Last Updated: 2/1/12
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Saturday, February 4, 2012,
8:00 pm - Trailer Trash
10:00 pm - The Black Angels
Admission: $9.00 (Free to IHP members, $7.00 for students & seniors)
Click here to purchase advance tickets
International House Philadelphia
3701 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 387-5125
On Saturday, February 4, 2012, the Secret Cinema will return to International House for a fun-filled and quite unusual Saturday-night double-feature, all shown from scarce 35mm prints. It begins with Trailer Trash, a mind-blowing assortment of coming attractions previews culled from the Secret Cinema archive, featuring "our kind of movies" from the 1960s and '70s. That will be followed by the ultra-rare race-baiting biker film The Black Angels.
Trailer Trash was previously shown by the Secret Cinema ages ago (at the Prince Music Theatre and Colonial Theatre), but is long overdue for a revival-while we're pretty sure The Black Angels has not been shown anywhere since 1970!
General admission is $9.00 (Free to IHP members, $7.00 for students & seniors).
A single admission covers one or both features.
A complete description of the program follows...
8:00 PM
Trailer Trash (First showing in 10 years!) 35mm
Trailer Trash is a non-stop orgy of rare, original preview "trailers" advertising some of the Secret Cinema's favorite films of the 1960s and 70s-exploitation, sexploitation, science-fiction, bikers, horror, rock musicals, beach movies, bloated big budget bombs and possibly some films that no longer survive in feature form. All will be shown from archival 35mm prints (with several in true, IB Technicolor). Trailer Trash stars Elvis Presley, Sean Connery, Nancy Sinatra, Roy Orbison, Sonny & Cher, Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra, Linda Blair, Dean Martin, Cherie Currie, Tony Curtis, The Village People, The Yardbirds, and a cast of unknowns. It was directed by a team that includes Stanley Kubrick, Charlie Chaplin, William Friedkin, John Boorman, John Cassavetes and several forgotten hacks. Its budget (adjusted for inflation) was in the hundreds of millions of dollars, it's in black and white and color, and it has laughs, screams, spies, monsters, sex, drugs, rock n' roll and bikinis. As if this weren't enough, additional graphic eye candy will be provided in the form of vintage drive-in messages, theater commercials and date strips, from the 1950s and beyond.
A sampling of the many trailers to be shown includes Bikini Beach, Bury Me an Angel, Wild in the Streets, You Only Live Twice, Mondo Teeno, Devil's Angels, Paradise Hawaiian Style, Foxes, Murderers' Row, Chastity, The Trial of Billy Jack, Blow Up and many, many more, with some guaranteed surprises.
PLUS:
10:00 PM
The Black Angels (1970, Dir: Laurence Merrick) 35mm
"White is pale, and pale is sick -- and I hate all sickness!" This extremely rare entry from the biker genre also sought to cash in on the newer phenomenon of blaxploitation films, by pitting two rival motorcycle gangs, one white and one black, against each other in a race-motivated war for turf. This intriguing idea is either foiled or enhanced (depending on one's tastes) by mostly amateur acting, aimless script and a nearly-constant stream of awkward dialogue, intermittently interrupted by some thoughtful commentary on race relations. The film was written and photographed by the director in various locations in and outside of Los Angeles. The black biker gang "The Choppers" was portrayed by a real-life black biker gang. The original rock music soundtrack contains several decent instrumentals and songs in assorted styles, some performed by Smokey Roberds, previously of soft rock band The Parade. Much of the cast and crew from The Black Angels worked on the equally obscure Guess What Happened to Count Dracula.
And here's a little teaser that shows off both halves of our program: A Trashy Trailer for The Black Angels!
Dear friends,
In early December we received a perplexing Christmas present from Moore College of Art & Design -- a three-sentence email from their recently appointed Dean of Students Ruth Robbins, a person we had had no prior communication from (and indeed, had never even heard of).
It said: "I am writing to notify you that your contract for Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design is up for renewal as of December 13, 2011. We have decided not to renew the contract going forward. I wish you the best of luck with Secret Cinema."
Just like that. After 15 years there, and well over 150 screenings, bringing thousands of nice people through their doors for the first time.
While our screenings elsewhere continue, having the rug pulled out from the Secret Cinema's main outpost throws our entire operation into jeopardy. For this reason, I am asking you to help ask Moore to change their mind.
The administration at Moore evidently has its own reasons for wanting to get rid of Secret Cinema (unstated though they are), but I am optimistic that if enough people tell them that they think the series and the venue are important to them, they may reverse their decision.
A person with some insight on the situation at Moore suggested that the most effective messages the public could write to Moore's administration would be positive ones, expressing that they like coming to Moore and feel passionately about the venue. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to add some kind words about what Secret Cinema's programming means to you.
If you see value in what we do, please write to the following persons stating so. A simple message explaining who you are, what you thought of your experiences at the Secret Cinema at Moore, etc.
It could be especially valuable for any Moore students or alumni to write, but everyone counts here.
And please copy ME on any communications!
It will also help to "like" our new Facebook page (www.facebook.com/thesecretcinema) , and to pass this email on to any potential supporters you know.
We know Secret Cinema is loved by its audience, and in December alone I was randomly approached by two strangers -- one a recent graduate of Moore -- thanking me for doing it, and recounting favorite screenings. We constantly hear from people who have moved to other cities about how much they miss Secret Cinema. As you probably know, although we love our other screening sites, we saved much of our best programming for Moore. We suspect it is your favorite Secret Cinema venue also.
Thanks for reading this. I thank you deeply for any help in this matter.
Best wishes for 2012,
Jay Schwartz
The Secret Cinema
Please write to ALL of the following people:
Gladys "Happy" Fernandez, President of College < hfernandez@moore.edu >
Barbara Ornstein, Executive Asst. to the President < barbornstein@moore.edu >
Joan Stevens, Special Assistant to the President < jstevens@moore.edu >
Ruth Robbins, Dean of Students < rrobbins@moore.edu >
Emily Johnson, Director of Student Activities and Facilities Rentals < emjohnson@moore.edu >
Amanda Mott, Communications Director < amott@moore.edu >
Jay Schwartz, The Secret Cinema < secretcinema@verizon.net >
To make that easy, you can cut and paste the following block of email addresses in the "TO:" field in your email program:
hfernandez@moore.edu, barbornstein@moore.edu, jstevens@moore.edu, rrobbins@moore.edu, emjohnson@moore.edu, amott@moore.edu, secretcinema@verizon.net
Moore College of Art & Design
20th Street and The Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19103-1179
215-568-8017 Fax
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The very survival of Philadelphia's last premiere motion picture palace is at stake! Almost every other US city has restored and reopened at least one downtown movie palace for public enjoyment such as live entertainment and movie events. As an Art Deco showplace, the historic Boyd Theatre was open for 72 years, and must reopen!
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Official site of the Friends of the Boyd - www.SaveTheSameric.org
NEW! Channel 29 news piece on Secret Cinema from 1999!
Secret Cinema 1999 Annual Report
Secret Cinema 1998 Annual Report
Secret Cinema 1997 Annual Report
Information about the 1998 Secret Cinema "Class Trip" to the Syracuse Cinefest