Reel Entertainment is a drop in program which occurs on the last Wednesday of the month. This month we will have Reel Entertainment on May 30th, starting at 6:30 PM.  Please not that May and June will be our last Reel Entertainment programs before breaking for the summer holidays. 

Come to the LIbrary to enjoy a classic or independent movie. We will provide the popcorn and you will have the opportunity to sit and relaxe!
                                                            


Forbidden Planet

In the years following World War II, the world of science fiction exploded onto the cultural scene.  The two traditional science fiction magazines, Astounding and Amazing Stories, were joined by a dozen more new magazines, publishing authors such as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein.  Science fiction also appeared on radio, the new medium of television, and of course, in movies.  At the movies, science fiction had previously been relegated to the domain of serials and second features.  However, with its new-found popularity, the major studios decided to move science fiction into the mainstream of American cinema.  The late fifties and early sixties saw a string of popular, big-budget science fiction movies, such as When Worlds Collide, This Island Earth, and The Time Machine.

Forbidden Planetis an early example.  The movie starred the established stage and screen actor Walter Pigeon alongside newcomers Anne Francis and Leslie Neilsen.  The story was loosely based on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, with Propspero becoming the distinguished scientist Dr. Edward Mobius who has been stranded on a strange planet with his daughter Altaira.  Their rescuers come in the form of the handsome Commander John Adams and his crew.  However, before Adams can rescue the beautiful Altaira, he must battle the mysterious monsters who plague the planet.


The film also introduced Robbie the Robot, who went on to become a popular character in his own right, appearing in several movies and a number of television shows, most famously in the TV series Lost in Space.

Gene Roddenberry listed Forbidden Planet as one of his inspirations for Star Trek.  Come and see where today’s science fiction blockbusters began!