Now Playing Black Panther

What happens when the hottest movie from our time mysteriously takes over a small town theater in 1954? It explodes on the family friendly fifties with disruptive force. Disneyland, the rise of TV, the decline of movies, Creature from the Black Lagoon, McCarthyism, the Red Scare, the Lavender Scare, young love, forbidden love, the Catholic Legion of Decency, the ambitions of Richard M. Nixon, the suffering of Pat Nixon, the suffering of Paul Robeson, the Bush dynasty, the Dulles Brothers, the fever dreams of J. Edgar Hoover, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Edward R. Murrow, Ike, the Kefauver hearings and the depravity of comic books, the Superman complex…all the familiar signposts of the era confront a new signpost up ahead known as Black Panther. It plays on a continuous loop, creating a panic that spreads from small town America to the White House. President Eisenhower forms a special task force to get to the bottom of the subversive film. Under the direction of ever-vigilant Vice President Richard M. Nixon, the investigation disrupts the lives of two young lovers and sparks murder, racial tensions and H-Bomb anxieties. Black Panther's journey back to the past has the cultural impact of a meteor hitting earth and burying a large, hot vein of Vibranium-strength truth beneath the United States, forcing a heart-to-heart dialog between the 20th and 21st centuries.

What happens when the hottest movie from our time mysteriously takes over a small town theater in 1954? It explodes on the family friendly fifties with disruptive force. Disneyland, the rise of TV, the decline of movies, Creature from the Black Lagoon, McCarthyism, the Red Scare, the Lavender Scare, young love, forbidden love, the Catholic Legion of Decency, the ambitions of Richard M. Nixon, the suffering of Pat Nixon, the suffering of Paul Robeson, the Bush dynasty, the Dulles Brothers, the fever dreams of J. Edgar Hoover, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Edward R. Murrow, Ike, the Kefauver hearings and the depravity of comic books, the Superman complex…all the familiar signposts of the era confront a new signpost up ahead known as Black Panther. It plays on a continuous loop, creating a panic that spreads from small town America to the White House. President Eisenhower forms a special task force to get to the bottom of the subversive film. Under the direction of ever-vigilant Vice President Richard M. Nixon, the investigation disrupts the lives of two young lovers and sparks murder, racial tensions and H-Bomb anxieties. Black Panther's journey back to the past has the cultural impact of a meteor hitting earth and burying a large, hot vein of Vibranium-strength truth beneath the United States, forcing a heart-to-heart dialog between the 20th and 21st centuries. A great read for lovers of historical fiction, political satire, movie and pop culture-based books, and for Baby Boomers. Not necessary to see the movie Black Panther before reading, but it can help enhance your enjoyment.

Dan Riley is the author of a number of books, including The Red Sox Reader, The Dan Riley School for a Girl, The Virgin Missile Crisis, and Look Before You Lean (under the pen name Employee X). He is also the author of the award winning stage play Spinelli and keeper of the weekly Nobby Works blog. Dan grew up in Enfield, Connecticut, where he attended the Strand Theater religiously once a week. When he moved away to college, he became the projectionist for The University of Hartford Friday night classic film series as well as an usher 5 nights a week at Hartford's Cinerama Theater. On his nights off he went with his life-long love Lorna to the movies. For the next 50 years together, Dan and Lorna's devotion to movie watching has continued in 3-D, Imax, on laserdisc, on video tape, on DVD, and streaming. Now Playing Black Panther is the literary manifestation of this immersion in and love of the movies.