ATLRetro

By Philip Nutman
Contributing Blogger

Splatter Cinema Presents WITCHFINDER GENERAL (aka THE CONQUEROR WORM) (1968); Dir: Michael Reeves; Starring: Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy; Tues. Sept. 13; 9:30 PM; Plaza Theatre; Trailer here.

ATLRetro’s excited – one of our favorite horror movies of all time is coming to the Plaza Theatre for an ultra-rare 35 mm screening this week as the cool ghouls at Splatter Cinema present WITCHFINDER GENERAL, the notorious 1968 British wench burning fest starring the fabulous Vincent Price at his most evil.

Recut and retitled THE CONQUEROR WORM by American International Pictures for the US market (the title is a steal from an Edgar Allan Poe poem to make people think it was another Price-Poe flick), this movie is for my money Saint Vincent’s best, most brutal and sadistic performance, a study in ice-cold evil. The print of this much-censored movie the Splatter gang are screening is a British X-rated one, which, sadly, doesn’t include the restored footage from a UK DVD released a few years ago. But since most of the shocking, sadistic, violent footage has been lost over the years, this isn’t a big deal – except for purists such as myself – as this film packs a punch to the guts regardless. (Only seconds were trimmed from several scenes, tightening some of the torture and longer takes of witches being burned alive – material that’s long been a source of conjecture amongst obsessive fans. The screenplay was pre-censored by the British Board of Film Censors before a foot of film was shot back in the ‘60s.

Based on the turgid 1966 historical novel by Ronald Bassett, the film has its roots in truth but is a seriously fictionalized account of the infamous exploits of 17th century self-styled “witchfinder” Matthew Hopkins, who committed hundreds of atrocities during the English civil war as Royalists fought Parliamentary forces for control of the countryside, staining the verdant pastures red. The real Hopkins was a sadistic misogynist who lined his pockets by extracting confessions from innocent women who were accused of witchcraft by paranoid villagers. As played by Price, the character is a power-hungry, puritanical, sexually repressed manipulator of the first order who meets his match in Richard Marshall, a young soldier played by Ian Ogilvy (best known for playing sleuth Simon Templar in the ‘70s Brit TV series THE RETURN OF THE SAINT). When Hopkins and his vile assistant, Stearne, victimize a vicar and his daughter, the soldier’s true love, vengeance becomes the order of the day, and Marshall abandons his political convictions, going crazy as he hunts down and confronts the men who have destroyed his life.

Richard Marshall (Ian Ogilvy) and Vincent Price in WITCHFINDER GENERAL, aka THE CONQUEROR WORM. Photo credit: AIP

Written and directed by Michael Reeves, a very young, ambitious director, whom critics hailed as the Great White Hope of British horror cinema, this movie turned out to be his swan song as he died at age 25 of an accidental drug overdose shortly after completing the film. His next scheduled project was THE OBLONG BOX (1969), another Price-Poe vehicle, and one wonders how that would have turned out considering Price couldn’t stand the young director, whom he thought arrogant and disliked the way he was being commanded as an actor – which makes Price’s understated performance even more tribute-worthy.

Barbilicious performs with LUST. Photo courtesy of Barbilicious.

With Blast-Off Burlesque’s World Tour about to take off this weekend at 7 Stages (if you haven’t bought tickets yet, book ‘em here! Only two more shows on Sat at 7:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.), we asked those gorgeous gals and guys about their craziest real-life travel experiences. And did they have some stories to tell—from wicked weather to dodgy directions.

In the third of this three-part series, Barbilicious was having a great time on tour with her band LUST until she headed to a rather unusual gig in Canyon, Texas…

Road Trips with my band LUST have always brought surprises, victories, defeats, and just plain weirdness. We used to take an annual West Coast Tour and go from Atlanta to the West Coast and back. A big loop that rolls down to New Orleans, then up through TX, NM, AZ and CA. Texas is a HUGE state, so in between Houston, Dallas, Austin and our favorite El Paso, there are little entertainment-starved places like Canyon, TX.

Canyon is a beautiful place located in Central TX, and cold as hell in February. After a wonderful show in Lubbock, TX, where we played for a couple of Black Metal dudes and their girlfriends in a room in a house, and had a grand tour of Buddy Holly‘s high school gym, we are looking forward to what Canyon would bring. Of course, we are pretty much broke, gas is expensive, and we need to get to the next place, so anywhere to play is always going to be better than not playing, right?

