General News
16mm DOUBLE FEATURE NIGHT at The Way Out Club May 2nd – MIGHTY JOE YOUNG and MACHINE GUN KELLY
Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16MM DOUBLE FEATURE NIGHT at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday May 2nd and starts at 8pm. Admission is FREE though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.
First up Is MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949)
The producer –director team of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack attempted to recreate the magic of KING KONG in 1949 with MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, which followed the Kong story closely but this time with more humor, affection and a big ape that kids could see as a hero. Again Robert Armstrong leads a safari to an isolated land to find a new attraction and again discovers a giant ape attached to a young blonde (19-year old Terry Moore). The Golden Safari nightclub sequence in Mighty Joe Young is a colorful centerpiece, with voodoo dancers, Joe lifting Moore on a platform while she plays ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ on the piano, ten circus strongmen in leopard-skins who take on Joe in a tug-of-war, and a wild rampage after a trio of drunks go backstage to ply the already contentious ape with booze. Special effects master Willis O’Brien and his young protégée Ray Harryhausen succeeded in making Joe as much of a real character as Kong ever was, using technical advances to give the ape an even more expressive face and mannerisms.
Next is MACHINE GUN KELLY (1958)
Director Roger Corman gave Charles Bronson his first starring role in the low budget gangster bio MACHINE GUN KELLY as a hardened criminal who always has his Thompson machine gun in hand and the fear of death on his mind. The most interesting thing about watching MACHINE GUN KELLY today is seeing a relatively young Bronson (actually he was 37) give the type of performance he wouldn’t give after he became a megastar; that of a smiling, fast-talking ladies’ man (and watch him tease a caged lion!). This was one of the first films to gain Corman international recognition and acclaim, due in part to his crisp and efficient directorial style and also a symbolism-heavy script that focused on the psychological mind of a criminal. It was Corman’s idea to film the story of Kelly, a real-life thug who coined the term ‘G-Men’ but ended up surrendering meekly to authorities and later died in prison.
There will be movie trivia with prizes and of course The Way Out Club will have a full bar and Way Out Pizzas for sale. Don’t miss it!
A Facebook invite for this event can be found HERE
0 comments