director François Truffaut famously said that he would give up all of his films to have made Children of Paradise, and in a 1995 survey, French film critics called it the best film ever made.
In French with English subtitles.
DCP - Janus Films.
LIFE'S A DRAG!
THURSDAY JULY 17 | 7:30 PM
THE BIRDCAGE
1996 | D: MIKE NICHOLS
ROBIN WILLIAMS, NATHAN LANE, GENE HACKMAN
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
Armand (Robin Williams) and Albert (Nathan Lane) run The Birdcage, a drag nightclub in Miami where Albert performs as Starina. Armand has a 20-year-old son from a one-night stand, and whoops! Armand’s son wants to marry a young woman… whose father happens to be ultra right-wing Senator Keely (Gene Hackman). Well, their idiot son hid the fact that his folks are gay and Jewish, so voila! Enter Mr. and Mrs. Coleman—Armand as Mr. and Albert as Mrs. This sparkling comedy was a surprise hit, and Robin Williams and Nathan Lane are pure comedy gold. Also, we miss Gene Hackman and Robin Williams.
DCP - Park Circus.
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
1965 | D: ROBERT WISE
JULIE ANDREWS, CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER
ALL SEATS
$15.00 - in person$15.75 - on line
One of the most popular films of all-time arrives at the Heights Theater! Poor Maria (Julie Andrews) is a nun who is just too free-spirited to do anything right in the convent. So, she’s placed as a governess to the stern Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) and his seven children, who are models of discipline. Thank goodness Maria is there to help them become happy kids again! Director Robert Wise pulled out all the stops making this blockbuster, whose music people have adored for generations. Winner of five Academy Awards.
DCP - Walt Disney Pictures
LIFE'S A DRAG!
THURSDAY JULY 24 | 7:30 PM
POLYESTER IN ODORAMA!
1981 | D: JOHN WATERS
DIVINE, TAB HUNTER
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
There is no way we’re having a drag series without DIVINE! Pity poor Frances Fishpaw (Divine): her porno-theater-owning husband is having an affair, her son's huffing household chemicals, her daughter's a hussy, and the other housewives spit on her! Enter the handsome Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter), who sweeps her off her feet—but is he for real, or just another cad? Exploding off the screen in Waters' patented grainy grindhouse style, POLYESTER is alarming, offensive, hilarious, and even dare-we-say affectionate. Also: Divine is the Queen of all Queens!
DCP - Warner Bros.
LIFE'S A DRAG!
SUNDAY JULY 27 | 7:30 PM
BEVERLY OF GRAUSTARK
1926 | D: SIDNEY FRANKLIN
MARION DAVIES, ANTONIO MORENO
ALL SEATS
$20.00 - in person$20.75 - on line
Beverly (Marion Davies) is a young American student, eager to see Europe with her cousin Oscar. Good news! Oscar’s just been named heir to the throne of a European country. Bad news! He got injured in a skiing accident and can’t make it in time to receive his birthright. Here’s an idea—dress cousin Beverly as Oscar! Complications: man, Beverly sure thinks Oscar’s bodyguard is one hot number. One of the great “trouser roles” in silent film, Marion Davies’ Beverly is drag personified in this gender-bending silent masterpiece.
Presented with an original score and live accompaniment by KATIE CONDON!
9 TO 5
1980 | D: COLIN HIGGINS
JANE FONDA, LILY TOMLIN, DOLLY PARTON
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
45TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING!
Judy (Jane Fonda) is newly divorced and needs a job, and she lands one as a secretary at Consolidated. Violet (Lily Tomlin) has worked there for a dozen years, trained her stupid boss, Franklin M. Hart (the wonderfully odious Dabney Coleman), and is stuck without promotion. Doralee (Dolly Parton) is Frank’s secretary, whom he belittles. Well, put those three women together, and in no time, they’ll have their sweet revenge… and start running the company! Produced and conceived by Jane Fonda, 9 to 5 launched Parton’s cinematic career and was a massive hit, even though President Ronald Reagan hated that the characters smoked pot in once scene. Don’t miss it!
DCP - Walt Disney Pictures
MONDAY AUGUST 4 | 7:30 PM
CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC
1980 | D: NANCY WALKER
VILLAGE PEOPLE, VALERIE PERRINE, CAITLYN JENNER, STEVE GUTTENBERG, PAUL SAND.
ALL SEATS:
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - online
Here come the VILLAGE PEOPLE! Songwriter Jack Morell (Steve Gutenberg, in his debut) writes great disco songs. His pal, former supermodel turned consumer of junk food, Sam Simpson (Oscar-nominated Valerie Perrine), helps our man by asking her ex, who happens to be an executive of a record label, to sign him to a contract. Enter sexy lawyer Ron White (Caitlyn Jenner), who helps assemble a band. What band? THE VILLAGE PEOPLE, who else? CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC was a critical and commercial failure but has since become embraced as one of the craziest, most heartfelt paeans to disco ever put on film, not to mention a joyous celebration of a late 70s LGBTQ+ culture, even as it’s trying to pretend every man is straight (not in the least). The “YMCA” and “Milkshake” scenes are worth the price alone, but don’t believe us, don’t miss CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC.
WAITING FOR GUFFMAN IN 35MM
1996 | D: CHRISTOPHER GUEST
CHRISTOPHER GUEST, EUGENE LEVY, CATHERINE O'HARA, PARKER POSEY
ALL SEATS
$16.00 - in person$16.75 - on line
Blaine, Missouri is small town whose local amateur theater, led by the indomitable Corky St. Clair (Guest), plans to put on a show to commemorate the town’s 150th anniversary. Pulling together all the citizens, who battle for choice roles, Corky’s Red, White and Blaine might just be their undoing! Guest’s star-studded mockumentary is hilarious, and features brilliant comic performances from Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard and Guest himself.
O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? IN 35MM
2000 | D: JOEL COEN & ETHAN COEN
GEORGE CLOONEY, JOHN TURTURRO, TIM BLAKE NELSON
ALL SEATS
$16.00 - in person$16.75 - on line
25TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING!
Pete, Delmar and Ulysses (Tim Blake Nelson, John Turturro and George Clooney) escape a chain gang in 1930s Mississippi in the Coen Brothers’ riotous take on Homer’s Ulysses. Featuring some of the best folk musicians of the turn of the century, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a modest hit in its day, has since gone on to be one of the Coen’s most revered classics.
35mm print - Walt Disney Pictures
THE GREAT DICTATOR
1940 | D: CHARLES CHAPLIN
CHARLIE CHAPLIN, PAULETTE GODDARD, JACK OAKIE
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
85TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING!
This brave and biting comedy by Charlie Chaplin was his first sound film, and most successful picture. Released at a time when the U.S. was still in a tenuous truce with Germany, The Great Dictator not only satirized the Fuhrer, but accurately revealed Hitler's hunger for world domination and his dangerous policies against the Jews. The Great Dictator is not only one of the greatest movies of all-time, but perhaps the most important comedy ever made.
DCP - Janus Films.
SEVEN SAMURAI
1954 | D: AKIRA KUROSAWA
TOSHIRO MIFUNE, TAKASHI SHIMURA
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
In the sixteenth century, bandits have been invading a small mountain village, depleting it of its rice harvest and leaving its inhabitants in a state of perpetual near-hunger. A group of three brave villagers goes to the nearest town, hoping to entice down-on-their-heels samurai to help defend the village with the promise of rice. What ensues is one of the most thrilling, and emotionally moving, action epics ever made. The Seven Samurai has always been high on list of the greatest films ever made, and is an absolutely entertaining film that leaves its viewers enthralled and devastated. The Heights presents the gorgeous new digital 4K restoration from Janus.
In Japanese with English subtitles.
DCP - Janus Films
FORGOTTEN FACES
1928 | D: VICTOR SCHERTZINGER
OLGA BACLANOVA, WILLIAM POWELL, CLIVE BROOK
ALL SEATS
$20.00 - in person$20.75 - on line
When stick-up artist “Heliotrope” Harry comes home after escaping the cops, he finds his devious wife, Lilly, in the arms of another. Enraged, Harry shoots his rival, and before he’s caught, leaves his baby girl on the doorstep of a rich, childless couple. While in the big house, he’s kept abreast of daughter Alice’s progress by his former associate, Froggy. But when Lilly finds the girl and seeks revenge, Harry is able to get free and tries to set a trap to keep his daughter safe. One of the earliest productions from David O. Selznick, Forgotten Faces is a newly restored masterpiece of silent melodrama, not available for streaming anywhere!
This screening will be presented with a live accompaniment by Andy McCormick on the Heights Mighty Wurlitzer!
DCP courtesy of the Library of Congress
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN IN 35MM
1935 | D: JAMES WHALE
KARLOFF, ELSA LANCCHESTER, COLIN CLIVE, UNA O'CONNOR
ALL SEATS
$16.00 - in person$16.75 - on line
90TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING!
Boris Karloff met his match with Elsa Lanchester, who plays the Bride of Frankenstein and sports perhaps the greatest hairdo in Hollywood's long history of great hairdos. Her performance was years ahead of its time, the kind of thing that wins Oscars today and was the perfect foil to Karloff. James Whale attempted to camp up this sequel, but the result is a film that many consider superior to the first, more emotional and less stagy, and perhaps the greatest of Universal's celebrated horror films.
35mm print - Universal Pictures
35mm print - Universal Pictures
YOU'LL LIKE MY MOTHER
1972 | D: LAMONT JOHNSON
PATTY DUKE, RICHARD THOMAS, ROSEMARY MURPHY
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
To Glensheen devotees and local cinema buffs, this Gothic old dark house suspense film is an absolute must-see! Shot completely on location in Duluth in the winter of 1971, You'll Like My Mother stars Patty Duke, a very sinister Richard Thomas (John Boy from The Waltons), and an utterly chilling Rosemary Murphy as the mother you'll love to cringe from. However, the real star of this film is the glorious Glensheen Mansion, which you'll explore (with a terrified Patty) from the cellar to the attic!
