Forbidden Planet, Forgotten History

In 1956, the movie that redefined science fiction cinema premiered in uptown Charlotte

- ALLISON BRADEN

ON A BALMY LATE WINTER FRIDAY IN 1956, The Charlotte Observer announced that electronic “brains” would be on display at Hotel Charlotte that weekend. The exhibit was part of the second annual Southeastern Science Fiction Conference, an early ancestor of today’s popular “cons.” Organizer Robert Madle, who moved to Charlotte and founded the Carolina Science Fiction Society in 1953, had helped host Philadelphia’s worldcon, which made that city a scifi mecca. Now he was determined to bring the fandom south.

The Carolina Science Fiction Society grew to about 15 members— all men except for one Jess Vines—who often met at Madle’s Plaza Shamrock bungalow. Of course, the club held trivia quizzes, discussed the latest scientific discoveries, and swapped opinions on science fiction literature and cinema. But they also introduced their passion to the wider community. In 1954, for example, the society co-sponsored a showing of The Thing From Another World at the Visulite Theatre. The convention would be better still: two full days of illustrious speakers, out-of-this-world exhibits, and best of all, an exclusive world premiere of the movie Forbidden Planet.

“MGM somehow found out that we had a club here,” Madle, now 100, tells me from his home in Rockville, Maryland. “And MGM had a screening room—it was a little neat little room, seated about 40 people—and it was just like Hollywood, only it was Charlotte.”