Unnatural tale brings new life to Museum's First Friday
March 14, 2006
Is there death after life? The answer to this and other strange
questions can be discovered when the North Carolina Museum of Natural
Sciences in downtown Raleigh shows "Carnival of Souls" (1962) at
7 p.m. on Friday, April 7, 2006.
This month's Natural Horror Picture Show tells the haunting story of a drowned-dragracer-turned-church-organist
who is shadowed around town by a mysterious phantom figure. A bizarre confrontation
is inescapable. Former Copacabana dancer Candace Hilligoss plays the unfortunate
racer Mary Henry. Sidney Berger plays Mary's wishful suitor, John Linden, a character
movie critic Roger Ebert called the "definitive study of a nerd in lust." Thirty-six
years later, Berger played a cop in Wes Craven's remake of the film.
"Carnival" was filmed on location in Salt Lake City with interiors shot at the
Centron Studios in Lawrence, Kansas. Centron was an industrial film company,
producing safety and educational films and "social guidance" short subjects in
the '50s into the '60s. Most of this movie's technical staff, including director
Herk Harvey and screenwriter John Clifford, were Centron employees. Many of the
films actors were also plucked from Centron staff. Art Ellison, who plays the
minister, is probably the man who acted in the most industrial and educational
films in the country, if not the world. Dan Palmquist, who plays a gas station
attendant in "Carnival," was head of the Centron editing department beginning
in the late '50s.
The Museum stays open from 5 till 9 p.m. and the feature film begins at 7 p.m.
Come early for live music and quirky film shorts from the AV Geeks. You can also
enjoy light fare and beverages from the Acro Café. Additionally, the Museum
Store offers after-hours shopping and an opening reception for two new artists
in the Nature Art Gallery -- Liza Myers (oil and acrylic paintings) and Emily
Barnett (drawings, etchings and lithographs).
You can also check out the Museum's newest traveling exhibit -- "BRAIN: The World
Inside Your Head" -- which stays open till 9 p.m. (last tickets sold at 8 p.m.).
BRAIN gives you a peek inside the quintessential organic computer that is responsible
for every thought, every motion and every response your body makes. Exhibit tickets
are discounted for First Friday attendees: $3 for all; free for Friends of the
Museum.
The Museum of Natural Sciences is located in downtown Raleigh at 11 West Jones
Street. Parking is available on the street and in surface lots along Wilmington
and Edenton streets. For more information, contact Steve Popson at 919-733-7450,
ext. 379.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in downtown Raleigh, documents and interprets the natural history of the state of North Carolina through exhibits, research, collections, publications, and educational programming. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 am to 5 pm, and Sun., noon to 5 pm. Admission is free. Visit the Museum on the Web at naturalsciences.org. The Museum is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr., Secretary.
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