Incredible Petrified World

Here is another digression back to 1957. This is another of those minor low-B-movies at that fringe of the sci-fi genre. Incredible Petrified World (IPW) is largely a travel adventure tale. Since IPW has some fanciful premise about an air-breathing terrestrial world underground (and under water), it is more speculative fiction than science fiction. It is often a fuzzy line between the two, so IPW shows up on sci-fi lists. That said, don't expect much science beyond a bit of marine biology blather in the beginning. Instead, IPW is B-writer's reworking of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. It's also partially a castaway movie, but with the "island" being air-filled caverns deep beneath the Caribbean Sea.

Quick Plot Synopsis
After a lengthy movie about the wonders and mysteries of the ocean deep, a few generic men in suits discuss Professor Wyman (John Carradine) and his diving bell expedition. Going down to great depths, they hope to explore those mysteries. Craig (Robert Clarke) is a scientist, as is his love interest Lori. Also along is Paul and a woman reporter named Dale. During their descent, the cables snap and the bell plunges to over 1,700 feet down. Despite the depth, it's fairly light out the window, so Craig and Paul conclude that the pressure must be low too. They don scuba gear and explore. They discover that they've fallen (?) into a cave pool. All four go into the cave, handily illuminated by the phosphor in the rocks. There's no apparent way out, but they find a human skeleton, and then a creepy old man. Meanwhile, Wyman is arranging a rescue mission of sorts with a second diving bell. Back in the deeps, Craig and Paul are swimming for one more trip to the old bell for salvageable supplies. Paul's air runs out, but the 2nd bell is right there, so he's taken inside. After a reviving cup of coffee, he's okay. Back in the cave, the old man is keen on Dale. He suggests they kill the others so they can be alone together. She screams and an earthquake begins. The old man is buried in the rock slide. Dale and Lori get to the pool where Craig is waiting with mini-scuba tanks. All four are now aboard the 2nd bell and rising to the surface. On the boat, there are congratulations all around. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
John Carradine is fun to watch in his own right, even though he plays a somewhat minor role here. Overall, it is a pretty bland recasting of Verne's novel, but somewhat amusing for its low-budget production features. The miracle of coffee (see notes below) is the most memorable feature.

Cold War Angle
As travelogue adventure, there is little tie to Cold War thinking. IPW is a simple castaways-get-rescued story.

Notes
Miracle Coffee -- Watch for the amazing powers of coffee throughout the movie. In the beginning, Lori offers a cup of coffee to the nervous Professor Wyman. "Here, this will help you relax." Fair enough, but coffee has miraculous healing powers. When Craig brings the nearly unconscious Paul into the second diving bell, he tells Jim (the guy in the bell) that Paul is unconscious because his scuba tanks ran out of air. "I've got some coffee!" Paul announces triumphantly. He fetches a half-pint thermos and pours a bit in the plastic lid-cup. Paul sips and in seconds has recovered. That must have been some great coffee. Later, when everyone is in the second bell and rising to the surface, Dale and Lori, who've been cat fighting throughout the whole movie, are sharing a cup from the little thermos. Suddenly, peace and civility breaks out between them. They're best buddies now. Man, that must have been some coffee.

Star Watch -- John Carradine plays Professor Wyman. He's an old hand at B horror and sci-fi movies. He played the evil Dr. Conway in The Unearthly ('57), but one of his more memorable roles was as Moses' brother Aaron in The Ten Commandments ('56). Robert Clarke played Craig in IPW, but played "Robert" (the not-so-mutated) in Captive Women ('52). Phyllis Coates played Dale in IPW, but is much more famous for being Lois Lane in the Superman series.

Broken Poster Promises -- Movie goers had learned not to take movie posters as any sort of promise of what was in the film. As per usual, IPW did not quite deliver. The large image of John Carradine talking into a microphone did happen several times. There was some scuba footage to justify the diver on the poster. However, there was no monster octopus that threatened either of the women. (who also never wore deeply plunging dresses). The only octopus was in the opening minutes, being eaten by a shark in a tank.

Upside Down Volcano? -- In the closing minutes, the cavern's volcano erupts amid earthquake tremors. The lava flow effects all look like special effects footage from other films. Curiously, the erupting volcano is shown upside down, as if it existed on the ceiling of the cave. Yet, it's lava flows up its sides. One wonders why this was done.

Bottom line? If you're looking for action, or a thoughtful plot, IPW will disappoint. If you're looking for science or technology, IPW will disappoint. If you don't expect too much, and simply let IPW be a castaway adventure, it can be entertaining enough. It's not worth ten dollars as a third-party copy, but worth watching online for free.

Queen of Outer Space

Here is a movie that is difficult to categorize. Queen of Outer Space (QOS) is clearly in the sub-genre of planet-of-beautiful-women. Yet, it is as if there were two screenwriters, or two directors, each with a distinctly different vision of the movie. One "vision" is of a typical 50s space adventure. The other vision borders on campy parody of the sci-fi genre. QOS manages to be both, co-mingled but not blended. The final result is a peculiar, but intriguing film. The fact that Allied Artists hired and promoted Zsa Zsa Gabor as the star, and a supporting cast of starletts, suggests outright exploitation. Having Ed Bernds direct (of Three Stooges fame) suggests parody. Yet, the actors deliver their lines seriously. There is no winking at the camera as Lou Costello often did. Even though QOS is shot in CinemaScope wide screen and lavish Color by DeLuxe, it doesn't play like a true big-budget "A" movie. It's "B" movie soul is unmistakable. Call it an A of the Bs.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A rocket is sent to bring Dr. Conrad to Space Station A. Before they arrive, laser-like beams zip around. One finally hits the station, destroying it. Another beam hits the rocket, sending it speeding out of control. The rocket crashes in snowy mountains. The air is breathable, so the four astronauts hike down to the tropical forest below. While dozing around their campfire, they're captured by several ray-gun toting beautiful young women in short skirts. Venus is a planet of young women. They're brought before the masked queen of the planet who accuses them of being spies. The lead venusian scientist, Talleah (Zsa Zsa Gabor), believes the men are not spies and asks their aid in overthrowing the evil queen. The queen summons the Captain, half to interrogate him more and half for male companionship. She tells of the beam weapon and plans to use it on Earth. He plays up to her, impertinently pulling off her mask. Her face is disfigured from radiation burns. He and others are sentenced to die. Talleah and two other women help the men escape the city. They hole up in a cave, where Larry is attacked by a giant spider. He's saved, but patrolling guards are too near. The Captain has Talleah and the others pretend to have captured them. In the city, the four men and three women stage a coup in the queen's chamber. Talleah disguised as queen and the other two women sent ahead to the beam weapon to round up collaborators. The queen disguise fails. Everyone is taken to the beam to witness Earth's demise. The queen pushes the button, but the beam fails. She goes inside to fuss with it. Outside, the loyal babes and the underground babes all fight. The weapon explodes and the queen burned to death. Talleah is made the new queen. She's keen on the Captain. The men planned to return to Earth in their repaired ship, but receive orders from Earth to stay (for a year) to await a relief mission. They happily agree. The women are happy too. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Another installment of planet-of-beautiful-women is amusing enough on its own. Seeing the screenplay, acting and directing vacillate between camp-parody and earnest sci-fi adventure is fun too -- like a "tween" who can't decide if he's still a boy or a young man, so acts like both. Seeing old prop friends is fun. Zsa Zsa Gabor's thick Hungarian accent is too fun to pass up.

