Killers From Space

This is a solidly B-grade film which harkens more from the Captain Video and Radar Men from the Moon style. Like the serials, the aliens are just men dressed in full leotards, with tight hoods. Here, they have ping-pong ball halves for eyes, and bushy eyebrows, but they still hang out in caves, littered with high school chemistry lab equipment. Yes, it's a cheesy movie, but it has it's points.

Killers from Space (KFS) comes from the same father and son team that brought us Phantom from Space (May '53). Apparently they liked the "(something) From Space" formula for a title. W. Lee Wilder directed. His son Myles wrote the story. They must have begun KFS immediately after Phantom. The credits say KFS was done in 1953. It was released in January of 1954. This gives you an idea of how quickly a B-movie could be whipped out.

Quick Plot Synopsis
At yet another A-Bomb test (much stock footage), a pilot circles his jet around the site so a scientist can take readings. After they see a bright light, the plane crashes. The scientist (Peter Graves) staggers back to the base the next day, unhurt, with no memory of the crash or what happened to him. He does have an unexplained surgical scar over his heart.Over the next few days, he acts strangely, arousing suspicions. He steals some secret test info and is caught delivering it to a drop point. Under "truth serum" he tells the tale of his abduction, heart surgery (since he actually died in the crash) and all about the aliens. They come from a planet (Astron Delta) very far away. The Astron sun is dying and the billion or so Astron Deltans are looking for a new home. They've been stealing power from the nuclear tests, storing some of it, using the rest to mutate earth creatures (bugs, lizards, etc.) into giants which will devour all humans. Then the Deltans will kill all their monsters with a sonic ray and take over the earth. Graves is shown too much. He figures out that they need massive amounts of electricity to manage all that stored power. Once out of his truth serum stupor, he tries to convince the authorities to either set off a really huge bomb, thus overloading the Deltan's power management system, or shut off the power grid to southern Nevada thereby releasing all that stored power. When the authorities refuse both options, Graves races to a power plant and forces the worker to shut of power. Just like he predicted, the alien's cave base blows up (stock footage of the Bikini Atoll test). The earth is safe. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
Seeing a young Peter Graves as the hapless Dr. Martin is fun. Graves tries to act with zeal and emotion, while most of the others act as stolid B-actors do -- woodenly. Seeing a remake of the old Radar Men from the Moon style is like seeing one's old school photos. Silly images of old friends. On one level, KFS is almost too silly to take seriously, but beyond that it has one fascinating claim to fame. It depicts the "classic" alien abduction years before the public got into the act. More on that below in the Notes section.

Cold War Angle
With all the nuclear testing, and security, there's enough fodder for nuclear angst themes. Add the mind-control by a hostile invading power and you touch a little of the Cold War anxiety mood. Following War of the Worlds, it's not too original to have the invaders fleeing a dying world. This aspect diminishes the Cold War theme a bit.

Notes
Detective Redux -- In a similar flavor to the detective story style of Phantom from Space, KFS spends most of its time following Dr. Martin's disappearance, reappearance and odd behavior. As before, the science fiction portion comes in rather late in the picture.

Why Are We Safe Now? -- Many 50s sci-fi movies end with the assumption that all is well when the aliens shown in the movie are stopped. Dr. Martin (Graves) is told that there are a billion Astron Deltans out in space, in space stations and saucers, waiting for the big bugs to eat all humans, so they can take over. Martin blew up the Deltan's base and their giant bugs, which certainly would set their plans back a bit, but there are still a billion of them up there. Surely someone on earth would be worrying about the rest of the Deltan's trying a Plan B (not a Plan 9). At least at the end of The Thing ('51) there was the warning to "watch the skies". In KFS, we're presumed safe because we blew up their base.

Screenwriting Shortcuts -- Having the chief alien, Denab, simply tell Dr. Martin all about the history of Astron Delta, their plans to conquer the earth, etc. comes across like a screenwriter who couldn't figure out how to let the movie action tell that story. Instead, we spend hundreds of feet of film following a confused Peter Graves. With little movie time left, the writers just let Denab tell the whole back story. This is only one step better than having a narrator do the same.

Abduction Debut -- One thing KFS has which should secure its place in history, is that it has almost all the elements of what would become the "classic" alien abduction account. KFS predates the Boas event by 4 years and predates the more famous Betty and Barney Hill abduction account by 7 years. Researchers would later find a pattern to all the abduction accounts, but the Wilder team had them all scooped. In KFS we have:
1. The Bright Light
2. The Capture
3. Victim Surgically Probed, or experimented upon or implanted with devices
4. The Conference. Alien(s) speak with abductee
5. The Tour (Abductee given tour of ship, etc.)
6. Loss of time. Abductee made to forget events, but recovered via hypnosis
7. Mystical experiences afterward (Dr. Martin sees the eyes and faces)
8. Sickness, phobias, ridicule by others. (Dr. Martin presumed crazy)
It is fascinating to find that the Wilders had put all of these "classic" abductee features into KFS. The only feature which showed up in later public accounts, but not in KFS, was a sexual encounter. Not all abductee stories has this either, but KFS definitely did not. Other than that, KFS had the classic abductee experience on film years before it entered a public mainstream.

Bottom line? KFS is old fashioned B-movie sci-fi fun. If one watches it with a movie serial or matinee mindset, it's reasonably entertaining.  The early example of whole alien abduction trope is amusing to see too. KFS isn't high art, but it's worth watching.

1953

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1953 was a very busy year for sci-fi fans. Over a dozen films hit the theaters. Some of them were A-grade block busters. Some of them were clearly low-grade stuff, even for the B-market. Still, there was plenty to watch.

Magnetic Monster -- A scientist's freak isotope absorbs energy around it and doubles in size every 11 hours, threatening to upset the earth in its orbit. 1st tale in Ivan Tors' OSI trilogy.

Invaders from Mars -- Low budget, but highly influential, destined to become a cult classic. A hidden alien takes over humans to do its bidding.

Phantom from Space -- A Dragnet-style B-film about a misunderstood (and invisible) alien to crashes on Earth by mistake.

It Came from Outer Space -- One-eyed aliens crash in the desert southwest and create body-doubles of townspeople in order to get their ship repaired.

Beast from 20,000 Fathoms -- An arctic nuke test releases a frozen dinosaur which then terrifies New York. Inspiration for Godzilla in 1954.

Mesa of Lost Women -- A mad scientist in a mexican mesa uses human hormones to create giant intelligent spiders and spider hormones to create a cadre of telepathically controllable humans -- beautiful women and motley dwarf men.

Robot Monster -- A bizarrely odd post-apocalyptic dream tale often tagged as the ultimate in the so-bad-it's-good category. Definitely a bad-flick cult classic.

Abbott & Costello Go to Mars -- The comedy duo spoof the sci-fi genre. They land on earth, mistake it for Mars, then go to Venus, but mistake it for Los Angeles.

War of the Worlds -- One of THE big classics of 50s sci-fi. Sets H.G. Wells' 1898 novel into 1950s America. A tale so good, it was remade several times in later decades.

Project Moon Base -- A saboteur causes a lunar orbit mission to land instead. A man and woman on the moon.

Catwomen of the Moon -- A lunar mission finds a lost civilization of moon women who then plot to steal the earthlings' rocket in order to get to earth.

Donovan's Brain -- A doctor saves the brain of a dying millionaire, but the brain telepathically takes over people to continue his evil-captiallist schemes.

Planet Outlaws -- Buck Rogers serials from 1939 are strung together to make a feature film. Retro, even for the 50s.

The Twonky -- Arch Oboler's comedy tale about a helpful/oppressive robot from the future, disguised as a TV set, screws up a poor professor's life.

Four Sided Triangle -- A British sci-fi drama about a lonely scientist who duplicates the woman he loves (who loves another), but all is not well.

Riders to the Stars

This is the second of Ivan Tors' sci-fi dramas. The first was Magnetic Monster. The third will be Gog. Each dealt with a presumed government agency, the Office of Scientific Investigation. Riders is one of the last "hard science" fiction films which tried to deal with real (or at least probable) science at the edge of our understanding. This, as opposed to more fantastic sci-fi of aliens and monsters. Destination Moon was the foundational example. The story was fiction, but the science within was as realistic (or at least credible) at the time. Riders is in that vein. Granted, the scientific presumptions that the movie is based upon are in error, but were presented as plausible hurdles which techno-scientific, rational man would conquer. People's fascination with actual space travel (which had not happened yet) was enough to rake in an audience.

Curt Siodmak wrote the screenplay. He had just recently adapted his novel into the movie Donovan's Brain, which was another example of sci-fi without aliens. Richard Carlson (who starred in Magnetic Monster and It came from Outer Space, is both the director and acts in the role of Dr. Jerry Lockwood. Carlson directs the tale in a documentary style, reminiscent to the "Dragnet" style of Tors' Magnetic Monster.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A returned space probe has it's steel plating turned brittle and fragile, giving the depressing conclusion that mankind could not venture into space. The cosmic rays were too corrosive. It is theorized that meteorites in space, which do not deteriorate, must have some super-durable elements in them, or a protective coating. This coating or element is burned away on meteors which fall to earth. The only way for man to copy this meteorite protection element is to go into space and return with meteorites before they enter our atmosphere. With that coating, earth's rockets can have an effective radiation shield, making future missions possible.

The Office of Scientific Investigation selects a group of candidates for this mission, though they're not told what it is. They are subjected to rigorous tests. Many fall away as unsuitable. Finally, three are chosen. They are launched into space, each in their own rocket, to scoop up a meteorite and return. The first man, Gordon, tries to capture too large of a meteorite. His ship explodes. Seeing Gordon's charred body float by, Lockwood snaps, flails around, turning on his rocket engine. He flies out into deep space oblivion. Only Dr. Stanton captures a meteorite successfully and returns. This provides the answer ("It's pure crystalized carbon!") but also satisfies the developing love interest sub-plot. Now manned space missions will be possible.

Why is this movie fun?
This is a somewhat depressing movie, so it's not exactly "fun." Yet, it's attempt at matter-of-factness in style set it apart from the more sensational films. Riders may be the last of the science "fact" sub-genre. The pre-space-program view of a space program is fun to apply hindsight to. They had many of the right "stuff", but seriously underestimated the time required. Seeing Richard Carlson in a sort of non-hero role adds some depth. (see Notes)

Cold War Angle
While ostensibly focused on solving a technological problem, the background urgency to it all is pure Cold War. Early in the movie, the voice-over says, "...our men must be the first (in space)...the security of the whole world may depend on it." Their mission is to make it possible to prevent "a space platform operated by a dictatorship which would make slaves of all free people."

Notes
Pre-Right-Stuff -- One thing that stands out about Riders is that it amounts to a mid-50s version of "The Right Stuff." What makes this more remarkable is that Riders was created before there were any astronauts, or an astronaut program. It's easy to see where this more "factual" look at astronaut training would fascinate audiences.

The Flawed Hero -- It is interesting that Richard Carlson, who played the more typical stalwart hero in Magnetic Monster and It Came from Outer Space opted to play a more secondary role of flawed would-be hero. Instead of the buff stud who gets the girl and saves the day, Carlson's Dr. Lockwood is a man dogged by failures and inadequacies. Near the point where he dies in space, he's the man haunted by battlefield memories from WWII. This is, perhaps, the source of his failings.

Cruel World -- An undercurrent in Riders is that of a harsh and unrelenting world of science. Many otherwise normal men are rejected as "unfit" by a cold authoritarian agency. Even those deemed more fit are subjected to semi-torturous tests. With the deaths of two astronauts, Riders presents the world of space travel as highly demanding and deadly dangerous. This was a sobering view, given the almost glib space travel of Flash Gordon, etc. Destination Moon and Rocketship X-M tried to focus on this danger, but they weren't as stark and graphic about it as Riders was. The technological world of an astronaut program in Riders was almost dystopic. It wasn't the gee-whiz glittery world of other films where science was the noble hero.

The Twonky

This is an obscure and quirky, but fun little sci-fi movie. It's off the beaten path. On the surface, The Twonky is cast as a comedy, but is somewhat pedestrian as a comedy. More intriguing are some of the interesting thoughts interwoven in the script. A cute little TV set, massively retro cute by 2008 standards, sets about taking over a poor college professor's life. Is it protective, or oppressive? Even he can't decide.

Arch Oboler gave us our first post-apocalyptic tale in 1951 with Five. In '52 he directed one of the first 3D movies, Bwana Devil (a typical jungle adventure flick). Then, in '53, he produced and directed The Twonky, a "lite" sci-fi comedy with latent social commentary. Oboler was certainly not in any particular rut.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Professor Cary West's wife Carolyn has to leave him home alone for many days to be with her pregnant sister. To keep Cary from being lonely, she bought him a TV. Trouble is, the TV is actually a servant robot from the future that has disguised itself as a 16" Admiral TV. The "Twonky" sets about doing Cary favors. It lights his cigarette or pipe. It washes the dishes and fixes his tie, shines his shoes etc. Cary's friend, coach Trout, muses about the Twonky being a servant robot from the future that got lost and wound up in 1950s America. It's disguised itself as a TV to avoid arousing suspicion. The Twonky tries to help its adopted master, but gets Cary into trouble. It duplicates a $5 bill into $100 to help him pay a delivery man. It calls the telephone operator to get a blonde female companion for him because he's lonely. This brings the vice squad and a Treasury agent kicking in the door. The Twonky zaps everyone into complacent sleep walkers who mutter "I have noooo complaints..." Cary tries to rid himself of the helpful pest by pushing his car off a cliff (Twonky in front seat), but this fails. He tries to lose the Twonky by abandoning his car, but the Twonky gets into the trunk of the car Cary hitched a ride in. In a misguided attempt to keep Cary safe, the Twonky forces on the car's parking brake. They are rear-ended by a big truck. In the hospital, Cary and his wife celebrate that the Twonky was destroyed in the crash. Coach Trout brings Cary a gift to ease the boredom -- a 16" Admiral TV. Cary goes bezerk. Was it the Twonky reassembled, or just another TV set? The end.

Why is this movie fun?
Firstly, there are precious few sci-fi comedies. As comedy, it's not stellar, but there are some amusing skits built upon the misguided helpful robot premise. What's more fun is the satire on what television does to people. The Twonky is also refreshing as being something very different from the typical sci-fi scenario. It's a very early example of the technophobia sub-genre, but in a light-hearted form.

Cold War Angle
There's nothing overt about the Cold War, but there is a strong undercurrent of commentary on its social-political environment. Coach Trout theorizes that the in the future, each family has a Twonky to help them, but mostly "to control their thoughts and serve the dictates of the super state." This cuts both ways. It's a fret about mind control in the socialist state. It could also be a commentary on the patriotic conformism expected in the McCarthy era. Conformism will show up again and again as a theme in sci-fi movies.

Notes
Mixed Bag of Acting -- Hans Conried stars as Cary West. He's one of the fun character actors of the 50s and 60s. He does a good job of vacillating between nervous courage and being flustered. Coach Trout is an oddly assertive, yet melancholy, yet knowledgeable character reasonably played by Billy Lynn. Others are mostly average. The TV repairman, played by Ed Max, is almost annoyingly imbecilic. He may have been funnier to mid 50s audiences, but comes across as absurd in 2008.

Individualism andFreedom Commentary -- At one point, Cary comes home drunk. The Twonky zaps him sober. Cary yells at the Twonky for rigidly managing his life for him. "So is (getting drunk) forbidden in your time? Maybe it's wrong, but I have a God-given right to be wrong." This line is repeated near the end by the eccentric British lady who is driving recklessly on the wrong side of the road. She admits that her insisting on acting as if America was still a British colony might be wrong, but she has a God-given right to be wrong.

Herein is the statement on liberty. There is a subtle tyranny in the demand for homogeneity of opinion, whether its about communism, patriotism, or global warming. Labeling deviations from the official party line as error, is a crafty form of oppression.

