Museum welcomes atomic mutations with an appetite for flesh!
August 7, 2008
RALEIGH — Too awesome to describe! Too terrifying to escape! Too powerful to stop! The mammoth monster that terrified the Earth makes a special local appearance when the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh features “Monster from Green Hell” (1958) on Friday, September 5 at 7 p.m.
When a U.S. government experiment involving rockets and radiation goes awry (go figure), angry test wasps mutate into giant, killing monsters that attack central Africa. Responsible rocket scientist Dr. Quent Brady (Jim Davis) organizes an expedition to investigate. You may recognize Davis from his role as the family patriarch John Ross ‘Jock’ Ewing Sr. in the long-running TV series “Dallas” (1978). And if the sequence in which hundreds of African natives attack the good doctor’s safari looks familiar, that’s because the scene is taken directly from “Stanley and Livingstone” (1939) — note that Dr. Brady is costumed very much like Spencer Tracy was in that film. In fact, there’s more old/stock footage in this flick than you can shake a Twizzler at.
Barbara Turner plays Lorna Lorentz, wife of the jungle’s lone doctor. Turner is the mother of single white female Jennifer Jason Leigh and ex-wife of late actor Vic Morrow, who died during the 1982 filming of “Twilight Zone the Movie” when a failed helicopter stunt killed him and two children. Turner has been making a bigger name for herself recently, writing screenplays for Robert Altman’s “The Company” (2003) and Ed Harris’ “Pollock” (2000).
“Green Hell” writer Endre Bohem joined the company of the Clint Eastwood western series “Rawhide” in 1959 as a story consultant and eventually moved up to executive producer, later inviting “Green Hell” co-writer to pen episodes for “Rawhide” in the ‘60s.
The Museum stays open from 5 p.m. till 9 p.m. on the first Friday of every month. Arrive early and wander through eye-catching exhibits highlighting the natural beauty of North Carolina, enjoy snacks and beverages from the Acro Café, and groove to live music. Or take a tour through the Museum’s latest traveling exhibit, The Dead Sea Scrolls, which delves into the mystery and science behind the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament (visit naturalsciences.org/scrolls/ for more information). Additionally, the Museum Store offers after-hours shopping and an opening reception (6–9 p.m.) for Diane Shearon, whose show of shell paintings runs September 5-28 in the store’s Nature Art Gallery. All exhibited art is for sale.
The Museum of Natural Sciences is located in downtown Raleigh at 11 West Jones Street. Parking is available on the street and in surface lots along Wilmington and Edenton streets. For more information, contact Steve Popson at 919-733-7450, ext. 379.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in downtown Raleigh, documents and interprets the natural history of the state of North Carolina through exhibits, research, collections, publications, and educational programming. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 am to 5 pm, and Sun., noon to 5 pm. Admission is free. Visit the Museum on the Web at naturalsciences.org. The Museum is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr., Secretary.
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