Cold War Angle
Amid the abundant gender role sparring, is the cautionary tale of nuclear war gone bad. Venus won her war with planet Mordo, but the ruin was great. Evil queen Yilana began her reign of hate. Her Beta-Disintegrator is a world destroying super weapon. Cold War audiences needed no convincing of such things.

Notes
Planet of Women -- QOS uses the trope of the isolated civilization of only women, as have several movies before this. Sticking to the sci-fi group, there was Catwomen of the Moon ('53), Abbott and Costello Go to Mars ('53) and Fire Maidens From Outer Space ('56). Later in 1958 there will a remake of Catwomen, Missile to the Moon. They all share the quirky notion that somewhere "out there" is a group of 20-something beautiful women who have no men but want men badly. The hapless male protagonists just happen to wind up in their midst.

Good Girl / Bad Girl -- Another feature QOS shares with other all-girl-culture movies, is "bad" girl character who hates men and her "good" girl counterpart who wants men. In this, there is a repeat of the anti-feminist message that man-haters only make for a sad world. Zsa Zsa sums up the counter message when she tells the queen, "Vimmen cannot be happy visout men." For all her vitriol at men for causing the war that disfigured her, Queen Yilana is just as eager to make war on Earth without real provocation. Moral? A woman leader would be the same as men. Good girls don't want power. They just want men to kiss them.

Plot Medley -- QOS starts out as an almost routine space adventure, but then parallels World Without End with the loss of control, crash in snow, descent to temperate woods. It then attempts a semi-serious remake of Abbott & Costello Go to Mars with the society of young love-starved beauties and a man-hating queen. There's also a bit of Flight to Mars in the earthlings finding themselves between an oppressive regime and a revolutionary underground.

Damn the Science. Full Speed Ahead -- Even the characters bemuse over how the movie's earth-like climate of Venus is contradictory to what was known. They don't explain the disparity, they just get on with the story. How handy.

Prop Watch -- QOS re-uses the star cruiser uniforms from Forbidden Planet ('56). Also look for Altaira's short gold-studded dress on Motiya. For the turbulent ride to Venus, QOS recycles the cave spider puppet and the jostled ship footage from World Without End ('56). As a reminder, WwoE used the rocket ship from Flight To Mars ('51). Recycled recycling. Some interior shots were also re-used from WwoE, as was the crashing in the snow scene (although reversed left-right).

Blatant Gender Roles -- Despite the flashy show of "strong" women, QOS positively oozes 50s male chauvinism. For one, even the guards are buxom long legged babes in miniskirts and heels. When the queen talks tough, Larry says, "Why don't you girls knock off this gestapo stuff and be a little friendly." Later, discussing the Beta-Disintegrator, they quip, "How could a bunch of women invent a gizmo like that?" says Mike. "How could they aim it?" adds Larry. "You know how women drivers are." Har har. Supporting all this chauvinism, of course, are the "good" girls who coo for male attention and just want to make out. There seems little doubt that the movie was geared to (panders to) young male ticket buyers who can think of little else beyond making out.

Bottom line? QOS is worth watching as two movies in one. Watch it for the laughably absurd sexism and sex-obsessed dialogue. Watch it as an adventure tale about hate-corrupted power and revolution. And of course, if you happen to like looking at 20-something buxom beauties "aliens" in miniskirts and heels, the producers give you plenty of that too.

Night of the Blood Beast

Having a wild title was becoming a fairly typical marketing ploy for B-movies in the late 50s. The title: Night of the Blood Beast (NBB), would have appeal to the growing horror market, but there's not very much blood involved. NBB is actually a sci-fi tale of some minor merit. Roger Corman, and his younger brother Gene, put together yet another very low budget production. The movie It: Terror from Beyond Space is often credited as the inspiration for the 80s hit Alien, but NBB deserves a share in that claim.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The first manned mission to space goes awry at re-entry. Scientists from a remote station near the crash site find the astronaut dead, but not showing the usual signs of death. They take his body back to their modest tracking station. The body still has a blood pressure. Samples reveal a new cell among the still living blood cells. The little station is cut off from the outside world by a magnetic disturbance. No radio, no telephone. The electricity is cut off too. Around the base stalks a large beast. It breaks in one night. Dr. Wyman is found dead with "half his head missing." The "dead" astronaut, John, comes back to life. The beast burst in. Bullets don't hurt it, but it flees from fire. The two male scientists want to hunt and kill the beast. The astronaut wants to communicate with it. The women worry and scream. John is found to have several alien embryos growing inside his body. He has an intermittent mind link with the beast, and pleads for a chance to communicate with it. Steve and Dave hunt the beast. It tries to carry off Donna, but the boys force it to flee. They all go looking for the beast, which John "knows" is in a cave nearby. The beast can talk now, using what it took from Dr. Wyman. It explains itself as wanting to help mankind avert the fate that doomed its own planet. John buys into this for awhile, but finally rejects the idea. He stabs himself in order to kill all the alien embryos. Steve and Dave kill the alien with molotov cocktails. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
NBB shares the trapped-with-a-monster mood with It: Terror... and Day the World Ended. Despite the low budget, the spooky thriller mood comes off rather well. The ambiguous alien has some interest too. Was it really coming to help mankind? Or was all that a flattering ruse for an invasion? That's more depth that B-movies are usually known for.

