Must-See Sci-Fi

Reader Lex asked: "If you were to reccomend 10-15 must see films from the 50's-60's what would they be?" Some movies are must-see because they're great or influential. Some movies are must-see because they're just so wacky (or famously bad) that they're still influential. So, Lex, here are two lists of ten.

The Good -- Here are ten milestone movies that have left a lasting impression on our culture. These are the "good" movies which even average viewers can appreciate. They are a fair sampling of what 50s sci-fi could do on a good day.

1. When Worlds Collide ('51) -- An epic disaster film which expressed the culture's anxiety about the Cold War and the threat of impending doom.

2. Day the Earth Stood Still ('51) -- Earth is warned of its nuclear danger, by a benevolent alien. The story line was powerful enough to spawn many remakes.

3. War of the Worlds ('53) -- HG Wells' classic story set in 1950s America. This invasion theme would be expressed in many other films too.

4. Creature from the Black Lagoon ('54) -- A classic which spawned not only sequels, but many retellings and variations.

5. Gojira (54) -- The Japanese original is better than the '55 American edit. Gojira was the dramatic ancestor of dozens of giant-monster movies. The sub-genre would eventually turn campy and juvenile, but Gojira was serious art.

6. Them! ('54) -- The first (and best) of a whole sub-genre of giant bug films for which the 50s are famous.

7. Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56) -- The classic tale of aliens taking over human's bodies. This theme was featured in many later films.

8. Forbidden Planet ('56) -- Perhaps THE pinnacle of 1950s sci-fi. While seldom copied or remade, it would become the basis for that persistent cultural force: Star Trek.

9. The Blob ('58) -- Not the first, but the most famous of the alien-blob creature films.

10. Time Machine ('60) -- Wells' famous tale from a 50s point of view. It would become the model for many later time-travel films.

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The Bad -- The flip-side of the 50s and 60s sci-fi greats, are its equally famous "bad" films. These film have left a lasting cultural legacy too -- so quirky or bizarre that they're hard to take seriously, even though their creators were serious.

1. Robot Monster ('53) -- Infamous for the titular villain costumed in an ape-suit with a space helmet. A pretty earth woman scrambles Ro-Man's superior logic.

2. Catwomen of the Moon ('53) -- A distant planet populated with a civilization of attractive women. This absurd premise actually formed the basis of several films.

3. Killers From Space ('54) -- All the low-budget style of the early serials (the aliens are men in leotards with ping pong balls for eyes), yet serious.

4. The Giant Claw ('56) -- A monster too bizarre to be frightening. A marionette vulture-thing "space bird". Again, the actors take it all deadly seriously.

5. The Beginning of the End ('57) -- The giant bug sub-genre was running out of scary bugs to enlarge. Grasshoppers

6. Attack of the 50' woman ('58) -- A past-peak pin up star, made giant by the touch of a giant alien, obsesses over retrieving her philandering husband.

7. Plan 9 From Outer Space ('59) -- Ed Wood Jr.'s famously bad movie, a fragmented tale of aliens who plan to raise dead earthlings so zombies can conquer earth for them.

8. Teenagers From Outer Space ('59) -- A soft-hearted alien teen takes pity on earth (and is keen an earth girl) so helps stop his people from turning earth into a ranch for giant lobsters.

9. The Creeping Terror ('64) -- An alien creature resembling a chinese parade dragon gone horribly wrong, has a penchant for eating leggy young women.

10. Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women ('68) -- A rehash of a rehash of a Soviet film about landing on Venus, but with new footage of telepathic babes in shell bras who almost encounter the astronauts.

