Marc Eliot ’s relationship with the greater Peoria area began more than a decade ago.
The New York Times best-selling author in 2012 received an invitation from the Ronald W. Reagan Society to discuss his 2008 book “Reagan: The Hollywood Years" at Eureka College.
“I discovered Peoria, where I’d never been before,” said Eliot, author of more than a dozen books , including acclaimed biographies of Hollywood legends like Cary Grant , Jimmy Stewart , Michael Douglas and Jack Nicholson .
“I had a wonderful time (in Peoria), and stayed a little longer than planned because a hurricane had hit the New York area, and I couldn’t get back," Eliot said. "So, I stayed in the Peoria area a few days and found I really enjoyed it.”
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How Marc Eliot built a relationship with Peoria
That fateful invitation to the Peoria area came from John Morris, who at the time was the Peoria Riverfront Museum’s public relations director. Morris, now the museum’s president and chief executive officer, struck up a relationship with Eliot during his first visit to the Peoria area. That has developed into a partnership that brings the author to the museum four times a year as a resident film curator.
“When John moved on to take over the museum, we got together and talked about what a museum’s function is,” said Eliot. “I said that part of what this museum could be doing is showing film as art.”
Eliot added that he introduced “Marc Eliot’s Art of Film” series at the Riverfront Museum just before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Art of Film is really the only major program in the area that offers films people may not ordinarily get to see,” he said. “They see them in the context of the talks I give before and after the films, and we’ve developed a pretty solid following of people eager to understand film.”
2024 'The Art of Film' series in Peoria
Eliot is returning to the Riverfront Museum on Thursday through Sunday, July 25-28, to present the current edition of the series: “To Heaven and Back,” which will feature five films dealing with second chances at life and the theme of redemption after returning from the afterlife.
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- July 25, 6:30 p.m. — "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" (1941) directed by Alexander Hall
- July 26, 6:30 p.m. — "Heaven Can Wait" (1978) directed by Warren Beatty
- July 27, 6:30 p.m. — "A Matter of Life and Death" (1946) directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
- July 28, 2:30 p.m. — "Down to Earth" (1947) directed by Alexander Hall
- July 28, 7 p.m. — "Plucking the Daisy" (1956) directed by Marc Allégret
“We are thrilled, as always, to bring exceptional people like Eliot ... to the Peoria Riverfront Museum's Giant Screen Theater, the largest Film Society screen in the nation," said Morris.
Tickets for “Marc Eliot’s Art of Film: To Heaven and Back” are available online at peoriariverfrontmuseum.org.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Why this best-selling author keeps bringing his film expertise to Peoria
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