One of three repeat films booked during the past 22 years by the University Travel Club will be shown Wednesday in Kingsbury Hall at 8 p.m.
Back by popular demand will be DeWitt Jones' prize winning "John Muir's High Sierra," originally shown in Utah in 1973. The other "re-runs" were Dick Reddy's "Mark Twain in Switzerland," (1969 and 1972) and "Mark Twain in Italy" (1973 and 1981).This full-length, full-color film, produced under joint sponsorship of the National Geographic Society, required more than 18 months to produce. It ties together the life and travels of famed conservationist, John Muir, and is set in the heart of California's magnificent Sierra Nevada mountains.
Opening with an aerial view of the Sierra Nevada, the film shifts to cover some of Muir's old journals, matching filmed sequences to Muir's poetic entries. The first reel deals with Muir's history, the botanical and glacial aspects of the region and scenes of spring, summer and fall in Yosemite and on the top of the Mt. Lyell glacier.
Also featured on reel one is a sequence of two young men climbing one of Yosemite's great walls. This sequence is so exciting that it has found its way into David Wolper's TV series, "The Explorers."
Reel two deals with Jones' visits to Mt. Darwin, the Minarets, the Palisades and the Owens Valley, among many other spots. This half of the film also features the arrival of winter, together with scenes of backpacking and ski touring.
DeWitt Jones is a cum laude graduate of Dartmouth Collete. He also received his master's degree in motion picture production from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Jones has spent several years in Hollywood directing television commercials and producing films for Wolper and the National Geographic Society. Also in recent years, he has served as photographer and unofficial spokesman for the Utah Travel Council, appearing in several Utah-slanted commercial spots.
General admission tickets will be sold in Kingsbury Hall room 210 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. or again Wednesday, same hours, plus from 6:30 p.m. to showtime. The free shuttlebus will begin service in Rice Stadium parking lot about 7:10 p.m.