When actor Leslie Nielsen died in November, he left behind a rich and diverse legacy of work. Before he became a modern comedy icon, Nielsen was a journeyman actor with hundreds of impressive credits on stage, television, and film. He started out as a disc jockey, and then studied at the prestigious Actor's Studio before appearing in episodes of everything from "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" to "The Fugitive;" he was thus already a TV veteran when he gave his seminal performance on the big screen in FORBIDDEN PLANET. That film, along with later movies like AIRPLANE! (for which Roger Ebert dubbed Nielsen the "Olivier of spoofs") and the riotous THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD!, will screen at the Cinematheque as a tribute to this beloved thespian.

FORBIDDEN PLANET, 1956, Warner Bros., 98 min. Dir. Fred Wilcox. The film that launched a thousand (space) ships, this big-budget science fiction blockbuster is a space opera with its roots in Freud, Jung and Shakespeare. Starring Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielsen (as the prototype for Captain Kirk) and the beautiful, future Miss Honey West (Anne Francis) as the mini-skirt-wearing, skinny-dipping object of all the men's affection. [35mm] Trailer | Buy Tickets

Saturday, February 26 – 7:30 PM

Double Feature: D.C.P! AIRPLANE! 1980, Paramount, 88 min. Dir. Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker. After an airplane’s crew becomes ill in flight, the survival of everyone on board depends on former Navy pilot Ted Stryker (Robert Hays). Will he be able to safely land the plane? The quintessential movie spoof that spawned an entire genre of parody films, the original still holds up as one of the brightest comedic gems of the 1980s. [DCP] Trailer