Classic Movies and Marble Monuments

July is just around the corner, and that means sweating with the classics on the nation's lawn, the National Mall, for the 'Screen on the Green' outdoor film festival in Washington, DC.

July can be unbearably hot in Your Nation's Capital, but still, this is a classic movie experience not to be missed. There's nowhere else you can watch a great movie in the great outdoors with Washington's marble edifices glittering in the night around you. And as dusk descends and the opening credits roll, the heat will ease. Maybe.

This year's lineup is terrific, starting with the very first James Bond film, Dr. No, a fitting tribute in the centennial of Bond author Ian Fleming's birth. Washington has to have a political flick, so this year it's The Candidate with Robert Redford. And my favorite Billy Wilder movie, The Apartment, a cynical yet somehow uplifting love story.

The schedule runs Monday nights, July 7 to August 11.

The U.S. Capitol at dusk - movie time! By Uyen Le, Getty Images