Dickie Van Dyke & Barbilicious. Photo credit: Derek Jackson.

Where’s the gig? It’s a little ambiguous, but we do have a phone number. After some phone tagging and crackly connections, we get directions. This was before smart phones and Google maps, so we get to pull out the ole’ paper one. Why that seems to be right in the middle of a State Park. Another call, wait don’t go there, go here instead. Why, that seems to be another State Park. It’s getting dark, and really cold, it’s 28 degrees, and yes, we’re playing in a State Park. Illegally.

There is more confusion, what gazebo will we be playing at? We need one with an outlet. There are no lights, the park is closed, it’s fucking freezing. After winding around the park, we finally pull up to a gazebo, where our headlights catch glimpse of a young punker pacing back and forth, all bundled up, and waiting for us to arrive.

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Friday, Sept. 9

Blast-Off Burlesque launch their two-night World Tour tonight at 9 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.) at 7 Stages. If you missed our exclusive Blast-Off Road Trips from Hell series, catch up with the first part here. The Beach Boys surf down into Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Solo artist Julie Dexter performs a variety of music from jazz to soul and beyond at Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX. Big Mike and croons the classics at Ray’s on the River with the Kingsized Jazz Trio, Rich Rowlinson on piano and Father Tim Delaney on upright bass. Spanky & the Love Handles play funky dirty dance-able blues at Fat Matt’s, while the Hollidays are being soulful at Northside Tavern. Whiskey Belt honky-tonks it up at Hottie Hawg’s.

Atlanta-based director James Anthony Bickert’s biker/horror/sexploitation mash-up, “DEAR GOD NO!” was shot entirely on Super 16mm film, using practical effects, and limited to technology of the era that the film is set in. What could be more ’70s exploitation-inspired fun than rival biker gangs on a rape and murder find themselves battling a different enemy – a flesh-eating killing machine that lives in the forest! Anyway, this crazy (or crazed?) movie features a murder of local talent, including Shane Morton (Silver Scream Spookshow, Gargantua, Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse), Madeline Brumby (Silver Scream Spookshow, Dracula the Rock Opera), Jim Stacy (Palookaville, AM Gold, GET DELICIOUS!), Nick Morgan (Splatter Cinema), and many more. Catch its world premiere on the big screen at the Plaza tonight at 9:30 p.m.

Saturday Sept. 10

With 9-11 just a day away, show your support for our brave men and women overseas by jumping on your motorcycle or into your Mini-Cooper and joining PinUps for Soldiers’ Memorial Ride. Registration/breakfast begins at 10 a.m. at The American Legion Post 127, Buford, Georgia with the first bike/mini leaving out at 11:30am.  They also have the Armored Party Bus for those who want to participate but do not have a bike or a Mini-Cooper. Jason Lee and The Cyclones play at 5 p.m. Read more about PinUps for Soliders in this week’s Kool Kat feature on Dena Stahl here. Or support local heroic firefighters and police officers at Smyrna’s Heroes Gala & Auction, and enjoy live entertainment by Kingsized,the burlesque beauties of Dames Aflame and Wesley Cook, along with delicious food and both live and silent auctions!

The King of Pops serves up sweet old-fashioned ice-cold goodness under the marquee of The Plaza Theatre starting at 2:30 p.m. to celebrate an encore 35 mm screening of PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE at 3 PM. Read our Retro Review by ATLRetro’s newest blogger Tom Drake here.

It’s the last big date of the season for the Atlanta Rollergirls as The Apocalypstix battle theDenim Demons in a 5 p.m. grudge match and then the Toxic Shocks take on the Sake Tuyas in the Champ bout at 7:30 p.m. at Yaarab Shrine Center.

Blast-Off Burlesque guide audiences on two more World Tour shows tonight taking off at 7:30 p.m. (doors at 6:30) and 10:30 p.m. (doors at 9:45 p.m.) at 7 Stages.

After the show, head to Masquerade for a sci-fi-themed Mon Cherie’s Rockabilly Lounge, featuring Psycho DeVilles, DJ Rev. Andy of Garage 71 spinning Psychobilly Freakout, jello shots from Mon Cherie’s Pin-Up Beauties and local burlesque stars Evil Sarah, The Chameleon Queen, Stormy Knight, Fonda Lingue and Scarlett Page.

