Journey to the Far Side of the Sun

Gerry and Sylvia Anderson created a sci-fi without marionettes in 1969. Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (JFSS), known in the UK as "Doppelganger", was the Anderson's first foray into live actors for a film. The movie used some of the techniques and style the Andersons had refined in their earlier "Supermarionation" productions. The story is of the Twilight Zone, paranormal mindset. The American production's poster conceded that manned missions to other bodies just a few months earlier, and were no longer science fiction. The tag line read, "Man has conquered the moon with the epic Apollo 11 flight! Now take another momentous journey!" The space module on the poster was more Apollo than Anderson.

  Quick Plot Synopsis
Eurosec (European Space Exploration Council) has some its secret documents photographed by a spy. The scheme is discovered and the spy killed, but Eurosec director Jason Webb decides to accelerate his secret project before "they" try one first. Sun Probe One encountered some odd gravitational pulls while exploring the sun. It burned up, but not before photographing a planet on the direct opposite side of the sun, in an exact duplicate earth orbit, so it's never been discovered. Eurosec plans a manned mission. American ace astronaut Glen Ross is chosen to pilot. Scientist John Kane will do the research on the mystery planet. Some side stories fill time. Glen and his wife Sharon have a rocky marriage. John has never been through space training. When finally ready, the two take off. Shortly after setting course, they go into hibernation. Three weeks later, they awaken with beards. The mystery planet is straight ahead. It has an oxygen atmosphere, but no signs of life. They go down in the "Lift Body" shuttle-like craft. They fly through a storm which upsets the aircraft. Glen regains some control, but not enough. They clip a mountain peak and crash in a harsh rocky landscape. John is thrown clear. He returns and pulls Glenn from the burning wreck. A bright light appears, and an odd figure takes John up. He and John (now unconscious) are aboard an Air Sea Rescue craft. They're taken to Eurosec. Glenn is repeatedly questioned why he aborted the mission and returned. He insists he did not. Things aren't quite right for Glenn. Things in his house are reversed. Writing is reversed. He can read it in a mirror. His theory is that he did not turn back, but landed on the CounterEarth which is an exact duplicate of Earth, only with things reversed. CounterJason agrees. The only proof would be Glenn's orbiting command module (built on Earth). CounterJason agrees to let Glenn fly their LiftBody up to it for its flight-data-recorder. They rig up the LiftBody to have reversed controls and reversed electrical polarity, etc. Glen flies up int orbit. He docks with the Phoenix, but the electrical polarity was not reversed. Sparks. This shorts out Glenn's systems and the Phoenix, which plummets to a fiery death. The LiftBody returns on auto control from Eurosec, but badly. Glenn cannot change course. The LiftBody crashes into the rocket hangar, causing massive explosions which destroy everything and kill everyone, except CounterJason. Fast forward. Old CounterJason is in a convalescent home. He is the only one left who knows there is a duplicate earth out there. While left unattended, he sees his reflection in the hall mirror and rushes his wheelchair towards it. He crashes into the mirror. Fade to black. The end.

  Why is this movie fun?
The model work is a treat for those who enjoy sci-fi miniatures. The plot near the end is a well-told mystery story. Fans of catastrophic explosions will like the ending too.

  Cold War Angle
The only hint of the Cold War is the vague reference to "them" whom Dr. Hassler was presumed to be spying for. Beyond that, JFSS is more pure space-flight drama and Twilight Zone mystic tale.

  Notes
Thunderbirds Are Grown -- Anyone familiar with The Thunderbirds (TV show and movies) cannot help but recognize the Anderson style in the model work. This is no coincidence, of course, as Gerry and Sylvia Anderson were the writers and producers. As well, many folks on the JFSS production team were on the prior teams too. The jetliner whose passenger compartment detaches from the wings, and rolls up to the terminal, is classic Thunderbirds stuff. In their earlier productions, aimed at the children's market, such as Supercar and Fireball XL5, etc. the actors were marionettes. But, the real "star" in those productions was the cool vehicle(s). The story and the action were simply situations for the amazing machines to be amazing. In JFSS, the models, sets and machines are still a strong focus, but they're not the star. They play a supporting role to the almost paranormal story line. The Andersons' focus was maturing.

