Thurber on Screen: Ohio Goes to the Movies

Thurber on Screen comes to the Wexner Center for the Arts this Thursday at 7 PM, part of the statewide Ohio Goes to the Movies celebration. The night is built around James Thurber, the Columbus-born humorist and cartoonist who went on to become an Ohio State University alumnus. If you've read his work but never seen it on screen, this is a good place to start.

The program pairs two films inspired by his writing. First is The Unicorn in the Garden, an animated short based on Thurber's 1939 cartoon. It was released by United Productions of America in 1952 and directed by William Hurtz. Following that is The Male Animal, the 1942 feature adapted from the Broadway play Thurber co-wrote, starring Henry Fonda. The film's fictional Midwestern University is a clear reference to Ohio State, and the story takes place over homecoming weekend.

There's a bit of local history tied to that one, too. Warner Bros. held a campus contest at the university in 1942 for the film's Columbus world premiere, and the movie nods to businesses along High Street. Between the short and the feature, you get two very different takes on Thurber's humor—one animated and based on a single cartoon, the other a full-length comedy starring one of the biggest names of the era.

Entry is free, but you'll need a ticket to get in, which you can reserve on the Wexner Center's website. The screening starts Thursday at 7 PM.