And hell, yeah, it’s an all-star honky tonk/Retrobilly 80th Birthday Tribute to honor Country Music Legend George Jones Saturday night at Star Bar with Caroline & the Ramblers, The Stumblers, Ghost Riders Car Club, Slim Chance & the Convicts, Serenaders and Joel Burkhart. All proceeds benefit Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta.

Blues pianist Ike Stubblefield tickles the ivories at Northside Tavern.  Cazanovas bring Chicago style blues to Hottie Hawg’s BBQ. And DJ Romeo Colognetransforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours.

Paramount Theatre, Atlanta. Photo courtesy of Callanwolde.

Sunday Sept. 11

Hear about Atlanta’s long-gone magical movie palaces and neighborhood theaters, their organs and theatre organists of the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s in Pipes on Peachtree, a panel discussion featuring organ technician/historian John Tanner and Joe Patten, Atlanta’s Phantom of the Fox in the Retro setting of 1920 Gothic-Tudor mansion, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance & $12 in advance. For a sneak preview, check out our recent Kool Kat feature on Strand organist Ron Carter here. Also, The Washboard Confessional plays blues “dunch” between 1-4 PM at The Earl. Snake Legs bring on the blues at Fat Matt’s.

Radcliffe Bailey with "Bat"

Closes Sept. 11

RADCLIFFE BAILEY: MEMORY AS MEDICINE, the most comprehensive exhibition of the Atlanta artist’s works to date, runs through Sept. 11 at the High Museum of Art. Read more about the artist and this powerful exhibition in this Kool Kat.

JOHN MARIN’S WATERCOLORS: A MEDIUM FOR MODERNISM, a companion exhibit also at the High this summer through Sept. 11, surveys the work of the man named America’s number one artist in a 1948 LOOK magazine survey. While his name is not a household one today, this exhibition reminds us of his important place in the modernist movement and why watercolors became such a powerful instrument for avante-garde art in the hands of him and other artists in the Stieglitz Circle,including Georgia O’Keefe.

Closes Sept. 24

The Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)‘s current exhibit WaterDream: The Evolution of Bathroom Design, runs through Sept. 24 in the dynamic new Midtown space. Displays take visitors through a four-part journey into the bathroom from the birth of minimalist aesthetics in 20th century design to current concepts.

Tune back in on Monday for This Week in Retro Atlanta If you know of a cool happening, send suggestions to ATLRetro@gmail.com.

With Blast-Off Burlesque’s World Tour about to take off this weekend at 7 Stages (if you haven’t bought tickets yet, book ‘em here! Fri at 9 p.m., and Sat at 7:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.), we asked those gorgeous gals and guys about their craziest real-life travel experiences. And did they have some stories to tell—from wicked weather to dodgy directions.

In the second of this three-part series, guest star and regular show contributor Jim Stacy (GET DELICIOUS!, Palookaville, AM Gold, Starlight Drive-In, etc) goes fishing in Florida with his dad. Let’s just say the weather started getting rough and the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew…

I was about 9 years old and my family had gone to Daytona Beach, Florida for vacation. My Father and I decided to go Deep Sea Fishing, a ritual for he and I to this day. As we got further out and started catching fish the Captain came down and said a tropical storm was coming in but should pass to the south of us. We moved a few miles further out just to make sure the storm was well away from us and continued to fish our asses off.

The storm approached land where my Mother and siblings were safe in the Beach House awaiting a fish dinner. The storm had other ideas. It bounces off the shallows and comes at a beeline back towards us.

The Captain stows all gear as green and black asshole clouds bank up on us and we run. Skeedaddle as fast as the 40-foot cabin forward fishing boat will go. The storm gets us. We hunker in the Galley as we race at a 70° up the face of a wave, to crest it, race back down and have another wave smash over the bridge.

Jim Stacy plays with the Wizard of Oz, pictured here with real Munchkin Karl Stover, Blast-Off Burlesque & other Plaza friends. Photo Credit: ATLRetro..

So the waves smash out all the Galley windows and smash the coolers full of Lunch and Dinner. A steady tide of glass, broken wood, styrofoam, ice, fish and gear wash around my ankles as I see my new Chuck Taylor’s get deeper and deeper in the storm water.

We end up being 9 hours late getting back. My frantic Mother and brothers and sister are standing at the dock.

We lost all the fish.

Coming Soon: Vintage Vacation: Road Trips from Hell with Blast-Off Burlesque, Part 3: Barbilicious Gets Lost in Texas.

Read Part 1: Blizzard in North Carolina here.

With Blast-Off Burlesque’s World Tour about to take off this weekend at 7 Stages (if you haven’t bought tickets yet, book ‘em here,! Fri at 9 p.m., and Sat at 7:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.), we asked those gorgeous gals and guys about their craziest real-life travel experiences. And did they have some stories to tell—from wicked weather to dodgy directions.

In the first of this three-part series, the entire Blast-Off gang braves a blizzard but our intrepid entertainers know the show must go on…

In January 2009, Blast-Off was heading to Asheville to put on two nights of a “best of” show at North Carolina Stage Company. We were psyched about it, because it was the first time we’d really taken the show on the road, rather than traveling to guest in other folks’ shows.

As the date approached, we kept an eye on the weather. It was January, after all. And as luck would have it, a snow – and ice – storm synched up with our travel plans. We were planning on heading up in two groups, one on Thursday evening and one Friday. The storm had a similar plan of attack.

Sadie Hawkins. Photo courtesy of Sadie Hawkins.

Barbilicious and Dickie Van Dyke were first to make the journey from Atlanta to North Carolina. They made it just ahead of the storm. Sadie Hawkins had been in Washington, DC for her day job. It was snowing there, too, and she was playing the weather delay game with Delta. Finally, a flight got through, and she made it home just as Atlanta’s weather started to get exciting. She was scheduled to drive up to Asheville with her partner – and Blast-Off’s sound man – Bryant. The goings were slow, but they made it up there in the wee hours.

Now, when team Blast-Off goes to Asheville, we stay in a cabin in the woods. Seriously. Disastrid’s mother has a rustic place at the base of a mountain, off of a curvy road and next to a babbling creek. It’s remote enough that there’s no cell service. It has power and water – and a landline phone.

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By Spookie Susie
Contributing Blogger

Watching. Waiting. Worrying. Night after sleepless night, Dena Stahl got up, took care of her children, worked, managed her household and anxiously awaited the safe return of her husband, Sergeant Travis Stahl, from the war in Afghanistan. When Dena learned from her husband about all the soldiers who didn’t receive care packages from home, she teamed up with longtime friend, photographer Danielle Thiery Camp, to remedy that.

Together they founded Pinups for Soldiers (PUFS), a nonprofit group that produces an annual World War II style calendar to raise funds for our troops overseas. With the 10th anniversary of 9-11 coming up this Sunday, we caught up with Dena to learn more about Pinups for Soldiers, their 2012 calendar, their Sept. 10 Memorial Ride/Poker Run and other upcoming events to support their worthy cause.

Danielle Thiery Camp & Dena Stahl. Photo courtesy of Dena Stahl.

How did you meet Danielle Camp, and what made you two decide to start Pinups for Soldiers?

Danielle and I have been friends for over 18 years. Danielle wanted to do a pinup shoot and asked if I was interested in helping her build her portfolio. I reached out to my friends for ideas, and one of them mentioned that she had always wanted to do a pinup calendar. It was March 2010 and my husband, SGT Travis Stahl was deployed to Afghanistan serving our country. During his deployment I became aware that there were many soldiers who did not receive care packages from home. Travis began giving items from the care packages I was sending to those soldiers. We decided that if we were going to make a pinup calendar, we were going to make it a nonprofit and use it to raise money so that we could send care packages to soldiers stationed overseas.

Tell us about having your husband deployed.

Having a husband deployed is one of the hardest things I have ever been through. A year of sleepless nights waiting on a phone call, email or text to confirm he is okay, the constant worry and not knowing where he is or what is going on, the fear that enters your body any time there is a knock on the front door, the empty spot in the bed beside me, handling everything on the home front on my own…is all very hard. However I am honored to be a soldier’s wife. He is my husband, my hero, and his dedication not only to me and our family, but to our amazing country makes me so proud.

Travis & Dena Stahl. Photo courtesy of Dena Stahl.

How many units does PUFS help? Do you have a most memorable request for assistance?

Currently we are supporting three units totaling almost 200. The units are stationed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait. We have a unit that is about to deploy, bringing us to almost 600! We are always touched when we receive emails from soldiers. For me, they are all memorable. The requests we get range from necessities to soldiers wanting pictures. Our motto is “Brightening Lives Protecting Ours,” and that is our mission and we take it to heart. We feel as if the American Soldier is a true patriot and should be honored and appreciated. We want them all to know that they are not forgotten.

