Supersonic Saucer

Before launching into sci-fi films of 1972, we'll start the year off with a bit of digression. This week's digression is back to 1956 and a very obscure British sci-fi for the children's film market. Supersonic Saucer (SS) was the last film produced by Gaumont-British Productions. No theatrical poster was readily available, hence the screen capture of the title. GBP was much more active in the 30s and 40s, though in decline in the 50s. The writer of the story was Frank Wells, younger son of H.G. Wells. One of the curious things about SS is how little has been written about it on the internet already. What there is, seems to mostly include one questionable review, picked up and repeated on other sites. More on that below.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A group of students is on a field trip at an observatory. While Rodney is taking his turn looking through the telescope at Venus, he sees a flying saucer spin off towards Earth. No one believes him, of course. Later that day, most all the children depart the boarding school for the holiday break. All, except Sumac and Greta, who haven't the money to travel to their far-away parents. Rodney and his little brother Adolphus, are the sons of the schoolmaster. After all the parents left, the schoolmaster's family are putting all the school's silver trophies back into the safe. The shifty janitor sees this. He goes to tell his boss, #1, about it. Meanwhile, Sumac and Greta play outside. They hear a whirring, and see a little white saucer land in a tree. This morphs into a little white puppet creature with big eyes. They can understand it, telepathically. They take it back to show Rodney. They decide to name it Meba. The girls telepathically "read" more backstory that Meba is a young Venusian who just learned to turn into a flying saucer and flew too high (i.e. to Earth). He wants to learn more about earthlings. The children are hungry so Meba flies off to town and brings a load of sweets from a bakery. The kids say, no, they can't eat what's not theirs, so Meba takes it all back. Rodney wishes they had a proper fire (in the fireplace), so Meba causes the drapes and furniture to burst into flames. No, not like that. Meba puts out the fires. While the girls are chatting in bed, they lament not having a million Pounds to go visit their families. Meba flies off and brings a million Pounds from the bank. In the morning, the kids discover the loot. Meba can't take it back in broad daylight, so they put it in the safe. The janitor sees this too. He tells #1, who then plans a burglary with his gang. That night, Meba takes the money back, but the burglars steal the trophies. The janitor kidnaps Meba as a potentially useful burglary tool. (He got in and out of the bank with a million pounds, after all.) While captive in a box at the gang's hideout, Meba sends out distress thought that the children pick up. They each arrive at the abandoned house. The gang try to capture the kids, but are too inept. Greta frees Meba, who sets a fire to bring the firemen. They come, with a policeman who arrest the inept bad guys. The kids get a hefty reward for capturing the notorious gang. The girls get to go see their parents. Meba is free to return to Venus. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Well, it's a kids' movie. It's supposed to be fun. The little alien, Meba, is so benign and naive, compared to contemporary mid-50s aliens, that it's a refreshing change. The stairway gag is mildly amusing.

Cold War Angle
There is none. The moral of this story is "Be careful what you wish for." and that crime doesn't pay -- especially for bumbling oafs.

Notes
Spielberg Rip-off? -- As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, someone had posted they thought Spielberg plagiarized SS to make his 1982 film E.T. That one short review appears to have been copied, translated and recopied across various internet sites. There are some general similarities between E.T. and SS, but almost as many differences. E.T. is not an updated copy of SS. The two films do have a lone alien (who is not menacing), and a group of kids as protagonists. The little alien has some amazing powers. There are a group of adults "after" the alien -- but for different reasons. The original reviewer said that SS had a scene in which the kids take Meba for a bike ride and that this scene was proof of Spielberg's plagiarism. The copy I watched did not have any such scene. Perhaps it was cut. (My copy ran 49 minutes. Imdb says 50 minutes) Did it happen in the "missing" minute? Even if such a scene existed in SS, it was hardly the pivotal plot scene it was in E.T. In the older film, the alien came to earth alone (not left behind) and could leave anytime. The case for plagiarism seems weak.

If anyone has actually SEEN this Meba-on-bike scene, (not just read about it) feel free to let me know via the Comments feature.

No Growing Up -- All four child actors in SS did only a few movies as child actors, but none of them went on to adult acting careers.

Cheap Puppet Success -- As befitting a kids movie, the alien is very obviously a simple puppet with movable eyes. No serious attempt was made for "realism" (whatever that might mean for an alien) Even in the mid-50s, no adult movie could get away with such a cheap puppet. (The Giant Claw as an example of such failure) The Meba puppet has no mouth, does not speak and does not move except for a bit of turning left or right, or hunkering down to turn into a cheaply animated flying saucer-critter. The kids tote Meba about like a doll. While adult viewers could not stretch their imaginations to allow such a puppet to "be" an alien from Venus, kids obviously could. Puppets in kids shows were common. (Howdy Doody, anyone?) Kids had little trouble letting their imaginations allow puppets to "live." The work of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, in such programs as Stingray and The Thunderbirds was probably on the tail end of this age of innocence. By the late 60s, puppets just couldn't cut it anymore.