  Doubles of Doom -- The UK title: "Doppelgänger" (German: double-goer) is the fairly modern word for the rather ancient notion that every person has a duplicate of themselves somewhere in the world. In most mythologies, the double is either of the "evil twin" motif, or a harbinger of doom. To see one's doppelganger foretold one's death. Like matter and anti-matter, the two could not co-exist in the same place. The Andersons worked this doom quality into their story. People attempting to reach their counterparts resulted in massive death and destruction. Even the final scene, old-Jason crashes into his reflection and is presumed killed.

  Life On Rails -- An intriguing tidbit underlying the Anderson's story, is that everything that takes place on Earth is exactly duplicated on CounterEarth, though in many cases reversed left-for-right. Every decision, every action, has its exactly matching counterpart. When Glenn and John traveled from Earth to CounterEarth, their doubles, CounterGlenn and CounterJohn were traveling to Earth. If Glenn was accused of turning back, CounterGlenn would have been too. This mind-bogglingly rigid determinism goes far beyond the most hyper of hyper-calvinists. Nothing any of them does, is really a free choice. When John and Glenn decide to land on the mystery planet (CounterEarth), it only appeared to be a choice. Their doubles were doing the exact same thing. The huge explosions and loss of life in the end, were not some tragic accident, but HAD to be -- on both planets.

  The Future is Us! -- Of some amusement for 21st century viewers is how the future of 2069 was imagined (in 1969) to be 1969 technology (and fashion) ramped up a bit. Herbert Lom's eye-camera was cool, but note how he still had to process the "film" in three chemical baths. Computers were still room-sized banks of magnetic tape reels, switches and blinking lights. Underlings tore off paper "readouts" for the operator to read. Rockets were essentially suped-up Saturn Vs. Even women's hair and fashion (wild colored ultra-short mini-dresses) was very much in vogue for the late 1960s (but not much beyond). It's kind of funny how the future is so often imagined as being whatever we have now, just goosed up a bit, as if we are (whenever WE are) is the pinnacle of human achievement.

  Cars of the Future JFSS's "cars of the future" played a very minor role, but were well done props built on a Ford Zodiac chassis. (Note the stock Zodiac wheel covers). They were modeled on the style of concept cars of the late 60s, such as the Astro-Vette or the Bertone Alfa Romeo Carabo which was heralded as the "car of the future" at the 1968 Paris Auto Show. The JFSS future-cars were modified somewhat and used (again) in the Anderson's 1970 TV series "UFO".

 Bottom line? JFSS is an interesting enough concept and story. It drags a bit in the middle, with prolonged focus on the marvels of space flight (and training). The last third of the run time moves along quickly and has plenty of action. The model work is well done and adds visual appeal.

1967

The comparatively stable (if anxious) mood of the 50s and early 60s was morphing into the turbulent 60s. The Vietnam War was heating up, as were protests against it. The middle east was a hot bed, with the pivotal '67 War. It was a hippy high point, the "Summer of Love". NASA launched probes to the moon and Venus as well as Apollo 4 -- an unmanned test of the whole Saturn V and Command Module system needed to put men on the moon. Films in theaters and drive-ins during this transition time, were almost all low-budget B movies in the spirit of the late 50s and early 60s.

  Island of Terror -- On an Irish island, scientists try to engineer cancer-eating cells, but create a new life form that "eats" human (and animal) bones.

  The Projected Man -- A matter-transporter experiment goes wrong, creating a scientist-monster whose touch electrocutes people.

  Snow Devils -- Fourth in the "Gamma One" quadrilogy. Yeti-like aliens plan to turn Earth into an ice planet. Rod Jackson flies to a moon of Jupiter to stop the plot.

  Night of the Big Heat -- An English island is being made hotter and hotter by aliens resembling glowing rocks, as prelude to an invasion.

  The Terrornauts -- A small SETI team are whisked off to an asteroid by an automated alien base to help stop an attacking fleet of red "enemy" rockets.

  The Vulture -- A rogue scientist uses a nuclear reactor to bring to life the bones on an ancestor. It works, but he is sometimes a man, sometimes a giant vulture.

  They Came From Beyond Space -- Meteorites in England contain energy beings from a dying race, who seek new bodies to possess. The Brits object.

The Reluctant Astronaut -- A Don Knotts comedy about a bumbling NASA janitor drafted to fly a space capsule to prove how automatic it was.

  Mars Needs Women -- Young men from Mars plan to steal a few choice women from Earth, but one of the Martians falls in love.

  Journey to the Center of Time -- Scientists with a time-travel pod visit earth's future and prehistoric past, and encounter themselves.

  In the Year 2889 -- Essentially a modernized remake (copy) of the '55 film Day The World Ended.

