|
Two-Day Festival of Rare Show Screenings and In-Person Conversations with Classic TV Stars, September 21 & 22
Beverly Hills, CA, September 6, 2012 – The Paley Center for Media and The Warner Archive Collection will present The Retro TV Action-Adventure-Thon, September 21-22 at The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. The thrill-packed weekend will feature rare screenings, exhibits, and on-stage conversations celebrating a classically cool collection of TV’s greatest action-adventure heroes.
The two-day festival, presented jointly by the Paley Center for Media and DVD imprint The Warner Archive Collection, will feature in-person appearances from a cavalcade of classic TV favorites including Patrick Duffy (The Man from Atlantis), Clint Walker (Cheyenne), Ron Ely (Tarzan) and Michael Gray (Shazam!). Screenings on the big screen in the Paley Center’s John H. Mitchell Theatre will include the animated adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s The Halloween Tree, and the cult classic 1979 live action extravaganza Legends of the Superheroes: The Challenge. Select classic DVD titles from The Warner Archive Collection will be available at the Paley Center during the event.
Attendees may also enjoy guided tours of the Paley Center for Media and Warner Bros.’ Television Out of the Box museum exhibit featuring a treasure trove of iconic costumes, props and sets spanning six decades of your favorite shows and stars.
The Paley Center for Media will offer individual tickets to each event (Member: $8 / General Public: $10), as well as a full day pass for Saturday, Sept 22 which includes admission for one to all of the screenings and panels (Member: $20 / General Public: $25). Tickets are now on sale to Paley Center members, and will be available to the general public on Friday, September 7 at 9:00 am PST. For tickets and additional information please visit www.paleycenter.org.
Event Details:
Friday, September 21, 2012
7:00 PM: The Man from Atlantis: Screening & Conversation with Patrick Duffy
Location: The John H. Mitchell Theatre
In Person: Patrick Duffy: “Mark Harris”
Moderated by: William Keck, Senior Editor & Columnist, TV Guide Magazine
Join the star of the iconic series for a special screening and on stage conversation celebrating this sci-fi cult classic. Four ‘Man From Atlantis’ made for television movies aired during the 1976-1977 television season garnering blockbuster ratings and launching the career of a new star, Patrick Duffy, whose iconic performance garnered a legion of fans who later in the decade would follow him to another blockbuster, Dallas. Following the ratings success of the initial telefilms, NBC commissioned a ‘Man From Atlantis’ series for the 1977-78 season, and a cult legend was born. Over the course of its 13 episodes, the series followed the adventures of Mark Harris (Duffy), a victim of amnesia whose exceptional physical characteristics and abilities, including the ability to breathe underwater and withstand extreme depth pressures, superhuman strength, and especially his webbed hands and feet (!), lead doctors to believe he is the only surviving citizen of the lost civilization of Atlantis. Following his discovery, he is recruited by the Foundation for Oceanic Research, a government agency that conducts top secret research and explores the depths of the ocean in a sophisticated submarine called the Cetacean.
With a supporting cast that included Belinda Montgomery as “Dr. Elizabeth Merrill” (who had nursed Mark Harris back to health) and Alan Fudge as “C. W. Crawford, Jr.,” and featuring the great Victor Buono as the villainous “Mr. Schubert” –The Man from Atlantis endures as a true pop culture classic.
Season 1 and all four TV movies of “The Man from Atlantis are currently available through The Warner Archive Collection (www.warnerarchive.com) and through major online retail partners.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
10:00 AM: Animation Showcase Screening: Ray Bradbury’s The Halloween Tree
Location: The John H. Mitchell Theatre
Sit on the edge of your seat and enjoy master storyteller Ray Bradbury’s classic adventure of four youths who try to save the spirit of their friend Kip from the ghosts of Halloween past. The four encounter a mysterious character, Moundshroud who takes them on a magical journey that sweeps them back as far as 4,000 years and touches down in exotic places all over the world like Egypt, England, France and Mexico. Along the way they discover the magic and meaning of Halloween – and friendship. This enchanting adventure features the vocal talents of Leonard Nimoy as Moundshroud, the animation wizardry of Hanna-Barbera, and is narrated by Ray Bradbury himself! It’s a story as timeless as Halloween itself – a bubbling cauldron of thrills and suspense that will stir the imagination of the entire family. Bradbury’s popular story is destined to become a perennial Halloween favorite.
