Planeta Bur

It is not normally within the scope of this study to review foreign sci-fi flims when released in their native country. Typically, I've waited until the english-dubbed version was released in America. However, since Planeta Bur (PB) which translates to "Planet of Storms" became the basis for two later American re-edit releases, so a benchmark seemed appropriate. This was exactly the same process by which Nebo Zovyot ('59) became Battle Beyond the Sun ('62) and would happen to more foreign sci-fi in the 60s. It almost forms a sub-genre of its own. PB is interesting in its own right, for how the sober "hard" sci-fi of Nebo Zovyot had given way to a much more western flavor of sci-fi with monsters, aliens and alien civilizations.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Three ships are on their way from earth to Venus. The Cappella is struck by the obligatory meteorite and destroyed. The remaining two ships, the Sirius and Vega continue on, but the planned mission required three ships. The Arktur is being sent from Earth, but won't arrive for 2 months. The cosmonauts aboard Sirius and Vega decide that some sort of landing and exploration is better than waiting. Ivan and Kern go down from Vega in the glider, leaving Masha in orbit. They must land in a swamp, then all contact is lost. The Sirius lands somewhat nearby and the three-man crew set out in a Jetson's-ike hovercar to find them. During their travels they hear an eerie woman's song in the distance, and encounter prehistoric beasts both benign and threatening. Ivan and Kern, meanwhile, have fought off some man-sized t-rex beasts and are headed to meet the men of Sirius. Ivan and Kern become weak with fever. Their robot, John, stands watch. The Sirius crew had to submerge the hovercar to escape a pterodactyl. In doing so, they discover what might have been an ancient city, submerged like Atlantis. Once on dry land, the Sirius crew contact John and tell him to administer an anti-fever drug. Ivan and Kern recover just as a volcano sends down rivers of lava. They order John to carry them across, but he malfunctions half way there. The hovercar shows up just in time to rescue them. John is lost to the lava. All five return to Sirius, but worry that Masha had landed the Vega somewhere, stranding them all. An earthquake and flood from rain undermine the Sirius, so they must take off immediately. Alexey discovers that his odd triangular rock is really a sculpture of a woman's face. There was humanoid life on Venus after all. They blast off and find that Masha remained in orbit. They're headed home. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The big budget meant some pretty impressive props for 1962. The story line is pretty vast with ample unexplored tangents. The result makes PB something like the soviet Forbidden Planet.

Cold War Angle
There is little of the usual Cold War elements in PB. It amounts to more a space adventure with some wide-eyed anticipation of what space might hold in store. There is little of the soviet chest thumping that Nebo Zovyot had.

Notes
Old-Think: Planetary Evolution -- PB builds upon the old (and since abandoned) notion that the solar system evolved from outer to inner. Planets further out from the sun were presumed to have formed and developed sooner, and therefore been hospitable for life earlier. Planets further in would be at "younger" stages of evolution. By this old theory, Mars cooled and developed first, so was more ancient. It had life and civilization before earth did. By the time earth's civilization "evolved," Mars was dying out (even H.G. Wells presumed this order of things back in the late 1800s, as the premise for why the Martians wanted to invae earth.) Earth was in its prime. Venus was therefore presumed to be at some early stage of evolution, like earth had been millions of years ago. Hence the dinosaurs. It was a pretty theory, but like many evolution theories, made a better mental model than it did real science.

Emancipated Machines -- An intriguing little bit within PB, is that the robot John is not a mere servant, as robots often are in film. He must be spoken to politely, or will refuse to hear the commands. When Roman asks John where his "masters" are, John snips back that slavery is outlawed by the constitution. He has no masters, he is a free-thinking robot. Roman has rephrase his question before he gets an answer. In the lava stream, John's self-preservation programing has him trying to toss Kern off his back so he (John) can escape the lava. Unlike Asimov's 3-rules types of robots, John was quite willing to kill one of his crew-mates in order to survive -- an interestingly cold-hearted view of mechanical man.

Robby-ski -- Not since Robby the Robot (Forbidden Planet ('56) and Invisible Boy ('58) ) had a robot been a more-or-less equal member of the cast. (The robot in Colossus of New York ('58) had a human brain). John is very much made in the Robby mold. If he hadn't melted in the lava, he had enough charm to go into sequels too, as the Soviet Robby. But alas...

