Memorial event at Starlite Drive-In to pay tribute to film buff Jim Erickson

Because of cold and wet weather, Jim Erickson’s Memorial event at the Starlite Drive-In has been moved to Thursday, Nov. 5.

Erickson, whose nickname was “Ol ‘Flick,” spent part of his career teaching in the English department at Wichita State and the other part reviewing and hosting films for local media outlets. He died in June at the age of 88.

A film buff who loved old movies - especially “Citizen Kane” - Erickson developed a course for the university called Narrative Literature in Film. He was also perhaps best known for his appearance in the 1976 Wichita-made B-movie “King Kung Fu,” about a martial arts-trained gorilla who stops in Wichita on his way to New York.

He retired from WSU in 1996.

Friends and former students will gather to pay tribute to Erickson through film.

Here’s the schedule:

6 p.m. — Gates open at the drive-in, 3900 S. Hydraulic

7 p.m. — Pre-Show with trailers for some of Jim’s favorite movies.

7:20 p.m. — Intro and 38 minutes of interview footage of Jim talking about his life from “Jim Erickson: Visual History” by Joel Sanderson and Ben Urish.

8:05 p.m. — Jim’s interview clip from “Simianscope: The Making of King Kung Fu” by Nathan Light with Jim’s scenes from the film in a new 4K widescreen work-in-progress remastering by Justin Cary.

8:15 p.m. — Short videos from Jim’s friends sharing thoughts about him, intercut with footage of Jim doing what he did best - talking about movies in excerpts from “New Cinema: Reflections of Ol’ Flick and a Few Friends” by Ray Reiss and Fritz Robinson.

There is no charge to attend, however organizers are asking for a $5 donation.

This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 10:39 AM.