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Dragon*Con usually gets talked about as a great place to meet and listen to the stars of the latest science fiction, fantasy and horror movies, TV series, fiction, comics and more. But scan the schedule and you’ll find plenty of Retro action as well. Shellie Schmals, of Minette Magnifique, has already dished out her own Burlesque Guide to DragonCon, but here’s the best of the rest. We apologize that we didn’t have time to add links to everything, but you can download the full DragonCon schedule here to browse for details or there’s a new DragonCon mobile app, too, for iTunes, Android Market and Blackberry. Hope to see you there this weekend!

GUESTS:

Ernest Borgnine. THE WILD BUNCH. THE DIRTY DOZEN. MCHALE’S NAVY. THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. OK, he’s probably here for voicing Mermaid Man in SPONGEBOB. But need we say more to express how excited we are that Mr. Borgnine will be sitting on Dragon*Con’s Hall of Fame this year. And to make it even better, EMPEROR OF THE NORTH is screening at DriveInvasion on Sunday, too. Read more about this brutal tale of hobos that ride the rails in Philip Nutman’s DriveInvasion preview here, and hear him speak Sat. at 2:30 p.m. in International North (Hyatt). If you shell out the big bucks for one autograph, make it Ernie & cement your Cinema Retro street cred .

Martin Landau. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. SPACE 1999. Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton’s ED WOOD. You know we’ll be on the front row when Anthony Taylor interviews him Sat. at 1 p.m. in the Capitol Ballroom at the Sheraton.

Carrie Fisher and Peter Mayhew. The actors behind Princess Leia and walking carpet Chewbacca will be making STAR WARS fans’ hearts go aflutter. Yeah, us, too.

William Shatner. Where’s Captain Kirk? Yes, the commander of the original ‘60s STAR TREK TV series is back at Dragon*Con. Glad we scored his autograph for only 10 bucks back in the ‘70s, even if we grumbled then about spending all that money on his record album to get it.

Stan Lee. He’s either the biggest icon of comics or you’re miffed that Jack Kirby got the short end of the stick. Whatever you think of him, he’s a living piece of comics history. Stan the Man speaks Sun. at 2:30 p.m. in the Marriott Marquis’s Atrium Ballroom.

OK, we’re still a little baffled about what ‘70s sit-com WKRP IN CINCINATTI has to do w sci-fi and fantasy, but whatever. Howard Hesseman and Loni Anderson are coming to Dragon*Con. Beau Bridges is there, too, even though we can’t exactly remember what sci-fi movie he was in either. Original, to us the one-and-only man of our dreams, Freddy Robert Englund signs once more. Journey back to your TIME TUNNEL memories with James Darren. We don’t know for sure if Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson (BACK TO THE FUTURE) will ride in a DeLorean in the DragonCon parade, but we wouldn’t be surprised. Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy will be in the house, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect with him set to play Radagast the Brown in Peter Jackson’s upcoming duo of THE HOBBIT movies. Original ‘70s TV INCREDIBLE HULK Lou Ferrigno is back, as well as Retro ‘70s TV con regulars Richard Hatch (the original BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) and Erin Gray (BUCK ROGERS),

COMICS & POP ART ALLEY: What could be more Retro than classic superhero comics which had their birth on the newsstands of the ‘40s and ‘50s?! We feel like we never get enough time to enjoy one of our favorite pastimes at Dragon*Con—a casually stroll through the tables and booths on the Comics & Pop Art Alley, especially since it’s now buried three levels down in the Hyatt. This year, you’ll find legendary horror master Bernie Wrightson (SWAMP THING, CREEPSHOW, HOUSE OF MYSTERY, HOUSE OF SECRETS, FRANKENSTEIN, the list goes on) and seminal Marvel artist Jim Starlin (CAPTAIN MARVEL, COSMIC ODYSSEY). You’ll also want to meet and check out the work artists inspired by Retro pop culture such as Glenn Barr; monster-loving ATLRetro Kool Kat Chris Hamer; Retro futurist Dean Motter (MISTER X, ELECTROPOLIS, TERMINAL CITY); and Atlanta classic and master of the super-hero spoof Bob Burden (FLAMING CARROT, MYSTERY MEN).. Be sure to stop by and say hi to H.C. Warner, whose Alcove Gallery was a Retro pop-art haven in Avondale for so many years. Most artists bring along their sketchbooks, so support the hard work they spend on the craft and take home an original piece created just for you. And there’s also a COMICS AND POP ART track where you can listen to these chaps talk about their craft and share their comics industry war stories.

