In a nutshell, five astronauts fly to Mars where they discover advanced and seemingly friendly inhabitants. Unbeknownst to our heroes their hosts plan to use their spaceship's technology to help them invade Earth. As expected, the clever Earth people outwit the Martians and return safely to Earth.
Inspired by the successes of "Destination Moon" and "Rocketship X-M" the year before, Monogram pictures slapped together this poorly written bit of fluff in five days and it shows. Lots of stock footage, space suits from "Destination Moon" and a rocketship interior borrowed from "Rocketship X-M" are good indications of a pretty low budget.
Now don't get me wrong, I love this picture. In fact, I bet I've seen it twenty times. The acting is a bit wooden, the direction by Lesley Selander is plodding and methodical and the writing is bad but it has one thing going for it -- A hot Martian woman in a micro-mini-skirt. If you love long legged former models turned actresses ( and who doesn't? ) then you'll absolutely fall in love with Marguerite Chapman ( also in "The Amazing Transparent Man"). She's an absolute knock out. While Miss Chapman had no aspirations of becoming a model or an actress she went on to make more than thirty pictures and even has a star on Hollywood Boulevard.
Cameron Mitchell is the jaded newspaper reporter who tags along to record the trip for posterity. Mitchell is probably best known for playing Buck Cannon on the TV western "The High Chaparral." (Any one else out there old enough to remember that one? Any one? Any one?)
Also starring Arthur Franz ("Invaders from Mars", 1953 and "The Atomic Submarine", 1959), Virginia Huston, John Litel and Morris Ankrum ("Earth versus the Flying Saucers", 1956, "Invaders from Mars", 1953) as Ikron, the friendly Martian scientist.
Favorite quote: Steve Aboott (Mitchell) -- "Dr. Lane, I once heard of a man who climbed a higher mountain than anyone else alive, but he was never able to get down again. What's left of him is still up there."
Dr. Lane -- "The point is, Steve, he made it."
Monday, June 21, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Earth versus the Flying Saucers - 1956
Man, I love this movie! SF movies from the pre-Soyuz era have a certain innocence about them that I love and this is one of my favorites. We've all become a little jaded by regular launchings of the space shuttle. We see it take off and land on the ten o'clock news and think, "Ho-hum, another trip to space. Big deal." But remember, back in the fifties it was a big deal. We hadn't done it yet, we hadn't been up there. "Earth vs the Flying Saucers" is just one of many imaginings of what rocketry could look like. Clips of V-2s (very popular in fifties SF) are interspersed to add realism.
In "Earth vs the Flying Saucers" we have a couple of young rocket scientists who just happen to be newly-weds, played by Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor. I want you to notice something here: one of the scientists is a woman. True, her role is still more or less secondary to that of the husband, but she's portrayed as intelligent and capable, possessing a keen scientific mind, and this is 1956, mind you.
Special effects are supplied by Ray Harryhausen, grand old man of stop motion photography. Any flick with Harryhausen doing effects is worth watching.
Once again, intrepid young scientists are faced with overwhelming odds. An invading force of flying saucers launch an all-out attack on Earth. Impervious to bullets, bazookas, mortars, cannons, they seem unstoppable. All seems lost until the hero figures out they are susceptible to one thing - high frequency sound. Armed with their new weapon they defeat the invaders, sending disabled saucers crashing into more than one famous Washington, DC landmark.
Hokey? Sure. Contrived? A bit. But you definitely need to add this one to your must watch list.
In "Earth vs the Flying Saucers" we have a couple of young rocket scientists who just happen to be newly-weds, played by Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor. I want you to notice something here: one of the scientists is a woman. True, her role is still more or less secondary to that of the husband, but she's portrayed as intelligent and capable, possessing a keen scientific mind, and this is 1956, mind you.
Special effects are supplied by Ray Harryhausen, grand old man of stop motion photography. Any flick with Harryhausen doing effects is worth watching.
Once again, intrepid young scientists are faced with overwhelming odds. An invading force of flying saucers launch an all-out attack on Earth. Impervious to bullets, bazookas, mortars, cannons, they seem unstoppable. All seems lost until the hero figures out they are susceptible to one thing - high frequency sound. Armed with their new weapon they defeat the invaders, sending disabled saucers crashing into more than one famous Washington, DC landmark.
Hokey? Sure. Contrived? A bit. But you definitely need to add this one to your must watch list.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
THEM! - 1954
I love a good giant bug movie and this is one of the best. This film did so well for Warner that it was quickly imitated by a slew of others including Tarantula (1955), The Black Scorpion (1959) and The Deadly Mantis (1957).
