February 2026 OETA Movie Club: Love, Courage & Classic Romance
One Night in Miami (2020)
📅 Airs Saturday, Feb. 7 at 9 p.m.
Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Leslie Odom Jr. and Aldis Hodge
Description:
Set on the night of February 25, 1964, One Night in Miami imagines an extraordinary meeting between four icons at a turning point in American history. After a stunning upset victory that makes him Heavyweight Champion of the World, a young and outspoken Cassius Clay retreats from the chaos of Miami Beach to the Hampton House Motel in the segregated Overtown neighborhood, where he is joined by his closest friends: Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown. As celebrations erupt outside, the men spend the night in candid conversation, grappling with fame, faith, and the weight of their influence during the early days of the Civil Rights Movement. Through spirited debate and moments of vulnerability, they confront what it means to use their voices and talents to challenge injustice and shape the future. By morning, their bond and purpose are strengthened, as each emerges determined to help redefine a nation and their place within it.
🎬 Fun Facts
• What tragic real-life event followed the night depicted in the film? The story takes place in February 1964, but Sam Cooke was killed later that same year in a mysterious motel shooting in December.
• Which milestone did this film achieve at the Venice Film Festival? It became the first movie directed by a Black woman to be selected for the prestigious festival.
• What real-life relationship connects two of the cast members? Leslie Odom Jr. (Sam Cooke) and Nicolette Robinson (Barbara Cooke) are married in real life.
• Which on-screen family members are related off-screen as well? Mr. Carleton and his granddaughter Emily are played by real-life father and daughter Beau Bridges and Emily Bridges.
• Where did the tension between Sam Cooke and Malcolm X originate? Their conflict was fictionalized by screenwriter Kemp Powers, inspired by his own experiences navigating identity and pressure as a Black writer in television.
• What subtle detail on the movie poster reflects real history? Jim Brown is the only figure facing a different direction, and at the film’s release in 2021, he was the only one of the four men still alive.
• What makes Leslie Odom Jr.’s Oscar nomination especially rare? He became only the fourth performer nominated for both acting and music categories for the same film.
• How long did it take to film all the hotel room scenes? Every scene set in the motel room was completed in just four days.
February 14 – Double Feature
Casablanca (1942)
📅 Airs Saturday, Feb. 14 at 9 p.m.
Starring:
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman
Description:
In the shadow of World War II, cynical expatriate Rick Blaine runs a popular nightclub in Casablanca, Morocco, a crossroads for refugees desperate to escape Nazi-occupied Europe. Rick’s café serves as a refuge where hope, desperation, and danger mingle under the watchful eye of corrupt officials and shadowy black-market dealers. His carefully guarded detachment is shattered when Ilsa Lund, the woman who once broke his heart, returns to his life, now married to a resistance hero in need of escape. As pressure mounts and emotions resurface, Rick is forced to confront his past and make an excruciating choice between rekindled love and a higher moral duty. Filled with iconic dialogue, haunting romance, and themes of sacrifice and redemption, Casablanca endures as one of cinema’s greatest stories of love tested by war.
🎬 Fun Facts
• Who were many of the actors playing Nazis in real life? Many were actually European Jewish refugees who had fled Nazi-occupied countries, giving the film’s anti-Nazi message a deeply personal resonance.
• Why does the famous airport scene look so unusual? Wartime restrictions prevented night filming at an actual airport, so filmmakers used a small cardboard airplane and forced perspective with short-statured extras to make it look full-sized.
• Why were real tears visible during the “La Marseillaise” scene? Many of the extras singing were genuine refugees from Nazi persecution and were overcome with emotion while performing the defiant anthem over the German song.
• Why didn’t Ingrid Bergman know which man her character truly loved? The script wasn’t finished when filming began, so director Michael Curtiz told her to “play it in between” Rick and Victor until the ending was decided.
• Why is Rick’s mysterious past never explained? The screenwriters couldn’t agree on a convincing reason for his exile from America and ultimately chose to leave it a mystery.
• How was the chess game in Rick’s Café authentic? Humphrey was an extremely avid and skilled chess player and was known to have hustled games for money when he was younger and living in New York in the Depression (reportedly 25 cents a game). He also hustled chess games for money when he was not shooting his scenes in Casablanca and other movies. The board position shown in the movie is from a real correspondence game he was playing by mail during filming.
• Why did Conrad Veidt only play villains during WWII? The actor, who portrayed Major Strasser, was a fierce anti-Nazi whose Jewish wife forced him to flee Germany; he believed playing Nazi villains helped the Allied cause.
• Why is the famous line “Play it again, Sam” a myth? Rick never says that phrase in the film. His actual line is, “You played it for her, you can play it for me. If she can stand it, I can. Play it!”
Love Affair (1939)
📅 Airs Saturday, Feb. 14 at 11 p.m.
