FOR MOST FOLKS , visiting the Bridge Theatre requires either an excursion on the 38 Geary or an epic parking safari. But this single-screen landmark is well worth the trip, offering up crowd pleasers (The Blair Witch Project), artsy Oscar winners (Boys Don't Cry), and the singular concentration of mad, mad movie love that is "Midnight Mass." The Bridge reaches retirement age this year, but the 65-year-old icon – much like the Golden Gate Bridge, from which it takes its name – shows no signs of slowing down. The theater prepares to party like it's 1939 with a two-week festival of films from that banner year, with plenty of big names: the Capra-Stewart classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Cary Grant and Rita Hayworth in Howard Hawks's Only Angels Have Wings, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, Grant again in George Stevens's Gunga Din, timeless bitchfest The Women, Bette Davis tearjerker Dark Victory, and Charles Laughton in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. And, duh, no 1939 film fest would be complete without a double dose of Victor Fleming: Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. In true Bridge style, many screenings feature special preshow entertainment, including a ballroom routine before Fred 'n' Ginger take the screen; a Trannyshack tribute to The Women; and an intro to Angels by author David Thomson (The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood). There's also a special "Midnight Mass" screening of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? – chronologically incorrect but most excellent nonetheless. The whole festival kicks off with guest of honor Cammie King – a.k.a. Bonnie Blue, Rhett and Scarlett's doomed daughter – in person at both evening screenings of Gone with the Wind. See Rep Clock or go to www.bridgetheatre.com for a schedule. (Cheryl Eddy)