A lot of the giant bug movies of the fifties have similar themes - the dangers of nuclear weapons, Mother Nature run amok - and this one is no exception. Something strange is happening out in the desert and it's up to James Arness (the Thing from The Thing) to figure it out. What they discover are giant mutated ants, transformed by the radiation from a nearby nuclear test site. These insects are HUGE yet they are attracted by minuscule amounts of sugar, which they never seem to actually consume. Ignore that and the movie is quite enjoyable.
Them! was originally to be filmed in color, so when the model shop built the giant ants they made them quite colorful. Joan Weldon (Dr. Patricia Medford) said that they were actually quite beautiful. In this case, a budget cut actually turned out to be beneficial - in black and white the ants are much more effective. You have to forgive the cheesy appearance of some the bugs but, hey, this was years before computers were common place and CGI, well, forget about it. Still, considering the budget and the technical limits of model building at the time, this move stands out as one of the best bug movies ever made.
The scenes in the L.A. storm tunnels foreshadow scenes to come in movies like Alien, even down to the use of flame throwers to destroy the queen's eggs.
*** Look for Leonard Nimoy as an Air Force sergeant and Fess Parker as the 'deranged' crop duster confined to a mental ward to keep him quiet.
Great line, typical fifties paranoia --
Robert Graham: And I thought today was the end of them.
Dr. Harold Medford: No. We haven't seen the end of them. We've only had a close view of the beginning of what may be the end of us.
A lot of the giant bug movies of the fifties have similar themes - the dangers of nuclear weapons, Mother Nature run amok - and this one is no exception. Something strange is happening out in the desert and it's up to James Arness (the Thing from The Thing) to figure it out. What they discover are giant mutated ants, transformed by the radiation from a nearby nuclear test site. These insects are HUGE yet they are attracted by minuscule amounts of sugar, which they never seem to actually consume. Ignore that and the movie is quite enjoyable.
Them! was originally to be filmed in color, so when the model shop built the giant ants they made them quite colorful. Joan Weldon (Dr. Patricia Medford) said that they were actually quite beautiful. In this case, a budget cut actually turned out to be beneficial - in black and white the ants are much more effective. You have to forgive the cheesy appearance of some the bugs but, hey, this was years before computers were common place and CGI, well, forget about it. Still, considering the budget and the technical limits of model building at the time, this move stands out as one of the best bug movies ever made.
The scenes in the L.A. storm tunnels foreshadow scenes to come in movies like Alien, even down to the use of flame throwers to destroy the queen's eggs.
*** Look for Leonard Nimoy as an Air Force sergeant and Fess Parker as the 'deranged' crop duster confined to a mental ward to keep him quiet.
Great line, typical fifties paranoia --
Robert Graham: And I thought today was the end of them.
Dr. Harold Medford: No. We haven't seen the end of them. We've only had a close view of the beginning of what may be the end of us.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
The Beast with a Million Eyes - 1956
This is what happens when you create the movie poster first -- no script, no plot, no guidance, just a poster and a miniscule $23,000 budget. Shot in the desert with a non-union crew, a no-name cast and special effects that included an over-sized coffee percolator as an alien space ship, this movie rivals "Plan 9 from Outer space" for pure ineptness.
This film was so low budget and so badly done (but what do you expect for 23 grand?) that the exhibitors rebelled when they flew out to see the finished product, the product they were supposed to show in their theaters! Where was the beast? Where were the million eyes? One exhibitor reportedly offered to pay for a re-shoot, saying they should just burn this one.
But James Nicholson (co-founder of AIP with Samuel Arkoff) wasn't one to give up. He locked himself in the editing room with the print and a knife, scratched all the frames where the monster and its coffee pot were visible, and emerged with a film that, while still pretty bad, at least was no longer a total embarrassment. Now, instead of a silly looking little creature sitting in a coffee pot, there were lightning bolts and flashes of light like death rays or something. Good enough that the exhibitors were able to show the thing to the public.
What's sad is that the basic idea behind the story is interesting: an alien life force arrives on Earth and takes over the will of animals to use as weapons against us. The invader is defeated in the end when an intelligent family shows it love -- something it can't stand.
This was the only film directed by David Kramarsky, who must've thought better of the whole directing thing after this fiasco.
Look for Dick Sargent, long before "Bewitched", as the deputy.
This film was so low budget and so badly done (but what do you expect for 23 grand?) that the exhibitors rebelled when they flew out to see the finished product, the product they were supposed to show in their theaters! Where was the beast? Where were the million eyes? One exhibitor reportedly offered to pay for a re-shoot, saying they should just burn this one.