Car of the Future -- A fascinating bit of eye candy is the cosmonauts' hover car. With its bubble canopy, fins and jet-like scoops, it is a terrific example of what people of the late 50s, early 60s thought the car of the future would look like. In the photos, "A" is the hover car from Planeta Bur. "B" is the Ford Atmos, 1955. "C" is unnamed, but looks like the inspiration for the '59 Cadillac. "D" is the Firebird III, 1958. This is what people in the late 50s, very early 60s thought we'd all be driving in the year 1985.

The hover car looked very cool, but unfortunately, much of its "hovering" travel did not work as well. Cantilevered on a hidden arm, that traveled along a concealed track, the car tended to wobble and bounce awkwardly. There are a few scenes in which the car's travel better matches it's looks, such as racing through the burning forest, and near the end when a cushion of smoke hides the supports. The producers got as much mileage as they could (pun intended) from that expensive prop. It has almost as much screen time as the actors.

Torn In Space -- A curious subplot involves the female crewmember: Masha. She and Ivan are romantically involved, but she is ordered to remain in orbit. During some protracted loss of contact, Masha agonizes about what to do. Folow orders, or follow her heart? Remain in orbit as ordered? Land the Vega in an attempt to help poor Ivan out of whatever trouble he's in. Her inner struggle with duty vs. desire seems like a sort of commentary on the fitness of women for exploration. The men eagerly face dangers and decide quickly. They are motivated by bravery, patriotism and science. She is motivated by emotion, incapable of making a big decision and worried about being subordinate. A curious snapshot.

Bottom line? The action is a bit thin and at times talky, so modern viewers accustomed to laser battles and frequent explosions, will find PB hokey However, the english-subtitled version of PB is well worth watching for fans of 50s sci-fi. It can make a great study in the recycled sub-genre as the first feature, followed by Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet and then Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women, both of which used much PB footage.

Battle Beyond The Sun

American International Pictures bought the rights to the 1959 Soviet film Nebo Zovyot ('59). They had Roger Corman isn't mentioned in the credits, but is said to have acted as a producer. Francis Ford Coppela is billed as the associate producer. They edited down the original, keeping the basic story line, but expunging the more blatantly soviet elements. Aside from the necessary dubbing into english, they grafted in a brief bit of new footage of two monsters fighting. From the poster, you can see that they promoted Battle Beyond the Sun (BBS) as a monsters movie. The result was a B film that had some impressive scenes and models (from the original), though little of what the poster promised. BBS has a very 50s feel for 1962 audiences.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Read the plot synopsis for Nebo Zovot for the basic story. Briefly, in 1997, the space program of South Hemis has been preparing their rocket "Mercury" for a mission to Mars. A rival team from North Hemis launches theirs, "Typhoon", first. It wasn't well prepared and soon has navigation trouble. They're being drawn into the sun and have no fuel left to escape. The Mercury changes course and rescues them. The rescue uses up Mercury's fuel, so they have to land on an asteroid. An unmanned fuel ship is sent from earth, but it crashes. A second, manned, fuel ship is sent. It succeeds, but the pilot is mortally wounded by the monsters. The four return safely to earth for a heroes' welcome.

Why is this movie fun?
The original had many great 50s rocket and space station models and sets. Much of this remains. Even if becoming a bit dated by 1962, they're still great eye candy for the 50s sci-fi fan.

Cold War Angle
Some of the original film's moral message survives. Impetuous "races" to be first and one-upsmanship cause trouble. The tensions between the USSR and America get recast as rivalry between North Hemis and South Hemis. The hopeful note of reconciliation remains.

Notes
Cuttings -- Notably absent from the original are the reporter's initial dream sequence (the handy fictional too), and much of the early character development. Some of the closing human interest scenes logically removed too. There are the expected shifting nationalities of the characters. The American reporter Verst becomes the North Hemis captain Tawrence. The montage of western decadence, celebrating the Typhoon launching first, is missing. Most signs of soviet identity are cut (no proudly waving soviet flags) or hidden, but the red star on the fin of the rockets is often still visible. The trouble is caused by one man's reckless ambition (Tawrence), and not a nation's (as in the original) The closing monologue was left out.

