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The Great Bank Hoax (1978)

  • The Sentient Bean 13 East Park Avenue Savannah, GA, 31401 United States (map)

Sept. 25 finds the Psychotronic Film Society continuing its long-running and award-winning Wednesday night series of overlooked or downright obscure feature films from around the world. As has been the case for the last 15 years, the PFS’ series takes place in the cozy, DIY environment of the Sentient Bean Coffeehouse on the Southern end of Forsyth Park. This week, they’ll screen the forgotten crime caper comedy “The Great Bank Hoax,” a 1978 gem featuring a handful of the most beloved character actors of that era.

Burgess Meredith (the “Rocky” franchise and TV’s “Batman”), Ned Beatty (“Deliverance” and “Superman”), Richard Baseheart (“The Island of Dr. Moreau” and TV’s “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”) and Paul Sand (“The Main Event,” TV’s “St. Elsewhere”) star in this slow-paced tale of the inept staff of a small-town rural bank who plan a hare-brained heist to try and cover up their own sloppy bookkeeping errors. The film was shot entirely in the small, Atlanta-area town of Madison, Ga., and while it lapsed almost immediately into obscurity, aficionados of underrated motion pictures have noted that it also slyly functions as an almost spot-on allegory for disgraced President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal – an alternate reading of the film which was apparently lost on most everyone who saw it back in the day.

This is a rare chance to see it as the filmmakers intended, on the big screen. 8 p.m. showtime, with a full vegetarian dinner menu available and discounts on craft beer and organic wine during the movie.

Earlier Event: September 24
Tongue: Open Mic and Music Show
Later Event: September 27
Firebrand Fridays at Foxy – Poetry Slam