The Last Man On Earth

Based on Richard Matheson's 1954 story, "I Am Legend," Ubaldo Ragona & Sidney Salkow's Last Man On Earth" (LMoE) is the first of many movie adaptations. Vincent Price stars and lends a dignity to this otherwise low-budget Italian-American production. LMoE is a pivotal link between the familiar 50s post-apocalypse genre and the nascent zombie genre of the 60s and beyond. Told in a grim, spare style, it is the story of a man who witnesses the world he knew fall apart around him, yet leave him untouched.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dawn breaks over a rambling italian city. Bodies lie in streets, doorways and stairs. A super germ has infected the world. Only Dr. Robert Morgan survives as a normal human. Others turn into vampire zombies. Morgan hunts and kills the zombies by day. They surround and bang on his fortress house by night. Morgan goes into mental flashback to relive the coming of the plague, the loss of his daughter and wife, and her turning into a zombie. Morgan finds a lost non-zombie dog which gives him hope for companionship, but the dog dies. While burying the dog, Morgan spots a normal woman out in the day. She runs, but he convinces her to come to his house. He is pleased to find another survivor, but suspects Ruth is infected. She is, but she takes a drug developed by other survivors (yet still night-people) that let her tolerate the day. She pulls a gun. Her job was to keep him there until the night men could come get him. Without her drug, she passes out. While unconscious, Morgan gives her a transfusion of his immune blood. She recovers, so his antibodies were effective. The zombies attack. The night soldiers come. Morgan flees, but they corner him inside a church. Wounded and surrounded, he rails at them, shouting that he is the last man. A night soldier hurls a spear that kills Morgan. Ruth comforts him in his last moment, then walks out through the ring of night people. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Price turns in a quality performance as the "last man". The directors maintained a dark and claustrophobic mood. The understated use of Rome cityscapes gives visual variety.

Cold War Angle
Matheson's story is a classic example of 50s post-apocalyptic angst. Something big gets out of control and wipes out the world as we know it. The germ, like radiation, kills most of the population outright. The few survivors become monsters.

Notes
Based on the Book -- LMoE follows Matheson's story reasonably well. There were many omissions and compressings, as is typical for books turned into 90 minute movies. Many of the novel's elements show up in William Leicester's screenplay: the home fortress, the little dog, the spy woman, the new society, etc. At the end of both movie and book, the main character utters the title words. In the novel, Neville, realizing that he was the monster, says "I am legend." In the movie, Morgan shouts to the surrounding night-people. "I am the last man!"

Zombies Rising -- Zombie movies began with White Zombie in 1932, with scattered appearances in the 40s and 50s. Often, the zombies were living people under a voodoo trance, not the "living dead." Curt Siodmak's Creature with the Atomic Brain ('55) featured a gang of reanimated dead bodies. They were science-zombies, not the supernatural spooky kind. Ed Wood featured a couple of the risen un-dead in his Plan 9 From Outer Space ('59). The mindless shambling vampire-zombies in LMoE were closer to the classic movie zombie, but predating Romero's Night of the Living Dead by four years. Zombies were going to be hot, but LMoE was ahead of that curve.

Social Commentary -- Elevating the story from just a cheesy zombie horror film, is Matheson's study of human society and the dynamics of change. A 20th century version of the Black Plague topples the society we knew. A new civilization, a new world order develops from within the ashes and rubble of the old. What moves this story beyond a mere plague apocalypse is that many of the victims don't die so much as change into something new. The last man of the old order -- zealously fighting the change -- is the hunted enemy of the new order. The old order's martial law (troops hauling the dead to The Pit) is replaced by the new order's martial law (troops killing off the zombies and hunting Morgan). New boss same as the old boss.

Fascist Reflections -- Filmed in Italy, with an italian director and screenwriter, parts of LMoE take on a political commentary. The new people (especially the soldiers), dressed all in black are too close of a parallel to Mussolini's "Black Shrits" in the 1920s and 30s. This adds a political parallel to the plague story -- the adults worrying about news reports of something new and deadly sweeping the continent, how many die, but many more become brutish mobs, the new order being ruthless and efficient in eliminating opposition. LMoE has a political subtext to it.

Remake One -- In 1971, Matheson's story was turned into a film again, but also drawing on LMoE. This second version was titled, The Omega Man, which was a fancy way of still saying "the last man" Charlton Heston plays the main character, using Matheson's character name: Robert Neville. Curiously, he is a macho Army doctor and more screen time is spent on his zombie hunting. He dies in the end, from a spear, just like Vincent Price did. Where Ruth, carrying Morgan's blood in her veins was a more subtle hint at hope, the '71 version was more upbeat and reassuring with a whole bottle of his blood being driven away in a van full of singing children.

