The Palm Theatre screens a stylized 1968 drama, The Swimmer, as part of the Take Two Live series 

One afternoon, in a ritzy Connecticut suburb, middle-aged Ned Merrill attends a pool party with some friends. As the conversation progresses, he proposes an unconventional idea. Instead of walking or driving back home, he’ll take the scenic route. Household pools line the pathway to his house, so naturally, he will swim his way back. It’s an unusual and seemingly premise, and one that forms the core of the 1968 film, The Swimmer, which is the latest selection for the Palm Theatre’s film screening series, Take Two Live.

Starring Burt Lancaster, The Swimmer is based off of a short story by John Cheever that appeared in the New Yorker. It details Merrill’s one-day journey through the pools of his neighbors, who gradually reveal more about his mysterious past the further he goes. Along the way, he encounters a teenage temptress (Janet Landgard), a former flame (Janice Rule), and Joan Rivers in one of her earliest film roles. Upon its release, The Swimmer received largely positive reviews, with Roger Ebert describing it as “a strange, stylized work, a brilliant and disturbing one.”

The Swimmer screens at the Palm Theatre on Oct. 26, at 12:30 p.m. There will be and intro and Q-and-A with hosts Jim Dee and Bob Whiteford. Tickets are $10. For more information, visit thepalmtheatre.com or call 541-5161.