Black History at the movies

Classic Movie Thursday at the Queens Library doubles in February as a salute to Back History Month.

All films are shown from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Central Library at 89-11 Merrick Blvd. in Jamaica. Admission is free.

Thursday, Feb. 1 features “Cabin in the Sky” (1943), a musical featuring Ethel Waters, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson and Lena Horne about a gambler who is shot over a debt, but is given one more chance by an angel to change his life.

“Imitation of Life” (1934) on Feb. 8, features Claudette Colbert as a widow who takes in a black housekeeper played by Louise Beavers. Both women are struggling mothers who form a business out of necessity, and develop a deep friendship.

“Guess How’s Coming to Dinner” (1967) on Feb. 15 confronts racial issues when a well-to-do white woman introduces her parents (Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey) to her black physician fiancee (Sidney Poitier).

“Carmen Jones” (1954) on Feb. 22, stars Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge and Pearl Bailey in a modern musical treatment of the Bizet opera “Carmen.”