CHRISTMAS IN APRIL. Just months after a Preston Sturges series played in Astoria [see November 14, 2004], another Sturges festival is on its way to the Film Forum! Sturges is best known as an auteur who wrote and directed sharp-edged American satires such as Christmas in July (1940), but this upcoming event revolves around his work as a screenwriter, including some charming (and certainly family-friendly) romantic comedies, two of which will be playing Sunday-Monday, April 3-4.

The Good Fairy, directed by William Wyler, is a 1935 gem with a winning ensemble populated by Frank Morgan (a.k.a. The Wizard of Oz) and Cesar Romero (a.k.a. The Joker) as well as Margaret Sullavan, Herbert Marshall, and Beulah Bondi. (According to IMDB, Ann Miller and Jane Withers are also in there, somewhere.)

The other half of the double feature is Remember the Night (1940), a chance to see Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray shine in something other than Double Indemnity. For added pleasure, there's Sterling Holloway (a.k.a. The Voice of Winnie the Pooh) and Bondi, too. April is a strange month for a screening of this Christmastime story, but the timing shouldn't ruin the fun.