But James Nicholson (co-founder of AIP with Samuel Arkoff) wasn't one to give up. He locked himself in the editing room with the print and a knife, scratched all the frames where the monster and its coffee pot were visible, and emerged with a film that, while still pretty bad, at least was no longer a total embarrassment. Now, instead of a silly looking little creature sitting in a coffee pot, there were lightning bolts and flashes of light like death rays or something. Good enough that the exhibitors were able to show the thing to the public.
What's sad is that the basic idea behind the story is interesting: an alien life force arrives on Earth and takes over the will of animals to use as weapons against us. The invader is defeated in the end when an intelligent family shows it love -- something it can't stand.
This was the only film directed by David Kramarsky, who must've thought better of the whole directing thing after this fiasco.
Look for Dick Sargent, long before "Bewitched", as the deputy.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Creature from the Black Lagoon
What can I say? I love this movie. It has to be one of my top three all-time favorites, right up there with THEM! and The Thing (the original, not the Kurt Russel verison, although I like it as well).
1954 was a great year for science fiction/horror movies. In addition to Creature there was Devil Girl from Mars, Gojira (Godzilla), Killers from Space and more.
Like so many black and white films this movie is strong on atmosphere (It was originally shot in 3-D). The main setting is deep in the Amazon jungle, specifically in the Black Lagoon (what a great name), and the shadows and textures add a dimension of eerie-ness you just don't get with color.
As a kid this movie struck me for several reasons, not least of which was the beautiful Julia (Julie) Adams as the heroine. This ivory skinned, dark haired beauty drove me wild in her short shorts and one-piece bathing suit. I was in love! It was easy to see why the gill man fell so hard for her.
What makes this film stand out though is the underwater action, especially the scene where the heroine, the very picture of innocence and purity, swims in the lagoon while below her, hidden in the depths of the shadows, the creature mimics her every stroke, shadowing her, observing her. There's something creepy about swimming in open water in that you truly have no idea what lies beneath you. Jaws played on this fear in much the same way as Creature, but with far bloodier consequences. It's that feeling you get when something brushes against your leg or foot and you have no idea what's down there. It can scare the crap out you, let me tell ya.
Two men played the creature - Ricou Browning did the underwater work while Ben Chapman played the gill man above the water. There was no room in the gill-man costume for air tanks so Browning did all of his scenes while holding his breath. Clever editing aside, try holding your breath during some of those scenes and see how long you last. Browning had to hold his breath for up to five minutes at a time while trying to act menacing and keep himself from drowning.
Richard Carlson plays the hero, one of the best leading men from the '50s Bs. Richard Denning and Whit Bissell are two other well known B-grade names in this film. Denning played leading roles in several films, but this was the first movie I ever saw him in and I never quite trusted him after that - I just knew he was bad news after the way he treated the gill-man.
The theme of this film, at least what I see is the theme, is lust. Lust for power and glory on the part of the ambitious scientist, Dr. Mark Williams, and pure, unadulterated sexual lust from the creature and it is their lust that brings their downfall, a typical, if not overdone, theme of 1950s films. Remember, this was a time in America when conformity was something to be desired. People were expected to live by the rules, to follow society's norms and in the movies of the early 50s those who deviated from the norm, those who broke the unwritten laws always got it in the end. And so the poor creature was doomed the moment he laid his eyes on our heroine, and Dr. Mark Williams was doomed the moment he laid eyes on the creature.
This movie is now available in a box set with its sequels - Revenge of the Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956). Of the three, The Creature from the Black Lagoon is far and above the best, but the box set is definitely worth having if you love the gill man.
1954 was a great year for science fiction/horror movies. In addition to Creature there was Devil Girl from Mars, Gojira (Godzilla), Killers from Space and more.
Like so many black and white films this movie is strong on atmosphere (It was originally shot in 3-D). The main setting is deep in the Amazon jungle, specifically in the Black Lagoon (what a great name), and the shadows and textures add a dimension of eerie-ness you just don't get with color.
As a kid this movie struck me for several reasons, not least of which was the beautiful Julia (Julie) Adams as the heroine. This ivory skinned, dark haired beauty drove me wild in her short shorts and one-piece bathing suit. I was in love! It was easy to see why the gill man fell so hard for her.
What makes this film stand out though is the underwater action, especially the scene where the heroine, the very picture of innocence and purity, swims in the lagoon while below her, hidden in the depths of the shadows, the creature mimics her every stroke, shadowing her, observing her. There's something creepy about swimming in open water in that you truly have no idea what lies beneath you. Jaws played on this fear in much the same way as Creature, but with far bloodier consequences. It's that feeling you get when something brushes against your leg or foot and you have no idea what's down there. It can scare the crap out you, let me tell ya.
Two men played the creature - Ricou Browning did the underwater work while Ben Chapman played the gill man above the water. There was no room in the gill-man costume for air tanks so Browning did all of his scenes while holding his breath. Clever editing aside, try holding your breath during some of those scenes and see how long you last. Browning had to hold his breath for up to five minutes at a time while trying to act menacing and keep himself from drowning.