  Rocket to the Moon -- A British comedy retelling of the classic Jules Verne moon journey story, but no one gets to the moon.

  Planetary Giants -- An alien dictator wants the secret of an earth scientist's rocket, so he can build a fleet and conquer the earth.

  Planet of Invading Women -- A planet of pretty (but ruthless) women plan to steal earth children to use their lung tissue, so they can breathe earth air and invade.

  The Frozen Dead -- An old Nazi scientist uses the kept-alive head of a young woman, intending to use mind control to revive 1500 cryogenically frozen Nazis.

  Night Fright -- A space capsule returns from radiation-infested space, the monkey aboard has become a murderous gorilla monster.

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The Monitors

Second City Productions put out The Monitors (M), a dark comedy somewhat satirizing the Cold War culture. In this, M is like America's answer to the recently released British dark comedy satire, The Bed Sitting Room. M was filmed in and around Chicago, naturally. It featured several contemporary comedy actors and cameo appearances by people only notable in the late 60s. The story is one of a near future, in which aliens, all dressed in suits and black bowler hats, have become the always-watching, all-controlling Monitors.

  Quick Plot Synopsis
The story opens with The Monitors already in control of life on Earth. Some time before, the aliens came and conquered earth. With a firm, but unyielding benevolence, they brought peace and order. Some, such as pilot Harry Anderson (Guy Stockwell) chafe at such controls. Harry is a stunt pilot for a movie star: Barbara (Susan Oliver), whom he is also in lust with. She is flirtingly aloof, and manages to get him fired. She is also a Monitors collaborator. On his way home, a radical street preacher (Larry Storch in disguise) gives him a note. At his apartment, Barbara is there to apologize for getting him fired. Harry's brother Max (Avery Schreiber) is there too. The note says to meet him in 15 minutes, so all three go. While Larry preaches his fake Love-The-Monitors tripe, the crowd gets unruly. Monitors arrive to restore order. One of them sprays Max with calming spray, knocking him out. Harry grabs the spray can and spritzes the Monitor down. Since this means "indefinite suspension," they run. Car loads of Monitors have them trapped in an alley, but Larry rescues them, driving away in a big black Lincoln. Larry is Colonel Stutz of S.C.R.A.G, an anti-Monitors underground group. Stutz blasts through a Monitor roadblock. Harry rolls out of the Lincoln to save a Monitor trapped in a burning car. Thus, Harry is captured and taken to Monitor HQ. Barbara and Max go on to SCRAG HQ. They try to teach Max to be a freedom fighter with little success. Harry, faced with Indefinite Detention, opts to attend the Monitor training academy. He's not good at being brainwashed by incessant slogans, so still chafes. He means Mona, a pretty but ditzy trainee who helps him escape. The Monitor leader, Jeterax, allows all this and has his men follow and watch. Harry and Mona meet up with Max and Barbara, who came to rescue him. They all go back to SCRAG HQ. There, they learn of General Blackwish's plan to drop an implosion bomb on Monitor HQ. Harry learns that Barbara likes him, but she's also a Monitor lackey. Harry escapes with Mona (again), but gather groceries first, which they use to subdue the guards. Harry takes the helicopter to see the President, who turns out to be just an idle old man doing crossword puzzles. No power. Harry goes back to SCRAG HQ. He gets out the Implosion Bomb, but somehow activates it. 20 minutes remain. It can't be shut off, so he flies it to Monitor HQ and hopes to force Jeterax and his Monitors to withdraw. They don't. The bomb turns out to be a dud. Jeterax says his commanders told him to leave earth before the whole bomb incident, but he lingered to see what humans would do. Jeterax says humans are too primitive and complicated. Not ready for the benefits of Monitor services, so they poof out. Earth gets back to its good old, bad old days ways. Harry and Barbara kiss and hug. The End.

  Why is this movie fun?
If you're "into" zany 60s style American humor, there are several amusing skits. While not "fun" per se, the serious message underlying the plot is interesting: some people might prefer a world free enough to include evil.

  Cold War Angle
Where the British comedy, The Bed Sitting Room released earlier in 1969 satirized a post-apocalypse earth, M satirized the fate-worse-than-death of a totalitarian take-over of America. There is a strong overtone of Big Brother, ala 1984, but it is an enforced order from outside…by THEM.

  Notes
Tough Crowd -- The style of humor that Second City was best known for was short skits and improv: a style not easy to do in a feature film. The format comprised many quick cuts, as did its British counterpart, but M carried a more cohesive plot. This made it easier to follow, but not necessarily more funny. The result was a curious dystopia film, which on a certainly level is trying to be serious, with some humor skits worked in.