Remake Two -- In 2007, the third version came out under Matheson's original title, I Am Legend, but also keying off the previous two movie versions more than going back to the novel. Will Smith stars as the main character, an army scientist named Robert Neville. He has a companion dog rather than finds a lost one. He captures an infected woman, rather than her come to him as a spy. Like LMoE, it is her blood that is the hope. Neville dies, but in a more 1990s manner -- a massive explosion. Like OM, there were other normal human survivors. Expanding on the upbeat ending of Omega Man The uninfected woman and boy drive off to a safe commune/enclave in rural Vermont. Here, it is Neville's work that makes him a "good" legend.

Bottom line? LMoE is a B classic. It is far more than a zombie apocalypse movie. Sci-fi fans won't find a lot of science in the story, but there is more than enough depth to the story to make it a must-see classic.

1963

As the early 60s were morphing into the mid 60s, sci-fi offerings were no more numerous. '63 was a mix of low-budget quirkiness and better fare. Some of the old tropes get a retread and the Nazis make a surprising come-back.

Reptilicus -- Another Danish-American production, essentially Danish Tourism Board's version of Godzilla.

Day of the Triffids -- A British version of the classic apocalyptic invasion story, but with iconic walking man-eating plants.

Mantango: Attack of the Mushroom People -- Ishiro Honda's thoughtful tale of seven castaways who one-by-one start turning into giant mushrooms. Only one of them escapes.

The Slime People -- Low-budget invasion tale in which creatures from within the earth take over Los Angeles. Trapped within the invisible dome is a plucky band of survivors.

The Day Mars Invaded Earth -- Low-budget mix of Angry Red Planet and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Energy beings from Mars replace a scientist and his family.

X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes -- One of Roger Corman's best films. A doctor invents a drug that lets him see through objects. He goes too far and sees and is terrified at what he sees.

Madmen of Mandoras -- Quirky low-budget story of nazis hiding in a tiny South American country who have kept Hitler's head alive since 1945, and plan to take over the world.

The Yesterday Machine -- Another low-low-budgtet story about nazis. This time, a nazi scientist has invented a time machine so the Nazis can win WWII.

The Yesterday Machine

For some reason, Nazis were hot in 1963. Madmen of Mandoras was an outrageous nazi-revival tale that was conspicuously thin on "science." The Yesterday Machine (YM) is another nazi-revival story, but it overcompensates with too much "science" at the expense of story. Time travel and Nazis has potential. YM tends to suffer the usual ills of a film written, produced and directed by the same man. With only two experienced actors (not stars), a bevy of amateur actors and a tiny budget, YM is a low-B sci-fi with a very 50s flavor. The notion of time travel in the wrong hands is, at least, more ambitious for a premise.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Margie, a college baton twirler, practice her moves while her boyfriend, Howie tries to fix a balking fuel pump. It's getting late, so he gives up and they walk through a woods to get help. They encounter two civil war soldiers who shoot Howie. Margie is unaccounted for. Howie's wound and Margie's disappearance has the local police and a reporter asking questions. The bullet in Howie, and a cap found at the scene were authentic civil war items. This causes Lt. Partane to recall an odd experience in WWII where old men prisoners were, by the records, actually young men. The camp's Kommandant was a rogue physicist, but was never found. While reporter Jim and Margie's sister Sandy explore the scene, they are transported to Dr. von Hauser's underground lab. Sandy and Margie are reunited in a dungeon cell. Von Hauser lectures Jim, (at some great length) about his science. The two rehash the old arguments over Nazi machiavellianism, which gets Jim tossed into an adjacent cell. They try to talk Didyama, (a female minion from ancient Egypt) into helping them escape. One nazi guard enters the women's cell with ill intent. Didyama stabs him in the back, but he chokes her to death before he dies. The women get out and let Jim out. In a showdown back in the lab, Jim shoots the other nazi guard and puts two bullets into the time machine before fleeing. Coming up through a secret hatch in a private graveyard, Jim, Sandy and Margie meet Lt. Partane and other policemen. They hear the time machine start up again. Partane goes down to the lab. Von Hauser shoots, but Partane hits von Hauser, who slumps into the time machine's chair and fades out to some other time. Partane destroys the machine. He gives a speech about man not being ready for such technology. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The plot unfolds with such unHollywood quirkiness, that it keeps viewer interest up. The story opens with a college coed twisting and twirling her baton to old style rock and roll. From the get-go, FY is different. Also, Jack Herman's flamboyant acting as Nazi scientist Ernst von Hauser is entertaining.

