Retro Classics

Friday, November 4
The Magic of Ray Harryhausen
JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS
(US, G, 1963, 104 min)
7:00 p.m. (-ish)
The legendary Greek hero leads a team of intrepid adventurers in a perilous quest for the legendary Golden Fleece.  Recruiting the brave Argonauts to crew his ship, Jason embarks on an eventful journey, encountering the 100-foot bronze god Talos, the seven-headed reptilian Hydra, and an army of skeletons wielding sword and shield.

THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD
(US, G, 1958, 88 min)
Begins 15 minutes after the end of Jason
Featuring Cyclops, dragons, giant two-headed birds, miniature princesses, evil magicians, snake women, and a man being roasted alive on a spit, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, the first feature using stop-motion effects to be completely shot in color, melds all the magical-monster-adventure-movie moments you could ever want into one entertaining fantasy yarn.

What Jim says…
I struggled with booking this program. In October 2006, we screened several Ray Harryhausen movies during the now-defunct Spotlight On film series, and attendance was mediocre at best.  I felt we’d already given Harryhausen his due. Five years, however, can be a long time.  I wondered if perhaps the audience for Retro Classics might have an appreciation for Harryhausen that the audience for Spotlight never quite did. I’d originally considered an altogether different set of pictures for this double feature: Earth vs. the Flying Saucers and It Came from Beneath the Sea.  Somehow, I felt the screenings of Them! Forbidden Planet, and The Giant Claw had already paid tribute to those subgenres within the past year.   If Harryhausen was indeed making a re-appearance, then let’s forget about monsters and aliens and instead program two of his most-beloved fantasy films, both of which are childhood memory favorites.                         

Video: