Summer of film fun begins June 20 with free outdoor screening of Bride of Frankenstein

Enjoy big-screen works in the great outdoors this summer with the eighth annual Wex Drive-In series, which kicks off Thursday, June 20 on the Wexner Center Plaza with James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Picking up where its genre-defining predecessor left off, Bride of Frankenstein finds the good doctor (Colin Clive) determined to build a mate (Elsa Lanchester) for his monster (Boris Karloff).

The free-admission, open-air Wex Drive-In series continues Thursday, July 18 with Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967) and concludes Thursday, August 15 with Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009), starring George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Jason Schwartzman.

Visitors are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs starting at 8 pm; screenings will begin at dusk (around 9 pm). In the event of rain, the films will be shown in Mershon Auditorium at 9 pm.

As part of the pre-film festivities, visitors can sip beer from our cash bar and enjoy snacks, including Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream (with a free scoop for members) and Pam’s Market Popcorn. Attendees can stop by the membership table to join and receive a T-shirt and two additional free film passes (a $35 value) from the center.

Also be sure to check out the Wex’s international film series A Summer Abroad ’13 for a global escape from the Buckeye state—no passport required. The 19-film world tour, which runs through late August, steps off in early July and makes stops in France, Italy, Sweden, Germany, the UK, Japan, and Mexico. This year’s tour guides are some of the most revered directors in film history: Jean Renoir, Jean-Luc Godard, Roberto Rossellini, Ingmar Bergman, Fritz Lang, Sally Potter, Akira Kurosawa, and Luis Buñuel. All of the titles will be on the big screen; many are new or recent restorations.

A full film/video schedule, including the free Drive-In movies and A Summer Abroad, can be seen at http://wexarts.org/film-video.

For additional details on the membership deal, call 614-292-1777 or email membership@wexarts.org and mention “Wex Drive-In.”

For images, more information, or photography/videography on-site: Erik Pepple at epepple@wexarts.org or 614-292-9840 (office) or 419-371-3272 (cell), or Jennifer Wray at jwray@wexarts.org or 614-247-6241 (office) or 614-596-7219 (cell).