GB's Quiet End -- Gaumont-British Pictures Corporation was a big name in British cinema in the 30s. It started as a subsidiary of the French Gaumont company, but by 1927 was wholly independent. GB produced some famous early Alfred Hitchcock films, such as The 39 Steps and The Man Who Knew Too Much. It also produced pre-nuclear sci-fi films: The Tunnel and The Man Who Lived Again (starring Boris Karloff). Through the early 40s, war and spy films were common. After the war, GB shifted quietly into purely educational or documentary films. Supersonic Saucer appears to be one of the last films in their list before GB was acquired by the Rank Corporation.

Bottom line? While quite obscure, there are a few movie sites on the internet which will sell copies of SS. Whether the price is worth it, depends on the viewer. As a kids film, it is predictable and repetitive for adults. Still, the film has nostalgic innocent-age entertainment value.
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Warning From Space

Produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company in 1956, the original title was (roughly) "Spacemen Appear in Tokyo". The later english dubbed version was retitled Warning From Space (WFS). Not all Japanese sci-fi movies were kaiju. There are some aliens and some destruction of model buildings, but there is no "giant" rubber-suit monster. Instead, WFS is a medley of prior sci-fi movie themes. WFS is historically significant as the first Japanese sci-fi movie shot in color -- just months before Toho's Radon was released. Unlike Rodan, however, the english dubbed version was not a re-edit, but the original Japanese director's cut. This makes it both peculiar (or frustrating) and yet intriguing.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Scientists observe a new satellite over the earth. It spews "meteorites" which are reported all around the globe as flying saucers. Shortly afterward, people report seeing monsters. Dr. Kamura's daughter Taeko sees one starfish shaped being outside her door. The starfish beings leave radioactive traces that glow blue. The starfish men are from the planet Paira, which is in an opposite orbit with the earth -- so we've never known of Paira. They, however, have been watching us detachedly. Now they break their detachment to warn earthlings of a rouge planet on a collision course with the earth. To circumvent that running and screaming at the sight of one-eyed starfish creatures, the Pairans transmorph one of themselves (and later others) into a human form -- that of a popular nightclub dancer. The new stargirl is found "with amnesia" and taken into the scientist's home. She scolds Dr. Matsuda for his formula for "Nurium 101": an explosive substance far more powerful than mere H-bombs. Japan asks the World Congress to authorize blasting Planet R with earth's existing nukes to knock it off course, but the politicians refuse. Dr. Matsuda is kidnapped by underworld thugs to get his formula. Meanwhile, the earth is becoming scorched as Planet R nears. The politicians reconsider, but all the nukes do nothing. Earth suffers more. The Pairans rescue Dr. Matsuda and use his formula to make a super bomb. This they launch at Planet R and successfully destroy it. Earth is saved. Bunnies come out of their holes and children run squealing into the grassy hills. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
It's interesting to see classic stories recast through different cultural eyes. The cycloptic star-alien costumes are unforgettable. As an original (Japanese) edit, there are apparent plot non-sequetors and odd tangents to keep you wondering.

Cold War Angle
The customary not-mature-enough-for-nukes moral is present, but seriously undermined by the rest of the story. Mankind might be aggressive and impetuous, but if confronted by a danger that regular weapons can't stop, resorting to a super-weapon is sometimes necessary. This is the Cold War Dogma in a nutshell.

Notes
Two Remakes In One -- The two most obvious sci-fi remakes in WFS are The Day the Earth Stood Still and When Worlds Collide. The first half of the movie is TDESS. An alien comes to earth to deliver a message that the earth is in danger and mankind not mature enough for super weapons. "The earthlings must be stopped, and terminate their blundering," says the Pairan leader. The second half remakes WWC in having a rogue planet about to crash into the earth. The two are stitched together in that the Pairans contact earth to warn Earth about our nuclear blundering. This shifts to a common danger: the coming of Planet R. Stargirl (Ginko) is surprised to see Matsuda's formula for Nurium 101. The Pairan's wanted earth to use their "blundering" but then suggest we use our nukes to divert Planet R. It is when we bungled the job (due to bureaucrats dawdling) that the Nurium super bomb becomes necessary.

Remake Medley -- Two other classics lend their flavor as well. The opening scenes are very reminiscent of Paramount's War of the Worlds with meteors falling around the globe, radio static, etc. The theme shifts after this opening to scenes reminiscent of Creature From The Black Lagoon with the star-shaped Pairan's looming up out of dark murky waters to (unintentionally) frighten people. This theme is pretty quickly dropped too in favor of the TDESS theme.

Folklore Foundation? -- It is said that WFS was based on a novel which was itself based on an old Japanese folk tale entitled "Tale of the Bamboo Cutter." The association is loose, at best. The both have an alien come to earth in the form of a beautiful young woman, her growing up with an earth family, and ultimately returning to her heavenly home. Beyond that, the two diverge. This folk tale heritage does help explain the apparent non-sequetor of Star-Hikari (Ginko) being "found" and having no identity (like a baby) and why she stays with Dr. Matsuda's family. The pattern would be more familiar to Japanese audiences than American.

