Image Credit: Everett Collection

Fear and Desire, the 1953 debut film of a young Look magazine photographer named Stanley Kubrick, will have its world television premiere on Turner Classics Movies on Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. Starring Frank Silvera, Paul Mazursky, and Kenneth Harp, Fear and Desire is an existential anti-war drama about a lost platoon whose journey to safety is complicated by an encounter with a mysterious woman.

Kubrick, who shot the film quickly with a crew of about 15 people, was never especially proud of his maiden effort, calling it a “a bumbling amateur film exercise.” It quickly disappeared from theaters despite some critical accolades, and when Kubrick became famous for films like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and A Clockwork Orange (1971), he gathered up prints of the film in order to prevent future viewings. Fear and Desire received its first retrospective screening at the 1993 Telluride Film Festival and has only been presented a few times since, according to TCM.

The special showing is part of TCM’s 24-hour marathon honoring the preservation efforts of the Motion Picture Department at George Eastman House. TCM host Robert Osborne will present 15 cinematic rarities, including a silent version of Huckleberry Finn (1920), the first film adaptation of Mark Twain’s classic.

For the complete schedule for TCM’s salute to the Motion Picture Collection at George Eastman House, click below: READ FULL STORY »