  I Heart Anarchy -- The premise somewhat reflects the late-60s youthful dislike for "the establishment". The Monitors have imposed peace and order, ridding man of war, hate and crime, but in their emotionless, controlling way. Harry comments that they've taken the fun out of love too. Some people accept the Monitors' controls as a blessing. Other chafe, preferring autonomy, even if it means accepting all the bad side of human nature too. There is something of a hippy mantra in this. In many ways, the plot and premise read like an adolescent's bristling over "grown ups" telling him to do things that were good for him.

  Commercial Breaks -- One fairly effective feature of M, is the use of pro-Monitors television commercials. They're scattered throughout the film. They are a good satire on testimonial ads and government and/or political-boosterism.

  Semi-Liminal Messages -- At two points in the film, an image of a topless red head is flashed on the screen (no pun intended). They only amount to maybe two frames each, but they're still too visible to qualify as subliminal. Public outcry and paranoia about such devious techniques had raged since the late 50s. Were they inserted as a spoof on the paranoia?

  Auto Moments -- Three automobiles get cameos, of a sorts. The first, is the more interesting -- Harry's open roadster. It is an Excalibur, a replica of the 1928 Mercedes 220 SSK, built on a Studebaker chassis and engine. While not the very first "replacer", it was the harbinger of a trend that would gain traction in the 70s. The second car of note is Barbara's Series 1, Jaguar XKE. Starting in 1969, the Series 2 did not have the glass headlight covers. Third is Stutz's big black LIncoln Continental, decked out as an armored "Bond" car.

 Bottom line? The Monitors suffers for two reasons. First, is that it's conflicted between being a serious social-commentary and being a farce. Second, is its comedians' popularity (funniness) were more tied to their times, and didn't age all that gracefully.

The Atomic City

Paramount Studios put out a Cold War thriller very early in the Cold War era. Despite the name, The Atomic City (TAC), things atomic were background. There are no radiation special effects or explosions beyond a stock footage blast in the opening narration. At its heart, TAC is a spy-crime thriller with nuclear bomb secrets as the MacGuffin. Yet, through all that, atomic anxiety and fear of communism are clear sub-messages. Gene Barry stars as a top nuclear physicist. TAC was nominated for an Academy Award. The filming in restricted Los Alamos and in the picturesque Puya Cliffs add visual interest to an already busy plot.

  Quick Plot Synopsis
Within the fenced perimeter of Los Alamos, the "Atomic City" is fairly secure. The workers, staff and their families live fairly normal lives. Dr. Frank Addison (Barry) and his wife Martha, raise their son Tommy as normally as possible. Tommy is eager for the class field trip and a chance to a fair in a nearby town, and win a bicycle. When the drawing calls him as the winner, his teacher notices he's not there. No one saw him leave. Meanwhile, the Addison's get a telegram giving them instructions. Tommy has been kidnapped. Dr. Addison is to give the kidnappers the formulas to the H-bomb or Tommy dies. Since they were told not to go to the police, the Addisons make up stories about picking up Tommy early, etc. etc. Friends notice they're acting odd. At Frank's office, the FBI intervene. Frank's plan was to give the kidnappers some formulas that failed, which only a mathematician working for a couple days could discover were bad. A hoard of FBI men stake out the hotel where the pickup is to be made. The follow the pickup man to a baseball game. In the crowd, the man transfers his envelope to a peanut salesmen, unseen. Exiting the game, the pickup man's car was booby trapped. Explosion. Film of the event identified the salesman as a "party member" and local crook. While the FBI are too rule and honor bound to get tough, Frank is not the FBI. He roughs up the crook and gets the address of where the envelope went. No one is in the house, but a blackboard full of equations tells them that their bad-formulas were discovered. Meanwhile, Tommy is being kept in some pueblo ruins by thugs hired by the communists. They pose as park rangers. One of them turns a couple and their boy away sang the ruins are too dangerous. The commie scientist arrives to say the formulas were fake. Get rid of the boy. However, Tommy has slipped out of a hole he was digging. The bad guys pursue him to small cliff cave. It's too small for them, so they decide to just block the entry and leave him to die. Back in town, the boy whose family was turned away from the ruins turns in Tommy's winning ticket. An FBI man finds out and all agents converge on the Puye Cliffs ruins. Aided by a helicopter, the agents get the bad scientist. The thugs hole up in the cave, but when two of them figure to turn themselves in, they're shot by the loyal communist. Tommy has, meanwhile found a small exit, but it is in the cliff face. He dangles and clutches the rocks. The helicopter spots him. An agent repels down and saves him. Everyone is happy. The End.