Quirks Explained? -- Some "plot holes" may be more a matter of a viewer expecting blatant explanations and tidy summaries. Japanese directors seem to have liked subtlety.
1. Why would the Pairans, who profess to have been monitoring earth for thousands of years, think that looming up out of the water, or lurking outside of dark doors, was the way to make contact with humans? Perhaps they knew we were easily spooked, so thought a quiet one-on-one with common folk was the way in. "Pssst, Hey, earthling..."
2. How could Ginko be so instantly familiar with the Nurium formula, yet the Pairan's still need Matsuda in order to make some? The Pairans never finished developing it, knowing how über-powerful it was, they stopped. Matsuda's formulae was the rest of the puzzle they avoided. Not everything was in that notebook. Much was still in Matsuda's head.
3. And, how did poor Dr. Matsuda survive being tied up in that chair for a month? Perhaps the underworld thugs have been continuing to hold him there. Feeding, bathroom breaks, etc., in hopes of getting the formula. We just don't see them doing so. They fled when the earthquakes began.

Dies Bling -- The handy communicator ring appears to be a bit of Dies Ex Machina jewelry. Planet R is fast approaching and no one knows where Matsuda is -- not even the Pairans. What to do? Home in on his honkin' huge communicator tracking ring, of course. Duh. Trouble was, no one ever mentioned this ring before. It was the classic dies ex machina device, dropped in to solve an unsolvable problem. American audiences like foreshadowing better than god-via-machine devices.

Dang Politicians -- Where the obvious heros of WFS are the scientists -- honest men, good fathers, altruists. The clear villains are the unseen world politicians. While doom approaches, they posture and dawdle. When it is too late, they decide to act. The gangsters are bad, yes, but not too bad. All they did to Matsuda was give him an extended 'time out' to make him talk.

Bottom line? WFS is entertaining on several levels. It is still B-grade sci-fi and not high art, but fun nevertheless. It is an homage to several prior 50s sci-fi classics.

Rodan

To continue this Digression Week, we have another famous Japanese monster movie. Following on the success of Gojira (Godzilla), Ishiro Honda and Toho Studios created similar giant monster (kaiju) movie. Rodan was the first Toho monster movie in color. The original Radon was released in Japan in 1956. Given Godzilla's success in America in 1955, American distributors (the King Brothers) were quick to buy the rights for an American release. Rodan was surprisingly well dubbed and faithful to the original story. It did very well for the King Brothers. Rodan is like two monster movies in one. The first half has giant bugs attacking coal miners. The second half has a giant pteranodon attacking the world (mostly Japan).

Quick Plot Synopsis
(this is for the original Japanese cut) -- Two coal miners have a history of quarreling and fighting. One of them is found dead in the mines, as are three more sent in to investigate. The other is suspected. Shigeru, the mine engineer, consoles Kiyo, his fiancee. A giant larval bug enters her house. Men chase it up on a hillside, the bug attacks two policeman. The army is called in to kill the bug. Down in the mine shaft, the attack it with heavy machine guns, but to no effect. Shigeru gets separated into another cavern. He is attacked by larvae, but assumed lost in a cave-in. Biologists figure the big bugs are the larval stage of prehistoric dragonflies. An earth tremor causes a huge are of earth to collapse. Shigeru is found wandering in the new pit, but he has lost his memory.
Reports come in of a supersonic UFO. Jets are scrambled, but one is rammed by the UFO. Planes are missing. A pair of honeymooners are missing, as are several cattle. Scientists deduce that the UFO is a giant pteranodon. Shigeru regains his memory and confirms this. He recalls seeing it hatch in the cave and eat the larvae. The Rodan causes destruction in many cities, especially Fukuoka. Turns out there are two Rodans. They nest in caves on Mt. Aso (an active volcano). The military evacuate civilians, then attack the volcano with tanks and rockets to seal the caves. This also causes the volcano to erupt. The two Rodans escape the rubble, but one is too hurt to escape and falls into the lava. Its mate hovers for awhile, calling, but then settles into the flames beside it. They die together. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
There is much to enjoy in Rodan. It's Godzilla 2.0. It is a rich and layered tale beneath the veneer of a rubber-suit monster stomping model cities. See Notes for more points of interest.

Cold War Angle
Like Godzilla, Rodan's appearance is blamed on imprudent nuclear testing. This impossible to miss in the American cut. Rodan is similarly an analogy for the destructive power of modern war. There is complexity amid the usual nuclear cautionary tale.

Notes
What's in a Name? -- In the Japanese original, the monster is called Radon.
This is a contraction from pteRAnoDON. The Japanese posters have the three big katakana characters for RA-DO-N. Yet, for the American release, the vowels were swapped to yield rOdAn. Why? Various theories exist. There was a toy that had trademarked the name? There is an atomic element by that name? Neither of these are convincing. Whatever the reason, Rodan is how Americans knew the flying monster.

Nice Dub, Man -- The english dialogue lines up pretty well with Japanese actors' lip movements. The english script follows the original plot line. In some ways, the english dub makes for a clearer story. Some narration (ostensibly by Shigeru) over some longish or vague scenes, fills in some details and backstory that Honda left subtle. Listen for the unmistakable voice of Paul Frees as the police chief, mining boss and others. George Takai (later Lt. Sulu) also provides voice talent.

You Talk Funny -- It is interesting that the voice talent were instructed to talk with japanese accents. The most egregious of these is Paul Frees, but others are oddly affected too. One character says in his exaggerated accent, that he is completely baffled -- "I ahm compweet-awee baff-ood". The director must have felt the english dubs needed to "sound" japanese.

Super Models -- The model work in Rodan is actually very well done. Note, especially, the attention to detail in the buildings being destroyed by Rodan's wind. Notice all the delicate roof trusses when Rodan stomps on the train station. Note all the moving parts on the trucks and tanks. Anyone who has build models can see the Rodan sets were no slap-dash cheepo toys. These were A-grade model-miniature special effects.

Reconcilable Differences -- The King Brothers edits are surprisingly faithful to the original. New footage, such as the beginning with the nuclear bomb test, fit the original story. Longish scenes were pared down. Implied details were made blatant (such as there being two Rodans). Watch for repeated original footage, reversed left/right to serve as additional shots. Watch the footage of F-86 Saber Jets. In the original, they all had Japanese markings. In the American version, some footage clearly shows American markings. Overall, though, the King Brothers' version is no hack job. It is more of a re-edit with a different (but still competent) editor.

Moral of the Story? -- Ishiro Honda said Godzilla was an analogy for nuclear power (and nuclear war). Rodan fits this pattern as well, but not quite as neatly. The ending is enigmatic. The male Radon choosing to die with its mate in the volcano has a tragic nobility to it. This doesn't square with Honda's customary anti-nuke sentiments. Here is my take: Rodan is a retrospective analogy for WWII, seen in a sort of passive civilian view. War comes. It causes death and destruction. Civilian lives are disrupted (and lost). The Rodans are the old imperial Japan. The "new" Japan doesn't defeat the old so much as they're consumed by the fire. The final scene is like a respectful bit of mourning for the death of the "old" Japan.

Bottom line? Don't let the cheap kaiju movies of the 60s put you off. Rodan is a quality story about a giant terror of the skies, far better than a poor American copy the next year, The Claw. Watch Rodan for some quality kaiju. If you are really a kaiju fan, watch the japanese original (with English subtitles) first, then watch the King Brothers' re-edit. It makes great "compare and contrast" fodder.

Quatermass 2: Enemy From Space

Hammer Films recognized a successful product in the Quatermass stories. They first produced The Quatermass Xperiment in 1955, adapted from Nigel Kneale's BBC TV series which ran in 1953. Hammer wanted to produce a sequel, but could not get permission to use the Quatermass name. They produced X The Unknown earlier in 1957, which was a Quatermass-style story but without the Quatermass character. In 1955, Kneale's Quatermass 2 TV series ran -- perhaps the first sequel to actually use a number. Hammer bought the movie rights to it. They condensed down the 3 hours (6 half-hour episodes) into an hour and a half feature film. In it's American release, it was retitled "Enemy From Space." Quatermass 2 (Q2) is a rather good B sci-fi movie, combining the alien-takeover theme with the mass invasion theme reminiscent of War of the Worlds.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Mysterious objects are falling over eastern England. Professor Quatermass, whose rocket and moon base program have been scraped by the government, is in a foul mood. Curious, he and his assistant, Marsh, travel to small village of Winnerden Flats to investigate. They find only ruins and a huge processing plant that is supposedly producing synthetic food. The plant that looks suspiciously similar to Quatermass's own proposed moon base. Marsh finds one of the objects. It bursts and he is taken ill. Storm troopers arrive and carry away Marsh. Quatermass (Q, for short) drives to a nearby working class town for help, but they're all construction workers at the plant and refuse. Q asks Inspector Lomax for help. He puts Q in touch with an MP named Broadhead who arranges for a tour of the plant. Q escapes the trap and finds Broadhead covered in black acidic goo. He dies. Q escapes and tells Lomax. They return to the worker's village to learn more. Just before being nearly ejected by angry workers, a capsule falls into the pub, infecting the local beauty. Troopers arrive, shoot a reporter trying to call in the story, and take Sheila away. The enraged workers decide to storm the plant. Meanwhile, Q has infiltrated the plant wearing a dead soldier's uniform. Inside, he sees that the domes contain writhing gooey aliens. The soldiers are about to get him when the workers storm the gate, calling away all hands. The workers succeed and take one of the pressure control rooms. Q has them switch the gasses from ammonia to oxygen -- toxic to the creatures. After a tense siege, the workers fire an anti-tank weapon at the dome. It blows up, releasing several huge gooey blob creatures. These set about stomping the plant. Q's rocket finally hits the aliens' orbiting mother ship. The creatures fall over dead and burst into flames. The world is safe...for now... The End.

Why is this movie fun?
British sci-fi has a refreshingly non-Hollywood air about it. Kneale's story has a tense paranoia to it, similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers yet with more malice. The pacing is quick and the story has many layers to it.

Cold War Angle
There is an aspect of the aliens-taking-over-the-government which fits the Cold War mood. As well, the notion of regular men turned into "zombies" by infection from "them". There is yet a second layer (see Notes section) that is still Cold War, but more introspective.

Notes
Like On TV... -- Q2 was adapted from a six part TV series run by the BBC in 1955. Hammer Films condensed Nigel Kneale's screenplay reasonably well, keeping the story almost unchanged. A notable change was near the end. The BBC version had no monsters emerge from the domes. They simply died in there. The BBC version had Q fly in his rocket to the asteroid. There, he left his nuclear motor behind as a bomb, then returned. In the film, the rocket is sent as a pilotless drone to do the same thing. Beyond this, the two stories are very much alike.

First To Phobia? -- Hammer's Q2 was released in 1957, after Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but it was not a copy or spin-off. The TV series was written in '55, before the '56 film. Of course, Jack Finney's novel "The Body Snatchers" was serialized in '54, but alien take-overs had been in the movies prior to both. The Man From Planet X ('51) featured villagers taken over by the alien to do his manual labor. Invaders From Mars ('53) featured people taken over via alien implants to do the martian's bidding. Q2, however, is a powerful example of this sub-genre.

Goverphobia -- Where Finney's Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a less specific tale of paranoia about friends who "change," Q2 is more specific. It's more about fear of one's own government being compromised by the aliens. This could be communism, of course, but there is a double edge to that sword. The government secrecy and storm troopers with obvious nazi overtones look back at a Cold War spooked government which feels justified in any action (regardless of civil rights). This had a Cold War application, but still finds resonance in our post-9/11 terrorist-phobic world.

Cold Blooded Killers -- For a refreshing change, the aliens come from a very alien place -- one of the cold outer planets, perhaps a moon of Saturn. Also refreshing, they are not humanoid and do not speak English. In fact, they make no effort to communicate with earth's current inhabitants. They simply use them. With no particular explanation, they come to invade and colonize the earth. As advanced as they're supposed to be, they need humans to create a suitable ammonia-based environment for them first. The final blob things are definitely not humanoid.

Bottom line? Q2 is well worth watching for fans of 50s sci-fi. It combines some potent themes -- alien take-overs and global invasion -- quite successfully.

1956

Several classics were released this year. Many, more easily forgotten, B-grade fodder were released too. More sci-fi movies were released in '56 than had been in each of the previous years, but the sci-fi rocket was just warming up. Here are 1956's films in roughly chronological order:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers -- THE seminal classic about alien take-over and personal loss of individuality and humanity.

Indestructible Man -- A pulp crime story with Lon Chaney Jr. as a man man invulnerable to weapons.

The Atomic Man -- A British crime drama with a sci-fi twist. Industrial spies are after a scientist who lives 7.5 seconds in the future.

Forbidden Planet -- To many, this is the apex of 50s sci-fi. A United Planets cruiser finds a dark and deadly secret of a lost civilization.

World Without End -- Astronauts returning from Mars go through a time warp and arrive on earth centuries after a global nuclear war, to find mutants and underworlders.

The Creature Walks Among Us -- The third in the Creature series, and the most thoughtful. Gill man develops lungs and lives among men.

Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers -- A Ray Harryhausen classic of saucers and aliens intent on conquering the earth.

It Conquered The World -- A Roger Corman flick about a Venusian who smooth talks his way to earth so he can conquer it. Very low budget.

Satellite In The Sky -- British space drama about a weapons test intended to shock the world into peace, but things go wrong.

Beast of Hollow Mountain -- Not really a sci-fi story, but sometimes classified as one. A dormant T-Rex emerges to terrorize Mexican cattle ranchers.

Godzilla, King of Monsters -- The Americanized re-issue of the 1954 classic Gojira. Raymond Burr footage inserted, but essentially the same story.

Manhunt In Space -- Essentially three episodes of the Rocky Jones: Space Ranger TV show, edited into a "feature" film.

Fire Maidens of Outer Space -- A British variation on Catwomen of the Moon that panders with beauties, yet falteringly tries to be "art."

1984 -- The first film adaptation of Orwell's famous novel. Imperfect but moody and evocative.

Quatermass 2: Enemy From Space -- Professor Quatermass discovers a secret government plot and a processing plant which is incubating ammonia-breathing aliens.

The Mole People -- Archeologists find a "lost" civilization of (now) albino humans deep in the earth, who enslaved a race of mole-man creatures.

The Gamma People -- Obscure British sci-fi about an evil scientist trying to create a super-race in a tiny European nation.

Warning From Space -- English dubbed version of a Japanese film, which was itself a mash-up of The Day the Earth Stood Still and When Worlds Collide.

The Gamma People

This is an obscure British sci-fi movie, and not easy to come by. The basic premise is pretty traditional -- that of the evil scientist conducting inhumane experiments in a remote European castle. The actual execution of the plot could charitably by called quirky. At times, the word 'bizarre' seems to fit better. The movie cannot quite decide if it's anti-communist, anti-nazi, or anti-science. It dabbles in all three. The writers tried to interweave a comedy thread which can't rise much beyond a half-smile. The drama or suspense moments regularly scrub off any comedy momentum. The overall result is a movie that tries to make some sort of statement, but doesn't take itself seriously.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Two reporters, Mike and Howard, are on a train to Salzburg to cover a music festival. Their train car becomes detached from the rest of train, gets onto a different track and rolls downhill a long ways into the tiny and virtually unknown "Democracy of Gudavia". There, they are jailed as potential spies by the Sergeant Schultz-like commandant of the guard. The journalists are released, but not allowed to leave Gudavia by one subterfuge or another. A man manages to slip them a note, asking for help, but this man is murdered that night. The journalists are intrigued. They visit the castle of a Dr. Boronski, who is the 'big man' of Gudavia. While a good front is put on, there are hints of something afoot. The doctor has been experimenting with gamma ray bombardment of the human brain -- particularly in pre-pubescent children of Gudavia. It produces either prodigies such as the piano virtuoso Hedda and the mini-tyrant Hugo, or it produces imbeciles. Hedda's father tries to smuggle her out of Gudavia by night, but Boronski's mob of imbecile minions kill him and capture Hedda. Mike and Boronski's not-too-willing assistant Paula sneak into the castle to free Hedda. They are caught and subjected to Boronski's mind-draining gamma beam. Howard arrives with men from the village. They fight their way through the imbecile minions. Just before it is too late for Mike, Paula and Hedda, Hugo has a change of heart and pushes Boronski onto some electrical equipment, sparking a big fire in the lab. Howard helps them escape. Boronski dies in the fire. Afterward, everything has returned to a sort of quaint 19th century alpine sort of normal in Gudavia. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
While it's not an especially original theme (evil scientist), the oddness of the story is curious enough to keep a viewer's interest piqued.