11:00 AM: Screening: The Herculoids
Location: The Sheinberg Viewing Room
Somewhere out in deep space – and out of the creative imagination of the animation aces of Hanna-Barbera Studios – live the Herculoids. The animation favorite first premiered as part of the CBS Saturday morning cartoon lineup. Humanoid Zandor, along with his wife Tara and son Dorno, lead a group of unique creatures: Zok the flying dragon, powerful simian Igoo (who possesses rock-like skin), rhinoceros hybrid Tundro and two protoplasmic wonders appropriately named Gloop and Gleep. Together, they use their diverse super strengths to defend their utopian planet against attack from such sinister invaders as the Pod Creatures, the Reptons and the Mutoids. Forty-five years since its premeire, the series remains “out of this world,” literally.
12:00 PM: Tarzan: Screening & Conversation with Ron Ely
Location: The John H. Mitchell Theatre
In Person:
Ron Ely: “Tarzan”
Moderator to be announced
Premiering on NBC in 1966, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ immortal creation, “Tarzan,” took to the nation’s TV screens for the first time. Still in the capable hands of producer Sy Weintraub, TV’s Tarzan, starring charismatic film and TV performer Ron Ely, continued the more recent (and more authentic) interpretation of Lord Greystoke as a sophisticated, articulate jungle adventurer as seen in the Tarzan films of Gordon Scott, Jock Mahoney and Mike Henry. Also carried over from the big screen was young actor Manuel Padilla (Tarzan and the Valley of Gold, Tarzan and the Great River), now playing the jungle lord’s kid sidekick alongside Cheeta, the simian one.
Ely, who added an additional layer of authenticity to the series by performing his own stunts throughout the run, also made his directorial debut on Tarzan. A familiar face on television and in film throughout the next three decades, Ely gained additional cult acclaim for his portrayal of “Doc Savage” in the 1975 feature film Doc Savage: Man of Bronze before establishing a new career as a best-selling author of mystery novels.
Season 1 of “Tarzan” is currently available through The Warner Archive Collection at www.warnerarchive.com and through other major online retail partners. Season 2 is expected to be released next year.
2:00 PM: Screening: Superboy- the live-action series
*Special episode guest-starring Ron Ely
Location: The John H. Mitchell Theatre
Brought to television in 1988 by Ilya and Alexander Salkind, the producers of the first three Superman movies, and 1984’s Supergirl, Superboy starred Gerard Christopher as the titular ‘Boy of Steel’ and Stacy Haiduk as “Lana Lang”.
Initially hearkening back to the “Superboy” comics of the 1960’s and 70’s, this live-action adventure series developed a cult following over the course of its three syndicated seasons by focusing on good story telling and excellent action. Though it remains one of the most underrated facets of the Superman oeuvre, Superboy’s loyal fan following endures.
3:00 PM: Cheyenne: Screening and Conversation with Clint Walker
Location: The John H. Mitchell Theatre
In Person:
Clint Walker: “Cheyenne Bodie”
Moderated by George Feltenstein, Senior Vice President, Warner Home Video
Over the course of 8 seasons and 108 episodes, Cheyenne became Warner Bros. first major television hit, and remains one of the medium’s most enduring and durable westerns. Following the adventures of Cheyenne Bodie, a former army scout who went west after the Civil War and drifted from job to job, here a cowboy, there a lawman, but always a larger-than-life hero. Cheyenne was blessed with a larger-than-life star in its titular role, Clint Walker, whose iconic performance set the standard for stoic western heroes for decades to come.
