The Trekker In "Logan's Run"

 In 1976, the biggest movie to come out that year (at least according to me) was "Logan's Run." I saw it several times in the theater, bought the novel, and the soundtrack LP. I even saved up about $50 to buy a set of over-sized lobby cards from the movie at the Ft. Lauderdale specialty shop "Starship Enterprises."

One thing I noticed immediately was that a Star Trek fan extra snuck in the Vulcan salute at the end! Have you ever seen it? Watch at the end when the young people are reaching for the old man... right in the foreground, one of the raised hands briefly makes the Vulcan hand sign, and it made it in the movie! And it wasn't just off to the side in a subtle motion... but it actually blocked the view of Peter Ustinov's face for a moment! See my screen capture of the moment below... (click on the image to view full-size.)

"Live long and prosper, old dude!"

I originally wrote about this in a post about "Logan's Run" over on my sci-fi/nostalgia blog "Fantastic Flashbacks." You can read the original post here.  I ended the post with the line "My sneaky Trekker friend, whoever you are, I applaud you!"

Well, thanks to the internet, that person has stepped up and claimed this bit of filmic Trekker identification! Here is an email that I got from him:

 Fred,

Thought you might be interested to learn that I was the Vulcan Hand Salute kid in Logan's Run.  My mother was a talent agent in Dallas after we moved here from L.A. in 1970.  I had done many national commercials through an agent there and my mom decided to open an agency in the new film frontier of Dallas.  As a result, she always sent me on extra calls for films made in Dallas at the time like Logan's Run, Phantom of the Paradise, Semi-Tough and others.  I remember working weeks on end on LR culminating to the big finale of filming the destruction of "Dome City" filmed at the Ft. Worth Water Gardens.  We were directed to wait on the far side of a wall for the explosions and then came over to gather around the first old person we'd ever seen, played by the late Peter Ustinov.  I also remember a girl from our agency was selected to be the one to touch the old man's face.  Rumor has it this required a "special audition", but who really knows. Anyway, I was simply wanting to find a way to locate myself in the crowd and didn't do it long, I thought.  I feared it would get noticed and end up on the cutting room floor, but as you mentioned, made the final print.  I had forgotten about this until a friend of mine from back then called me and said the salute had made the Internet.  So, there it is and thanks for the applaud.

Adam Wyse

Thanks, Adam, for writing and sharing with me -and the readers- your story! Now we know... and you certainly did make your mark that stood out from the rest of the crowd!

Bonus: Since today's post concerns the Vulcan salute, here is a nice image I found online that is a mock-up of the old Gold Key Trek comics with nice modern artwork!

Nimoy On Tour-1976

From August 1976, issue #4 of the "All About Star Trek Fan Clubs Magazine," a fun fan publication that found national distribution, comes this interview with Leonard Nimoy with some candid photos taken as he spoke at a college in New Jersey in February of that year. Note the wild scarf he is wearing! First, the cover...

(Click on images to enlarge. Once the image is loaded, you may have to click it again to see full-size.)

Also from the same issue comes this two-page spread of photos snapped during the fondly-remembered New York Star Trek '76 Con, taken January 1976.

Bonus: Seldom-seen series of photos of Nimoy in Spock makeup.

Now, if you were one of the creators of this magazine, or a contributor, please don't be offended by my labeling of it as "amateurish." This simply means as opposed to professional, but it is obviously a labor of love by fans, and for that it is enjoyable. If anyone feels I have wronged someone by this impartial observation, feel free to comment. If I didn't think the content was worth reproducing here, I wouldn't do it. On the contrary, it offers a view of the show and its cast and creators that the more professional magazines may not have had... and an excitement. So more power to them for getting the opportunity to connect with fans like us across the country! It might not have been as slick as Starlog and other contemporary publications, but what it lacked in style it made up for in enthusiasm for the subject matter.

They Won't Let Spock Stay Dead

From the Beckley Herald, Friday, June 1, 1984 comes this oddly pictureless article about "The Search For Spock."

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Below, from the same page of the newspaper, the movies playing at the time.

Bonus: below, from the Macon, GA Central High School newspaper, published in 1974, an article by a friend of mine that I met there that year, Clay Weaver. Both being Trekkers and having other similar interests (like "Planet of the Apes" and "Kung Fu" movies) we hit it off immediately, because back then, us Trekkers had to stick together. The button in the photo belongs to him, as does the shirt it's on.

1989 Newspaper Article On Star Trek Fans

When you have such dedicated fans like Star Trek has inspired, sometimes the media focus goes from the show to the followers; after all, they are fun to write about. This time I'm bringing out an old article from the Friday, June 23, 1989 edition of the Charleston Gazette about the members of the local fan club in nearby Huntington, West Virginia, which I lived near at the time. This one had to be scanned in three sections then photoshopped back together. I hope you appreciate the work. :)

These fans had a lot more guts than I would have, to appear in a newspaper photo in costume. I was more of a closet Trekker, having been forced there of necessity by my step-dad while I was living at home. Even after getting married and out on my own in 1981, very few co-workers or casual acqaintances knew of my interests. But that's not to say I was any less interested than these fans; I simply kept my enjoyment to myself. I did, however, attend a couple of meetings of their club, and a convention in Charleston where Walter Koenig and Marina Sirtis were the guest stars. Star Trek: The Next Generation had premiered in 1987 and public interest was high.

There are actually two articles on the front page, and they are continued on separate pages which are posted under it; one focused on the franchise, and the other on the fans.

It would be so easy to poke fun at these un-self-conscious fans, but we're all in the same boat. If they were Star Wars fans, now, that would be different. We could laugh then.

I bet getting the lady in the wheelchair in place for the photo at the local strip mining site was difficult. If you are one of the fans in the photo, or were a part of the Huntington or Charleston fan club, and merely even lived in the area and remember the activity, leave a comment, I'd like to hear from you!

I can certainly relate to the quoted fan Jonathan Jones, who, according to the article, moved to WV from Florida, which was also my case exactly. I strongly echoed his sentiment that "West Virginia is Star Trek hell." Which meant that finding material there was a real challenge. Fans had to stick together, because collectable items were almost impossible to find.

Below, one of the movie ads that ran in the same edition of the newspaper; from them we can see that the article above was probably ran to coincide with the release of the fifth movie. Also out that week were "Batman," and "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids." The ads for those can be seen along with many others from my collection at the blog "Held Over!" at http://www.heldovermovies.blogspot.com/.

Bonus: Below, cover art by one of my favorite genre artists, Bob Larkin. This was the cover for the 1982 Marvel comics paperback collection of issues from their monthly comic series. His covers were not only faithful to the characters, costumes and settings, but were always dynamic and colorful.

An alien, having determined the human's weaknesses, used the music of historical villain Britney Spears to incapacitate the crew.

"Paragon's Paragon" Fan Film Found! Partly...

Readers of this blog may recall a post on the long-thought-lost 70's fan film "Paragon's Paragon," reproducing a Cinemagic magazine article on the production. (Go here to read it, if not.) I ended the post with a note that I hoped someone would read it and supply clues to the whereabouts of the film... and it's happened! Sadly, the actual video is not currently available for viewing; but we do have color images from the film now.

I recently received an email from Robert Long II, that said this:

Dear Fred,

Great article you have on Paragon's Paragon. It does indeed exist as I have the 25 minute convention version of the 100 minute film. I got it from my friend Don Dohler before he passed away. John Consentino is still alive, retired, and lives in the Midwest. I've tried to get in touch with him with no success. As this is not my fan film - I am not posting it on Youtube without his permission. However, if you write back I'll try to send you some screen grabs from it. If you ever find yourself in my area I would be happy to screen it for you. It also has a making of that is very cool.

Regards, Robert Long II
Of course I immediately wrote back and asked for anything he could send regarding this previously lost fan film. He kindly sent the cover of the video, along with 13 screen captures from it, with this note:

Hello Fred,

Here is a hand full of screen grabs from John Consentino's Paragon's Paragon. Made in the early 1970s it is one of the earliest Star Trek fan films to take the sets, costumes, and special effects to such a high level. The full movie deals with two identical Vulcans, attacks from the Klingons, the shuttle craft landing on an alien world, and the Klingons and the Federation meeting up with the Organians. I hope you and your readers will enjoy the screen grabs of this VERY rare production. Robert Long II

We are grateful to Robert for taking the time to capture the images and send them to share with us! Here is the cover of the VHS box...

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Below are the promised screen captures; the first known color images from this early fan effort which adapted the Blish novel "Spock Must Die" for their own original characters (who are really analogs of our familiar crew). Please pardon the attempts a humorous captions, but I love doing that! They do not reflect on the quality of the film, only my weird sense of humor.

"These are the voyages of the AMT Enterprise..."

"Schamba, open hailing frequencies... and go lighter on the minstrel makeup next time, huh?"

"Oh my God, WHERE did you get those shoes, they're FABulous!"

"My symbiont muttonchops and mustache agree that we are in deep trouble."

"I refuse to step into any machine that uses tinfoil as an element!"

#1: "Would you tell that person to stop mocking me?"
#2: "Would you tell that person to stop mocking me?"

"Just because you are handsome and incredibly intelligent does not mean I admire you."

"Please clear the track, the podraces are about to begin!"

"It's funny how much bigger those shuttles are on the inside than the outside."

It's a little-known fact that the Organians were a race of swinging bachelors.

"In this case is preserved the only remaining fart of Kahless."