DCP - Universal Pictures
hocus pocus
1993 | D: KENNY ORTEGA
BETTE MIDLER, SARAH JESSICA PARKER, KATHY NAJIMY
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
We’ve been asked to screen Hocus Pocus for years, and it’s finally here! When Salem, Massachusetts teenager Max accidentally resurrects three witches from the seventeenth century, and those witches happen to be comedians Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, the results is one of the most hilarious (and beloved) pictures from the 1990s!
DCP - Walt Disney Pictures
THE SHINING
1980 | D: STANLEY KUBRICK
JACK NICHOLSON, SHELLEY DUVALL, DANNY LLOYD
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
45TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING!
We love showing this movie and you love coming to this movie. Arguably Kubrick's best, and perhaps most personal film, The Shining thrills Heights audiences year-after-year and people come wearing incredible Shining t-shirts or dressed as Jack or as the ghostly twins (no one has yet shown up as Lloyd the bartender, so please help us here). So bizarre it has spawned countless conspiracy theories, including explaining the moon landing, The Shining can be watched, interpreted and reinterpreted numerous times. As people do.
DCP - Warner Bros.
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
1952 | D: GENE KELLY & STANLEY DONEN
GENE KELLY, DONALD O'CONNOR, DEBBIE REYNOLDS, JEAN HAGEN
ALL SEATS
$13.00 - in person$13.75 - on line
Singin' in the Rain is one of our most popular events and sells out year after year! Considered by many to be the greatest screen musicals of all time, Singin’ is also a hilarious look at the chaos and turmoil that the switch from silents to talkies cast upon Hollywood in the late 1920's. This film is on everyone’s top ten lists and was named the 10th greatest film of all-time in the 2022 Sight & Sound poll. Dig all that glorious TECHNICOLOR!
DCP - Warner Bros.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS IN 35MM
2008 | D: QUENTIN TARANTINO
BRAD PITT, ELI ROTH, CHRISTOPHER WALTZ
ALL SEATS
$16.00 - in person$16.75 - on line
Lieutenant Aldo Raine is a battle-tested solider in the U.S. Army during World War II. His goal: recruit a commando group of Jewish-American soldiers to do “one thing, and one thing only: kill Nazis!” This is Quentin Tarantino’s World War II, full of blood, brilliant dialogue, great actors, all the while referencing spaghetti Westerns and Italian action films. Inglourious Basterds was a tremendous hit and introduced the world to the amazing Christoph Waltz, who won an Oscar for his slimy performance.
35mm print - Lionsgate
35mm print - Lionsgate
MARRIAGE IN THE SHADOWS - EHE IM SCHATTEN
1947 | D: KURT MAETZIG
PAUL KLINGER, ILSE STEPPAT
ALL SEATS
$15.00 - in person$15.75 - on line
Hans Wieland is a brilliant actor, a leading figure in German cinema. When the Nazis pressure him to divorce his Jewish wife, Elisabeth, he refuses. Finally, political pressure becomes too much, and, realizing that he will be arrested, his wife to be sent to a concentration camp, he faces the ultimate test of his love. Based on the real-life story of actor Joachim Gottschalk, Kurt Maetzig’s Marriage in the Shadows was the first movie (produced under Soviet auspices) to confront Germans about their treatment of Jews, and the only postwar film to be released simultaneously in both the East and West Germany. A brilliant and heartbreaking film, shot like a noir but filled with the rarefied emotions of a melodrama, this rare screening should not be missed.
In German with English subtitles.
DCP courtesy of the DEFA Film Library
WHITE CHRISTMAS - HEIGHTS HOLIDAY SHOW!
1954 | D: MICHAEL CURTIZ
BING CROSBY, ROSEMARY CLOONEY, DANNY KAYE, VERA-ELLEN
A Heights Theater tradition! One of our most popular events! An event that sells out year after year. You will not want to miss the perennial TECHNICOLOR favorite, WHITE CHRISTMAS, on the big screen!
Plus.....ON OUR STAGE! The big show starts with a special 20 minute concert by the wonderful MAUD HIXSON, singing a stocking full of your favorite holiday classics! Accompanied by Rick Carlson on the piano.
Also... A fantastic pre show concert by ED COPELAND and LOU HURVITZ at the Heights Mighty Wurlitzer!
CLICK HERE FOR WHITE CHRISTMAS TICKET FAQS
SAT 11/29 | 2:00pm
SUN 11/30 | 2:00pm
MON 12/1 | 7:00pm
TUE 12/2 | 7:00pm
WED 12/3 | 7:00pm
THUR 12/4 | 7:00pm
FRI 12/5 | 7:00pm
SAT 12/6 | 2:00pm
SAT 12/6 | 7:00pm
SUN 12/7 | 2:00pm
SUN 12/7 | 7:00pm