Cold War Angle
Lt. Partane delivers the cautionary moral at the end. To justify his smashing the time machine, he says, "Hydrogen bombs are enough (world destroying trouble) Yesterday should be left alone. The world has enough problems just trying to ensure that we'll have a tomorrow." (i.e. we don't need Nazis and other enemies (commies?) going back to rewrite history so they win)

Notes
Time Travel on $5 a Day -- Time travel movies can involve expensive sets (retro and or future), such as George Pal's The Time Machine ('60) or the Back to the Future trilogy. YM, however, was done on such a tiny budget that even low-budget film, Beyond the Time Barrier ('60) looks lavish in comparison. For YM, we have only a pair of actors in civil war garb, an ornately clothed Egyptian servant and a couple of minimal Nazi uniforms. The rest is suggested, giving YM a sort of stage play atmosphere. Despite the title, the actual "machine" gets very little screen time.

Deeper Question -- Overshadowed by its many shortcomings, YM still manages to raise an interesting question. What if time travel was done by villains? All the usual noble ethics of non-interference would be in the bin. Von Hauser wanted to give his favorite Führer a few more months so that superweapons under development could be finished. Von Hauser talks wistfully of a Reich that would continue more than a thousand years. Why not? With his time machine, the regime could enact as many do-overs as necessary. But, what if TWO powers had time travel? Who's mucking would prevail?

Science Lecture -- Often enough, the villain monologues to the hero for no logical reason other than the scriptwriter's need for some exposition. Von Hauser gives Jim an extended science lecture in front of a chalk board, to explain time travel to him. The briefer version runs like this: if you speed up light so it goes faster than the (um) Speed of Light, it begins to move backwards in time. The more you speed it up, the more quickly backwards time travels. Just how von Hauser does this with some surplus radio parts is not explained.

Ideological Rehash -- Where Madmen of Mandoras offered the satisfaction of killing Hitler again, YM provides one more opportunity to argue the old Nazi ideology. Is such tight state control really a benefit to mankind? Or, are people entitled to be free, even if imperfect. The script writers let von Hauser and Jim rehash that debate with the usual inconclusive result.

Bottom line? YM is a quirky and obscure low-budget indie movie. If quality acting and impressive special effects are important to you, YM will probably annoy you. Fans of quirky shoestring indie sci-fi may find YM somewhat charming.

