MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS Special Screenings

Acclaimed British director Stephen Frears (MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDERETTE, THE GRIFTERS, HIGH FIDELITY, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS) is undoubtedly at the top of his game in MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS, based on the true story of Laura Henderson, one of the most prominent and eccentric figures in pre-WW II London society, and founder of the historic Windmill Theatre.

Turning 70, the eccentric Mrs. Henderson (Dome Judi Dench) finds herself widowed and at loose ends. As wealthy as she is energetic, she decides to buy an old theatre in Soho and hires the irascible but experienced Vivian Vari Damm (Bob Hoskins) to run it for her. Although constantly at odds, together they transform the theatre into a vaudeville house-the Revuedeville-with spectacular success once they sidestep censorship laws by promising that the nude showgirls will not move a muscle.

Dench and Hoskins are marvelous together in this love letter to the British equivalent of the Moulin Rouge, a liberal and joyful backstage community that was sobered considerably by the bombs that dropped during World War II, but never closed its doors.