The Honeymoon Killers (35mm)

Based on the true story of Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, the “Lonely Hearts Killers” who targeted widows through personal ads in the late 1940s, The Honeymoon Killers was the first and only film directed by Leonard Kastle. Martin Scorsese was originally hired to direct but was fired early in production, with Kastle eventually taking over. Shot in stark black and white and largely avoiding the sensationalism of its subject, the film has since become a cult classic of American independent cinema.

Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler) is sullen, overweight, and lonely. Desperate for affection, she joins Aunt Carrie’s Friendship Club and strikes up a correspondence with Ray Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco), a charismatic smooth talker who could be the man of her dreams, or a degenerate con artist. Based on a shocking true story and shot in documentary-style black and white by the confident and inspired Leonard Kastle, in what would be his only foray into filmmaking, The Honeymoon Killers is a stark portrayal of the desperate lengths to which a lonely heart will go to find true love.