Madmen of Mandoras

If Roger Corman's "X" was 1963's sci-fi high point, Madmen of Mandoras (MMoM) is its low point. This ultra-low budget film is a low grade B movie with only the slightest claim to being sci-fi. There were some doctors in white coats, and some surplus electrical equipment among the props, but no real attempt is made to use science to explain anything. The premise is bizarre, yet not without precedent. The plot has an almost Indiana Jones potential. All this is stymied by a lack of budget, a bland, confused script and flat directing. Nestor Piava, who plays Mandoras' sweaty police chief, was the boat captain in Creature From The Black Lagoon.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Professor Coleman tells a small group of Generals and secret agents how he, and only he, has the antidote for the toxic "G Gas." The professor and his younger daughter are kidnapped. A tall shadowy hispanic man tells a CID agent and wife Kathy that they've been taken to Mandoras. Drive-by hoodlums shoot him dead. Phil and Kathy fly to the tiny South American country in search of them. Camino, the son of the slain hispanic above, tells the back story of how his father witnessed an operation in the bunker in Berlin in which Hitler's head is cut from his body and saved so he can be immortal. In a stereotypic cantina, a gunfight breaks out. Young blonde "nazis" killed a creepy assasin/police agent, but Phil is arrested for it. In the palace basement "jail", Phil, Kathy, Suzanne and the professor are reunited. The professor's former assistant, Dvorak, now in a minimal nazi uniform, pontificates about world conquest. He shows them Hitler's head in a big glass bucket. Back in their cell, the police chief and el presidente come in and announce that they oppose the nazis. They escape with the help of friendly guards and scheme how to foil the nazi plot. The deadly gas is to be released at midnight, but this fails. Dvorak drives Hitler's head (in a big black Mercedes) to meet two German Generals who are flying in. World conquest will follow. Our plucky band of resistance fighters get to the canyon in time to throw hand grenades. These kill the half dozen soldiers, the generals, blow up the plane and engulf the black Mercedes in flames. Hitler's head melts like wax in the flames, leaving only a skull. In the happy post-Hitler world, Suzanne marries Camino, Phil and Kathy exchange flirty innuendos. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
It might be more appropriate to say fascinating. The script is a confusing mash-up of stock tropes, stereotypes and non-sequiturs. The writer clearly had some grand tale to tell, but contracted severe laryngitis. It's more puzzle than story, yet its bizarreness has a fascination to it.

Cold War Angle
The world-domination theme is clearly present, but blaming the nazis diminishes any Cold War theme.

Notes
Not Dead Enough -- In the late 14th century, reformer John Wycliffe upset the Catholic church so much that they wanted him dead. Wycliffe died of natural causes as an old man, but that wasn't enough. The Catholic leadership hated him so much, that some 30 years after Wycliffe died, they dug up his bones and burned them. Wycliffe wasn't dead enough to satisfy them. Hitler, the penultimate villain, did not die enough in 1945 to satisfy many people. MMoM, reminiscent of Wycliffe's bones, burns Hitler's head in a rather long scene. Hitler seems to be a character cannot be dead enough.

Evil Twin -- Easily lost between the many cracks is how we end up with Hitler's head in a jar in the first place. You see, back in the 40s, Hitler feared for his life and wanted immortality. He had genius scientists create clones of himself (we see two) to act as body doubles. Nevermind that they're taller and fatter than him. (Clones eat too well). One is dispatched to the bunker to commit suicide and be found by the Allies. The other just wanders off, apparently. The clones look like Hitler (sort of) but do not have his keen mind. In a quest for immortality, the doctors cut off Hitler's head and preserve it because only a head-sized package can be flown out of Berlin. Later, and elsewhere, other doctors will figure out how to get real-Hitler's keen mind into a new clone. It almost makes sense.

10 Years Later, More is Less -- In 1972, Crown International wanted to re-release MMoM as a TV movie, but it was too short (74 minutes). A typical TV movie, running two hours, needed a run-time of around 90 minutes. New footage was shot on even less of a budget than the original, using UCLA film students. The new footage was grafted onto the beginning and recycled some old footage from Thunder Road. The new footage padded the story with more cloak-and-dagger and tried to set up a spy plot in Mandoras better. The re-release was titled: "They Saved Hitler's Brain," which was a much grabbier title than the original. The resulting film, however, only added to the confusion. The 70s clothing and hairstyles are flagrantly different than the original's 1963 attire.

Brains on the Brain -- MMoM is yet another in the sub-genre of movies that featured brains. Donovan's Brain ('53), The Brain From Planet Arous ('57), Colossus of New York ('58), Evil Brain From Outer Space, etc. It also belongs to a smaller sub-genre of disembodied (but still living) heads. The Man Without A Body ('57) which turned out to be Nostradamus. Then there was poor Jan in The Brain That Wouldn't Die ('62). Hitler in MMoM was just the latest talking head.

