Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Paul H. Royer Film Series

All films begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Visitor Center auditorium

The annual Paul H. Royer Film Series is presented annually on the first three Thursdays of March. This year’s selection consists of American films produced during the time period between the end of World War II and the late 1950s. The decade was known for post-war affluence, with an increased choice of leisure time activities, along with conformity, a baby boom, and youth reaction to middle-aged cinema. In the next several years, the Paul H. Royer Film Series will focus on this era. This year’s selections are:

March 2, 2000 ARTISTS AND MODELS

Starring Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Shirley MacLaine, Dorothy Malone, Eva Gabor, 1955, 109 minutes. A lavish, girl-filled movie with the popular team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Martin plays Rick Todd, a comic-book artist who is under fire from his publisher, who complains that Rick’s work isn’t gory enough. Lewis plays Eugene Fullstack, Rick’s roommate, who while asleep dreams up elaborate comic-book plots. Eugene’s nightmares help Rick become a success; meanwhile, our two heroes romance their luscious neighbors, Dorothy Malone and Shirley MacLaine.

March 9, 2000 BATTLE HYMN

Starring Rock Hudson, Anna Kashfi, Dan Duryea, Don DeFore, Martha Hyer, 1957, 108 minutes. This movie was inspired by the true story of American minister Dean Hess, played with rare sensitivity by Rock Hudson. A bomber pilot during World War II, Hess inadvertently releases a bomb which destroys a German orphanage. Tortured by guilt, Hess relocates in Korea after the war to offer his services as a missionary and establishes a large home for orphans. His efforts are then threatened when the Korean “police action” breaks out in 1950.

March 16, 2000 BLACKBOARD JUNGLE

Starring Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern, Vic Morrow, Sidney Poitier, 1955, 101 minutes. War veteran Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) begins his teaching career with an assignment at a boy’s high school in inner-city New York. He soon discovers the school is overrun by delinquents, led by Artie West (Vic Morrow), an insolent hood. While most of the faculty have given up and meekly let the delinquents do what they want; Dadier is determined to bring order back to the classroom. Sidney Poitier plays a troubled teen, and there is a bit part by Jameel Farah, years before he changes his name to Jamie Farr. The film was the first major studio film to use rock ‘n’ roll on the soundtrack, and kick started sales of “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets, which helped to spark the rock ‘n’ roll boom of the 1950s.

ALL MOVIES ARE FREE SODA AND POPCORN SERVED

Please RSVP by calling: The Eisenhower Center at (785) 263-4751 or 1-877-RING IKE

Dwight D. Eisenhower Library