Cold War Angle
While this thread is present, it's so tangled with the others, that it's not particularly clear. The closed (and fearful) society alludes to the Iron Curtain. Boronski's confiscation of the children in order to 'improve' them, also hints at the social controls of a communist state.

Notes
Confused Comedy -- A fair amount of the dialogue between Mike and Howard seem intended to be comical. The bumbling commandant also seems to be designed for laughs. The rest of the movie tries to be spooky or menacing or moody. The regular interspersing of moody and comic tends to deflate both. Like eating ice cream and a sirloin steak at the same time.

Nazi Ghosts -- Much of Gamma People is built around a lingering fear and loathing of the Nazis. Gudavia is an alpine state, speaking German, with troops in late 19th century parade uniforms. Youth in the crowd of citizens wear Lederhosen. Boronski's real name was Dr. Macklin (i.e. Dr. Mengele who experimented on children). Boronski's children wear uniforms highly reminiscent of Hitler's youth squads, the Hitler-Jüngend. Hugo himself is the very picture of the Nazi ideal. The defeat of Boronski and rescue of Hedda and Hugo (who becomes a nice boy) amount to a sort of symbolic retelling of the Allied victory and 'rescue' of the German people.

Faster Eugenics -- Boronski explains that man will eventually evolve into a smarter, more talented being. Rather than wait for the slow pace of 'evolution', he bombards young (less formed) brains with gamma radiation to speed up the process. His success rate is low, but he presses on. He intends to use his Übermenschen to breed a superior race, and use his living-zombies as an army of minions. This two-groups paradigm (superiors and subhumans) is also a very Nazi way of seeing things.

Not Obviously Evil -- The character of Dr. Boronski is played almost too cooly. He comes across as genial and maybe even correct. This makes his shift at the end, training his beam on Mike, Paula and Hedda seem out of place. Rather than poor directing, this may be a subtle commentary on the Nazi's or despots in general. They can act pleasant and reasonable at first, but become monsters.

Catching Some Rays -- Radiation was still a pretty mysterious thing in the 50s. Magnetism was thought in the early 1800s to be able to heal amazingly or do magical things. In the later 1800s and early 1900s, electricity was imagined to have magical powers to heal or create monsters. While both of these have lingering reputations, it was radiation in the 50s which marginalized them. Radiation was the new magic catalyst to just about anything the imagination could dream up -- for good or ill.

Bottom line? Gamma People is a strange little movie. For fans of 50s sci-fi, it can be fun to watch because it is so confused and quirky. For viewers expecting more logic and who like their comedy and drama separate, this might not be a movie worth watching -- let alone buying. For the fan, however, it's odd enough to be worth the watch.

The Mole People

This is one of Universal's lesser known 50s sci-fi films. Mole People doesn't fit the usual sci-fi formula. Electronics, radiation or rockets don't factor in. Instead, features archeology as the science. It is a variation on Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. It stars B-movie stalwart John Agar as the lead scientist and Hugh Beaumont (who would be the dad on Leave it to Beaver) as his sidekick. In many ways, Mole People is a typical B-movie, but is still entertaining and even a little thought provoking.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Archeologists working near the Himalayas find a cuneiform tablet that tells of a lost sumerian civilization. They organize a mountain climbing expedition to look for more artifacts. Well above the snow line, they find the ruins of a sumerian temple. One of their party falls down a deep hole. The rescue party find the man dead. A cave-in traps them underground. They follow caves to find a huge cavern, lit by luminous rocks. In it is a similar sumerian temple and small city. While they sleep, mole men capture them. Human guards take them from. The king (of their albino world) orders the strangers executed. They fight the feeble guards and flee back into the caves. Bentley's (Agar) flashlight hurts the guards' eyes. They flee. Mole men get the third scientist, who was claustrophobic. The king rescinds his decree, considers the men semi-divine since they have the "fire of Ishtar". He gives Bentley a servant girl who has normal pigmented skin. As guests, they're toured around. They see that the albinos use the mole men as slaves (abusively) to harvest the mushrooms -- the only food in the underworld. The high priest knows the men are mere mortals and wants their flashlight. When Bentley successfully breaks up a punishment (albinos whipping mole men), his flashlight goes dead. However, a mole man seems touched by the rescue. The mole men revolt, meaning there is less food. To balance the population to the food supply, the high priest orders three women sacrificed to "The Fire of Ishtar". This is a blindingly bright chamber which kills them. Bentley and Bellamin are drugged, then thrown into the chamber too. Servant girl runs for help to the mole men. They rise up and storm the palace. The priest wields the dead flashlight to no avail and is killed. Bentley and Bellamin are rescued, but no need. The Fire of Ishtar is a sunbeam. Joined by the servant girl, they all climb the tall shaft to the surface. All seems like a happy ending until an earthquake hits. A stone column rolls onto Adad, killing her. The quake also fills in the shaft. The two worlds are separate again. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
With so much focus on outer space, an inner space story is refreshing. Sure, it still has all of the usual B-film shortcomings, but the second half moves along pretty well.