Don't Need No Body -- The writers did not seem concerned with biology. What kept Hitler's head alive in his jar? At least Jan's head in The Brain That Wouldn't Die was hooked up to tubes and pumps to supply what her missing body would have. In MMoM, heads can just keep on living without bodies. It talks and goes for car rides, sitting all snug in a glass jar.

Plot Holes Aplenty -- The script is so full of disconnects, non-sequiturs and holes that it feels like every third page was somehow lost, but they kept shooting anyway. Where did all this G-Gas come from? Couldn't the source be stopped? This one professor is the only source of an antidote? An antidote to poison gas? The only man with the antidote (in his mind) that can save the world, is kidnapped and only his son-in-law rides to the rescue? The matchbook signal was important enough for Camino's dad to use his last breath to explain it, yet it never gets used for anything important. If the gas kills off almost everyone in the world, why does Hitler still want it? What does the Chiquita dancer have to do with anything? Vasquez is an assassin or a policeman or part of the nazi ring? He dies before doing anything beyond looking shifty. And finally, even though not all, why did burning Hitler's head stop the other cells that El Presidente spoke of from executing their part of Plan G?

Stuffed With Stereotypes -- The unimaginative writer filled his cast with almost-cliche stereotypes: A big sweaty south american police chief, in a white suit, a shifty pointed-beared killer, lazy minions, screaming women, a tall, dark, handsome (I guess) latin love interest, and of course, cardboard nazis. They swagger, wear tall black boots and have a vocabulary limited to: Mach Schnell, Dumbkopf, Schweinhund, Raus and Verboten.

Bottom line? MMoM or They Saved Hitler's Brain are too bizarre and poorly done to qualify as purposeful entertainment. Sober sci-fi fans will likely be annoyed at the lack of science. Cinema fans could be annoyed at the swiss cheese of plot holes. MST3K fans could not find a better "bad" movie to enjoy. Those who think Hitler didn't die enough in 1945 may enjoy the fiery ending, though.

"X" The Man With The X-Ray Eyes

Despite its limited budget, "X" The Man with X-ray Eyes is more of an A film than a B film. X is also one of Roger Corman's best films. American International Pictures gave Corman more rein than usual on this project. Though with only a $300,000 budget and 15 days to shoot, it was still B level project. The results, however, were far above the usual B. A well-meaning doctor thinks mankind would benefit from being able to see much more than the visible spectrum of light. He finds the power helpful, but nearly impossible to control. Plus, he often as not, does not like what he sees.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Xavier tells his friend, Dr. Brandt, about his research to help man's eyes to see far more than the visible spectrum. The blonde and lovely Dr. Fairfax tells Xavier that the hospital is going to cut off his research funding. This pushes Xavier to use the drug on himself to provide instant proof. The board cuts his funding anyway. Xavier "sees" that a patient's heart trouble is misdiagnosed by chief surgeon, Dr. Benson. Xavier cuts Benson's hand to stop the surgery. Even though his vision was correct, and the girl will live, Xavier is made a professional outcast. At a party, Xavier can see through the people's clothes, providing some juvenile amusement. Diane Fairfax likes Xavier. Later, while arguing about what to do, Xavier accidentally causes the death of Brandt. Now a fugitive and an outcast, Xavier flees. We find him performing as Mr. Metalo, a midway in a carnival. With his x-ray vision, he is able to "see" hidden info in the crowd. This creeps out the other carny folks. When a woman is thrown from a ride, Xavier can see her broken bones. His hawker, Crane, schemes to make money off Xavier's healing "gift." Crane sets up shop in a seedy basement flat and brings in people to be diagnosed. Diane finds him. Crane, knowing who Xavier is, threatens to turn him in, so Xavier and Diane flee. They go to Las Vegas to raise money for research and a cure. Xavier uses his x-ray vision to cheat and wins over 20,000 dollars. The casino accuses him of cheating. Xavier steals a car and drives into the desert. Pursued by a highway patrol helicopter and unable to see well enough to drive, Xavier crashes. He staggers into a tent revival meeting. He tells the preacher that he's seen the vast darkness and at the center of the universe is a great eye that sees all. The preacher says he's seen the devil and should pluck out his offending eyes. Xavier plucks out his eyes. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The story has great depth. The acting is good. Corman does a good job keeping the story moving. There is much to muse over, long after the film is done.