  Insidious Infiltrators
TAC uses the theme of spies-among us, which would become popular in Cold War sci-fi. Except here, the spies and infiltrators aren't disguised as aliens who take human form. They're just plain spies and collaborators. True to the sci-fi form, you can't tell a communist villain (or their hired thugs) from a loyal citizen. They all look normal enough. The thug posing as an authority figure (Park Ranger) is a good example of this.

  Cold War Spotlight
The story itself is very early in the Cold War era, so there is more anxiety about the secret falling into enemy hands. Later atomic angst (after the commies already had their own bombs) would focus on doomsday. In TAC, the kidnappers' motivation and the impetus of the plot center of US having the bomb and THEM doing anything to get it. When Martha suggests that they give the kidnappers what they want, Frank scoffs that this would mean THEY would "wreck half the world."

  Notes
Pot Boiler -- Even though the story is a fairly conventional kidnapping crime drama, the gravity of the ransom price pushes it beyond the ordinary.

  A Whiff of Doom -- A subtle atomic angst message is delivered by young Tommy. At his lunch table, he prefaces his pipe dreams (twice) "If I grow up…" instead of when I grow up. It troubles his mother, that their boy isn't sure he has a future. Nothing more is made of this message, but it was a good presaging of later youth malaise as a response to atomic anxiety.

  Ruthless Villains -- Note that the bad guys are cast as heartless killers. Even their own hired thugs and minions are treated as disposable commodities. They're blown up, or shot when they were done with their assigned duties.

  Noble Heroes -- Note how the FBI are cast as squeaky clean boy scouts. They have a rule book which doesn't allow them to rough up a suspect. When Frank (the upset father) suggests they rough up the peanut salesmen to get more clues, agent Farley says, "We can't do it. It goes against everything we stand for."

  Forties Feast -- For car fans, TAC offers a few scenes chock full of 1940s models. The FBI drive around in long black 1947 Chryslers. The pickup man drives a 1940 two-tone DeSoto Sportsman. The ballpark parking lot is a buffet of old Detroit iron. Chevy, Buick, Mercury. The newest model easily identified is a 1950 Ford Sedan and the spiffy 1950 DeSoto Custom the pickup man parks next to. This suggests that the film (or at least the outdoor scenes) were shot in the summer of '51, before the debut of '52 models (typically in early autumn).

 Bottom line? TAC is a good crime thriller, well paced and well photographed. It is a good movie from that early Cold War era when sneaky, dastardly commies were the focus. It's a film even non-sci-fi fans can enjoy.

The Bed Sitting Room

A bizarre member of the post-apocalyptic sub-genre, The Bed-Sitting Room (BSR) is a comedy portrayal of Britain, three (or four) years after a nuclear World War III. The humor is very British, which often doesn't translate well to other cultures. The structure of BSR is very "free form", consisting of strings of vignettes, skits and sight gags. The various characters attempt to carry on some sort of "normal" life despite the near-total destruction. The story (such as it is) is told more in the manner of a long Monty Python episode than a conventional story.

  Quick Plot Synopsis
Note: Since the form of BSR is so eclectic, this synopsis is more of an overview than condensed narrative. The story (such as it is) follows two clusters of characters as they go about their lives amid the rubble. One group is the family: father, mother, Penelope and her boyfriend Allan. The other group is Lord Fortunum and his "doctor", Captain Bules Martin. Fortunum seeks help, as he thinks he's turning into a bed-sitting-room (a small apartment). He does, eventually morph into a lone, shabby single room, out on the desolate wasteland that was England. Penelope's family lived on a subway car which apparently just circled around beneath London. Penelope is pregnant from her pretty (but dim) boyfriend Allan. Father decides it's time to go up and live on the surface, so they do. They slog around the piles of rubble and fetid ponds running into various odd characters. Eventually, the family's path and those of Fortunum and Martin, cross. Mother turns into a wardrobe cabinet. Fortunum does turn into a bed-sitting-room. Martin courts, then weds Penelope over Allan's vacuous objections. Penelope has her "baby", though it is some small vague "monster" which dies shortly afterward. iFather turns into a parrot, kills himself "for science" and is cooked and eaten by the others. Even more chaos ensues. Fortunum pretends to be the voice of God. The police inspector delivers the good news that the queen (Mrs. Ethyl Shroake) has decreed that poisonous nuclear fogs were no longer necessary. Penelope and Allan, with a late-born "twin" -- this one a normal baby -- walk off over the green meadow. The movie closes to a few lines of "God Save Mrs. Ethyl Shroake" with her mounted on a horse, in a tattered QE II outfit, standing in front of an arch made of old washing machines. The End.

