Fango has learned that LA’s American Cinematheque will host a screening of two genre classics on Sunday, April 23rd at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, CA introduced by stop-motion legend Ray Harryhausen and literary giant Ray Bradbury.
The double feature commences at 6:30 p.m. with director Eugene Lourie’s 1953 monster milestone THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS. Starring Paul Christian, Paula Raymond and Kenneth (1951’s THE THING) Tobey with a small early turn by Lee Van Cleef, the film revolves around a massive prehistoric beast (the fictitious “Rhedosaurus”) which, awakened from its Arctic slumber due to nuclear testing, travels to New York City to mete out some mayhem. Based on a short story by Bradbury with FX provided by Harryhausen (his first independent effort), BEAST is considered by many to be milestone in the latter’s career and movie magic in general.
Next up is KING KONG producer Merian C. Cooper’s take on H. Rider Haggard’s classic novel SHE, starring Helen Gahagan, Randolph Scott and Nigel Bruce. Directed by Lansing C. Holden and Irvin Pichel, the 1935 film follows an Arctic explorer (Scott) who encounters man-eating cannibals before coming up against the even more formidable “She Who Must Be Obeyed” (Gahagen, portraying the immortal goddess-ruler of the lost kingdom of Kor). Harry Redmond Jr., who worked previously on Cooper’s KING KONG and SON OF KONG, provided the special FX. Visit the Aero’s official site here for more details.
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