Cold War Angle
X is more of a spin on the traditional Frankenstein or Dr. Jekyll themes. There is little in the way of Cold War theming.

Notes
Alternate Ending? -- Steven King wrote of X having an alternate ending in which Xavier says, after plucking out his eyes, "I can still see!" The released version has nothing after the quick flash of Xavier's empty eye sockets. Corman was not as sure that such an ending was ever shot, but thought he might have, on a whim. It was not in the script. No such footage has surfaced.

Eye on Drugs -- Corman started out wanting to use a jazz musician as the protagonist. The story would then be more of an analogy for the growing drug culture. LSD, etc, were imagined to bring transcendental insights, etc. The musician character presented too many problems, so Corman switched to a medical doctor. This opened up the story, adding much-needed credibility and philosophical depth. Yet, some of the original drug-culture theme remains, as Xavier becomes addicted to his x-ray powers, taking more and more of his drug until it ultimately destroys him.

Frankenstein Resumed -- The trope of the well-meaning, but misguided scientist is as old as Frankenstein and used many times. The customary moral of those stories is science is dangerous. Corman thought the Cold War had made the evil-scientist dominant. Yet, the various doctors are usually painted in a somewhat sympathetic light. They meant well, for mankind, but things go wrong, usually destroying the doctor (and others). Dr. Xavier follows the traditional pattern. Like Dr. Jekyll, he himself, becomes the monster.

Juvenile Dreams -- Recognizing that the drive-in crowd might not necessarily identify with Xavier's lofty ambition to use X-ray vision for the good of mankind, Corman inserts two scenes for the less altruistic. He has Xavier attend a party with lots of beautiful young adults. Of course, he can see through their clothes. Corman shows no more than naked knees and bare shoulders, but the implication is clear. Naked Women! The second is that strain of avarice to cheat at gambling. Corman has Xavier use his gift (intended to benefit mankind) in order to beat a casino at blackjack. Neither satisfy.

Glimpsing the Dark Side -- In a twist rather deep for a drive-in movie, Corman's story shifts from the philosophical (should a man use special power for good or for self-gain?), to the metaphysical. Xavier sees the vast darkness of the universe. We know this is not merely outer space, but being surrounded by the darkness of men's souls, because he's telling a preacher at a religious meeting. The script gave us plenty of examples of dark souls -- Crane, the schemer, only thinking of profit and naked women, the other carny who would use such power to hurt those who disagree with him, the chief surgeon who was more concerned about his status than his patient's life, the hospital board who was more worried about money than miracles, the smug young man who deserted his girlfriend, the Vegas crowds grubbing for tossed money, etc. etc. Corman makes a bit of social commentary.

Seeing The Light -- Corman and Russell didn't stop with a depressing commentary on mankind's darkness. They had Xavier see past the surrounding darkness to a great light at the center of the universe. "And in the center of the universe, the Eye. It sees us all." Seeing this great light is terrible, making Xavier scream whenever he saw it. Pop spirituality liked the idea of an all-happy grandpa god -- a warm, fuzzy, comforting "light." Corman's light is surprisingly biblical. When Isaiah, Ezekiel and John each "saw" God, they thought they were doomed.

Star Gazing -- Ray Milland stars, and is excellent, but comedian Don Rickles does a great job as the scheming Crane. John Hoyt, who plays Dr. Benson, was the misguided Mr. Franz in Attack of the Puppet People ('58). Harold J. Stone, who played Dr. Brandt, had a long career in television. He also played General Swayne in The Invisible Boy ('57). Look for Morris Ankrum in the uncredited role as the hospital board chairman.

Bottom line? X is a great movie on many levels, and one of Corman's best (if not the best). It has something for viewers who aren't sci-fi fans. It has some depth and pathos for the Frankenstein theme, for those who are sci-fi fans.