  Why is this movie fun?
BSR is full of very-British style humor (humour). The run time amounts to strings of skits and gags with only a very loose narrative connection. Some of the gags and jokes are quite funny, most of them in "The Absurd" style of humor. The visuals intriguing.

  Cold War Angle
This is raw Cold War satire. Where Dr. Strangelove told the story of nuclear doom from the beginning, BSR tells it from after all the bombs have dropped. The war is accepted as just something that happened, with no one quite knowing how it happened, who started it, or who won.

  Notes
Star Gazing -- Look for Spike Milligan as the bearded postman. Peter Cook plays the Inspector. A very young Dudley Moore plays his sergeant. Also note Marty Feldman in what must be his first movie role, as the credits say "Introducing".

  First, We Play -- BSR started out as a one-act play in 1962, written by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus. It had some success as a play. The timing of the theatrical version coincides with others of the doom genre. They helped it be adapted to a film, but whatever "magic" the play had, did not translate well enough to the big screen. It could be that post-apocalyptic doom (in satire form) was losing its edge with audiences.

  What's Your Point? -- Co-writer Spike Milliagan said: "Nobody ever got the point about what it was about. What we were trying to say through all this laughter and fun, was that if they dropped the bomb on a major civilisation, the moment the cloud had dispersed and sufficient people had died, the survivors would set up all over again and have Barclays Bank, Barclay cards, garages, hates, cinemas and all…just go right back to square one. I think man has no option but to continue his own stupidity." We clearly see that satirized in how the characters continue to refer London addresses amid the gavel heaps, still having a queen, and a prime minister, etc. when there were only 20 people left in England.

  Gags Galore -- Running gags, such as the police floating along in a balloon, always telling people to "keep moving", recurs throughout. Before leaving the subway, Father insists that they take a heavy steamer trunk with them. Without luggage, they could be cited as vagrants, you see. The encumbering trunk spawns several running gags. Sexual innuendo gags abound. One of the better ones is that Father had his measurements taken (they are all 22", as that was the rule the sergeant had. Father's inseam is referred to as his "inside leg" being 22" long. The skits and gags are too eclectic to categorize.

  Radiation Mutates! -- Everyone knows that, but into what? One recurring gag, which supports the plot (such as it was), is the notion that nuclear fallout mutates people. But, instead of turning into monsters (as was more typical), people turn into odd "things." Fortunum turns into a shabby apartment. Mother turns into a wardrobe cupboard. Father turns into a parrot. The Sergeant turns into a dog.

  What IS a Bed Sitting Room? -- The term is a British one for a single room apartment -- Bedroom and Sitting Room, all in one. It's smaller than an American "studio apartment" in that it has no kitchen and shares a bath with other rooms. It would be typical of what a rooming house might have, or a hotel converted to longer term occupancy.

 Bottom line? BSR will not be for everyone. Viewers expecting a cohesive narrative are likely to be confused and/or frustrated. Being eclectic humor, it often makes no sense. Fans of Monty Python's Flying Circus program are less likely to be put off the by the format. It is also full of British humor. Much of it will go over non-British viewers' heads. BSR does amount to an eccentric cousin to the more staid doom-genre, so can be appreciated on that level.

Seeking Missing Movies

Occasionally, readers of this blog will write in, looking for help identifying a movie they remember, but not well enough. Sometimes, their Lost Movie can be identified from their clues. Other times, it remains a mystery.

Note to people seeking a Lost Movie: Try to include all the details you can remember, even if they don't seem crucial to the scene you remember. Black and White or Color? Daytime? Night? Was the room a bedroom? conference room, living room, control room? Were the other men in the room in suits? uniforms? space suits? Seemingly stray details can help.

Can You Help?
Below are some queries from readers, trying to track down a mystery film from their childhood. Have a read through. See if any of these descriptions ring a bell. Post comments. Help a poor movie lover be reunited with a part of their past.

