Restored 1961 indie classic ‘The Connection’ at New Beverly

The New Beverly Cinema celebrates the 50th anniversary of Shirley Clarke’s “The Connection,” based on the off-Broadway play by Jack Gelber, by presenting the theatrical premiere of this new restoration by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

The engagement starts Friday and continues through July 26. The experimental filmmaker made her feature debut with this drama set to the music of jazz legends Freddie Redd and Jackie McLean, who also appear in the film. The story revolves around a group of heroin addicts who are waiting around a grimy New York loft waiting for their dealer. Hanging out with these junkies are a theatrical producer and a writer soaking in the atmosphere in order to write an authentic play. www.newbevcinema.com

Nearly six decades before Johnny Depp became Captain Jack Sparrow in the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, Errol Flynn swashed and buckled his way to superstardom in the 1935 pirate epic “Captain Blood,” which was directed by Michael Curtiz, and also starred Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone.

On Sunday, the Art Directors Guild Film Society presents a special screening of this classic adventure film at the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre. There will also be a panel discussion on the legacy of pirate films and the Oscar-winning art director Anton Grot. Art Directors Guild president Tom Walsh will moderate the panel, which all features crew from the “Pirates” series -- art director/set designer Bill Taliaferro, illustrator Nathan Schroeder, Oscar-winning production designer John Myhre and art director John Dexter.

The Cinematheque’s Aero Theatre continues its “In Spectacular Digital Cinema: Classics and Restorations on the Big Screen” on Sunday evening with two films by Otto Preminger - -his seminal 1944 film noir “Laura,” with Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and Clifton Webb in his film debut, and the 1958 drama “Bonjour Tristesse,” based on the book by Francoise Sagan, starring Jean Seberg, Deborah Kerr and David Niven. www.americancinematheque.com

The Skirball Cultural Center offers the U.S. premiere Thursday evening of “The Chosen Island,” a documentary that explores the history of Sephardim in Cuba. The director Yassel Igelesias will participate in a Q&A; after the event. www.skirball.org

Film Independent at LACMA’s “French Film Fridays” presents Robert Bresson’s controversial 1977 drama “The Devil, Probably” and Luis Bunuel’s surreal 1974 “The Phantom of Liberty,” which was the famed filmmaker’s personal favorite. www.lacma.org

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continues its popular new “Oscar Outdoors” event in Hollywood on Friday evening with the 1959 romantic comedy “Pillow Talk,” which marked the first pairing of the screen team of Doris Day, who earned a best actress Oscar nomination, and Rock Hudson. The academy will be presenting the newly restored version of the film. The screening is sold out but there will be a stand-by line.

John Frankenheimer’s “Grand Prix,” the 1966 melodrama set in the universe of Grand Prix racing, screens Monday at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “The Last 70mm Film Festival.” Eva Marie Saint, who played the love interest of Yves Montand in the film, and Frankenheimer’s widow, Evans Evans, will be on hand. www.oscars.org

The Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater presents the Bicycle Film Fest’s Bike Movie Weekend, which kicks off Friday with Tim Burton’s first feature, the 1985 comedy hit “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” followed Saturday evening with Peter Yates’ award-winning comedy “Breaking Away,” with star Dennis Christopher and Toby Yates, son of the filmmaker, on hand for a Q&A.;

UCLA Film & Television Archive’s free Sunday family matinee at the Billy Wilder Theater presents “My Friend Flicka,” the 1943 Technicolor tear-jerker about a boy (Roddy McDowell) and his horse. www.cinema.ucla.edu

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