Opiate of the Masses -- The Twonky is symbolic of television itself. It seeks to control people's lives, pretending to be helpful, but subtly restricting its owners thoughts. This is driven home time and again by the Twonky zapping people who oppose it. They develop a mindless gaze and weakly say, "I have no complaints..." No matter how Cary tries to get away from the Twonky, it follows him. Since television had only been in people's homes for a few years, this is a surprisingly prescient commentary. TV dominates peoples' lives and controls their thoughts. Perhaps it actually is a tool of the "super state." Arch Oboler, the producer and director, was no fan of television. He came from the radio era and could, apparently, see the dark side of this new TV-technology.

Bottom line: The Twonky is an odd little sci-fi movie but well worthwhile to those who don't mind something NOT formulaic and DO like something that will leave you pondering.

Planet Outlaws

This film is actually a compilation of the Buck Rogers serials that ran originally in 1939. The cliffhanger endings and recap beginnings have been edited out to make it flow better -- with partial success. Some new footage was shot for the introduction and summary. At the opening, there are some newspaper headlines about jets chasing flying discs, and the obligatory checkered V2 launch, etc. to add a modern segue. After that, it's pure 1939.

Sci-fi movie technology had come a long way in the 14 years since Buck's debut. Audiences had grown accustomed to sleek and pointy rockets, flying saucers, strange aliens, etc. The Buck Rogers style world-of-the-future must have looked oddly quaint. (if not laughable) Just why Universal Pictures thought re-releasing Buck Rogers was a good idea is a bit of a mystery. Kids who were 8 or so back in 1939 would be young adults in '53. Perhaps Universal was banking on those young adults would buy tickets for a trip down memory lane.

Quick Plot Synopsis
After a bit of modern ('53) footage about the wonders of modern progress and "flying disks," the old serial begins. Rogers and Buddy crashed in the arctic while on a transpolar flight. They were in suspended animation due to the cold and a vague gas. A patrol finds them in the year 2500 and revives them. In the world of 2500, a despot named Killer Kane is trying to take over the world. The forces of good are holed up in the "hidden city." Buck arranges a decoy maneuver to elude Kane's patrol ships. They fly to the planet Saturn in hopes of finding help. On Saturn, the Council sees Rogers and party as the rebels, and Kane as the rule of law. Rogers et al, escape Saturn, return to earth and seek to disrupt Kane's bamboozling of Prince Tallen, the Saturnian representative. Rogers sneaks into Kane's city, interrupts the treaty signing and convinces Tallen of Kane's evil by revealing Kane's "robot battalion" (slaves wearing mind-control helmets). Rogers and Tallen get to Saturn and the treaty is signed. Rogers escapes Kane's patrols via the Dissolvo Ray which rendered them invisible. Rogers and the war council plan for war. Rogers enlists the Saturnians to help. Meanwhile, Rogers sneaks into Kane's city and de-zombies Minister Krenco to lead an uprising of freed robot-slave-prisoners. Rogers storms Kane's palace and puts one of the robo-slave helmets on Kane. The End

Why is this movie fun?
The industrial vision of the future is delightful to watch. The heavily mechanical look of everything is so radically different from the sleek rockets and glowing acrylic audiences were growing accustomed to. The space ships look like they were built at locomotive factories or steamship yards. They spew roman-candle sparks and smoke and buzz as they fly. There are no computers, no radar or electronics. It's a fascinating snapshot of what pre-electronic-age people thought the future would be like.

Cold War Angle
When originally released in 1939, the Killer Kane character was a thinly disguised allusion to Hitler. In 1953, Kane was intended to represent a communist despot. It wasn't as tidy a fit. The narrator sums it up voicing a hope that scientists will develop the means for men to stand up to today's dictators and make the world safe for democracy. In the early 50s, there's little question of who they meant.

Notes
Simple Colors -- One endearing trait of Buck Rogers is the simplicity of the characterizations. The good guys do nothing but good. The bad guys are pure bad. The good guys are crack pilots and sharp shooters and tough as nails. The bad guys do nothing but bad, have trouble hitting a flying barn and are easily knocked out with one punch.