 Ryan: Basically I am trying to track down an old movie.  Something I saw when I was really young, maybe 7. I'm now 31. The imagery has really stuck with me.  But unfortunately I do not know the title and have not had much luck internet searching. It is an old Black White movie.  A Middle aged man, likely wearing a suit, appropriate for the time. boards a commercial airliner, everything is normal.   The plane takes off and he falls asleep.  When he wakes up the plane is completely deserted, it is apparently flying itself.  From there all I remember is him just perplexed walking around plane trying to figure out what is going Generic commercial airliner. I saw it on tv but it looked like a movie aired on tv. But I am almost certain it was a movie. The imagery was so good.  Just a simple clean eerie movie.

 C: I'm looking for a sci-fi film, maybe 60's (or 70's) All I remember is a scene at a beach with a guy in a suit running from giant bouncing balls (like weather balloons) that kill. Any idea ?

 Billodot: I saw a movie in 1962 or 3 that opened with the view of a clock... everyone on earth was gone, and the camera looks out on to the street below to see robots with rays coming out of their visors destroying everything I was 8, it was a B/W matinee anyone have a clue? I think 'day' was in the title?

 David T: I too am looking for one I enjoyed years ago. It's a color film, as I recall, from my teen years, quite grainy. I don't recall much of the plot but do recall enjoying it. The best details I remember: The hero flew in an unusually shaped spaceship, kind of like the claw of a scorpion. And, the real thing that I recall that sets it apart, during a war of aliens vs. aliens, one of ships on the good guy size was a classic flying saucer. I recall the bad guy captured one of the almost all white aliens from the saucer. He had a habit of taking limbs from those he captured and had a mad doctor that tried to keep them alive so they could endure the emotional pain of seeing their appendage stolen. This turned bad for the bad guy because the aliens in the saucer had zero tolerance for pain and the victim died. Further, the aliens were able to use telepathy to control the stolen arm and used it to choke the bad guy - who managed to have it cut off before it killed him.

Hell And High Water

This 1954 film is a curious sibling to the doom genre film The Bedford Incident ('65). Both feature Richard Widmark commanding a vessel. There's a submarine. Both plots involve searching for some communists with nukes. Both end with a mushroom cloud. Hell and High Water (HHW) is a lesser sibling in some ways, but an early member of the atomic angst genre nonetheless. HHW was a big-scale 20th Century Fox production in Technicolor. Bedford was a lesser-budget black and white film shot in England. Yet, Bedford is the better film.

  Quick Plot Synopsis
Narrators, posing as radio reporters tell of the disappearance of a noted atomic scientist, Professor Montel and his lovely assistant, Professor Denise Gerard while we watch second unit footage of London, Paris, Rome and New York. At the airport in Tokyo, Adam Jones (Widmark), going by the alias of Mr. MacDoughall, goes through some cloak-and-dagger machinations to arrive at a secret meeting of concerned international scientists. Montel is among them. They suspect the Communist Chinese are up to something nuclear on a remote island in the north Pacific. They want Jones to command a submarine recon mission to follow a suspect freighter and confirm or disprove their concerns. Jones demurs, but they offer him money. He accepts. The group bought a WWII Japanese submarine for the task. It needs work and refitting. Before repairs are complete, the freighter departs, so Jones and crew must too. Aboard is Montel and Denise, who causes much hormonal wolfishness among the crew. En route, they are pursued by a Red Chinese sub. There are protracted cat-and-mouse maneuvers and the obligatory silence scene. During all this, Jones and Denise kiss and embrace. Eventually, Jones' sub rams the Chinese sub and proceeds. At the first island, they find nothing. Montel insists they look at another island further north. They do, and Jones sees a B-29 with American markings being loaded by chinese soldiers. They escape capture and flee, but capture a soldier who turns out to be a pilot. The sub's chinese cook poses as another prisoner to coax out what the pilot is up to. He finds out about a plot to bomb Korea with an atom bomb dropped from an American plane, so America will get blamed for it. The pilot discovers the ploy and kills the cook. The plane is to take off in the morning. Jones wants the sub positioned off the island's runway so the can shoot it down as it lumbers aloft. Jones was to go on the island to give the here-it-comes signal, but Montel steals the skiff and goes to the island. Denise screams that Montel is her father. Too late. He's gone and gives the signal. The bomber labors for altitude. Every man on the sub is firing whatever he had, deck cannon, 50 caliber, hand guns, everything. They manage to cripple the bomber's engines. It trails smoke and circles back to the island to attempt to land. Jones orders a crash dive. They go under. The island is engulfed in a big fire ball, followed by a mushroom cloud. The sub is buffeted, but survives. Jones and Denise hug. The End.