Cold War Angle
While full of social commentary, Mole People has little connection to the Cold War. Only the underworld priest's oppression and control of 'the truth' might stretch to suggest communist despotism. This, however, is a bit of a stretch.

Notes
The Face of Science -- Dr. Frank C. Baxter, who gives a longish introduction to the movie, really was a university professor (of English). He had become a bit of a screen celebrity with a "Shakespeare on TV" series on CBS in 1953. He had become an archetype for educational television -- sage but affable, expert but engaging. His intro to Mole People lends the movie an air of credibility (just a bit)

Is it Sci-fi? -- The genre can get pigeon-holed. It must feature a rocket, a saucer, some aliens or techno-gizmo in order to be 'real' sci-fi. That's too narrow of a definition. Science includes chemistry, featured in Man in the White Suit ('51), physics in Magnetic Monster ('53) and biology, as in the many franken-copies. We'll even see geology play a role in Monolith Monsters ('57). In this movie, it's archeology which is the catalyst. Besides, Dr. Baxter says in the intro that the movie is science fiction. If the creators thought so, who are we to argue?

Touchy Allegory -- In the mid-50s, the civil rights issue was just starting to heat up for mainstream America. The underworlders' brutal oppression of the mole men amounts to a careful allegory for the oppression of black Americans. Note how the mole men are not mere beasts. They respond with gratitude at being rescued from the beating. They respond in kind to save Bentley and Bellamin.

Let My People Go -- In keeping with the previous note, notice the similarity between the scene of the underworlder guards whipping the mole men in their little pits, and the iconic scene in The Ten Commandments (playing earlier in 1956) where the egyptians are whipping the hebrews in the mud pits. This parallel further sympathizes the mole men. This scene also connects to the Civil Rights Movement, recalling the black culture's fondness for the song about Moses with the line "Let my people go..."

NOT After our women -- Despite the poster, the mole men show no interest in human women. The one brief scene with a mole man dragging Adad into his pit, is her escaping the guards and seeking out the mole men for help.

Bad Men -- A less obvious social commentary comes in the underworlders' attitude towards their women. There is the usual job status. The women are servant girls and dancers. But also notice that when the population needed thinning, the men sent three women to their deaths in the Fires of Ishtar. A subtle indictment of the chauvinist world?

Bottom line? Mole People is pretty "lite" on the science part of science-fiction, but is fairly engaging as an encounter with an "alien" civilization. The social commentaries are good for pondering on. It's still a B-movie, so cinematic expectations shouldn't get too high, but it's still worth watching.

1984

Orwell's novel was written in 1949, but this movie adaptation fits into the fabric of 50s sci-fi. It was not intended to be a fastidious screen version of the book. That would take far more than a feature film audience would tolerate. Instead, the opening credits announce that it is "freely adapted from the novel". The tale is much the same, though significantly thinned for the screen. Nonetheless, Michael Anderson's 1984 is a powerful tale of dystopia, despair and betrayal. It is still a haunting portrayal of The State as supremely sovereign.

Quick Plot Synopsis
From the destruction caused by the nuclear war of 1965, three dominant and supreme police states emerged. They stay in a perpetual state of war as a tool to control their various populations. During a missile attack on London, Winston Smith rushes home to his dingy little apartment, sneaking in a forbidden diary he bought. A neighbor invites him out for a drink. Two "traitors", Jones and Rutherford, are arrested. At work the next day in the Ministry of Truth, Winston comes across a news photo of Jones and Rutherford proving they weren't guilty. His supervisor, O'Connor, denies the photo ever existed and orders him to destroy it. Winston's belief in an objective truth and faith to the state is shaken even more. He finally meets with a woman, Julia, who says she loves him. They begin a surreptitious romance. They have a few secret meetings in distant woods. They rent a room over the little antique shop, supposedly free from the omnipresent cameras, in order to eke out a small life together. Winston wonders about "the underground" and whether his boss, O'Connor, is part of it. When O'Connor invites Winston and Julia over to his house one evening, they decide to trust him. They swear allegiance to the underground. Shortly afterward, they are arrested. Both are interrogated and tortured into mind-breaking submission. The two of them meet briefly after being "rehabilitated" but any love or spirit has been weeded out of them. In the end, Winston chants and shouts at a Hate Week rally just as passionately as the crowd does. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
Fun it isn't. It is powerful and still a relevant tale for today. It gives the viewer much to ponder over, long after the final credits have rolled.

