The Movies Are Down The Hall
In 1972-1973, when I first stumbled into Fandom movies were an event. No VCRs. Movies were on film stock and most cons I am familiar had two or three during the weekend. It was a treat getting to see Things To Come or Destination Moon. With the advent of video there were 24 hour movie rooms; a good place to crash if you didn't have a hotel room. Now, who needs movies at a con when it's possible to own just about anything you would want to see?
I was the resident movie geek in Nashville Fandom for several years, having an 8mm projector and bringing odd films to show at the NSFC meetings and Kubla Khan. We got to see Nosferatu, the 1925 version of She, the 1916 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. I also brought a short film titled The Possibilities of War in the Air (aka The Airship Destroyer). This short film was made in 1909, less than six years after the Wright Brothers conducted the first motor-powered flight. The story tells of an unnamed country (looking suspiciously Germanic) bombing an unnamed country (England) from a lighter-than-air craft. Our hero takes off in his biplane carrying what looks like a canon and saves the day. Again, this little gem was made just after the birth of manned flight.
It is this type of odd little film that is almost impossible to find on video, which is a pity.
To bring pulps into play, I obtained my first pulps (that I was able to keep) at a one-day minicon in Huntsville, Al, and shortly after encountered Rusty Hevelin at Kubla Khan Clave 1 and was hooked by his delightful assortment of wares. I have attended only a handful of cons in the last few years, but no one was carrying any pulps in the huckster room.
Cons have changed; Fandom has mutated. But what remains the same is the opportunity to meet old friends and swap lies about the great things we have done.
Forgive this little detour into nostalgia. Get out there and keep reading those pulps. And also give a thought to those movies that were like pulps projected onto a screen.
Until later.
posted by Eric Jamborsky at 9:10 PM
3 Comments:
Pulps may be gone at science fiction conventions, but I do usually find them at the larger comic book conventions.
Hi,
Don't know if this is really appropriate, but I couldn't find contact information anywhere else on your excellent sire.I am promoting my new web comic, Lovecraft is Missing, at http://www.lovecraftismissing.com. The first pages went up last week, and I will be posting 2 or 3 new pages each Wednesday. I'm a long time HPL and pulp fan, and I think I have a different take on a Lovecraft comic. It would be great if you could take a look at it; if you like it, any mention or link would be overwhelmingly appreciated. I have a trailer up on YouTube, but the only way I know of to get to the pulp fans is to go blog by blog. Thanks.
And by the way, your site is terrific. I've linked to it on my own site.
Best,
Larry Latham
(larryl9225@earthlink.net)
And the worst part for me is I am now at an age where I can afford to buy old pulps, but where to find them? Occasionally I come across a vendor in a con dealers' room but they usually have all the good stuff hidden away. You have to ask sometimes.
GW
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