Oklahoma History Center Presents Series of Films Friday and Saturday
Contact: Jason Harris
(405) 522-0785
Research Center
(405) 522-5225
Oklahoma City, OK
August 3, 2009
For Immediate Release
The Oklahoma History Center presents two days of films this Friday and Saturday. The special weekend begins with a special screening of True Grit on Friday August 7th. Then Saturday August 8th, the Research Division takes you back to World War II with three films with Oklahoma ties.
The Oklahoma History Center will host a special night at the movies, Friday night, in conjunction with the release of 46 Star Press's new book, Sooner Cinema: Oklahoma Goes to the Movies. Paul Varner--author of the essay "Getting In and Getting Out: True Grit and Oklahoma" from the book Sooner Cinema: Oklahoma Goes to the Movies--and Larry Van Meter, the book's editor will introduce the film. Following the screening will be a discussion of the movie and a book signing for Sooner Cinema: Oklahoma Goes to the Movies.
Released by Paramount Pictures, True Grits is a 1969 western directed by Henry Hathaway and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The film stars John Wayne as U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, Kim Darby as Mattie Ross, and Glen Campbell as La Boeuf. For his performance John Wayne won an Oscar as Rooster Cogburn, a lawman recruited by a teen to seek revenge for her father's murder.
The Oklahoma History Center will open its doors at 6:00 p.m. The first floor museum galleries will be open for the visitors to enjoy. Seating is limited and available on a first come first serve basis. The program will begin at 7:00 p.m.
Paul Varner is a professor of English at Abilene Christian University, but before moving to Texas he lived for over twenty years in Edmond, Oklahoma. In 2008, he published Historical Dictionary of Westerns in Cinema (Scarecrow Press) and Westerns: Paperback Novels and Movies from Hollywood (Cambridge Scholars Press) and forthcoming the Historical Dictionary of Westerns in Literature (also from Scarecrow Press).
Then Saturday three films will be shown by the Research Division with World War II themes. The schedule includes:
2:00 p.m. "Appointment at Pearl" a WKY-TV documentary regarding the U.S.S. Oklahoma and the surprise Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. This documentary used film from the national Archives and U. S. Navy. It was one of many award winning documentaries produced by the Documentary Unit of WKY-TV.
2:25 p.m. A brief biography of Arthur Ramsey, Oklahoma City native and cinematographer who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the war.
2:35 p.m. AAF Combat Weekly Digest - This military documentary was produced by Arthur Ramsey while he was serving in the Motion Picture Unit of the Air Corps. It covers both activities and events in the Pacific and European theatres. This film was classified for many years because it showed the early flight tests of the Air Corps first jet fighters long before they became public knowledge.
3:00 p.m. intermission
3:10 p.m. "Target Tokyo" The 1944 mission to reach the Japanese mainland to bomb military targets.
For more information visit our website at www.okhistory.org. For information on the Friday night showing of True Grit contact Jason Harris at 405-522-0785 or by email at jharris@okhistory.org. For information on the Saturday films contact the Research Division at (405) 522-5225.