We have a few trekkies in the house (or vault) and were very saddened by the passing of Leonard Nimoy this past February. To celebrate Mr. Nimoy we’ve teamed up with Nightingale Cinema to screen select episodes of In Search Of…, a late ’70s to early ’80s television series hosted by Nimoy that was devoted to mysterious phenomena (Bigfoot, Atlantis, ESP, the Loch Ness Monster…to name a few). Our Chicago Public Library collection contains a handful of episodes in 16mm. We will screen all three of these episodes – UFOs, The Bermuda Triangle & Life After Death – this May at Nightingale Cinema. UFOs and Bermuda Triangle will be presented in 16mm, while Life After Death will be presented digitally due to unfortunate print damage.
In Search Of: UFOs (1976) by Alan Landsburg Productions, Color, Sound, 24 min, 16mm
“Have beings from other worlds visited Earth to investigate man’s progress over the millennia? That’s one theory to explain the thousands of sightings all over the world of mysterious saucer-like objects in the sky. In America alone 15 million people claim to have seen a UFO…an unidentified flying object. The film crews of “In Search Of” traveled the country filming interviews with people who have experienced the sighting of UFO’s firsthand. One man, connected to a lie detector, describes his sighting and passes the test! Among those interviewed is Ted Phillips, a UFO investigator who continues to research questions opened – but not resolved – by the U.S. Air Force. Along with Dr. Keller of the Kansas Aerospace Laboratory, he examines soil samples from the reported UFO landing sites. A revealing documentary.”
In Search Of: The Bermuda Triangle (1976) by Alan Landsburg Productions, Color, Sound, 24 min, 16mm
“More than a thousand people and over a hundred ships and planes have mysteriously disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle. Extensive and widespread searches have been launched to uncover some explanation for these tragedies…no answers have yet been found. Headlines concerning the strange occurrences have appeared around the world, and many diverse theories have been offered up to explain these happenings. A talk show listener in Ft. Lauderdale called Radio Station WFTL with his own bizarre theory. Listeners, whose imaginations had been captured by this unusual call, were alarmed when his voice was cut off for no apparent reason. The “In Search Of” crews went to the region to interview people who have been directly involved in the curious events that have occurred in and about the Bermuda Triangle. This film explores those interviews and other bizarre incidents in its coverage of the mystery.”
In Search Of: Life After Death (1976) by Alan Landsburg Productions, Color, Sound, 24 min, digital projection
“With the signal, “Code Blue,” doctors and nurses rush down the hospital’s hallway and teams of technicians pour in with resuscitation equipment. A patient is dead. All the combined experience and knowledge of the medical profession go into this moment…and, with increasing frequency, a life is restored. This frantic yet highly controlled scene is played out many times a day in hospitals across the country. Such medical miracles are unexpectedly providing us with a source of observations made beyond the threshold, in the accounts of the experiences of people who have actually “returned from the dead.” The same experience is recounted by many: at the end of the long tunnel there is a warm, all-enveloping light. They experience the return to life as a harsh removal, a forcible pulling away from “this new stage of growth.” The film investigates this frontier of human experience, described by various people who are living with a treasured memory.”
All film descriptions taken from the following Pyramid Films pamphlet & order form:
And just for fun, a film can label (click for a larger view):
