'Rear Window' and other perfect summer movies

Tickets go on sale Wednesday for one of Seattle's most popular film series. "Heart of Darkness: The Film Noir Cycle," now in its 34th season, begins at Seattle Art Museum on Sept. 29 (with a feast of black and white doughnuts from Top Pot!) and continues on Thursday nights, except for Thanksgiving, through Dec. 8. Its nine movies, all in 35 mm, including the opening-night 1944 noir "Phantom Lady" (starring Northwest native Ella Raines, in one of her earliest screen roles), the multiple Oscar winner "A Place in the Sun" (1951), and Robert Altman's 1973 noir experiment "The Long Goodbye." Series passes are $66 ($59 for SAM, NWFF, SIFF and TheFilmSchool members) and available through the SAM box office at 206-654-3121, online at www.seattleartmuseum.org or through Scarecrow Video at 206-524-8554.

The outdoor "Bollywood Panorama Film Series," a four-week series celebrating films from India, begins Friday, July 15, with the field-hockey drama "Chak De India," followed July 22 with "Dor," July 29 with "Chandni Bar," and concluding with Mira Nair's "The Namesake" on Aug. 5. Hindi films will have English subtitles. Outdoors at the Volunteer Park Amphitheater (inside the Seattle Asian Art Museum auditorium if it rains); admission is free. For more information, see www.seattleartmuseum.org/gardnercenter.

Speaking of outdoor movies: Also screening al fresco this week are "Easy A" (South Lake Union Cinema on the Lawn, Friday), "Twilight" (Fremont Outdoor Movies, Saturday), "Letters to Juliet" (Bellevue Summer Outdoor Movies at the Park, Tuesday), "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" (Movies at Marymoor Park, Wednesday), "Revenge of the Nerds" (Moonlight Cinema at Redhook Ale Brewery in Woodinville, Thursday) and "The School of Rock" (Outdoor Movies at Magnuson Park, Thursday). For information on these and other outdoor screenings, go to www.seattletimes.com and search for "Outdoor movies: 21 neighborhoods."

So, where were you in '62? That was the famous tagline for George Lucas' "American Graffiti," the 1973 coming-of-age-in-the-summer-of-'62 drama that features the young Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss and Harrison Ford. It'll screen this week at the Grand Illusion, through Thursday. Also, the Grand Illusion is currently selling tickets for its summer fundraiser: a gala screening of one of Hitchcock's masterpieces, "Rear Window" — the perfect film for a warm summer night. The fundraiser will be July 30, and will include a raffle and silent auction; tickets are $25. Grand Illusion, 1403 N.E. 50th St., Seattle; 206-523-3935 or www.grandillusioncinema.org.

"The Cherry Orchard," a recorded performance from Britain's National Theatre, will screen at SIFF Cinema Monday night only. The play, part of the National Theater Live series, is directed by NT Associate Director Howard Davies, and stars Zoë Wanamaker as Madame Ranevskaya. 7:30 p.m. at SIFF Cinema, 321 Mercer St., Seattle; tickets are $20 ($19 students/seniors, $15 SIFF members) and available atwww.siff.net or through the box office at 206-324-9996.

And finally, this weekend's midnight movie at the Egyptian — making its first theatrical screening in over a decade — is 1979's "Quadrophenia," The Who's second rock opera, starring Phil Daniels, Ray Winstone and, in his movie debut, Sting. Friday and Saturday, 805 E. Pine, Seattle; 206-781-5755 or www.landmarktheatres.com.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com