Cold War Angle
The alien makes this connection clear. It's world was ruined by imprudent use of "ultimate power." The alien warning us of our potential doom was a familiar moral to a movie in the 50s.

Notes
Play Thing -- Near the end, the plot takes a twist. The alien says it's here to help us over our dangerous times, as some other movie aliens (such as Klaatu) have done. Yet, in other ways, the blood beast alien is more like The Thing ('51) in using humans to grow its brood of baby aliens. Unlike the Thing, this alien can talk and tries to reason with (or bamboozle) the earthlings. This bit of mind games is akin to the flattery and an appeal to a panacea for humanity that the Venusian used on Tom in It Conquered the World ('56).

Prop Watch -- The alien's costume is a 'monster' suit used in Teenage Caveman (also a 1958 Corman production). It was modified a bit, (given some serious claws) but the bulbous head, buggy eyes and beak-nose are unmistakable. Actually, the costume makes more sense in NBB than it does in Teenage Caveman, where it's supposed to be an old and grundgy radiation suit. (with a big beak?)

Unknown Florida -- The setting is supposed to be Florida. There's reference to "the cape" (as in Canaveral) and radio call signs of "Everglade". Yet, note that Dr. Wyman says the crashed space ship can't be causing the radio interference because there's a mountain range between it and the base. Mountains in Florida? Perhaps the writers had never been to Florida. This is similar to Jules Verne and his "Master of the World" novel. Verne writes of the volcanic lake up in the high mountains near Topeka Kansas. Mountains in Kansas? Verne had never been to Topeka. The hilly, rocky and rugged landscape in NBB is not much like central and southern Florida. (It wasn't, of course. It was Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park, California)

Cave Sweet Cave -- NBB gives viewers a good long look at the Bronson Canyon cave that has featured in many a B-movie. It was the home for Ro-Man in Robot Monster ('53) and the carrot-monster from Venus in It Conquered the World ('56) and others. Seeing Ro-Man's cave once again almost takes on the nostalgia of a homecoming.

Anachronistic Beauty -- Given the look of most 50s actresses to date, Georgianna Carter, who plays Donna, has a look that looks more 1970s than 1950s. The other actress, Angela Greene, who plays Julie, has a more typical 50s look to her. Georgianna did not give a particularly compelling performance in NBB. In fact, she made only one more movie after this, her first. Still, her ahead-of-her-time hair style is memorable.

Bottom line? It would be easy to pass this movie up based on its title alone. Yet, for a low budget film, it manages a fair degree of creepiness and tension. The monster is underwhelming when seen, as they usually are, but the mind games at the end are a nice treat for a B-movie.

It: Terror From Beyond Space

This movie is said to have been the inspiration for the late 70s sci-fi hit Alien. It must be admitted that there is a lot of similarity. As "remakes" go, the 70s version has much slicker special effects, a vastly bigger budget for sets and costumes, and much MUCH more disgusting looking alien. However, the 50s version holds its own as far as a story goes. The very spartan-ness of the set and costuming in It keep such accessories from getting in the way of the story. Alien relied on startling viewers for its shock value, and lots of gore. It manages to do pretty well without the modern techniques.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The first manned mission to Mars met with a mysterious fate. Only one of the crew survived. A second mission comes to rescue him. The survivor, Col. Carruthers, is presumed to have killed the other nine crew members of the first mission, in order to conserve supplies for himself while awaiting rescue. Unknown the second rocket's crew, a shadowy monster gets aboard before they blast off. While in transit back to earth, one crewman disappears, and then another. Clearly something is killing them, and it wasn't Carruthers. The crew realize they have a monster on board. They try to kill it with hand grenade booby traps on the air vents, but this doesn't stop the creature. They try gas grenades to kill it, but this fails too. Even exposure to the ship's nuclear reactor does not stop it. Little by little, the creature forces the survivors up into the top deck of the ship. The doctor discovers, via an autopsy on one of the victims, that the creature absorbs all water from its victims. It must "eat" them to survive. They must kill "it" to live. They notice too, that oxygen consumption aboard the ship is up dramatically. The creature is consuming vast quantities of oxygen. This gives the desperate crew their last hope. The creature finally tears through the last hatch. The crew have donned their space suits. The commander opens the vent hatch, evacuating all the air. The creature struggles, but slumps over, limp. Success! Carruthers is cleared of the charges and a politician declares that Mars is a planet of death. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
The production is low budget, but the acting is pretty good for a B-film. The sets are basic, but they're adequate to the task. The director's use of darkness and selected areas of light help mask the low-budget sets, and focus your attention on the action. Yes, it's another man-in-a-rubber-suit monster, but he's given almost no cameo screen time, which helps him stay vague (and more scary)

Cold War Angle
There's very little of the Cold War in It. There is a passing thought that perhaps the monster was the result of a nuclear war destroying martian civilization and reducing the martians to such a creature. This is a very weak connection to the atomic angst thread, but thin as it is, it's there.

Notes
Prop Watch -- As with many low-budget films, props from earlier productions are re-used to save money. In It, we start right off with the rocket model from Flight to Mars ('51) though with a few new windows added. We also get to see that the venerable space suits from Destination Moon ('50) were still able to find work almost a decade later.

Forever World War Two -- An odd little feature in It, is how World War II weaponry always seems to be ready at hand. On only the second space mission to Mars, the ship's inventory includes wooden crates (?!?) full of hand-grenades, lots of .45 automatic pistols and a bazooka. A bazooka! Of course, none of these iconic weapons will stop the monster, but their very presence aboard the ship hints at the deep roots which WWII had in American culture. The weapons of that war had become so familiar, so routine as symbols of security, that their presence aboard an interplanetary mission seemed perfectly plausible. For a further example of the acceptance of WWII weapons, the crew have NO qualms about setting off a dozen hand-grenades or firing a bazooka inside their ship. Such old-friend weapons had developed a "savior" cache, (Bazookas stop anything!) which added to the creature's apparent invincibility.

Old-style Women in Space -- It's a subtle thing, but note how the two female crew members are examples of 50s social culture. While the men banter at the supper table, the two women (a doctor and a biologist) happily clear away the dishes. Then there is the ever-popular love triangle (women are love objects, you see) between Col. Heusen and Col. Carruthers. Perhaps the producers didn't think audiences would accept a simple space monster movie. There had to be a little romance too. (sigh)

Shadow of the Bear -- The monster in It is humanoid, but with reptilian scales (and the usual rubber head/mask set into a permanent scowl), but of particular interest are the clawed hands and feet. Why would a martian life-form have huge predatory claws? It absorbs water. Alien monsters are often given features which frighten earthlings more than they make sense for the strange new world they supposedly live upon. This suggests that creator Paul Blaisdell (this was his last monster costume) had a feel for our earthly primal fears. Wolves and bears in the dark woods were the "monsters" of our distant ancestors. They had fierce claws. The rubber-suit monster in It seemed like a shadow of that ancient bear in the wild woods beyond the village.

Bottom line? Give It a watch. Cut it some slack for a low budget and just see how much of a story they were able to tell despite the lack big bucks.

Escapement (Electronic Monster)

The British movie market had its B-grade sci-fi movies too. They couldn't all be Quatermass. Released in the UK in 1958, Escapement languished for a couple years before being brought to the USA in 1960. When it was, it was given a jazzier title for the American market -- "Electronic Monster." A new title clip was wedged in amid the original credits. In many ways, Escapement is a fairly pedestrian crime/mystery story that happens to feature a bit of electronic equipment as the tools of the villain. The trope of brain-washing was not all that new, but Maine takes it to a sort of industrialized level. The poster art, at left, is from the American release. As befitting it's more sensationalist title, the art depicts a well-endowed redhead tied up and being subjected to electric bolts and a big man's face with a creepy gaze. In the movie, there are some less-clad young women, but they're the modern dancers in the dream-tape studio. They're not in bondage. American audiences hoping for the movie to deliver the scene in the poster, were disappointed -- again.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A movie star crashes his car while a film studio was making a movie in the south of France. The studio files a claim with Consolidated Insurance. Suspecting that it was suicide or foul play (which would negate the policy), the insurance company sends Jeff Keenan to France to investigate. An old friend, Brad, who works with the studio tells Jeff of two other mysterious deaths which have some things in common. One common thread is their having undergone therapy at a psych clinic shortly before they died. Circuitously, we learn Phillip Maxwell has an elaborate machine that projects taped "dreams" to help his patients. The tapes are recorded in a nearby studio. Jeff's old flame, Ruth, works in the clinic's studio. Maxwell has misgivings about the process, given the deaths. The clinic's owner, a sinister man named Zakon, dismisses the connection. He uses the dream therapy to gain mind control over wealthy patients. He planned to then have access to their fortunes. Zakon orders his thug to silence the problem. Brad is found hung in his apartment. Maxwell's wife is nabbed as a hostage to force his cooperation, but she's actually killed. Ruth is nabbed too, and put into a treatment cell. Jeff convinces Maxwell to act against Zakon's evil and help save Ruth. They confront Zakon and his men. A good old fashioned fist fight breaks out. Ruth is freed. Maxwell inflicts the same dream machine process on Zakon, at painfully high levels, then shoots him. Maxwell then takes an axe to all the equipment, sparking a huge fire. Ruth and Jeff walk out together as the firemen rush in. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
There are some intriguing notions around the edges of what amounts to a fairly average crime drama. Can emotion be "taped"? Mind control via sensory substitution has some legs. Those patients in the morgue-drawer-like "cubicles" had a sort of Matrix flavor.

Cold War Angle
The British tended to focus more on the subversive politics of communism than the military and the nukes. The Zakon character is the micro-scale analog of the communist despot. He will quietly take control of his people by shaping their thoughts, under the guise of 'helping' people until all follow his will without question. "(They will see me as) the symbol of benevolence and mercy. Thus, I will obtain control over them..."

Notes
Poor Adaptation? --
The screenplay for Escapement has been called a poor adaptation of Charles Eric Maine's book, "The Man Who Couldn't Sleep" (or Escapement). The trouble is, Maine himself wrote the screenplay too. Can an author do a poor adaptation of his own work? Maine either re-wrote it to satisfy the producers' demands ("Make it simpler. Write me a crime story!") or he wanted to take the kernel of the idea from his book and spin a new tale. Maine's earlier forays into sci-fi screenplays, Spaceways ('53) and Timeslip (or the Atomic Man) ('56) were also cast as crime dramas, making Escapement rather similar to them. Rather than a poor adaptation, it could be the movie Escapement was the author's own revision of his prior work.

What's In A Name? -- The British movie title, (Escapement), is curiously more cerebral than the book's title ("The Man Who Couldn't Sleep") and much more so than the sensationalist American release title, "Electronic Monster." An escapement is that little part of a mechanical clock that makes the tick, tock sound. Even though it is a small mechanism, it controls the entire set of gears, running speed and the energy use in a mechanical clock. Via the little dream-therapy inserted thoughts, Zakon sought to control an entire group of people for profit. His scheme was like a human version of the modern computer viruses and bot-nets. By a nearly invisible little tweak deep with the "operating system", the whole "device" is controlled without anyone even being aware of it.

