"20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" July 11, 2010

SPECIAL CINEFAMILY FUNDRAISER:
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1916)
(w/ live score by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields)
In a one-time-only L.A. show, Stephin Merritt -- the ingenious musical brain behind the inventive, tender and endlessly catchy pop treasures The Magnetic Fields -- performs his brand-new live score to the rarely-screened 1916 silent film version of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea! The film is one of the most epic fantasy feature productions of its day, featuring riveting location work and extensive underwater photography, lavish costumes, inventive production design and soundstage wizardry that includes a full-scale "Nautilus" ship set (eighty years before James Cameron's similar tactic for Titanic!) Working from Merritt's score originally commissioned for the 2010 San Francisco International Film Festival, Stephin and his musical companions for the evening (Daniel Handler, accordian; Johnny Blood, tuba; David Hegarty, organ) bring a charming, witty and sublimely old-timey musical feel to this classic version of the tale of Captain Nemo and his treacherous undersea kingdom.
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Dir. Stuart Paton, 1916, 35mm, 105 min.