Miscellaneous Monsters -- The ticket selling power of "hard" sci-fi had faded for American audiences by the mid-50s. A.I.P. must have assumed that a simple english-dubbed edit of Nebo Zovyot would not have sufficient appeal. Two monsters were created -- supposedly to resemble genitalia of both genders. These two oddities fight each other on the asteroid. Their inclusion was not necessary for the story line. All they really do is provide a different way for "Paul" to die. In the original, he dies from an unexciting overdose of radiation from piloting the unshielded fuel ship. Radiation death was not enough. Audiences wanted monsters, so Corman & Coppella pander up a couple gratuitous monsters.

Natural Non Sequitur -- Not only are the two monsters unnecessary for the plot, they exist in a vacuum -- literally. There was no atmosphere on the asteroid. How did they handle that? Further, for naturalists in the audience, how did survive there? Such giant mega-fauna require a vast food chain of lower life forms.

Naughty Nationalism -- Popular in the late 50s, was the notion that Cold War tensions could be blamed on nationalism. If only people could see beyond national boundaries and become one people, etc. etc. In BBS the post-war world is divided into two super-nations: North Hemis and South Hemis. Yet, like Orwell's 3-state world in 1984 the dissolving of many smaller nations into a few larger ones did not bring peace.

Identity Issues -- The english dubbing clearly recasts the Soviet team as South Hemis. The Americans (renamed Captain Tawrence and Dr. Martin) as recast as from North Hemis. This is a little contrary to American custom, as North Hemis included north america, northern europe, and northern asia. The rest is South Hemis. Yet, the supposedly South Hemis ship, the Mercury, has a North Hemis insignia superimposed on it to cover up the original film's "Rodina • CCCP" Who was supposed to be who? At a certain level. It doesn't matter.

Bottom line? For fans of "hard" sci-fi, there is plenty of serious space tech to enjoy. The original film may be too hard to find. Since the A.I.P version keeps the plot reasonably intact, this may not be necessary. Fans of alien space monster movies will likely be bored into a rage, as they'd have to wait through three quarters of the film to get two minutes of monster fight. Yet, BBS has a nice 50s flavor to it.

First Spaceship on Venus

Crown International released an english dubbed version of a 1960 East German/Polish sci-fi A-level production. Der Schweigende Stern (DSS: The Silent Star) was itself based on the novel "Astronauci" (Astronauts) by Stanslaw Lem. Crown dubbed the film and shortened it. While the original adventure story is fairly well maintained, the moral of the tale is muted. The First Spaceship on Venus (FSoV), as Crown retitled it, becomes a B film in America, but its landmark qualities are still evident. As Rocketship X-M and Destination Moon kicked off the 50s, Der Schweigende Stern is their counterpart that kicked off the 60s. An international crew set out to explore Venus.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A strange object is found in the Gobi dessert that is of alien origin. It is a recording "spool" whose message can only partially be deciphered. People connect the recordings with the huge meteor impact in Siberia in 1908. Scientists calculate that it was a space ship, not a meteor, and could only have come from Venus. All antennae train on Venus, transmitting greetings, but the morning star is silent. A manned rocket mission to Mars is reassigned to go to Venus. As they get close to Venus, interference blocks radio contact with earth. The two scientists decipher the remaining bit of the message. Venus planned to attack earth. Since the crew cannot get a word of warning to earth, they decide to land. They find traces of a civilization, but no Venusians. They follow a power cable to a big sphere. Others follow the other end to a ruined and melted city. Inside a chamber, a black ooze tries to get them. Durand shoots it with his laser rifle. The ooze retreats, but it triggers a defense mechanism. Gravity is increasing, but will snap into anti-gravity and throw the ship back into space and firing the mega weapon the Venusians planned to strike earth with. Everyone gets to the ship, along the way seeing the shadows of the frightened Vensuians burned onto a wall. Aboard the ship, one of them thinks he can stop the mega weapon from charging. The chinese man and african man go back to a control center to shut it off. The chinese man rips his suit. Brinkman rushes to him with more oxygen. The african shut off the weapon, but the gravity snap occurs anyhow. The ship is tossed into space, as is Brinkman. Chen Yu dies of a ripped suit. Talua is left behind. Back on earth, the surviving five give somber little speeches to the assembled crowds. Let it be a warning to us all, but let's keep exploring space. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The sets are impressive. Even the special effects, which by today's standards are crude, still have a certain polish. It is fun to see the advent of second-generation sci-fi getting underway.

