Screening Room: American Cinematheque spotlights Charlie Chaplin and Steve McQueen

Two vastly different cinematic icons are being feted this week by the American Cinematheque.

You will smile even as your heart breaks at the Aero’s “Cine Lights: Charlie Chaplin on the Big Screen,” which begins Thursday and continues through June 27. During the silent era, Chaplin’s’ endearing Little Tramp character was one of the most indelible figures worldwide. And some 80 to 90 years after they were made, the humor, pathos, sadness, pratfalls, sentiment and grace of his short and feature-length films still strike a chord with audiences. The Aero will be presenting new 35-millimeter prints of recent French restorations of many of the titles.

The series kicks off with a triple bill of 1921’s “The Idle Class,” 1919’s “Sunny Side” and 1928’s feature “The Circus,” for which he won a special Academy Award. Friday’s offering is a new print of what is considered by many to be his best film, 1931’s “City Lights,” in which the Little Tramp tries to help a blind flower girl regain her sight. Also screening is 1923’s melodrama “A Woman of Paris.”

On tap for Saturday is his beloved 1925 feature “The Gold Rush,” which features many indelible images, including the Little Tramp eating his shoe as well as making dinner rolls dance. Rounding out the bill is the adorable 1918 “A Dog’s Life,” 1919’s “A Day’s Pleasure” and 1918’s “Shoulder Arms.”

The Aero has a special Father’s Day screening Sunday of 1921’s “The Kid,” Chaplin’s sentimental comedy drama about the Tramp and the orphan (Jackie Coogan) he takes under his wing.

Over at the Egyptian, the late, great King of Cool, Steve McQueen, is being celebrated with several of his best films. Opening the proceedings Thursday is the 50th-anniversary screening of “The Magnificent Seven,” John Sturges’ rugged American version of “The Seven Samurai.” A young McQueen plays one of the seven gunmen hired to guard a Mexican village from a brutal bandit (Eli Wallach) and his men. Also screening is the underrated 1972 Sam Peckinpah modern-day western “Junior Bonner,” which casts McQueen as an aging rodeo star.

In Robert Wise’s 1966 epic “The Sand Pebbles,” lined up for Saturday, McQueen plays an engineer in China during the 1920s who becomes a crew member of a U.S. gunboat on the Yangtze River. It’s the role for which he received his only lead actor Oscar nomination. McQueen gives another strong performance in 1973’s “Papillion,” which fills out the double bill. Directed by Franklin Schaffner, the drama revolves around French convict Henri Charriere.

McQueen and Sturges reunited for 1963’s World War II classic “The Great Escape,” screening Sunday, which chronicles a massive prison camp escape in Germany. McQueen came into his own as “The Cooler King” in this exciting thriller. https://www.americancinematheque.com

susan.king@latimes.com