THE SPIRIT OF 1932

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THE SPIRIT OF 1932: MUSICAL COMEDY EDITION

The Southampton Playhouse resurrects one of its signature series just in time for the one-year anniversary of our reopening. A celebration of Hollywood films from 1932, the year that the Playhouse first opened its doors, this spring showcase brings the history of Southampton moviegoing back to its roots again.

It was the final moments of Prohibition, in the midst of the Great Depression, and audiences were seeking a means of escape from their everyday problems. They found it at the movies, two years before the so-called "Hays Code" brought some measure of censorship to studio pictures. This was a gleeful, liberated moment for American cinema and the highlights of the era have only become more satisfying with age. Join us as we resurrect the spirit of '32 with these timeless classics.

The 2026 edition of this series arrives at the Playhouse with a very special twist. In the early sound era, the delights of vaudeville seeped into the medium: outrageous physical comedy, flirty romance, and – most importantly – giddy, hyperbolic musical numbers defined modern adult entertainment. The movies quickly absorbed those enticing ingredients, as many of 1932’s most enduring hits feature lively tunes with smirking troublemakers and quirky love stories that remain utterly delightful nearly a century down the line.

Once again, this series salutes the legacy of cartoon icon Betty Boop, herself a product of 1932, when her first cartoons hit screens. Betty Boop shorts will precede all the films in this series.

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