THX 1138 and the Empire State Building Fay Wray Tribute

Ran over to the Loews 42nd Street for the premiere of the new 'director's cut' of THX-1138. It's more like the usual George Lucas 'updating' which is always distracting, but boy did it look good! It's such a non-today kind of movie. If George came out with this today, there would be no Star Wars. It's doubtful this would even play in festivals. It's just such a 'thinking' picture. He's added some goofy stuff like vistas of moving cars and lighted elevators, which totally take us out of the movie, but whatever. The worst offense was at the end. I sat there thinking, "Wow, George has made it 90 minutes into the movie and he hasn't digitally added any furry creatures," and then BOOM! 3-5 furry creatures, apelike, appear on the screen! There is NO REASON AT ALL for them to be in this movie! CRAZY!

Still, really cool and the digital projection was superb. The website is also pretty nifty:

THX 1138 Official Website

Before the movie Scooter McCrae mentioned that there would be a light-outing at the Empire State Building in remembrance of Fay Wray. I walked towards the Building and at 40th St. on the south edge of Bryant Park I looked up at 9:30 and it was all lit up, got past the next building and the sky was black. Yes, all the lights were out. Remarkable.

I walked into the lobby and the tourists didn't seem to know what was up. I walked back out, walked by Macy's, turned around at 9:45 and right on the dot, the lights came back. I uttered a short 'fay' in appreciation and continued west on 34th. Turned around once more to see Kong's final stand lit up in bright white glory, and walked up 8th past the ruins of 42nd St.

You gotta squeeze what you can out of New York these days. I love these little moments. Nothing like Dracula and Frankenstein double-billing at the Rialto on 42nd, but you do what you can.

Fay Wray - That Delicate Satin-draped Frame

'King Kong' Star Fay Wray Dies

Actress Fay Wray, best known for her role in 1933 movie King Kong, died on Sunday. She was 96. Born Vina Fay Wray in Alberta, Canada, on September 15, 1907, she was one of six children. Her family moved to the United States when she was three years old. Wray was barely in her teens when she began her silver-screen career as a extra. She went on to be regularly cast as a heroine in silent movies, scoring her breakthrough in 1928's The Wedding March. In the early 1930s she made a number of horror movies, including Doctor X and The Vampire Bat, and became known as Hollywood's first "scream queen". After those movies, Wray won praise for her King Kong character's combination of sex appeal, vulnerability and lung capacity as she was stalked by the beast to the top of New York's Empire State Building. But her career fell into decline following King Kong and she retired from movies in 1942 after her second marriage. In 1953, she made a comeback in character roles and made movies until 1958 and worked in television into the 1960s. Wray had a daughter, Susan, by her first marriage to John Monk Saunders, and two children, Robert and Vicky, with Robert Riskin.