Industrial Baroque -- Somewhat like the baroque era's compulsion to decorate every square inch with swirls and filigree, Industrial Baroque sought to fill every space with heavy-duty hardware. The sets, and especially the rocket interiors are like flying boiler rooms. Valves, pipes, levers, dials, wheels, large flashing light bulbs. To look more "high tech" in the 30s meant cramming in more industrial hardware. Buck Rogers' ships show more affinity for Captain Nemo "steampunk" than the proto-space-age of the 50s.

Family Resemblance -- There is a noticeable similarity in the sets and costumes of Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers. Even serials of the early 50s, like Captain Video and the various Rocketman serials, look more like Flash and Buck than George Pal. The industrial baroque look and costuming are distinctive, making them almost a sub-genre of their own. In that regard, Buck has a timelessness.

Army of Zombies -- Kane's mind-control helmets turned his prisoners of war and political prisoners into obedient slave labor. This point didn't get much focus in Planet Outlaws. The "Robot Battalion" was more an object of pity than an object of fear. The idea of a captive corps of brain-washed minions would gain traction in the 50s. Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56) would take this to disturbing lengths. 1939 hadn't yet seen the fear in it.

Four Sided Triangle

This British film has more thoughtful depth than the average B-movie. Centering on the idea of man creating life, it has an affinity to the Frankenstein mythos, but without the horror. Completed in 1952, it reached American audiences in '53. Four Sided Triange (FST) didn't leave a big impression in American sci-fi culture. This may be because it did not have the horror and ugly rampaging monster.

The title is an allusion to the phrase "love triangle." The triangle is between Bill, Robin and Lena. It becomes four-sided when Bill creates a duplicate Lena so he can have her too. FST was Hammer Films' first modest venture into sci-fi. They would go on to become more famous in the horror genre.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Bill and Robin are best friends as boys. Lena is their friend too. When they grow up, both become brilliant scientists. Lena, however, was taken to America with an aunt. When she returns as a beautiful young woman, she's despondent over her failure to amount to anything. Doc, a mentor-friend to them all since childhood, convinces her to help Bill and Robin with their experiment. She does and finds purpose. The boys have created The Reproducer -- a room full of equipment which can reproduce anything. Robin is highly altruistic about how the Reproducer will prevent shortages of rare medicines, etc. Robin's father and his government connections secure government sponsorship of a Reproducer program. At the celebration party, Robin and Lena announce their engagement. Bill is crushed. He's loved Lena since childhood, though Lena always was partial to Robin. While Robin and Lena are in London dealing with the government, Bill steps things up a notch to make the Reproducer duplicate living things. It has missteps, but he finally solves it with post-reproduction electrical stimulation and blood pumping to stimulate the heart into re-beating. His plan all along was to reproduce Lena so he could have her too. At first Doc refuses to be a part of it, but relents. Lena returns from London. Bill convinces her to allow herself to be duplicated. The experiment succeeds. Duplicate Lena, whom Bill names Helen, is an exact copy. She has Lena's memories and every feeling -- including her love for Robin. Helen tries to ignore this and be Bill's companion, but she can't keep it up. Bill tries electro-shock therapy to try to erase her memories. At the conclusion of the treatment, the lab catches on fire. Robin (just returned from London) rushes into the burning barn and carries out one of the women, but which one? The other and Bill are lost in the fire. In the hospital, he finds out that he saved Lena after all. Happy ending.

Why is this movie fun?
This is a much more cerebral story than one usually finds in B-movies. There are many interesting puzzle twists that the movie doesn't have time to explore, but are fun to ponder on. Instead of the usual mad scientist trying to create life for devious reasons, we have a tormentedly lonely scientist trying to hang onto the love he can't have. This angle has much more pathos to it.
The barn-lab is a visual treat. It's all the pre-computer science stuff of Dr. Frankenstein's lab, but without the sinister pall. Here were (almost literally) two guys in a garage, inventing the amazing out of surplus lab equipment and bailing wire. That has charm.
Also of interest is what may be the first appearance of a matter duplicator in sci-fi. This will show up again in The Fly in '58. It would become commonplace in the food-creator units aboard the Enterprise in Star Trek.

Cold War Angle
There is nothing nuclear or hinting at soviet-angst. The underlying story is the attempt at reclaiming lost love, not war.