"Hmm... no, I don't think you look fat in that dress. Not really. I mean, not at all!"

"We are masters of the hand shadow show!"

And, there you have it... looks pretty ambitious! Although we would like to be able to see it, we can understand the reluctance to post it. We can wish, however, and perhaps expressing our desire to see at least some of it might convince Robert, the holder of the movie, to edit and post a trailer, at least. I'll let you know of any further info as it becomes available.

1-20-2012 update: I have heard from Robert, who owns a copy of a convention highlight reel, which are portions of the film shown at cons years back. He graciously allowed me to view it! It has no audio from the film, only Trek music dubbed in, but the footage is interesting to finally see. I have emailed John Consentino for permission to post it, and if he gives it, and if Robert allows, I will post it soon. But all that is pending. However, in any event, I will be posting some behind-the-scenes information about the making of the film from John himself, very soon. He liked my captions, by the way, saying "Your wise cracks under the freeze frame Paragon shots are cute." Hey, if TOS shots get these, "Paragon" is not exempt from my weird humor!

Update for 4-24-12: John Cosentino, due to the input from fans wanting to know more, has begun a blog about the movie! Go here to read more, and get all the inside info! http://www.paragonsparagon.com/

Starlog #3 Con Articles Part 4

For the past three entries, as you may know, (if not, use the Archives links to catch up) I have been posting the pages from issue #3 of Starlog, as they covered the 1976 Bi-Centennial 10 con, held in NY in September of 1976. This post wraps up that series, with the appearance page on Walter Koenig, and an inside look at the joys and trials of organizing conventions by none other than superfan Joan Winston.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Below, from the same issue, is a writeup on the rollout celebration for the shuttle prototype which was named Enterprise. (I've covered this in other posts, but with articles from other sources.)

NASA Names Space Shuttle "Enterprise"

From the collection cabinets comes this article from issue #2 of "All About Star Trek Fan Clubs," published April 1977. This was a magazine that seemed to be an amateur publication that somehow got national distribution. Not that it was a bad job; it just came off a little more like a home-made effort of love by some fans than anything put together by experienced publishers (with apologies to any of the editors that might be reading this). But, that was part of the charm of this short-lived magazine, and I bought every issue, especially since this was during the latter days of the drought of Trek material we old-timers lived through.

(Click on images to view larger.)

This time we are looking at an article on the infamous re-naming of the shuttle prototype after the Star Trek spaceship. Too bad the Captain didn't make it, though...

Dig those cool 70's bell-bottoms and leisure suits!

No bell bottoms here, though... they look a little stuffy.

Below, another page from the same issue, covering a book-signing by Nimoy of his ill-titled book "I Am Not Spock," which was ironic since the people lining up to see him and get his autograph on it were there because of that role.

Oh, yes you are, Leonard.

Below is the back cover of this issue.

1976 Federation Trading Post Article

The fun stuff this time comes from the first issue of the short-lived, but memorable (and cumbersomely titled) "All About Star Trek Fan Clubs" magazine, published in December of 1976.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

I've posted an entry about this magazine before here, along with a cover gallery, so check that out too. The article I'm featuring this time is about the legendary (among Trek fans) specialty shop "Federation Trading Post," co-founded and operated in California by Charles Weiss and Ron Barlow, who was known to fans such as me from his work on the great newspaper "The Monster Times." The New York branch was manned by the also-legendary fan-turned-pro Doug Drexler. Although both were far from me (I had the "Starship Enterprises" stores in south Florida for my fan fixes), I was aware of them, and enjoyed reading about them in this in-depth article. Please contribute any memories or facts you may have in the comments section!

Poor "Fake Balok" only wishes the article writer had spelled his name right.

All I'm doing here is posting a magazine article from the past about it, but Doug Drexler himself is the one with the real treasures. To hear all about it from the source, read his blog entry with loads of info and awesome photos from the FTP East!

Update: Doug commented this on my Facebook post about the article: "Frederick! I'm astonished whenever I visit your site. It's like my ultimate 1976 magazine stand exploded! This article is amazing. That's back when Paramount couldn't care less about Trek. Creative and industrious fans kept it growing. Thanks for posting this!" -Doug Drexler

One of the things highlighted in the article is the hunger fans had for accurate replicas of the show's props, at a price affordable by most. We have a good number of that kind of thing today, with very nice prop replicas that have lights and sound, for a reasonable price, off the store shelves. But back then it was a dream, and only those fans with a good job or generous parents could get their hands on these kinds of things. For myself, I had the kid-sized "Exploration Set" model kit, and the water-gun phaser, and that was it until only a few years back when I bought the Playmates version of the "big three." Fans with more money than I can get the Diamond Select replicas, lucky people! But the fact is, having accurate and life-sized replicas are within the reach of the average fan now, and we are fortunate for that.