What does he have to do with silent film? Why did we do this?
Nothing. And because we can
First up was a veritable smorgasbord (love that word) of clips from Creature Features, interviews, Star Trek bloopers, etc. all courtesy of local historical documentary filmmaker and friend of the museum Tom Wyrsch (look for a couple of his shows coming to the museum in October!) They're all edited together in a clever and playful way that allows Leonard Nimoy to basically tell the story of his career. Very cool.
And then a brief intermission, a costume contest (where everyone knew the Klingon had to win) and the feature film.
KID MONK BARONI (1952): Nimoy's first starring role, and in the first scenes he's nearly unrecognizable, not just because he's so young (he was about 20 at the time) but because his face is partially hidden under a ridiculously bent up nose. This makes him a fighter, the tough leader of a Little Italy street gang. When they're caught tearing apart a banister for firewood, local priest Father Callahan (Richard Rober) takes him under his wing and teaches him how to box. He finds a home in the church with friends and perhaps a nice girl. And boxing teaches him discipline and a little respect. And he's good enough that he starts winning some amateur bouts and is looking to go pro. But insecurities over his looks lead him to make bad decisions. And when he gets plastic surgery and becomes a younger version of that handsome Vulcan we all know (seriously, on a side note, Zachary Quinto does really look like a young Leonard Nimoy)...that doesn't help him with his psychological issues. In fact, fear of messing up his face actually makes him a worse boxer. A good story well told, and a solid morality tale that still works, mostly.
Total Running Time: 158 minutes
My Total Minutes: 403,299
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