INDIANAPOLIS — Film historian Eric Grayson will screen Destination Moon on Sat., June 20, at 8 p.m. at the Garfield Park Arts Center, 2432 Conservatory Dr. He will provide background information on the film prior to the screening and host a Q&A afterwards.
The 1950 film stars John Archer and Warner Anderson. According to Grayson, producer George Pal decided to go in an entirely new direction after his successful run in animation by turning to plausible science fiction. He hired novelist/engineer Robert Heinlein to write a screenplay — as realistic as possible — for a moon landing, 19 years before it actually happened. It hits most of the marks, even talking about the possibility of running up against the Russians.
Destination Moon ushered in the era of 1950s science fiction that led to The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Thing, When Worlds Collide, and Conquest of Space, among many others. Director Irving Pichel was a prolific actor, too, best remembered as the evil henchman in Dracula’s Daughter (1936).
Grayson will also provide a short film before Destination Moon. Admission is $5 and concessions are $1. For more information, visit www.gpacarts.org or call (317) 327-7135.
For more information on Grayson, visit www.drfilm.net/blog, where you will find his wit and wisdom that deals with many aspects of film from the late 1800s to the present; his website, www.filmeric.com, and follow him on Facebook at www.drfilm.net/facebook.