Notes
Weak Science -- Sci-fi has never been too worried about the "realities" of science. So, it's not at all unusual that the premise behind Bill and Robin's machine doesn't work out neatly. They say the Reproducer creates matter out of energy. Physics calculates that it would take hundreds of kilotons of energy to create a mere pound of matter. A barn full of old transformers couldn't even get close. Who cares. It's science fiction. Just assume that Bill and Robin have found some way to tap and channel massive amounts of power and let the plot run.

Franken-kind -- The underlying premise in FST is akin to Frankenstein -- a scientist bent on creating life. Their motives are different, as are their results, but they both raise similar issues. Just where does the newly created being fit into the pre-existing world? What kind of rights does a duplicate have? Bill is a kind-hearted, though romantically lonely, Frankenstein. Consider Bill as the mythic Greek sculptor Pygmalion who falls in love with his creation, and the statue brought to life as the woman Galatea. The trope of man creating his mate.

Dual Scientists -- Bill and Robin represent two faces of "science". Robin is blatantly driven by altruism. He wants to reproduce rare medicines and duplicate beautiful art so the world can benefit. Bill is driven, but with motives less obvious. In the end, he uses his genius for selfish gain. Therein lies a subtle moral to the tale. Selfish science will fail.

(Too) Subtle Paradoxes -- Perhaps it's a trait of British screenplay writing, but FST has some odd paradoxes which make little sense on the surface to many American viewers (who have grown accustomed to shoot-outs, chase scenes and explosions). A closer watching, however, sheds the necessary light.
- Why would Lena and Doc agree to the Reproducing? = Lena was deeply fond of Bill, her friend since childhood, just not in the romantic way. Out of that deep friendship, she wanted to help her despondent friend. Doc, an ersatz father, says, while trying to convince her, "You could make Bill happy without jeopardizing anything with Robin." Two well-intentioned friends trying anything to help.
- Why would Helen cooperate and "date" Bill? = Helen was a copy of Lena after Lena knew all about the plan and agreed to it. Thus, Helen was Lena trying to make her sad friend happy. She could pretend for awhile (the beach, the boat, etc.) but eventually, her heart could no longer overrule her head.
- Why did Helen try to kill herself? = There was foreshadowing that Lena had a melancholy streak in her. There was talk of suicide then. "I didn't ask to be brought into the world, so I have a right to leave it when I want." In Lena, it was gloom over not finding a purpose. Helen realized that she could not fulfill her purpose (forget Robin and love Bill). She also knew that the world could not contain TWO Lenas that love the one Robin.
- Why would Helen agree to have her memories erased? = Since she already displayed a suicidal streak, this isn't really all that mysterious. It's one last chance to succeed at her goal of making Bill happy, AND solve the 2 Lenas / 1 Robin problem.

Spiritual Angles -- The movie opens with a quote from the Bible. "God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions." (Ecclesiastes 7:29) God provides what man needs, but man keeps trying to get what he wants by various schemes. This fits Bill perfectly. The end quote is: "You shall have joy or you shall have power, said God: you shall not have both." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson. Here is the moral of the story. Bill had power. Robin had joy. Bill could not have both.

Bottom line: It took a lot of digging to find a copy of FST. It's not a particularly mainstream movie. For a fan of 50s sci-fi films that make you think, FST is worth checking out.

Donovan's Brain

This is the second movie based on the 1942 novel by Curt Siodmak. The first was The Lady and the Monster (1944). Some think the '53 version is better than the '44. Siodmak was no stranger to 50s sci-fi. He co-wrote Magnetic Monster ('53) and would team up with Ivan Tors again for Riders to the Stars, and some later titles as well. When much of 50s sci-fi was gravitating towards saucers, rockets and aliens, Donovan's Brain (DB) ventured back to an older sci-fi / horror tradition like Frankenstein. DB focused on biology and medical technology. It works from the archetype of the well-meaning scientist whose work turns against him (and the world).

