Joan of Arc adulteress

Joan of Arc adulteress, A Letter to Three Wives' (star)(star)(star)1/2 (U.S.; Joseph Mankiewicz, 1949). Mankiewicz won the 1949 Oscars for direction and screenwriting in this ironic study of failed marriages--with three wives (Linda Darnell, Jeanne Crain and Ann Sothern) receiving a taunting letter from an adulteress (Celeste Holm) who has stolen one of their husbands (Paul Douglas, Jeffrey Lynn or Kirk Douglas). As in the following year's "All About Eve," for which Mankiewicz repeated his double-award feat, this mix of mystery, drama and comedy is urbane, witty and finely acted. 7 p.m. Thu.

Block Cinema

Northwestern University

40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston

Clash by Night' (star)(star)(star)1/2 (U.S.; Fritz Lang, 1952). Lang's noirish but unusually realistic film of the Clifford Odets play, with Barbara Stanwyck as a discontented wife and adulteress, Paul Douglas as her fisherman husband, Robert Ryan (in another of his great villain performances) as the vicious projectionist, and Marilyn Monroe and Keith Andes as the nice young couple who are bystanders to emotional chaos. 8 p.m. Fri.

`Boyz `N the Hood' (star)(star)(star)1/2 (U.S.; John Singleton, 1991). Singleton's remarkable debut film, a bitter, truthful drama of youthful life in South Central L.A., starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne. 8 p.m. Thu.

Fermilab Film Series

Ramsey Auditorium

Fermi National

Accelerator Laboratory

Kirk Road and Pine Street, Batavia

630-840-ARTS

Dreams' (star)(star)(star)(star) (Japan; Akira Kurosawa, 1990). Eight episodes--each based on one of Kurosawa's actual dreams--weave together into a cry against pollution, cruelty and war, and an old man's lament for the loss of beauty in the world. Made when Kurosawa was 80, it has a deceptive impression of artless sincerity and sentimentality, but it's a masterly work. With Chishu Ryu and Martin Scorsese (as Van Gogh); added direction from Kurosawa's friend Ishiro ("Godzilla") Honda. In English and Japanese, with English subtitles. 8 p.m. Fri.