Guests can check out memorabilia from Cheyenne, including one of Clint Waker’s original costumes from the series, designed by Academy Award® winner Marjorie Best (Giant) and memos from studio chief Jack Warner at the Television: Out of the Box exhibit.
Seasons 1 – 3 of “Cheyenne” are currently available through www.warnerarchive.com and other major online retail partners. Season 4 is expected next month and all 7 by the end of the year.
5:00 PM: Warner Bros.’ Television: Out of the Box Exhibit Tour
Experience six decades of Warner Bros. television magic in this special tour of the exhibition.
6:00 PM: Shazam! Screening & Panel with Michael Gray & additional guests
Location: The John H. Mitchell Theatre
In Person:
Michael Gray: “Billy Batson”
Plus additional guests to be announced
Moderated by Alonso Duralde, Author, Film and Television Critic, The Wrap
By uttering a single magic word, young Billy Batson transformed himself into the world’s mightiest mortal, Captain Marvel, and Saturday morning TV would never be the same. From 1974 to 1977 actor Michael Gray, who had worked on series including Room 222 and Marcus Welby, M.D. and had co-starred with Brian Keith in The Little People, starred as young Billy Batson, a role that established him as a major teen idol and cemented his enduring pop culture fame. Paired with veteran radio, film and television actor Les Tremayne (North by Northwest) as his guardian “Mentor”, the duo traveled 1970’s-era California in a mobile-phone equipped classic RV while helping people out of difficult situations with the assistance of Billy’s alter-ego Captain Marvel.
Billy, who speaks directly to the elders that empowered him (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury) via a fantastical communication device, could of course transform himself into Captain Marvel by uttering the magical, SHAZAM!. The iconic superhero was played first by Jackson Bostwick, and later by John Davey.
Some 35 years since the series ended its initial run, it endures as a cult classic entertaining generations of fans worldwide.
8:00 PM: Screening: Legends of the Superheroes: The Challenge
On the Big Screen the 1979 TV cult classic
Location: The John H. Mitchell Theatre
A rare chance to see one of television’s most infamous cult classics on the big screen! Unseen for almost 30 years until unearthed by The Warner Archive Collection, Legends of the Super Heroes: The Challenge represented one of Hanna-Barbera’s rare forays into live-action entertainment. Heroes and villains of the DC Comics universe square off in this made-for-TV (with a laugh track!) Superfriends-style smackdown to end all smackdowns! Legends of the Super Heroes: The Challenge features Batman and Robin (Adam West and Burt Ward of the classic live-action Batman TV series), The Flash, Green Lantern and more members of the Justice League of America versus The Riddler (the great Frank Gorshin reprising his TV role), Mordru, Weather Wizard and other fantastic Doom-dealers. The Legion’s ultimate gambit: trick the heroes into downing a diabolical de-powering drink!
WHERE: The Paley Center for Media
465 N. Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
About The Paley Center for Media:
The Paley Center for Media, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public. For more information, please visit www.paleycenter.org
About The Warner Archive Collection:
The Warner Archive Collection (WAC), established in 2009, is Warner Bros. Digital Distribution’s manufactured-on-demand division devoted to releasing on DVD previously unavailable classic films, television shows and other content through their Website www.warnerarchive.com, as well as through major online retail partners. To date, more than 1400 WAC titles have been made available from Warner’s library, the largest in the world.
About Warner Bros. Digital Distribution:
Warner Bros. Digital Distribution (WBDD) oversees the electronic distribution of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group’s content through Video-On-Demand, Pay-Per-View, Electronic Sell-Through and Subscription Video-On-Demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels. WBDD also distributes content through third party digital retailers and licensees. A worldwide industry leader since its inception, WBDD also manages the Studio’s E-commerce sites that include WBShop.com and WarnerArchive.com. Twitter: @WBDigitalDist
|
