THE BIG SCORE

As cinematic experiences go, could there be anything more meta than watching a heist film inside a former bank vault? (Porn aficionados, please, sit on your rebuttals.) Screening tonight at 6:30, 1932’s American Madness marks a departure from Frank Capra’s usual schmaltzfests — a tale of loyalty, integrity and infidelity in which a bank president (Walter Huston) fights for his job as his chief teller (Pat O’Brien), an ex-convict, takes the fall for the $100,000 heist of his bank. Commemorating the second anniversary of the Stanley H. Durwood Film Vault — itself the onetime depository of the First National Bank — the “Hitting the Vault” film series continues every Monday (and Saturdays at 1:30 p.m.) throughout May at the Central Library (14 West 10th Street, 816-701-3400). Upcoming capers include Woody Allen’s Small Time Crooks, Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight, Michael Mann’s Heat and F. Gary Gray’s Set It Off. For more information, see kclibrary.org.

Mon., May 11, 6:30 p.m., 2009