Starring: Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer
Description:
A chance meeting aboard a transatlantic cruise sets the stage for a sweeping romance in Love Affair. Michel Marnet (Charles Boyer), a charming French playboy engaged to a wealthy heiress, meets Terry McKay (Irene Dunne), a former nightclub singer returning home to her devoted boyfriend. Though both are committed to others, their playful conversations and growing affection soon blossom into something deeper as they journey from Europe to New York.
Believing their love deserves a fair chance, Michel and Terry agree to part and reunite six months later atop the Empire State Building, after Michel has proven he can earn an honest living and build a future of his own. If their feelings remain true, they will decide whether to marry and leave their former lives behind. But as fate intervenes in unexpected ways, their romantic promise is tested by circumstance, sacrifice, and the uncertainty of time.
Tender, graceful, and deeply emotional, Love Affair is a timeless story of destiny and devotion, the original version of a beloved tale later remade as An Affair to Remember, capturing the hope and heartbreak of lovers who dare to trust that true love will find its way.
🎬 Fun Facts
• Why did restaurants suddenly start serving pink champagne after the film’s release? Audiences were so charmed by the romantic scenes featuring pink champagne that restaurants were flooded with requests for it, sparking a real-life trend.
• What’s a surprising connection between this film and Humphrey Bogart? Astrid Allwyn, who plays Michel’s wealthy fiancée, also appeared in an unrelated earlier film titled Love Affair (1932), which starred a young and relatively unknown Humphrey Bogart.
• How many times has this story been remade? Director Leo McCarey remade it as An Affair to Remember (1957) with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, and it was later remade again in 1994 starring Warren Beatty and Annette Bening.
• Why is this film considered groundbreaking for its time? It was among the first post–Production Code films to show a couple sharing a double bed, which caused controversy with Hollywood censors and forced creative improvisation.
• What unusual detail changes depending on which version you watch? According to on-screen newspapers, Charles Boyer’s character is named “Marnay” in the U.S. version and “Marnet” in the French version.
• How successful was the film at the Academy Awards? It earned nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress (Irene Dunne), Best Supporting Actress (Maria Ouspenskaya), Best Original Story, and Best Original Song.
• What inspired the entire story idea? Director Leo McCarey came up with it after returning from a European cruise and watching the Statue of Liberty appear on the horizon, imagining two lovers who meet at sea but are “obligated to someone else.”
• How did radio audiences experience this romance after its release? The film was adapted multiple times for radio, including a Lux Radio Theater broadcast with both Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne reprising their original roles.
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
📅 Airs Saturday, Feb. 21 at 9 p.m.
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves and Kate Beckinsale
Description:
In this lively adaptation of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, young lovers Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard) prepare to marry, while their friends plot a playful scheme of their own. With the help of Don Pedro (Denzel Washington), they set a clever “lover’s trap” to bring together the sharp-tongued sparring partners Beatrice (Dame Emma Thompson) and Benedick (Sir Kenneth Branagh), whose battles of wit hide an unspoken affection. But romance takes a darker turn when the brooding Don Jon (Keanu Reeves) devises a cruel deception to ruin Hero’s reputation and shatter the wedding plans. Set against the sunlit beauty of Tuscany, this vibrant version blends humor, intrigue, and heartfelt emotion into a sparkling story of love tested by jealousy, misunderstandings, and ultimately redeemed, proving that, in the end, it truly is “much ado about nothing.”
🎬 Fun Facts
• Who made their theatrical film debut in this movie? Kate Beckinsale did, shooting the film during her summer break from studying Russian and French at Oxford. It also featured her very first on-screen kiss.
• Why did this film become a costly Oscar campaign disappointment? The studio spent $10 million promoting it to Academy voters, but despite critical and box office success, it received zero nominations, making the campaign truly “much ado about nothing.”
• What real-life romance mirrored the film’s love story? Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, who played Benedick and Beatrice, were married during filming, just like the lead couple in the 1967 TV version. Both couples later divorced.
• What did Brian Blessed teach Keanu Reeves on set? He befriended Reeves during filming and taught him how to meditate between scenes.
• Which cast members were actually related in real life? Phyllida Law, who played Ursula, is Emma Thompson’s mother, and at the time, Kenneth Branagh’s mother-in-law.
• Where was the movie filmed instead of its Sicilian setting? Although set in Messina, Sicily, the film was shot in the Chianti region of Tuscany, Italy.
• How many Oscar winners appeared in the cast? Three: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, and Denzel Washington, along with three Oscar nominees, including Michael Keaton and Imelda Staunton.
• What surprising detail about the musical scenes makes the film feel more authentic? Much of the singing was recorded live on set rather than re-recorded in a studio.
🍿 Why Watch on OETA?
Every Saturday night, OETA Movie Club delivers commercial-free films, unforgettable performances, and powerful stories. From civil rights history to classic romance and Shakespearean comedy, February’s lineup celebrates love in all its forms – passionate, principled, and timeless.