The Face of Big Brother -- The British have a long-standing cultural obsession with domineering dictators. Napoleon really got under their skin. The several dream sequences shown, with smoke and interpretive dance, etc. have a big mask of Zakon floating through them, looking rather like the omnipresent face of Big Brother in Orwell's 1984. This floating mask visual was probably lost on American audiences. British viewers, more sensitive to the idea of despots sneaking in and taking over, were probably more creeped out. There was a similar sort of mind-control dictator theme in The Gamma People ('56).

Auto Trivia -- An interesting, though admittedly trivial, detail is the car in which the very tall actor Rod Cameron (playing Jeff Keenan) drives in the movie. He's driving a 1956 or 57 Volkswagen Beetle! How can you tell it's a '57? Look at the front view of the car. Notice the little turn signal lights low and outside of the headlights. '55 and earlier models had none. The '58 models (and later), had them atop the fenders. Use this secret knowledge to dazzle your friends when you watch the movie with them. They'll be so impressed!

Bottom line? Escapement (or Electronic Monster) will be more pleasing to fans of crime dramas and B-grade mysteries. It's toehold on science fiction is tenuous at best. Yet, there are some thought provoking themes, once you look beyond the detective crime novel layer. Just don't look for aliens or a lot of action.

Space Master X-7

This obscure movie ran as the B half of a double feature with 20th Century Fox's bigger budget (and color) "A" film,The Fly. X7 starts out as a fairly typical 50s sci-fi tale, with rockets, satellites and alien life forms -- a protein-eating fungus. About a third of the way through, it shifts into a detective drama. The killer fungus pops up from time to time, keeping up a faint sci-fi flavor. Overall, it's a fairly entertaining mix. The writers were no strangers to sci-fi. George Worthing Yates had a hand in many including Them! ('54), Conquest of Space ('55) and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers ('56). His fondness for the narrative "Dragnet" style is evident.

Quick Plot Synopsis
An earnest-looking narrator purports to tell a "true" story of a satellite mission (XN-712) returns to earth. A biologist examines "samples of outer space." In his home lab, he is confronted by a former lover who wants custody of their son. He studies the rusty red spores which reproduce quickly. He calls it "blood rust," and theorizes that it is what makes Mars red. In a short while, he's grown several large blobs in jars. He is tape recording his notes. The man and former lover fight, and she leaves in a cab. Later, he calls the research center, near death. John Hand and Private Rattigen drive out to investigate. The lab is covered in oozing fungus blobs. The doctor is dead. They get his tape, then burn the house down. Listening to the tape, they hear the woman's voice. An unknown carrier of the fungus is loose. Hand finds the cab driver who reluctantly tells all he knows. She's traveling by train to LA. Laura reads of the doctor's death and thinks she's wanted for murder. She evades the police and hides out. The train baggage car was overrun with blood rust. She changes her appearance in a hotel and boards a flight to Honolulu. Rattigen follows, investigating the three women matching the APB. Laura confesses. The plane's cargo hold fills with blood rust. They turn back, but must belly land as the fungus damaged the gear. Everyone gets off safely and heads for decontamination. The world is safe. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The pacing is fairly brisk. The writers and director avoided long talky scenes. Nor did they rely too heavily on stock footage, (except for the beginning). It's fun to see Paul Frees in an acting role, however brief. His sonorous narrator's voice was featured in many sci-fi movies. You can't miss Moe Howard in a non-stooge role as Mr. Retlinger, the cab driver.

Cold War Angle
This is tale more about the dangers of space than communism. The Cold War environment, however, is not too far away. Hand (and thereby Private Rattigen) are 'agents' with the "Office of Internal Security" who are able to do just about anything (trump local police, order just about anything burned, get free airfare, etc.) in the name of national security.

Notes
Terror for Today -- A central feature in Space master is the danger of contagion. This is a more timeless plot element than the usual Cold War angst. The near-panic over SARS in early 2003 makes the plot salient for today. In fact, the tracking down of Laura, including the airline jaunt, was played out in the headlines of 2007 when federal authorities sought an airline passenger infected with a rare form of TB.

Fungal Villain -- The "blood rust" from space is an alien fungus which more than thrives on protein-rich earth. It becomes a sort of proto-Blob thing as it grows. Fungi must have been a morbid fascination in the 50s. The space creature in The Quatermass Xperiment ('55) was a fungus-like thing. In Unknown Terror ('57) the evil doctor was experimenting with a rare jungle fungus. Toho Studios would put out Matango in 1962, in which people eat special mushrooms and then turn into Mushroom People!

Plane Crazy -- Note the rare stock footage of a DC-7 coming in for a belly landing. This may be newsreel footage from October 31, 1957. A United Airlines DC-7 had to belly land at Los Angeles International Airport. If you're quick on the pause button, you may be able to make out the United Airlines paint scheme. Definitely not your typical stock footage. For period flavor, there is a nice taste of "old fashioned" air travel before the modern airport design evolved. People walked out of a building, across the tarmac and up the stairs into the plane. 21st century air travelers rarely get this legacy experience. There is also a brief glimpse of a McDonnell F-101 fighter-bomber -- a fairly new Air Force jet in 1958.

Curious Gap -- One shouldn't be too demanding of B sci-fi movies. Plot gaps happen. Still, it was a curiously easy happy ending when the plane landed and all the passengers were bussed away for decontamination. What happened to all the fungus that had been creeping over the outside of the plane? When it landed, there was none. Had it blown off, strewn over land and sea? Wouldn't that be a bigger problem than the passengers? What about all those hotel people and train passengers?

Bottom line? Space Master X-7 may be a little difficult to locate, but for the fan of 50s sci-fi, it's worth the search. It's a nice mix of sci-fi and detective drama. It also gives a hint of the fear people felt about the mysteries (and dangers) of man's venturing into space.

