Bridge Street Theatre Presents A Free Screening Of THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED

This one's not just for the Kids! Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill continues its Free Summer Movie Matinee Series this Saturday July 6th with a real gem - German animator Lotte Reiniger's exquisite "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" (1926). Based on tales from the Arabian Nights, the film tells the story of the handsome and dashing Prince Achmed, who is tricked by a wicked sorcerer into mounting a magical flying horse. The prince foils the sorcerer's evil intent and soars headlong into a series of exciting adventures, joining forces with Aladdin and the Witch of the Fiery Mountains, doing battle with the sorcerer's army of monsters and demons, and falling in love with the beautiful Princess Peri Banu.

One of the earliest feature-length animated films, "Prince Achmed" features a distinctive silhouette animation technique invented by Reiniger herself. Hundreds of figures and backdrops were created out of thin metal and cardboard, their movable parts were joined together with thread, and then they were posed in front of illuminated sheets of glass and painstakingly filmed, frame-by-frame, in a converted garage. From 1923-26 about 250,000 stills were created, of which about 96,000 were eventually used in the finished product, with 24 frames needed to create a single second of film. The original nitrate film (now lost) featured extensive color tinting, but for decades the only prints available were in black and white. However, the high-definition restoration being shown here reinstates the original brilliant color tinting and toning, and adds a magnificent orchestral score composed by Wolfgang Zeller.

Bridge Street Theatre is located at 44 West Bridge Street in the Village of Catskill. Doors open at 9:45am and "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" begins promptly at 10:00am in BST's homey and comfortable Speakeasy Space. Running time is approximately 70 minutes. Absolutely Free! And while children must be accompanied by an adult, adults need not be accompanied by anyone except their inner child and a capacity for wonder.

Bridge Street's Free Movie Matinees for Families continue weekly EVERY Saturday morning at 10:00am until August 31st. Here's what's coming for the rest of the summer:

July 13: MIGHTY Joe Young (1949, 1h 24min)
July 20: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938, 1h 42min)
July 27: FANTASIA (1940, 2h 5min)
August 3: SPIRITED AWAY (2001, 2h 5min)
August 10: WIND IN THE WILLOWS (1949, 30min) and DUMBO (1941, 1h 4min)
August 17: GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (1939, 1hr 16min)
August 24: THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (2003, 1h 18min)
August 31: THE IRON GIANT (1999, 1h 26min)

Visit bridgest.org/free-summer-movie-saturdays/ for more details.

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