Celebratory Film Screening of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” (1935) starring Claude Rains, Douglass Montgomery and Heather Angel in Memory of Charles Dickens! Saturday, June 3 at 2:00 p.m.

Former professor at Connecticut College and Quinnipiac University, and expert in film/television and literature, Fred Guida will introduce a celebratory film screening of The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) in memory of Charles Dickens, who passed away on June 9, 1870.

About this film adaptation: The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a haunting film adaptation based on the unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. An opium-addicted choirmaster, John Jasper (Claude Rains), becomes obsessed with a young student named Rosa Bud (Heather Angel). His nephew, Edwin Drood (David Manners), also holds a torch for the girl and asks her to marry him. Circumstances in their small Victorian town grow more perplexing when Drood disappears and the sordid details of Jasper’s secret life come to light. Featuring beautiful sets, lavish costumes and stunning cinematography, this gripping tale remains as mysterious as ever.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was Dickens’ last novel and was unfinished at the time of his death. There has been much speculation on how Dickens proposed to end the novel.

Mr. Guida will answer questions following the screening.

Extra parking for evening and weekend library events is available in the East Haven Town Hall parking lot on 250 Main Street (across the street from the library), in the KeyBank parking lot next to the library (after 12:00 p.m. on Saturdays and after 5:00 p.m. on weekdays) and in the Stop and Shop lot behind the library, accessible from Messina Drive.