The revived 35mm print of the musical, Corn's-A-Poppin', will be screened at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on January 14, 2017.Scripted by 28-year-old Robert Altman (Nashville), Corn’s-A-Poppin’ is a bargain-basement backstage musical that puts the corn in cornpone. Real-life crooner Jerry Wallace plays Johnny Wilson, the down-home star of the Pinwhistle Popcorn Hour, a low-rent variety show with acts ranging from ex-hog caller Lillian Gravelguard to Hobie Shepp and His Cow Town Wranglers. Might the tone-deaf bookings be an act of corporate sabotage engineered by rogue PR man Waldo Crummit in his bid to gut the Pinwhistle Empire? It’s up to Wallace and his kid sister, Little Cora Rice, to save the day. Along the way, they perform such memorable songs as “On Our Way to Mars,” “Running After Love,” and “Mama, Wanna Balloon.” Shot in Kansas City by the Midwest’s most innovative industrial film studio, Corn’s-A-Poppin’ saw extremely limited play at rural drive-ins and hootenannies before disappearing for decades. The 35mm print has been restored by the Northwest Chicago Film Society in conjunction with the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, with funding from the National Film Preservation Foundation.The film can be viewed at The Museum of Fine Arts, 1001 Bissonnet, Houston, Texas 77005. For details, visit, www.mfah.orgClick on the Slideshow for a sneak peek at the exhibition.
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