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By Philip Nutman
Contributing Blogger

It must be Labor Day weekend when hillbillies, hobos (getting sledgehammered; no shotguns), cockfighters and bandits in sports cars invade the Starlight Six Drive-In. Yes, it’s time once again on Sun. Sept. 4 to load up the truck with lawn chairs, coolers and portable grills to hit the low end of Moreland Avenue and get down with the World Famous Drive Invasion 2011.

In addition to an afternoon/evening of cool bands, headlined by the legendary Roky Erickson of The 13^th Floor Elevators fame (see end of this article for full band list), this year’s movie line-up is a rootin’, tootin’ rough and tumble grab bag, from the silly to the Southern sublime. Where else are you going to get to see HILLYBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE, the late, great Warren Oates in the very rare COCKFIGHTER, Ernie Borgnine and Lee Marvin smashing the $*#@ out of each other, and relive the high octane fun of SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT?

HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE (1967) is a ‘60s country store full of old school horror star cameos (John Carradine, Lon Chaney Jr., Basil Rathbone), country and western (let’s hear it for Merle Haggard!), spies and general craziness. En route to Nashville, a carload of country singers with names like Woody Wetherby, Boots Malone, and Jeepers break down and end up in an old haunted mansion. But in addition to ghosts (oh, yeah?), the house is full of spooks of another kind – spies! Forget the plot, this flick’s really a musical showcase, and not a particularly good one, either, but it’s the right kind of silliness to get the movie party started.

COCKFIGHTER (1974) is a striking, unusual, little screen Roger Corman production directed by existential cult fave/cool dude director Monte Hellman. Hellman started out with THE BEAST FROM THE HAUNTED CAVE (1959), but is beloved by movie geeks like Tarantino for the weird Jack Nicholson westerns, RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND (1964) and THE SHOOTING (1965); but is most famous for the 1971 road movie TWO-LANE BLACKTOP. Based on an off-beat novel by Charles Willeford (best known for his Hoke Moseley detective novels), which won the Mark Twain Award way back when the novel was published, COCKFIGHTER is a bleakly fascinating character study with Oates as a man obsessed with winning a cockfighting award and who’s vowed not to speak until he does. But, hey, his best friend’s played by Harry Dean Stanton who more than makes up for Warren’s silence.

EMPEROR OF THE NORTH (1973) is one of director Robert (THE DIRTY DOZEN) Aldrich’s most interesting and brutal movies – some of the violence is hard to watch as Ernest Borgnine (coincidentally in town this weekend as a Dragon*Con guest), as Shack, a sadistic railroad conductor, uses his sledgehammer on hobos who dare to ride his train. Loosely based on a Jack London short story, the movie’s a battle of wills between Borgnine and Lee Marvin’s “A” Number One, a famous derelict and rail rider who is intent to be the only man to ride Shack’s train and live to tell the tale. Great photography, riveting performances. It’s an ATLRetro favorite!

SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT (1977). Really, what needs to be said? Burt Reynolds, cool cars, a great cast – Sally Field at her cutest, kick-ass Jerry Reed as his partner Cledus, Paul Williams as Little Enos…and Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Buford T. Justice! Time to put the hammer down and burn some rubber…a car chase movie that always leaves a good taste in the mouth thanks to former stunt driver-turned-director Hal Needham’s snappy, slick direction.

WORLD FAMOUS DRIVE INVASION, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011; Gates at 10 a.m.; Adults $25 Presale / $28 Gate, day of; Kids 3-9 $5; Tickets here.

Includes Silver Screen and Gasoline Car Show sponsored by Garage 71!

Performers: Roky Erickson (headliner), Jack Oblivion & the Tennessee Tearjerkers, Dex Romweber Duo, All Night Drug Prowling Wolves, Gargantua, Hot Rod Walt & the Psycho Devilles, The Disasternauts, Ghost Riders Car Club, Burt & the Bandits, The Marques, Dusty Booze & the Baby Haters, Spooky Partridge

If you missed our ATLRetro features on Hot Rod Walt & the Psychovilles, Ghost Riders Car Club and Burt & the Bandits, read ‘em here, here and here!