The Secret Cinema revives IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFESTYLE: A VALENTINE TO THE 1970S
Travel back to the Seventies once more on Thursday, October 10, when the Secret Cinema dusts off IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFESTYLE: A VALENTINE TO THE 1970S* for a fresh showing at the Rotunda. This hodgepodge of historic
kitsch aims to restore the glittery glory of the original Decade of Bad Taste, via an assemblage of rare short films including forgotten school
films, television shows, commercials, and trailers. This is a repeat of a popular Secret Cinema program that was presented in 2005.
We'd dipped into the Seventies in many previous Secret Cinema presentations, but this program was our first devoted entirely to the disco decade. Plundered from the depths of the Secret Cinema archives, most of these films are unlikely to be shown anywhere else. Enjoy a time when pop culture stars had names like Kreskin, Meadowlark Lemon and Donny and Marie. Catch up on Seventies nostalgia again, and be all
caught-up for the current revival of the 1990s -- when Seventies appreciation first started to bloom and our current mobius strip of self-reference began.
There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is free.
All Secret Cinema presentations are projected in 16mm film on a giant screen (not video).
Just a few highlights of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFESTYLE: A VALENTINE TO THE 1970S are:
THE ENERGY-ENVIRONMENT GAME (1973) - In this fascinating slice of pre-Three Mile Island history, a "hip" teacher offers a "relevant"
"role-playing" game to his class: high school students (in various BRADY BUNCH/OVER THE EDGE fashions) take on the roles of different members of a fictional community to debate the proposed installation of a nuclear power plant. As the film was produced by a utility company, you can guess the result.
TELEVISION: BEHIND THE SCENES (1978) - This educational film takes a look at the workers and work needed to put together a national TV series. Lucky for us it's THE DONNY AND MARIE SHOW!
THE AMAZING WORLD OF KRESKIN (1971) - Rare kinescope from the first year of this popular syndicated TV series. Kreskin was a nebbishy Canadian magician who performed standard mindreading tricks but achieved a brief stardom by appearing at a time when audiences were hungry for proof of "paranormal" phenomenon.
Plus much, much more!
*NOTE: The phrase "It's a Wonderful Lifestyle" is both homage to and utter theft from Candi Strecker's identically-named fanzines of 1990 and 1993. Her brilliant analysis of the Seventies stands as the last word on the subject. The fanzines may still be available somewhere in
cyberspace.
SECRET CINEMA WEBSITE: http://www.thesecretcinema.com
Admission is FREE