The Abominable Snowman

Here's another diversion back to 1957. This Hammer Film is yet another example from the thin fringes of "sci-fi." The Abominable Snowman (AS) is almost entirely an adventure drama. It has some mystic overtones and, despite the title, not all that much monster for a monster movie. There is a brief bit of dialogue about the theory of evolution, and the main protagonist is a scientist. The movie also has some sci-fi heritage in that the story was written by Nigel Kneale, who wrote the Quatermass stories. AS is directed by Val Guest, who also directed Quatermass. So, AS's claim to being sci-fi is a bit tangential, but perhaps just enough to be included in this survey.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A British scientist, his wife Helen and cohort, Peter Fox, are up in the Himalayas, at a buddhist monastery. They're on a botanical expedition, though John has ulterior motives. Three other westerners arrive at the monastery, on a different expedition. Tom, the brash American, is out to discover and maybe bring back a Yeti. Ed is his rifle and trap man. Andrew is the camera man. The local Lhama is not keen on this expedition and warns John with a crypic bit of advice about a king losing his realm. The four westerners and a local guide head into the mountains. Eventually, they encounter the mysterious Yeti, mostly as noises in the dark. Ed shoots one. They stash it in a cave, thinking they'll try to capture a live one. Andrew is mesmerized by the howling, walks out of the tent and falls to his death. Tom has Ed set a steel net trap in the cave, using himself as bait. That night, the Yeti, come, but the net doesn't hold them. Tom and John find Ed dead of a heart attack. His rifle never fired, because Tom put in dummy rounds. He wanted the beast alive. Later, both John and Tom hear voices the other can't hear. Tom goes outside, thinking it's Ed calling to him. He fires his pistol a few times as a signal. This triggers an avalanche. Tom is killed. John is confronted by two shadowy Yeti in the cave. He swoons. Meanwhile, Helen had mounted her own expedition to rescue them. She comes across John's almost frozen body. Back in the monastery, John, looking a bit trance-like says they saw nothing. There is no Yeti. The Lhama smiles knowingly. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Forrest Tucker and Peter Cushing are a good on-screen mix. Val Guest does a good job of keeping the story active and moody.

Cold War Angle
This is a semi-mystic monster tale, so there is virtually no Cold War thinking involved.

Notes
Gimme a Hand -- The only "special effect" in AS is the Yeti itself. The very low budget allowed for no impressive full costumes. The closest look you get is the hairy hand (under the tent and behind the rock). You do see a couple of hairy suits strongly back-lit, and a bit of close-up spot work on the upper face -- very much a man with extra hair makeup and a quirky nose. The director and producers managed to create a whole monster movie with very little monster. In this, they were quite successful.

Idealized Other -- The "Noble Savage" character was popular in 18th and 19th century literature. Defoe had his "Friday" to help Robinson Crusoe. Cooper created Chingachgook in the Leatherstocking stories, etc. The noble savage, as an archetype, works its way into history, coloring individuals like Squanto and Pocahontas with a romantic light. By the 20th century, the Noble Savage was unfashionable (thought to be backdoor racism). It is intriguing to see the Yeti in AS cast in very much the classic Noble Savage in the 19th century romanticism mold. We're told they just want to live in peace, would hurt no one, are sensitive and look wise. They were the idealized "other" to (flawed) man -- exemplified by Tom, the hustler.

Wisp of Science -- There is a small scene in which John (a botanist) is theorizing very loosely that there might have originally been three branches to the ape family tree. One branch became the Great Apes, (gorillas, chimps, etc.). The second branch became Man. The theorized third branch was not able to compete head-to-head with the other two branches. To survive, they retreated to harsh lands the other two branches didn't want. Hence, the Abominable Snowmen were really a parallel development -- not ape, and not man.

Mystic Mode -- Part of the Noble Savage mantle (see above) is the Yeti being given a sort of telepathy power or mental control powers over man. True to character, the only use their powers "for good." The buddhist monks protect them to preserve their species -- perhaps for emergence when mankind is ready for passive and wise beings.

Bottom line? Abominable Snowman is another of those 50s films which gets lumped in with science fiction, but has very little sci-fi to it. There are no rockets or aliens or even any electronic gadgets. As a monster movie, it's too mild too. The 'beasts' are benevolent. AS, is, however, an entertaining and fairly well done budget film by Hammer Studios. It's still worth seeking out.

From Hell It Came

This review is a bit out of sequence. I'd skipped this film while doing 1957, as it seemed more horror than scifi. There are several movies produced in the 50s which have a weak claim to being sci-fi. Many of these are better classed as some other genre: horror, mystery, fantasy, etc. From Hell It Came (FHIC) is one of these. For the most part, it is a B-grade monster movie with an old-school supernatural underpinnings. The plot is human drama stuff. The monster tree-thing is presented as a native revenge demon. Yet, there is a bit of the medical strain of science involved. There is also the ubiquitous trope of nuclear radiation which gives FHIC a claim to the sci-fi family.

Quick Plot Synopsis
On a remote Pacific island, a native named Kemo is sentenced to die for bad magic. Actually, the local witch doctor trumped up the charges because Kemo encouraged the villagers to trust the American doctors. Kemo's wife lies to corroborates the charges, assuming she would be chief's new wife when Kemo was dead. Kemo is executed and buried. The Americans, Professor Clark and Dr. Arnold are on the island to study possible effects from radiation fallout from nuclear tests upwind. They are joined by an old flame of Dr. Arnold's, Dr. Terry Mason. She is all professional and has no time for relationships. Out of Kemo's grave grows an odd tree-stump thing with a scowling face shape in its bark. The Americans discover that it has a pulse and is radioactive. The stump grows to be 7' tall. They bring it to the lab for study. Thinking that it's dying, Terry gives it a special formula injection. The next day, the lab is ransacked. The tree monster, "Tabanga" kills Kemo's wife. It then finds the chief alone in the village and kills him too. Tano, the witch doctor knows he's next, so has a trap laid. They catch Tabanga and think they've destroyed him with fire, but he comes out that night. Tabanga kills Tano too. While the Americans are investigating all the commotion, Terry falls behind and is taken by the Tabanga. Just before it throws her in the quicksand, the men arrive and start shooting. Bullets don't harm it, but one shot hits the execution knife, still sticking out of the bark, driving it into the Tabanga's heart. It falls into the quicksand. Terry and Dr. Arnold kiss. The villagers pledge cooperation with the Americans. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The story is hokey enough to be entertaining by itself. Much of the plot is a good snapshot of American (or western) superiority smugness. In a modern culture beset with political correctness for several decades, this cultural imperialism is somewhat fascinating. Also fun is seeing another of Paul Blaisdell's monster costumes.