Richard Carlson plays the hero, one of the best leading men from the '50s Bs. Richard Denning and Whit Bissell are two other well known B-grade names in this film. Denning played leading roles in several films, but this was the first movie I ever saw him in and I never quite trusted him after that - I just knew he was bad news after the way he treated the gill-man.
The theme of this film, at least what I see is the theme, is lust. Lust for power and glory on the part of the ambitious scientist, Dr. Mark Williams, and pure, unadulterated sexual lust from the creature and it is their lust that brings their downfall, a typical, if not overdone, theme of 1950s films. Remember, this was a time in America when conformity was something to be desired. People were expected to live by the rules, to follow society's norms and in the movies of the early 50s those who deviated from the norm, those who broke the unwritten laws always got it in the end. And so the poor creature was doomed the moment he laid his eyes on our heroine, and Dr. Mark Williams was doomed the moment he laid eyes on the creature.
This movie is now available in a box set with its sequels - Revenge of the Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956). Of the three, The Creature from the Black Lagoon is far and above the best, but the box set is definitely worth having if you love the gill man.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
I Love a Good Bad Movie
Picture this: It's Friday night and everyone else is asleep. I'm all alone in the basement. The lights are off. The only illumination comes from the flickering TV screen. I sit enthralled as bizarre stories unfold before me in glorious black and white as I watch “Creature Features,” “Night Frights,” or “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.” It doesn't matter to me whether it's the “Werewolf of London,” “It Came from Outer Space” or “Monster on Campus,” it's all good and I love every minute of it. Some nights it's a double feature and I won't get to bed till three in the morning but who cares? I'm thirteen years old and tomorrow's Saturday – No School! So I stay up, sucking in every second of cinematic magic. You have to remember, this is before VCRs, this is before Tivo. If I miss a second of one these jewels I may never get to see it again, ever. Oh, the horror!
As far as cinema goes, those were my formative years. We didn't go out to movies all that often when I was a kid so I had to make due with hacked up, commercial infested science fiction and horror flix from the fifties and sixties. (Fifties films were my favorites, what with the giant bugs and all. Who could resist “The Giant Mantis,” or “Them!”? Great stuff for lonely teenage boys.)
I think there is magic involved for anyone who truly loves movies, especially low budget gems like “The Creature from the Black Lagoon,” and it is this – You must totally and completely suspend your disbelief. If you are unwilling or unable to do this you might as well stick to documentaries.
I assume that if you are reading this then you, my friend, possess this magical ability that all too many people have lost. Maybe the secret to B movies is that the worse the movie, the more disbelief you must suspend.
Maybe that's why my family thinks I'm crazy.
As far as cinema goes, those were my formative years. We didn't go out to movies all that often when I was a kid so I had to make due with hacked up, commercial infested science fiction and horror flix from the fifties and sixties. (Fifties films were my favorites, what with the giant bugs and all. Who could resist “The Giant Mantis,” or “Them!”? Great stuff for lonely teenage boys.)
I think there is magic involved for anyone who truly loves movies, especially low budget gems like “The Creature from the Black Lagoon,” and it is this – You must totally and completely suspend your disbelief. If you are unwilling or unable to do this you might as well stick to documentaries.
I assume that if you are reading this then you, my friend, possess this magical ability that all too many people have lost. Maybe the secret to B movies is that the worse the movie, the more disbelief you must suspend.
Maybe that's why my family thinks I'm crazy.
What's all this then?
B Movies!
I love B movies, those movies my wife refers to as 'Bad Movies.' What people like her fail to understand is that to the true B lover there is nothing 'bad' about these old science fiction and horror movies. Low budget, yes, that's a given, bad acting, low production values, of course. You have to understand, these movies were typically made on minuscule, sometimes nonexistent budgets. But that doesn't mean they're bad, not by any means. Okay, some are bad, I'll give you that. But then some of Hollywood's big budget block busters are just as bad ( try watching 'Pennies from Heaven' with Steve Martin sometime, or 'Dick Tracy' staring that wonderful actress, Madonna). 'B' doesn't mean 'Bad' just as 'A List' doesn't make Paris Hilton a wonderful human being. So don't condemn a movie because of its B status. You may just be robbing yourself of a wonderful cinematic experience.
So, this Blog is my tribute to the wonder that is low-budget film making at its best or worst. There will be no rhyme or reason as to how and when I'll talk about these gems - I'll just go by instinct, by my gut. Some may disagree with my thoughts about a particular film so, in that case, all I can say is “Get Over It!” It's my Blog and I'll type what I want to.
Curt
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