The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), starring Lon Chaney, Hollywood's first master horror star, as the unfortunate bell-ringer Quasimodo, whose love for the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda leads to tragic consequences for almost everyone involved, will be shown with live musical accompaniment Sunday at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 1900 St. Paul St. Music will be provided by the Baltimore Opera Company's James Harp, organist and choirmaster at the church. Showtime is 2 p.m., and admission is free. Information: 410-752-5804.
Experimental Hitchcock flick
The Charles Theatre's 25-film Alfred Hitchcock retrospective continues this weekend with Oscar-nominated Lifeboat (1944). Four years into his American period, the British-born director opted to try an experiment in film staging: The entire 96-minute movie is set on a lifeboat adrift in the North Atlantic, after an attack by a German U-boat. Among the survivors are a newspaper columnist (Tallulah Bankhead), the ship's radio operator (Hume Cronyn) and engineer (John Hodiak), a millionaire (Henry Hull) and a hysterical mother (Heather Angel), who refuses to let go of the body of her dead baby. Oh, yes, there's also the commander of the German U-boat (Walter Slezak). Showtime at the theater, 1711 N. Charles St., is noon tomorrow, with encores set for 7 p.m. Monday and 9 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $6 tomorrow, $8 other times. Information: 410-727-3456 or thecharles.com.
Verdi on the big screen
A series of renowned operas filmed at the famous La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy, continues Wednesday at the Charles, 1711 N. Charles St., with Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata, the story of a Parisian courtesan tragically felled by consumption. Showtimes are 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, with an encore screening set for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24. Tickets are $21. Information: thecharles.com or 410-727-3456.
Pratt library screening
Charles Burnett's My Brother's Wedding (1983), the story of warring brothers from Watts - one an upwardly mobile lawyer, the other deeply resentful of his brother's success - will be shown tomorrow at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral St. Showtime is 2 p.m. in the library's Wheeler Auditorium, and admission is free. Information: 410-396-5430 or prattlibrary.org/calendar.
Groundbreaking film
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, director Melvin Van Peebles' groundbreaking 1971 film, one of the first directed squarely at the black community and the impetus for the blaxploitation genre, will be shown Thursday at the Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $7; $5 for students, alliance members and Friends of the Festival members. Information: 410-276-1651 or creativealliance.org.
Director's chat
The Maryland Film Festival's Spring Film Series continues Tuesday with Off the Grid, from directors Jeremy Stulberg and Randy Stulberg. The 2007 documentary chronicles a loose-knit community of radicals and loners who live by their own rules in a desert location 25 miles from the nearest town. Jeremy Stulberg will present the film and answer questions. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. in Falvey Hall at the Maryland Institute College of Art's Brown Center, 1301 Mount Royal Ave. Admission is $10, free to Friends of the Festival members and MICA students, faculty and staff. Information: 410-752-8083 or mdfilm fest.com.
chris.kaltenbach@baltsun.com