Reps Etc.

THURSDAY & FRIDAY: Reel S.F. -- Gene Hackman has a bug up his ear in the sound-editing classic The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974; 2:45, 7 p.m.), with sound-editing master Walter Murch in person at the evening show Thursday, schedule permitting. Also, Richard Lester's great study of a fragmenting relationship, Petulia (1968; 12:40, 4:55, 9:15 p.m.).

SATURDAY & SUNDAY: Reel S.F. -- Two versions of Dashiell Hammett's detective classic, the acclaimed The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941; 1:30, 5:10, 8:55 p.m.), and the more obscure, but franker, The Maltese Falcon (aka Dangerous Female, Roy Del Ruth, 1931; 3:30, 7 p.m.), with Humphrey Bogart and Ricardo Cortez, respectively, as Sam Spade. Noir expert Eddie Muller introduces the films Saturday evening, Hammett expert Don Herron on Sunday.

SUNDAY: Reel S.F. -- Mary Pickford stars as a cigarette girl in working-class San Francisco in the silent Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley (Marshall Neilan, 1918), screening with Charlie Chaplin In the Park (1915) and Fatty and Mabel at the World's Fair (Roscoe Arbuckle, 1915) 11:30 a.m.

MONDAY & TUESDAY: Reel S.F. -- Robert Mitchum takes the wrong road in Jacques Tourneur's classic noir Out of the Past (1947; 2:55, 7 p.m.), screening with Joan Crawford experiencing Sudden Fear (David Miller, 1952; 12:45, 4:50, 8:55 p.m.) from husband Jack Palance.

CASTRO

429 Castro (near Market), 621-6120, www.castrotheatresf.com, $8 save as noted for regular programs; (925) 866-9559, www.sffs.org, $12 admission for the S.F. International Film Festival save as noted. Short-run rep in a spectacular 1922 Greco-Roman-themed palace designed by Timothy L. Pflueger. Evening intermissions feature David Hegarty on the Mighty Wurlitzer.

WEDNESDAY: Gene Kelly is An American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli, 1951) in the classic Gershwin-based musical 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30 p.m.

THURSDAY: The Opening Night program of the San Francisco International Film Festival screens The Ax (Costa-Gavras, France, 2004; 7 p.m.) with party to follow. $85. For more on the festival, see Page 34.

FRIDAY: A double bill of the juvenile-delinquent drama High School Caesar (O'Dale Ireland, 1960; 7, 10:45 p.m.) and an oddball horror film, The Fat Black Pussycat (Harold Lea, 1963; 8:45 p.m.).

SATURDAY: A double bill of the original (stolid, with one good campy catfight) Valley of the Dolls (Mark Robson, 1967; 2, 7 p.m.) and the deliberately lurid Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (Russ Meyer, 1969; 4:30, 9:35 p.m.).

SUNDAY: SFIFF screenings of Innocence (Hadzihalilovic, France) noon. Touch the Sound (Riedelsheimer) 3:30 p.m. Pursuit of Equality (Callan and Show) 6:30 p.m. The Last Mitterrand (Guediguian, France) 9:15 p.m. For more on the festival, see Page 34.

MONDAY & TUESDAY: Marilyn Monroe stars in two quintessentially 1950s comedies, The Seven Year Itch (Billy Wilder, 1955; 12:30, 4:45, 9:15 p.m.) and How to Marry a Millionaire (Jean Negulesco, 1953; 2:45, 7 p.m.), which is actually more fun.

CLAY

2261 Fillmore (at Clay), 267-4893, www.landmarktheatres.com or www.8tales.com for this series. "8 Tales," a midnight movie series, continues. For additional Clay screenings, see our Showtimes page. $7.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY (April 22 & 23): Hit man Jean Reno does what it takes to save Natalie Portman from Gary Oldman in Luc Besson's The Professional (1994) midnight.

DELANCEY STREET SCREENING ROOM

600 Embarcadero (at Brannan), 677-8688 and www.sfsu.edu/~modgreek/filmfestival05.htm for information on this program. The annual San Francisco Greek Film Festival screens 35mm prints as a benefit for the Modern Greek Studies Foundation. $15.

WEDNESDAY (April 20): Joseph Fiennes and David Wenham are cowboys in Ottoman Macedonia in Before the Rain filmmaker Milcho Manchevski's much-delayed second feature, Dust (2001) 7:30 p.m.

THURSDAY (April 21): Delivery (Nikos Panayotopoulos, 2004) 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY (April 22): Love is sought "in all the wrong places" in Playing Part (Panayotis Portokalakis, 2003) 7:30 p.m.

FOREIGN CINEMA

2534 Mission (between 21st and 22nd streets), 648-7600, www.foreigncinema.com. Free with meal. This restaurant screens foreign films, usually in 35mm, on the back wall of its outdoor patio, with drive-in speakers available for the tables of those who want to watch while they dine.

DAILY (Closed Mondays): It's that sprite again -- Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, France, 2001), screening through May 7 8, 10 p.m.

GOETHE-INSTITUT

530 Bush (at Grant), 263-8760, http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/saf/enindex.htm. The place to go for German cultural events. $5.

TUESDAY (April 26): Grimme Award director Dr. Ulrich Spies introduces "The Best of German TV," offering Grimme Award winners The Rapoports (Sissi Hüetlin and Britta Wauer, 2004), about a couple who live through key 20th-century events, and Martin Luther King Ein Staatsverbrechen, on the conspiracy it says was behind King's death 7:30 p.m.

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER

3105 Shattuck (at Prince), Berkeley, (510) 849-2568, www.lapena.org; (510) 644-9341 for information on this program. This cafe for activists offers occasional film and video screenings.

THURSDAY (April 21): An update on the doings of Brazil's Landless Workers Movement (MST), MST March to Brazilia (2005). $5-20 donation 7:30 p.m.

LARK

549 Magnolia (at Post), Larkspur, 924-5111, www.larktheater.net. This single-screen art deco theater has reopened with a policy mixing new and repertory programming. $9 save as noted.

THURSDAY: Guess Who (Kevin Rodney Sullivan, 2005) 6:30, 8:30 p.m.

STARTS FRIDAY: Boys and Girls From County Clare (John Irvin, Ireland, 2004) Fri & Sat 7, 9 p.m.; Sun 4:25, 6:30 p.m.; Mon 7 p.m.; Tues 6:30, 8:30 p.m.

MECHANICS' INSTITUTE LIBRARY

57 Post (near Market), 393-0100 and www.milibrary.org for information; phone or e-mail rsvp@milibrary.org for reservations. $5. This cultural asset of long standing offers a weekly film series. Shown on projected video, with salon-style discussions to follow.