By Cliff Bellamy

cbellamy@heraldsun.com; 419-6744

DURHAM -- Poet William Wordsworth wrote of "a beauteous evening, calm and free," and on a recent beauteous early summer evening in Durham Central Park an audience gathered on blankets and in lawn chairs to view a black-and-white reel from a documentary about a Norwegian family, accompanied by a soundtrack of American jazz.

Tom Whiteside, a film collector and historian, called it the "warm-up reel" to this edition of Durham Cinematheque, a free film series held in the summer months to coincide with other Third Friday Durham events held downtown. Whiteside's is one of an eclectic variety of outdoor film screenings available this summer.

Since 1991, Whiteside has been editing and putting together films from his vast personal collection, which he projects on a screen in the park. He also creates a music soundtrack to accompany the screenings.

He titled this edition "Hollywood History and Household Hints." Viewers saw clips from documentaries about Charlie Chaplin, Will Rogers and Jack Benny, plus a Hollywood travel film. Audience members also learned about the many pitfalls facing the Peters family in an educational home safety film. (The audience guffawed when the narrator said that the men of the Peters clan went on a cleaning binge.)

Whiteside also showed old television commercials -- Texize, Lindsay water softener (with the slogan, "I Love Lindsay") and a tune-up special for Singer sewing machines (cost, $2.95).

He did some creative editing on the Robin Hood theme -- juxtaposing footage from an old film with a "Popeye" cartoon version of Robin Hood and commercials for the Robin Hood brand of flour.

"This is absolutely fabulous," said Carol Anderson, who owns the shop Vaguely Reminiscent on Ninth Street, and just happened to sponsor this edition of the series. "I like the vintage appeal" and the fact that "it is so funky, just funky."

Many of the clips Whiteside shows are "documents of the culture," said Richard Zigler, who attended the screening. "I just think it's fun," he said. "It's great to see people downtown."

As with Durham Cinematheque, other outdoor movie series begin at dusk. Most have free admission or a nominal ticket cost.

Fans of Whiteside's documentary approach might want to check out Movies on the Lawn at American Tobacco. In that series, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has teamed with Fox 50 and American Tobacco to present documentary films that have screened at past festivals.

Full Frame presented two free outdoor screenings in April, and the results were successful, allowing the festival to add more free screenings to the offerings, said Deirdre Haj, Full Frame's executive director. The Burt's Bees Greater Good Foundation is sponsoring this summer's screenings, which are films based on environmental themes. The next film in the series is "Waste Land," a documentary about the largest landfill in the world outside Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which won last year's Audience Award.

The free screenings help the festival give back to the community and fulfill its mission to present nonfiction films, Haj said. The series also has a nostalgic appeal. "I happen to think it's a return to the drive-in movie" and its outdoor ambience, Haj said. Technology is now available that allows easier presentation of films outdoors without a permanent screen. "We're thrilled to do it, and I hope we can do a lot more of it," Haj said.

In other summer offerings, movie fans can take a trip back through the '80s when Sarah P. Duke Gardens presents its second year of free outdoor films on Thursdays. Last year's theme was musicals. Because a lot of families came to the series, choosing films that appeal to families was crucial to this year's choices, said Paul Kartcheske, associate director of administrative operations at Duke Gardens, who curated the series. As with the musicals, this series follows the 1980s chronologically, beginning with the 1982 film "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" and ending with the 1988 film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."

The Lumina Theatre in Southern Village in Chapel Hill continues its low-cost weekend series of outdoor films. Among the future titles are "Iron Man 2" and "Shrek Forever After."

Below are schedules of remaining films in the various outdoor series, all offering a great way to spend the next beauteous summer evening.

THE LUMINA THEATRE

620 Market St. Southern Village, Chapel Hill. Admission is $4. Popcorn, drinks and other concessions available for sale. Details: www.thelumina.com

July 9-10: "Iron Man 2"

July 16-17: "Robin Hood"

July 23-24: "Shrek Forever After"

July 30-31: "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time"

DURHAM CINEMATHEQUE

Durham Central Park, 500 block of Foster Street. Admission is free, but donations to reimburse projection costs are accepted. Blankets, chairs and coolers welcome. For updates, visit www.thirdfridaydurham.com/

July 16: "Let's Go to France"

Aug. 20: "Winter Time Fun and Safety"

Sept. 17: "A Night of Cars and Crazy Things"

SARAH P. DUKE GARDENS

426 Anderson St. Admission is free. Screenings are on the South Lawn. Free parking after 5 p.m. Blankets and chairs welcome. Picnics also welcome. Popcorn and drinks for sale. For details, call 684-3698. Weather updates on www.twitter.com/dukegardens.

July 15: "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial"

July 29: "Ghost Busters"

Aug. 12: "The Goonies"

Aug. 26: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"

AMERICAN TOBACCO

318 Blackwell St. Admission is free. Screenings begin at dusk on the main lawn of the American Tobacco Campus. For more information and updates, visit www.fullframefest.org.

July 9: "Waste Land"

July 16: "Gasland"

Aug. 6: Title to be announced

___________________________________________

SHARE YOUR STAYCATION STORIES

Have you done something fun on a staycation? Share it with us on our Facebook page. We will select some of the best staycation stories and ideas for activities to print with our stories over the summer.

How to spend your staycation

The economy is still down in the dumps. It's officially summer, but your bank account may be telling you it's still not a good time to head to the beach for a week, jet off to Europe or take the kids down to Disney.

So how can you have a good vacation while still staying at home? Every Monday, through mid-August, we offer some suggestions.