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Patrick Cory has been experimenting extending brain activity in animals after the body dies. This, to improve mankind. Millionaire bad man Warren Donovan happens to be on a plane that crashes near Dr. Cory's home laboratory. Donovan's injuries are too great for Dr. Cory and his colleague to save him. Over the objections of his wife (Nancy Davis, future Mrs. Ronald Reagan), Cory decides to try his experiments on Donovan's brain. The brain is kept alive in a nutrient and electrical solution. The "death" of Donovan sets wheels in motion, since he was very wealthy. His former associates and his heirs have their plans. Donovan has his own. Cory tries to establish a sort of telepathic connection, in an attempt to communicate with Donovan. The brain (still the sinister Donovan) has grown abnormally strong and powerful in the nutrients. It begins to control Cory and make him do his unfinished business -- shifting around his fortune in an attempt to control the nation's economy. All this is shadowed by a tabloid reporter who senses that something is odd. Donovan's brain "takes over" the reporter and has him drive off a cliff. The brain threatens any who disobey with a similar fate. Eventually, the brain is killed by a lightening strike. Dr. Cory, in a lucid moment, left instructions for tweaking the house's lightening rod for just such an occasion. Freed from the brain, Dr. Cory faces prosecution for his misdeeds. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
DB is a more thought-provoking film than an action film. It draws from earlier story lines like Jekyll and Hyde (they even say this in the movie) as well as Frankenstein. As saucers and aliens were becoming common, a film about a "brain" is nostalgic. Lew Ayres does a good job of playing both Dr. Cory and the evil Donovan.

Cold War Angle
There isn't much of the Cold War in DB. This is because Siodmak's source story was itself a product of the pre-atomic-age ethos. As was much more common in that ethos, the focus is much more on the dangers of science, and the dangers of unchecked capitalism.

Notes
Naive Scientist -- A recurring theme in sci-fi movies is that of the well-meaning, but naive, brilliant scientist. He uses his skills for some bold, unconventional work which he feels will be for the betterment of mankind. Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll, etc. are in this lineage. As per the archetype, the cruel (and evil) realities catch up with them. Their creation harms mankind, not helps it. In this, DB is a similar cautionary tale about the dangers of naive faith in science. There is a Luddite streak in mankind which distrusts scientific "progress" as holding just as much potential for harm as for benefits.

Capitalist Monster -- Donovan, the quintessential two-dimensional evil capitalist (with NO redeeming traits) becomes magnified in Dr. Cory's nutrient solution. In this protected (science supplied) environment, the evil capitalist obtains new powers. He can control others (telepathically) to do his bidding and to kill themselves off when need be. No longer encumbered by a single human body (which is presumed to restrict the brain's potential), the "freed" brain operates somewhat omnipresently. With his "expanded" mental powers, Donovan is able to scheme manipulating a whole nation's economy. Here is the cautionary pessimism. Natural man, freed from mortal constrains, might prove to be more demon than angel.

Brain Sub-genre -- DB wasn't the first iteration of the disembodied brain motif, nor would it be the last. B-grade sci-fi had a fascination for brains without bodies. The notion of a mind without a body carries the personification of thought unencumbered with physical limitations. Some treatments will be more successful than others. DB was a fairly good attempt. It stuck to the theme without straying into pointless "action" for its own sake or cheesyness.

Cheap Telepathy? -- People who like their sci-fi to be more scientific will probably not like the telepathy angle. This is more "paranormal" than pure-science, but it's not a total sell-out to the "magic" crowd. A recurring theme in sci-fi is that the more advanced brains would communicate without need of physical bodies. Often, the "advanced" aliens are depicted using mind-to-mind communications. Even as late as 2006, the Stargate SG-1 TV series posited that the human brain could "advance" to the point of "ascending" to that all-mind existence. For Stargate and DB, the idea is that the human brain already has this potential. Dr. Cory's removal of the brain from the body, and giving it the "ideal" environment, allowed the brain to advance beyond normal human abilities. Mind-to-mind communication being one of them.

Bottom line? DB is somewhat slow paced and thoughtful, as opposed to action-packed. It has no saucers or aliens or monsters or special effects. As such, it may not appeal to some sci-fi fans who crave those things. DB is a link in a persistent chain of sci-fi movies which feature disembodied brains. In style and tenor, the film is more 40s than 50s, but for fans of 40s sci-fi, this would be a good thing.