Movie Makers & Movie Monsters
Multipurpose Room, Veteran’s Memorial Building, 7PM
A special Halloween themed program exploring the amazing history of two of Hollywood’s most influential movie moguls — the renowned Irving Thalberg of MGM and the almost forgotten Carl Laemmle, Jr. of Universal. Both men held the title of Head of Production while still in their early twenties, with Thalberg being responsible for making arguably the first Universal Studios’ monster film, Hunchback of Notre Dame, before moving to MGM.
A few years later, Carl Laemmle, Jr., known simply as “Junior,” was put in charge at Universal and pushed the Monster Cycle to a whole new level when he fought to make the first sound horror films, Dracula and Frankenstein. Over the years, these crosstown rivals’ lives intertwined with fascinating parallels.
Julian David Stone, author of “It’s Alive!,” which tells the story of Junior’s quest to get the 1931 classic “Frankenstein” made, will share a special presentation on both men, and the Universal Monster Cycle as a whole. Copies of Julian’s novel will be for sale after the program and he will be happy to sign them.
