Join Lokke Heiss and Christianne Benedict each Wednesday in November at Ragtag for a creature feature from the pre-code days of Hollywood past.
From 1927 to 1934, Hollywood operated in a world where production "codes" were relaxed or abandoned, and the result was an unprecedented era of major studios working without the pressure of censorship, producing some the best films ever made in this country.
Island of Lost Souls: Wed 11/14
A scathing indictment of Social Darwinism, this superb adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau, takes place on a remote island that harbors a dreadful secret, and stars the brilliant Charles Laughton as a peculiarly depraved mad scientist.
The Unknown: Wed 11/21
In one of Lon Chaney's greatest roles, he plays a robber who masquerades as an armless knife thrower in a carnival who straps his arms to his sides to keep the law from connecting him to his crimes. This seems like the perfect alibi until he falls in love with a beautiful woman (a young Joan Crawford) who is pathologically afraid of men's hands. What would a man do for true love? This perverse and fascinating silent film, directed by Tod Browning, is O. Henry filtered through Edgar Allen Poe, with more than a dash of Sigmund Freud thrown in for spice.
King Kong: Wed 11/28
When a team of documentary filmmakers go to an island in the South Pacific to find a giant ape, and they find themselves in a prehistoric lost world and must fight for their lives. One of the greatest adventure horror films ever made, an icon of pop culture with truly erotic and emotionally touching scenes between Fay Wray and the massive gorilla. Groundbreaking on many levels, this film served as the inspiration for artists such as Ray Bradbury and Harry Harryhausen. If you haven't seen King Kong on the big screen, you haven't seen this movie.
