Released: June 5, 2012

Lincoln, Neb. - The last line of the science fiction classic "The Thing from Another World" provides the theme for the movie poster exhibition now on display in The Ross lobby - "Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!"

A ten of the movie posters on display
Some of the posters that are on display

Including selected posters from The Ross's Jerry Jensen Cinema 16 Collection, the sixteen one sheets and six half sheets on display represent some of the best science fiction and fantasy films ever made. They are a sampling of the over $100,000 worth of posters in the collection.

The work of filmmakers who redefined sci-fi as we know it are depicted on the posters, including films by Michael Crichton, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg and Robert Wise. Canonized classics and forgotten gems alike are among the titles featured, including "2001: A Space Odyssey," "The Black Hole," "Buck Rogers," "Coma," "Flash Gordon," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," "Star Wars" and "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth." A complete list follows below.

This current display is the continuation of exhibitions, begun six years ago, comprised of selections of posters or one-sheets from the Jensen Collection, showing in the lobby of the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, located at 313 N. 13th Street.

This exhibit changes approximately every two years providing an in-depth look at the breadth of the collection. These vintage items from the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's collected by Jerry Jensen are evocative of the heyday of classic films. Twenty-two movies are represented in the current iteration.

After an introduction to The Ross, Jerry Jensen became a Board Member of the Friends of The Ross. Learning of the plans to include a film storage vault in the new facility, the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, to house the University's film study collection, Jerry decided this would be a great home for the Jensen's Cinema 16 Collection, which he has donated to The Ross, through the University Foundation, for its use and preservation.

The Jensen Cinema 16 Collection contains "one sheets" (posters) from 805 different movies, "three sheets" from 131 movies, and "half sheets" from 169 movies. There are numerous duplicates of many of the posters. This portion of the collection has been valued at more than $100,000. The collection also contains press kits or press books from 592 movies, 434 lobby cards, and sets of stills from 558 movies.

Jensen has also donated over 800 16mm format feature length films ranging from the silent days to the mid 80s as well as many, many short subjects and cartoons to The Ross. Since their acquirement, they have been utilized for free-to-the-public, out-of-doors screenings on nights during the summers called the Movies on the Green series. They have also been used extensively by the UNL's Film Studies Program.

Jensen stated when making the gift, "Because you [Danny L Ladely] and your organization are so sincere about your love for film, as well as recognizing the collection's value and then having the facilities to both utilize it and preserve it, that's the major reason I've donated the collection to you."


Movie posters included in the Watch the Skies Exhibition
  • "2001: A Space Odyssey" directed by Stanley Kubrick; starring Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood.
  • "The Andromeda Strain" directed by Robert Wise; starring Arthur Hill and David Wayne.
  • "Alien" directed by Ridley Scott; starring Sigourney Weaver.
  • "The Black Hole" directed by Gary Nelson; starring Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins and Robert Forster.
  • "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" directed by Daniel Haller; starring Gil Gerard.
  • "Chosen Survivors" directed by Sutton Roley; starring Jackie Cooper, Alex Cord and Richard Jaeckel.
  • "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" directed by Steven Spielberg; starring Richard Dreyfuss and Franςois Truffaut.
  • "Coma" directed by Michael Crichton; starring Genevieve Bujold, Michael Douglas and Elizabeth Ashley.
  • "Creatures the World Forgot" directed by Don Chaffey.
  • "Dragonslayer" directed by Matthew Robbins; starring Peter MacNicol.
  • "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" directed by Steven Spielberg; starring Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas and Peter Coyote.
  • "Flash Gordon" directed by Mike Hodges; starring Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson and Max von Sydow.
  • "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" directed by Philip Kaufman; starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams and Jeff Goldblum.
  • "Meteor" directed by Ronald Neame; starring Sean Connery and Natalie Wood.
  • "Moonraker" directed by Lewis Gilbert; starring Roger Moore.
  • "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" directed by Robert Wise; starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley.
  • "Star Wars" directed by George Lucas; starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
  • "TRON" directed by Steven Lisberger; starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner and David Warner.
  • "THX 1138" directed by George Lucas; starring Robert Duvall.
  • "Warlords of the Deep" directed by Kevin Connor; starring Doug McClure.
  • "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" directed by Val Guest.
  • "Yor, the Hunter from the Future" directed by Antonio Margheriti.