Members’ discounts are offered by most cultural organizations on the East End, but the Sag Harbor Cinema has come up with an especially convincing inducement to join with its upcoming “Holiday Cheers to the Members.” A free screening, for members only, of the 1958 supernatural romantic comedy “Bell, Book and Candle” will happen Thursday at 6 p.m.
But there’s more. The screening will be preceded by an introduction by Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, the cinema’s founding artistic director, that will include sneak preview clips of Alexandre Philippe’s upcoming documentary “Kim Novak’s Vertigo.”
And not only that. A holiday celebration for members, on the cinema’s third floor, will follow the screening. The party will feature complimentary beverages and snacks from Cluckman’s and Doubles restaurants, plus a basket raffle with prizes from Leallo, Hermonia Landscaping, and more.
Adapted by Daniel Taradash from John Van Druten’s 1950 play, “Bell, Book and Candle” (1958) stars Ms. Novak as Gillian Holroyd, a modern witch living in Greenwich Village in the late 1950s. After encountering her new neighbor Shepherd Henderson (Jimmy Stewart), a charming publisher, she decides to cast a love spell to make him hers.
Gillian takes added pleasure in her plan because Henderson is engaged to her old college rival (Janice Rule). However, she finds herself seriously attracted to the publisher, and she will lose her powers should she fall in love.
The film also stars Jack Lemmon and Elsa Lanchester.
“ ‘Bell, Book and Candle’ is one of my favorite Christmas films, and one of the great New York ones,” said Ms. Vallan. “I am thrilled to share it with our members, with the added treat of a sneak preview of Alexandre Philippe’s upcoming documentary, ‘Kim Novak’s Vertigo,’ which premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival and coincided with Kim Novak’s reception of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. On that occasion, I had the honor of working both with Ms. Novak and Alexandre. I am very grateful he has allowed me to offer our members a taste of his insightful piece.”
The program is offered free to cinema members on a first-come-first-served basis. Preregistration is required for up to two people. Tickets are available at the box office or on the website.
‘The Bonackers’
The cinema will also host a free screening on Sunday morning at 11 of “The Bonackers,” Joanne Friedland Roberts’s documentary about the independent men and women whose families have farmed and fished on the East End for almost 400 years.
The film will be followed by a panel discussion about the deep roots of the community, the region’s Indigenous heritage, and the challenges to preserving cultural identity in a rapidly changing landscape.
Panel members are Ms. Roberts, Shane Weeks, director of research and education, Metoac Indigenous Collective; Charlie Niggles, fisherman and farmer from Round Swamp Farm, and Stacy Myers, education director at the East Hampton Historical Society. François de Menil, a documentary filmmaker and Sag Harbor Cinema board member, will moderate.
