Clark Art Presents Series of Alfred Hitchcock Films

12:25PM / Friday, March 13, 2026Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. —This March and April, the Clark Art Institute screens a series of films directed by Alfred Hitchcock, widely regarded as the master of suspense and one of cinema's most influential filmmakers.

A presentation and talkback with film scholar Will Schmenner, head of public programs, follows each screening.

All film screenings are free and take place in the Manton Research Center auditorium on select Thursdays at 6 pm. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0570. For more details, visit events.clarkart.edu.

March 19

Rear Window (1954)

For this classic thriller, Hitchcock took a hard-boiled detective story by Cornell Woolrich and mixed it with a love story by screenwriter John Michael Hayes. The story concerns world-class photographer L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart), who has broken his leg. Confined to his wheelchair and bored out of his mind, Jeffries takes to spying on his neighbors. He begins to suspect, without any proof, that Mr. Thorwald (Raymond Burr) may have murdered his wife. Jefferies's point of view, limited to his camera lens and window, echoes the framing of the film itself, drawing the audience into his growing obsession. (Run time: 1 hour, 50 minutes)

March 26

North by Northwest (1959)
This story is a classic Hitchcock variation on the theme of the innocent man wrongly accused. Cary Grant transitions from standard issue advertising executive to accidental spy with the ease that only he possesses. Eva Marie Saint brings a seductive intelligence to their cat-and-mouse romance. Featuring perhaps the most iconic of Hitchcock's chase sequences—man versus crop-dusting biplane—this is not to be missed. (Run time: 2 hours, 16 minutes)

April 2

Vertigo (1958)

Scottie Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart), recently retired from the San Francisco police force, is approached by a college acquaintance to spy on his wife, Madeleine Elster (Kim Novack). His college friend is worried for his wife's mental health. Scottie finds himself hypnotically drawn to Madeleine; he, too, feels afflicted, suffering from vertigo caused by the trauma that forced him to retire. With Bernard Hermann's acclaimed score and imagery that invokes a dizzying vortex, Vertigo is Hitchcock's dark masterpiece. (Run time: 2 hours, 9 minutes)

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Williamstown Select Board Evaluates Town Manager

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:39AM / Wednesday, October 28, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — In 2022, the town still was recovering from the twin blows of a global pandemic and a lawsuit that exposed disturbing allegations against the town's police department.

The latter ultimately led to the resignation of the police chief and the town manager. To replace the manager, the Select Board at the time turned to Robert Menicocci.

Menicocci represented a break in style from his immediate predecessor, who was a more prominent voice in town government. That prominence, in part, was a product of the times: When town boards and committees were not meeting in-person and access to town hall itself was limited at the height of the pandemic, the manager's voice in Zoom meetings was more front and center.

In his four years in the corner office, Menicocci has helped shepherd the police department on its path to certification and helped the town weather the fiscal storm of skyrocketing costs linked to inflation – particularly sharp increases in the cost of health insurance that hit hard for a labor-intensive endeavor like municipal government. All the while, he has been a little more taciturn, while always willing to participate, when appropriate, with responsive answers in discussions of the Select Board and Finance Committee.

On Monday, the current Select Board – completely turned over from the 2022 edition – pushed Menicocci to be more of a cheerleader for the town.

"Do you see your role more as a behind-the-scenes guy and our role is to be out in public?" board member Matthew Neely asked Menicocci during the board's review of the manager's job performance. "Or is there more of a role for you in that? So many people, if I say your name, they're like, ‘Who?'

"I would have assumed your role would be more public facing as well, and more, for lack of a better word, leading the charge as opposed to running day-to-day operations. I feel you're strong running day-to-day. But something we all wish is we had a little more of a proactive [manager] …. Since we need development, need all these things in town so much. … I'd love to see more outward energy, I guess.

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