Cold War Angle
Crown's edited version, FSoV, cut away much of the original's heavy nuclear warning moral, but some of it remains. The original film had a heavy nuclear caution message.

Notes
XM 2 -- The story line of FSoV merges the grand scale space epic like Conquest of Space ('55) with the cautionary discovery of Rocketship X-M ('50). With much techno-wonder, people travel to another planet. There, they discover that the alien civilization was destroyed by nuclear disaster. The traditional theme of the 1950s, also kicked off the 1960s.

Harmless Edits -- FSoV omits some tangental scenes which were not crucial for the action/adventure story. Much of the background about the death of Sumiko's husband is omitted. Non-essential character development scenes before the launch are dropped: Brinkman and his mother, Arsenyev's goodbyes with his wife, Talua missing Mona, etc. The romantic tension between Sumiko and Brinkman loses several little scenes.

Willful Omissions -- Noteworthy cuts include a longish scene where Sumiko rejects Brinkman's romantic advances, telling him that she cannot have children because of the radiation at Hiroshima. When the crew are traveling in the "crawlers" through the melted Venusian city, Brinkman asks Sumiko what she's thinking. (she looks stunned). In the original, she says "Hiroshima." In Crown's dubbing she says, barely audibly, "...all the damage..."

Shifty Characters -- The nationalities of some key characters shift from the original film to FSoV. The captain of the mission is a Russian in DSS, Professor Arsenyev. In FSoV, he becomes an American, Professor Harringway. Appropriately enough, the American in DSS, Dr. Hawling, becomes the Russian, Dr. Orloff. The Polish engineer, Soltyk becomes a Frenchman, Durand. Brinkman, the pilot, changes from being German to being American. The other four keep their nationality.

Doofus D'Jour -- In DSS, the American is portrayed as a bit of a doofus. He floats around helplessly weightless and frets that the robot Omega always beats him at chess. He suggests that the people of earth will panic. It is the Russian captain that is strong and assured. In FSoV, the roles are reversed. It is the Russian who is helpless, is beaten by a machine, and has to be assured by a steady American. The nationalist posturing is subtle, but interesting in both films.

Internationalism -- both DSS and FSoV feature an international crew. This trope began towards the end of the 50s, but became almost customary in the 60s. 12 To The Moon ('60) made a big point of this. Gene Rodenberry would institutionalize the idea with his Star Trek series later in the decade. From the 60s on, space travel was less of a nationalist endeavor.

Bottom line? FSoV is actually a fairly good english dubbing of DSS. Some of the human interest stuff is cut, but the action adventure story is almost entirely intact. The Hiroshima angle is expunged, neutralizing much of the moral of the story, yet even that is still there. Both versions are well worth a sci-fi fan's time to find, as it represents the advent of Sci-Fi II.

