The Secret Cinema presents FANTASTIC TV: 1956-1976
The screening will include complete episodes of little-seen shows from the past, featuring science fiction, speculative fiction and even speculative non-fiction. All will be shown bigger and bolder than they were ever meant to be seen, using rare 16mm film prints.
There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is free. This screening is part of the Rotunda's ongoing "Bright Bulb Screening Series," which offers free movies on the second Thursday of every month, throughout the year.
As usual, all Secret Cinema presentations are projected in 16mm film on a giant screen (not video, not digital, all analog!).
FANTASTIC TV: 1956-1976 will include:
SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE: "GRAVITY ZERO" (1956, Dir: Paul Guilfoyle) - Beloved mild-mannered character actor Percy Helton stars as an absent-minded science professor who struggles with administrators to keep his research going, while obsessively working on an anti-gravity machine. ZIV Television Programs, perhaps best remembered for HIGHWAY PATROL (with Broderick Crawford) syndicated this forgotten anthology drama series. SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE was introduced each week by host Truman Bradley, a former news commentator turned prolific narrator of films and television shows.
ONE STEP BEYOND: "THE ROOM UPSTAIRS" (1961, Dir: John Newland) - This series, which lasted on the ABC network for three full seasons, attracted a cult audience for its weekly stories of psychic and supernatural phenomena -- all of which were purported to be based on true cases. This episode stars Lois Maxwell (best known for her role as "Miss Moneypenny" in James Bond films) as a wife who appears to be going mad, as she repeatedly hears the voice of a child in her rented home. Series host John Newland directed this final season episode.
THE TWILIGHT ZONE: "WHERE IS EVERYBODY?" (1959, Dir: Robert Stevens) - Rod Serling's hugely-popular creation THE TWILIGHT ZONE was a sensation when first aired, and continues to attract fans 66 years later. Thus, it is easier to watch than most of our offerings. Nonetheless, the film we shall project is one of the rarest titles in the whole Secret Cinema archive: An uncut, network print of the pilot episode that launched this renowned series, complete with the original sponsors' commercials, network tags, Serling sign-off, and Bernard Herrmann's original theme music (the latter was replaced at the end of the first season with Marius Constant's more familiar theme).
IN SEARCH OF A CALL FROM SPACE (1976, Dir: uncredited) - Alan Landsburg's IN SEARCH OF… documentary series explored such often unexplainable 1970s obsessions as E.S.P., the Bermuda Triangle and the Loch Ness monster. This segment, hosted by Leonard Nimoy, takes a deep look into NASA and other researchers' quest to detect radio signals beamed by intelligent life outside of Earth.
USA WRITERS: "SCIENCE FICTION" (1966, Dir: Jack Sameth) - This is a kinescope record of a panel talk show produced by KCET, the Los Angeles outlet for National Educational Television (predecessor to today's PBS). It presents an interesting discussion (in an incredible spaceship-like stage set!) about the state of science fiction writing in the 1960s. Biochemistry scientist Paul Saltman moderates conversation between sci-fi authors Theodore Sturgeon, A.E. Vogt and Anthony Boucher, as well as Stanford English professor Dr. H. Bruce Franklin.
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