Irving Berlin lifted American song to exhilarating heights with his exuberance, style and pizzaz...not to mention his sheer stamina! We’re screening the ultimate Berlin cinematic extravaganza, Easter Parade (Charles Walters, U.S., 1948; 107m), with the immortal Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, and Ann Miller, far and away one of the finest musicals ever to come out of the Freed unit. It’s one thing to experience “Steppin’ Out” and “A Couple of Swells” on a TV monitor, but it’s something else to experience them on a big screen in all their eye-popping, richly colored glory.

The program also includes a selection of rarely seen Berlin shorts from the Fleischer studios, as well as a surprise or two, and an appearance by Berlin scholar David Leopold, whose Irving Berlin’s Show Business is a must-own book, a lavish, beautifully researched tribute to one of our greatest artists.