Tag Archives: science fiction

Star Trek: Creating the Cultural Phenomenon

The 1960’s television show Star Trek spawned a long lived and beloved cultural phenomenon. Here at the American Heritage Center, we are fortunate to have photographs, scripts, and music scores from some of the original seventy-nine Star Trek episodes that … Continue reading

Posted in Actors, Pop Culture, popular culture, science fiction, television history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Giant Gila Monster

Last Halloween, we brought you a blog post on The Killer Shrews, a low-budget horror movie shot in Dallas, Texas, and released in 1959.  What is the film’s connection to the American Heritage Center?  We hold the papers of Forrest … Continue reading

Posted in Horror, Motion picture actors and actresses, motion picture history, science fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Terror in the Theater – Fifties Fears

Science fiction films of the 1950s commonly expressed several themes: fear of technology leading to unintended consequences; invasion of the planet by aliens; and the effects of atomic radiation. Because science fiction movies were not constrained by reality, more imaginative … Continue reading

Posted in Cold War, Fantasy, Horror, motion picture history, Politics, Pop Culture, popular culture, science fiction, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Cat Women of the Moon: When Felines Attack!

I’ve been beginning blog posts recently by writing about this or that gem that I found in the Forrest J. Ackerman Collection. After watching enough movies and looking through the artifacts that are in the collection I’m starting to realize that … Continue reading

Posted in Interns' projects, popular culture, science fiction | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Science Fiction and Gender in the 1950s

The portrayal of gender in science fiction is a fascinating and sometimes overwhelming topic of discussion. As science-fiction is often referential and sensitive to the time period it was written and portrayed in, it is far from being just fantasy … Continue reading

Posted in Interns' projects, Pop Culture, popular culture, science fiction | Tagged , , | 1 Comment