“Good Ol’ Charles Schulz” to Screen at Sierra Madre Playhouse August 16

Sierra Madre Playhouse restarts its Off The Screen Series of specialty films with “Good Ol’ Charles Schulz, a documentary about the creator of the Peanuts comic strip. It is intended to complement the Playhouse’s production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, being performed outdoors at nearby Sierra Madre Memorial Park from July 31 through August 29.

The screening of “Good Ol ’ Charles Schulz” will be the first indoor public event at the Playhouse in 17 months. As a Covid safety measure, we are requesting that only vaccinated patrons attend this indoor screening. Other Covid safety protocols in effect on the day of the screening will be observed.

For 50 years, Charles M. Schulz captivated and comforted millions with PEANUTS, his innovative daily chronicle of cruelty, hope, and heartbreak in the younger set. But unprecedented worldwide success did not quiet his own Charlie-Brown-style doubts. Instead, the outwardly mild-mannered Schulz relentlessly revisited the turbulent realities of his lost childhood in search of elusive answers. Like Citizen Kane (a film Schulz watched up to 40 times), “ Good Ol’ Charles Schulz” tries to decipher an iconic, enigmatic American success story. Interviews with those who knew him best-including the real-life Linus and Little Red-Haired Girl-propel this 90-minute documentary. With full access to Peanuts strips and specials and to Schulz’s personal archives, the film explores his life, his work, and the complex ways the two intersected. Filmed in wide screen, “Good Ol’ Charles Schulz” also connects the cartoons to the fading world of his Midwestern youth in visually innovative ways.

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Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. Monday, August 16, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. Admission: $5.00. Reservations: sierramadreplayhouse.org or call (626) 355-4318. Parking is available on the street and in lots behind the Playhouse and across the street.