The Brain that Wouldn't Die

This is one of those films which developed a reputation as being "so bad it's good." The Brain That Wouldn't Die (BTWD) is certainly a low-budget example of B-grade sci-fi / horror movie. Despite its release in 1962, it's also a solid product of the 50s, being filmed in 1959. (note the '59 Mercury and '58 Ford) There are blatant lowbrow elements where the producer and director (also the co-writers) dabbled in cheap exploitation gimmicks. Yet, there is also a more earnest attempt by the script to re-explore the classic Frankenstein story with more from the monster's point of view. There is also a noir-like quality in which no one seems noble.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Bill Cortner is a rogue surgeon who experiments in techniques to bring dead people (or limbs) back to life. His surgeon father berates him for his reckless and a-moral approach to science, but Bill is supremely confident in himself. En route to a weekend getaway with his fiancee, Jan, Bill drives too fast and crashes. He is thrown clear, but Jan is killed. He takes her head on to the country laboratory. There, he does more science-magic and keeps Jan's head alive on a lab table. She can only last for a couple days this way, so Bill goes shopping for a new body for Jan's head. He tries a strip club. Two strippers get into a tawdry cat fight over him, but he leaves, realizing he'll be recognized. He picks up a blond acquaintance, Donna, but she has a friend nearby too. They go to a swimsuit contest for no good reason. Donna recalls a mutual acquaintance, Doris has "the perfect body" but a big burn scar on side of her face. She's bitter against all men because of it. Bill promises her breakthrough plastic surgery. She goes with him to his country lab. Meanwhile, Jan's head awakens. She finds she has a psychic link with a misshapen creature locked in a closet. She argues with Kurt, Bill's embittered assistant about ethics. She summons the creature to kill Kurt. He is incautious near the creature's door and it grabs him, ripping off his good arm. He eventually dies. Bill comes home with Doris and dopes her drink. Bill takes unconscious Doris to his lab. Jan lectures him on ethics. Bill scoffs. He, too, is incautious near the creature's door, gets grabbed and killed. In the struggle, a fire starts. Jan directs the creature to take Doris to safety. She laughs maniacally in the flames. Fade to black. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
There is much that might annoy a film snob, but the audacity of the script keeps it interesting. The remix of traditional Frankenstein themes is interesting.

Cold War Angle
BTWD is more of a classic science-gone-wrong tale. There is no political undertone.

Notes
Brain Power -- A recurring meme in 50s sci-fi was that the human brain, freed from the burden of a human body, would find amazing powers. We saw this in Donovan's Brain ('53) that developed ESP control over people. We saw it again in Colossus of New York ('58), in which Jeremy's brain, inside the robot body, developed special vision powers. Jan, via Bill's special serum, develops mind-communication powers with the creature in the closet.

Brains Gone Bad -- Hand in hand with the free-brain power meme is the notion that brains (intellect) freed from the restraint of the body (matter) will tend to drift into the Dark Side. Donovan's brain was never kindly, but it went really bad without his body. Jeremy's brain turned from kindly altruist to selfish maniac. Jan, similarly, went from loving fiancee, to vengeful banshee.

MonsterView -- Unlike the mute monster which Victor Frankenstein created (in the 1931 classic), Bill's monsters (Kurt and Jan) do a fair amount of talking about how they feel. Jan is full of hate for being kept alive in her inhuman condition. She and Kurt argue about ends justifying means. Kurt defends Bill's playing God. He's a monster who hopes his maker can finish/improve the work.

Gang o'Noir -- In the flim noir model, none of the characters in BTWD are noble. They all have very human failings and flaws. Bill is, of course, the oversexed, over confident evil scientist. Jan becomes the hateful monster master. Kurt is the selfish minion. Even Doris, who might be seen as the victim of the picture, is a man-hater for what one did to her. The two strippers are obviously base material. Bill's father isn't all that innocent either, as he turns a blind eye to his son's inhuman experiments.

Build-A-Babe -- In a sort of extreme extension of a male fantasy, Bill goes shopping for the 'best' female body. It's for Jan's head to live on, of course, but for HIM to enjoy mostly. The real Jan was, apparently, was apparently just a body to him -- maybe just a pretty face. Bill's tastes in women are pretty low and libidinal. He shops first at a strip club? Then prowls the streets?

Cheap Teasecake -- Viewers are 'treated' to a lite burlesque dance by the blonde stripper in her meshy costume. There's the cat fight with near spillover moments. There is the pointless bathing suit contest to parade some more babes before the camera. Little of these scenes adds to the plot. They're just teaser visuals for the (perhaps) mentally-light male viewer who could not keep up with the science-and-ethics dialogue.

Cat Fight! -- In an almost crass display of exploitation filmography, producer Rex Carlton and director Joseph Green have the two strippers slap, pull hair and roll around wrestling on the floor (with much of their ample assets exposed). This does nothing to advance the plot at all. It's a pure bit of pandering to the male ticket-buyers. A tip that the producer/director knows this, is the brief shot of two cat paintings on the wall, with a little "meow" overdubbed.

Bottom line? BTWD can be watched as a typical "bad" old movie and laughed at for all its overwrought (or just bad) acting. It can also be enjoyed for its noir flavoring and dabbling in the old Frankenstein theme closet.