On Thursday, May 28, at 6 PM, Sag Harbor Cinema will celebrate Canio’s Books’ annual marathon reading — this year focused on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” — with a rare 35mm presentation of Elliott Nugent’s 1949 adaptation. The screening, preceded by a brief introduction by SHC’s Founding Artistic Director Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, leads into The Great Gatsby Marathon to be held on Saturday, May 30.
“We cherish that the Cinema has become an active part in the great tradition of Sag Harbor marathon readings organized by Canio’s. I literally discovered the existence of the 35mm of this early adaptation of Fitzgerald’s novel only a few weeks ago, as I was researching our Summer Noir program. Its tone is starker, drier, very different from both the Jack Clayton 1974 ‘The Great Gatsby,’ with Robert Redford, and Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 film, with Leonardo DiCaprio. I am thrilled to share this rarely seen film with our audience,” said D’Agnolo Vallan.
“We’re thrilled to partner again with the Sag Harbor Cinema for Canio’s community read of this classic novel set on Long Island. It’s as vital today as when first published in 1925; exposing the country’s struggle with class divisions, nihilism, and racism post World War I. Fitzgerald’s lyrical prose makes the book ideally suited for a read-aloud,” said Kathryn Szoka, co-owner of Canio’s Books.
Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, “The Great Gatsby” is one of the most enduring works of American literature and one of the most persistently reinterpreted for the screen. The first adaptation, a now-lost silent film from 1926, was directed by Herbert Brenon and starred Warner Baxter.
In 1949, Paramount mounted a sound remake, directed by Elliott Nugent and starring Alan Ladd. Ladd had broken through with Frank Tuttle’s “This Gun for Hire” in 1942 as a cold, taciturn hitman opposite Veronica Lake — a performance that solidified him as a cornerstone of early film noir. He followed with “The Glass Key” (Stuart Heisler, 1942) and “The Blue Dahlia” (George Marshall, 1946), establishing a screen persona marked by a quiet intensity and emotional restraint. That same coiled presence shapes Ladd’s Gatsby: less a glittering myth, and more of a fragile, inward figure. Nugent’s Gatsby was restored to circulation in 2012, when Universal made a new 35mm print in collaboration with the Film Noir Foundation.
Fitzgerald’s novel has continued to inspire filmmakers across generations. In 1974, Jack Clayton directed a lavish adaptation with a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. Most recently, Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 adaptation reintroduced Gatsby to a new generation with the director’s quintessential kinetic, hyper-stylized vision, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Tickets to “The Great Gatsby” screening are available at the box office or sagharborcinema.org. For more information about Canio’s 2026 Gatsby Marathon, visit caniosculturalcafe.org.