Cold War Angle
FHIC is much more of a monster movie, drawing more from monster morals than the Cold War. There is, however, the problem of nuclear test fallout, so on a mild level, FHIC has a bit of the atomic cautionary tale to it.

Notes
Blaisdell Beastie -- Paul Blaisdell created many monster suits for the B-level movies of the 50s. Experienced as a sci-fi / fantasy illustrator, he had an eye for monsters. More importantly, he worked very very cheaply making his monster suits out of foam rubber. His career as a monster maker was relatively short, but in addition to Tabanga, he gave us the carrot-monster from It Conquered the World ('56) and mutant Tommy in Day the World Ended.

Iconic Scenes -- Even though Tabanga doesn't want our women, in the usual sense (he wants to kill), there are two of the highly iconic scenes in which the monster is carrying off the woman in his arms. Fans of the icon image in poster art should watch the first instance, when Tabanga is carrying the native woman Cory. Note how the actress works at keeping her toes pointed (while supposedly unconscious). The babe victims in the poster art almost always had stylishly pointed toes.

Work or Romance -- Note sub-theme of women in the work world. Dr. Terry Mason starts out as the confident professional woman. Nothing frightens her and she has no time for silly Bill who wants romance. She's the modern liberated female. Notice how this all changes when she's accosted by the Tabanga. She screams like a girl, she kicks and slaps Tabanga like a girl. When she's finally saved by Bill and his trusty rifle, she melts in his arms for long passionate kisses. Danger softened her cold heart, making her a "proper" woman.

Simple Savages -- Throughout the script runs the old-school stereotype of the simple savage. The literary element of civilized (proper) men vs. the crude savage, is far older than motion pictures, but a frequent part of movies up until the age of political correctness. It was a staple of westerns (the indians being the savages), and jungle movies (with black natives as the savages). The common traits are present in FHIC -- scheming false witch doctor, simple-minded natives, brutal customs, and importantly, the "need" for westernization. In FHIC, all the "bad" natives get their just desserts (death). The rest fawn over the American doctors as new saviors. As odd as this scenario might feel to younger viewers who grew up in a flauntingly pluralistic culture, it is a good snapshot of American self-confidence from that era.

Bottom line? As sci-fi, FHIC is pretty weak, nor does it have a particularly compelling story. It does have a cool monster designed by Paul Blaisdell, however. If you're fond of monster movies or jungle movies, FHIC might find a soft spot for you. If you like your scifi with saucers and aliens, FHIC may not be your cup of tea.

The Fly

20th Century Fox put out one of the last great A-budget production sci-fi movies of the 1950s. (a few months later in 1958, Paramount's The Blob would be the last.) The Fly became one of the memorable classics of this golden decade. It was popular enough to spawn a sequel just a year later and a third installment in 1965. As proof of it's classic status, The Fly was remade in the 1980s. Shot in color, in CinemaScope, the tale had a richness and a seriousness to it, even though it shared much with the B-movie sci-fi culture of its day. This may be part of its lasting appeal. Having Vincent Price star as Francois was a definite plus.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The movie opens with the grisly death of Andre Delambre, his head and arm crushed in a hydraulic press. His wife, Helene confesses to the crime. Helene is obsessed with flies, particularly a white-headed fly. Andre's brother, Francois, lies and says he caught it. Thinking he knows the truth, Helene tells how it happened.
In flashback, Andre, Helene and their son, Philippe are a happy family. Andre has been working on a matter transporter device -- the disintegrator-integrator. It works, but not quite perfectly. He refines it, and eventually builds a man-sized pair of chambers. Helene is worried that Andre has not come up from the basement lab for a couple days. She goes down to investigate. Andre is there, but communicates with typed notes only. He lets her in, but has a black cloth over his head. He tried to transport himself, but a fly got into the chamber too. They mixed atoms. Now he has the head and arm of a fly, and the fly has the miniature head and arm of a man. He needs Helene to capture that fly so he can try to reverse the process. She searches, but cannot find it. His human will is fading and the fly's "essence" is taking over. Time has run out. He smashes the equipment, burns his notes. He takes Helene to the factory and sets the press. He motions for Helene to push the button. She does, and he is put out of his misery. The police, upon hearing this confession, deem her insane, but guilty of murder. As the police are hauling her away, Francois and the Inspector see a fly trapped in a web in the garden. It has the head and arm of a man. "Help me! Help me!" the tiny man-headed fly calls out. The spider attacks. The Inspector smashes both with a rock. No one would believe them, but he is, now, just as guilty as Helene. He and Francois backpedal the facts such that Andre committed suicide. Helene, Francois and little Philippe resume a normal life. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Seeing a classic, the ancestor of many, holds a certain awe. Even though we know how it ends, the pacing and tension are kept tight. The Fly is a great example of the story of a well-meaning scientist snared in his own research.

Cold War Angle
Other than vague allusions to Andre's work being of some military value, there's little Cold War analogy in The Fly. It's more of the older theme about the dangers of science.

Notes
Ancestor of Many -- The tale of The Fly was so strong that it warranted a sequel in 1959 Return of the Fly, in which son Philippe attempts to recreate his father's work with a similar disaster befalling him. In 1965, a second sequel was produced, Curse of the Fly, which brought Henri Delambre and his two sons back to the same flawed experiments, but with horrific results. As with many of the 50s' classics, The Fly was remade in 1986, following the then-current Hollywood patterns. The story was solid, but nearly lost in the special effects which sought to be as disgusting as possible. On a lighter note, in the Disney animated movie Emperor's New Groove (2000) there is one small scene in which a fly is trapped on web, calling out "Help me, Help meeee..." which only folks familiar with the original would understand. A fun subtle moment.

Close To Text -- Based on George Langelaan's 1957 short story, the screenplay for The Fly follows Langelaan's text very closely. Helene being in an asylum hadn't actually happened in the film, but was alluded to as her likely fate. Andre's son was named Henri, not Philippe, in the short story. A more significant deviation is the ending. Langelaan has Helene commit suicide in the asylum. Hollywood prefers more upbeat endings. The tale didn't suffer for it.