  Apocalypse Avoided
Earlier in the Atomic Angst genre, there was a more hopeful mood. The idea that the nuclear apocalypse could be avoided was more popular than the everyone's-gonna-die themes prevalent in the late 50s, early 60s. The Bedford Incident is an example of the latter. HHW is its sibling from the former mood. The gravity of a global nuclear war is understood in HHW, but the heroes, by pluck and courage manage to avert armageddon -- which was being schemed by the dastardly communists.

  Sci-Fi Angle
HHW might, just barely, qualify as a sci-fi, since it has some of the hallmarks. There are some scientists, a geiger counter, and something atomic. In the 50s, that was enough to qualify. The sci-fi family certainly had other tenuous claimants. Yet, HHW is essentially a war/sub movie with red nukes as the MacGuffin. Still, note the common optimism. In HHW, they avert the terrible war. In many sci-fi, the good guys kill the monster, or thwart the aliens, etc. Earlier sci-fi and atomic angst focused on presumed success.

  Notes
Token Feminism -- Whether it was the story's creator, David Hempstead, or (more likely) the screen writers, Jesse Lasky, Jr. and director Samuel Fuller, the script is hyped-up bipolar mix of male chauvinism and feminism. The script can't decide which it is. On the one hand, all the men pant and drool over the only woman in the cast: Belle Darvi as Professor Gerard. She is, handily enough, young, trim and pretty. The men presume they can kiss (or paw) her. Isn't that what women are for? In an attempt to counterbalance this meaty viewpoint, the writers go to awkward lengths to let Denise be super smart. She speaks many languages including Chinese. She 'saves the day' at one point by being able to read the japanese labels on some valves. And, not least of all, she's a nuclear scientist. But, for all that, she screams like a girl, faints and gets carried to bed when she's weak.

  Cowboy Scientists -- There is a subtle optimism in the plot device that it is an international cabal of atomic scientists who assemble (and finance) the mission to save the world. The understated "dig" is that national governments are too entrenched in whatever Cold War posturing they've gotten themselves into. So, into the do-something vacuum rides our secret society of scientists, like cowboys, to save the day.

  That's Your Plan? -- The script writers said that the sneak-attack bombing of Korea would start World War III, but no hint is given as to just why the communist Chinese thought this was a good idea. Perhaps, as the nuclear-club weakling, they hoped American and Russia would blow each other up, leaving the Chinese as the strongest (surviving) power? Even in this scenario, the early Cold War optimism is expressed. Damage would be localized to America and Russia. The total disaster, ala On The Beach was not in view.

  Commie B-29s? -- Turns out, it was not all that far fetched that the Red Chinese would have a B-29 with which to pull off their deadly frame job. During WWII, three different American B-29s had to set down in the Soviet Union after missions over Japan. The Russians refused to return them. Lacking any sort of bomber as effective as the Super fortress, they took one completely apart so as to reverse engineer their own copy. Despite some minor differences, and slightly lesser performance, they succeeded. The Tupolev Tu-4 was a very good copy. With it, the USSR could conceivably reach the US mainland. The Tu-4 was the main Soviet bomber until the early 50s, when it was replaced by a more modern jet bomber. Some of the Russian Tu-4s were sold to China. So, there ya go.

  CinemaScope -- If you took away the widescreen format and color, HHW would be a fairly mediocre war film. What carries it into the lower A ranks is the strong use of color and the widescreen grandeur. Fox bought and developed the anamorphic format to give audiences wide screen visual feasts. Television, with its boxy 3:4 ratio, was becoming a bigger diversion. Movies needed something that TV couldn't do. HHW is Fox's ninth CinemaScope film. The first was The Robe in '53. Anamorphic lenses compressed (horizontally) a wide image into the boxy 35mm frame. The theater projector needed a matching anamorphic lens to decompress the squozen images. It was all still a visual treat in '54, so HHW's plot or action shortcomings were more easily overlooked. Modern audiences aren't as dazzled by color and wide image, so the mediocre plot is more apparent.

 Bottom line? HHW is an okay movie, if one is already predisposed to like submarine war movies. It would make an interesting Widmark-Subs-and-Nukes double feature with The Bedford Incident. It's not a thoughtful film, and drags at times and at other times almost painfully corny or trite. Yet, it is a representative sample of Cold War zeitgeist of its time. Disaster could be averted by action heroes.