Fleeting Humanity -- Amid the horror and mystery elements is a theme of humanity and identity. Andre, as the fly-headed man, begins to lose control over himself. Presumably, he has a man's brain still within the fly head. Yet, as time goes on, the man inside is losing control. The insect arm begins to act on its own. Knowing that the fly-identity would subsume his humanity, Andre's last 'human' act was to destroy himself in order to spare others.

Transporters -- Andre's device was not the first sci-fi movie device for disintegrating and reintegrating matter, but the prior two were obscure. The Four Sided Triangle, a British sci-fi movie of late 1953, featured a similar notion, though it was used to duplicate matter rather than simply transport it. Roger Corman's Not of This Earth ('57) featured aliens with a matter transporter device which they used to send blood (and people) back to their home planet. Andre Delambre's device brought the 'technology' to the mainstream.

Refreshing Change -- With so many movies set in New York, Los Angeles or the desert southwest, having this movie set in Montreal, with many french names and an 18th century ornate home, the atmosphere is so different.

Bottom line? The Fly is one of those must-see movies of the 50s sci-fi experience. It is a classic.

The Space Children

This is another production by Paramount's B wing. The major studios had lost interest in big production A-grade movies by the mid-to-late 50s. The Space Children (SC) is clearly a B-grade movie, but owing to it's parentage, it's in the upper Bs. SC was directed by Jack Arnold, famous for Creature From The Black Lagoon, and other sci-fi movies. Some find SC's blatant anti-arms-race message overpowering and preachy. Subtle it isn't. Yet, it manages to assign the blame for the Cold War. Adults and leaders who are too mired in their conventional thinking, are blind to the simple answer. Double billed with Paramount's other B-movie released in June 1957, Colossus of New York, and you have a solid one-two punch of anti-war messages.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The Brewster family is moving to live on a research base in southern California. The 2 boys hear a hum and see a beam of light, but their parents do no. At the base, they meet other children frolicking at the shore. Dave Brewster is a scientist working on The Thunderer Project -- an orbital nuclear weapons platform. The children see a shaft of light beam onto the base of the coastal cliff. A small spot of light descends on the beam. They investigate to find a small glowing brain in the sand. Bud, the older Brewster boy, receives telepathic messages from the brain. The other children understand. Bud and Ken return to bring their skeptical father. Bud says they must do what the brain says. Dave tries to warn his superiors that The Thunderer won't succeed, but Bud comes in and silences him. A rocket fuel truck goes out of control. A guard shack telephone goes haywire, all in the presence of one of the children. Dr. Wahrman suspects there's a link. He even sees the children walk past an oblivious guard and through a locked gate. They accomplish some sabotage inside, then leave. At zero-hour, The Thunderer's warhead simply blows up without the rocket launching. Everyone rushes to the cave where they find the brain, grown to the size of a golf cart. There is some pontificating about the world not being ready to make peace. The soldiers cannot shoot. The beam of light comes, the brain ascends with the rapt crowd watching. A quote from Matthew 18:3 comes on screen. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The children, as protagonists, do rather well. This is a refreshing switch from the scientist-hero model. Arnold does a good job of keeping up a somewhat spooky mood, despite the low budget.

Cold War Angle
SC is a flagrant Cold War cautionary tale. The adults are obsessed with escalating the nuclear arms race into space. The wise alien brain enlists the aide of innocent earth children to break the chain. How obvious is it, that the lead scientist is named Dr. Wahrman?

Notes
Deus ex Machina -- In the now-traditional pattern, the alien brain comes in -- as did the last minute god on a rope in ancient Greek plays -- to invoke a change. This is a more active intervention than Klaatu's warning. By the later 50s, the Cold War was not settling down. A more assertive alien was needed.

Zombies or Zealots? -- Debate rages over whether the children were mind-controlled zombie puppets of the alien or whether they were willing accomplices. Keep in mind the end of the movie and the biblical quote "Verily, I say unto you...except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." In the biblical context, it is the unjaded innocence of children, to which Jesus is referring. This, in contrast to the beliefs of the adults, contaminated by worldly preoccupations. The alien brain is able to communicate with the children easily. While it appears to order them to do things, ("We have to do what it says," said Bud) the children do not resist it. They're between zombie and zealot -- given orders, but unquestioning and compliant.

Projected Threat -- When released, SC was in theaters less than a year after Sputnik. The Thunderer, as an orbiting nuclear weapons platform is exactly what had so many Americans spooked about Sputnik. Yes, it was just a metal ball that beeped, but Cold War fears imagined the terrible possibilities. The adult characters intone the usual rationale, "The Thunderer is to prevent war." Other adults muse about protecting their way of life, etc. etc. This is what people feared the Soviets were about to threaten.

Youthful Idealism -- Cold War fears were almost paralyzing. Anti-nuke sentiment swung far in the other direction. The (too) simple solution was "obviously" to just get rid of the nukes and all would be well. This is the moral of SC. Eliminate the nukes all over the globe and peace must surely break out. This didn't work in the early 1900s when a naval arms race threatened war. Nations agreed to limits, but WWI broke out anyway. After WWI, airplanes were deemed the danger. Hundreds were burned in great heaps. Yet, only a couple decades later, even more deadly aircraft took their places. WWII followed. War hasn't been thwarted for lack of a weapon, but the desperate hope that it might be, is stuff of the Cold War mind-set.

Star Watch -- Look for "Uncle Fester" (Jackie Googan) as Hank Johnson, Eadie's father. It's a small role, but he's unmistakable. Look for Russell Johnson, "The Professor", as the drunken and abusive Joe Gamble. He acts the part rather well, but Johnson watchers will note that his character dies, once again.

Bottom line? SC is a typical alien interference cautionary tale about nuclear arms, but it has more depth. Arnold does a good job of keeping the alien's intentions ambiguous, and the mood somewhat creepy. The moral is blatant, but the mood is pure 50s.