Cold War Angle
1984 isn't an allegory of the Cold War. It's an outright scare story of what would happen if the Communists won. The narrator says, at the end of the film, "This then, is the story of the future. It may be our children's future, if we fail to protect their heritage of freedom." It doesn't get much more plain than that.

Notes
Past Prime -- Edmond O'Brian and Jan Sterling are not the typical Hollywood leading characters. They're both a bit dowdy and past their youthful prime. This bothers some viewers who imagine the furtive love story belonging to young people. However, their past-peak-ness actually fits well. They've lived long enough to have risen into "outer party" positions, and been their long enough for disenchantment to fester. Julia admits to having brought others to her secret glade for rendezvous. She's been around. Winston exhibits a loneliness and quiet frustration that fits a middle-aged man in a dead-end career.

Foolish Trust -- It seems incongruous that Winston so easily trusts people. He not only takes them at face value, (such as the antique shop owner), but especially his supervisor, O'Connor. On very little than wishful projection, Winston takes the leap of faith that O'Connor is a secret member of the resistance. This naive trust has it's own poignance. Winston wanted to believe in this better life so badly, that he was willing to see hope where there was none.

Surprise Sincerity -- Audiences identify with Winston's rebellion against Big Brother's oppression. It's easy to imagine that most people in Oceania dislike the State. Two characters paint a very different picture. Winston's neighbor, Parsons, is turned in by his neo-nazi daughter who said he muttered "Down with Big Brother" in his sleep. He doesn't doubt it. He's proud of her for helping him. Rebellion was sickness needing early treatment.
O'Connor, exhibits a sincere devotion to his work when he's converting Winston -- not a separate sadism. The unbuttoned collar, the dabbing of sweat from his brow. He's not cruelly torturing a man. He's patiently, almost lovingly, trying to help Winston through a sort of mindset de-tox treatment. O'Connor is not a mindless slogan chanter. He is a competent, rational professional who sincerely wants to treat Winston and cure him. Rebellion is an addiction.

Big Brother Is Watching -- One of the lasting impressions from the movie is how pervasively the State was able to watch its citizens. A TV camera in every room, but further, someone obviously watching their monitor's closely. Almost everyone was a real or potential informant. In today's easily monitored world of cameras and phone call logging, etc., such an oppressive control would be easier than what Orwell imagined. Are we "Winstons" in imagining that no one sees our "private" sins?

Bottom line? Anderson's 1956 version of Orwell's story is well worth watching. The movie cannot contain all that was in the book, so get over it. Watch it for what it is. It was remade in 1984 with a rather different spin and feel. This older version has its own merits.

Fire Maidens of Outer Space

This movie is sometimes called a British remake of Catwomen of the Moon -- with an even lower budget. There are several similarities between the two, which support the notion, but there some deviations too. The deviations are usually bits borrowed from other movies. Fire Maidens of Outer Space (FMOS) is occasionally cited as a "worst movie ever made," and not, perhaps, undeservedly. FMOS is one of those films written, produced and directed all by the same person. This seldom spells success. Cy Roth had very limited prior experience as either a screen writer, a producer or a director. As such, his big solo venture has an awkward amateurism to it. He may have just been trying to crank out as cheap a film as possible to make a few bucks. On the other hand, like other one-man-productions, he may have also been including a some personal artistic message. Low-B as it is, FMOS is still a 50s sci-fi, so it's part of the group.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A five man crew of British astronauts are sent to check out Jupiter's 13th moon because it was discovered to have an earth-like atmosphere. They land amid trees and meadows. They rescue a young blonde beauty from a black beast-man, then follow her to a hidden passage in a tall stone wall amid the forest. Two of the men go inside, three wait outside. Inside, an old man named Prasus tells them that he and all the 20-something beauties in short skirts are all that's left of the people of Atlantis who fled earth 3000 years ago. The creature keeps them holed up inside their walls. Prasus wants the earhtmen to kill the creature and be husbands for the love-starved ladies. In gratitude for saving the girl, Hestia, Prasus gives her to the leader: Luther. There is much quasi-ballet dancing. A rival brunette is upset that a younger girl got a husband before she (the eldest) did. So, she incites the other girls to capture Hestia and offer her on an altar (with fire, hence the title) to appease the sun god for the infraction of the eldest marries first rule. Much more dancing ensues. The three outside men are captured and taken to the altar room. The other two men escape their confinement too. The black creature finds his way inside the wall. First, he kills Prasus, then comes to the altar room, disrupting the sacrifice ceremony. Luther and Larson arrive and, with a gas grenade, cause the creature to fall into the flames. All is forgiven and the earth men promise to send back another mission to bring them all to earth to find husbands. The rocket takes off. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
Tracking the many similarities to Catwomen can be amusing. Puzzling over what Cy Roth was thinking with his obvious changes from Catwomen can be amusing too.

Cold War Angle
None. This story is motivated by libido, not nuclear angst.

Notes
Checkers, Rock(et) Star -- Many B-grade sci-fi films have used the same stock footage of the launch of the captured V2 with the checkerboard paint on its fins. Cy Roth goes one better and recycles the Checkers footage used in an obscure B movie, King Dinosaur ('55). That movie used the Checkers launch footage, reversed, superimposed over a pine woods to look like a landing. Roth simply reused it. To his credit, however, Roth had a model V2 Checkers for the "space" shots, and had the aft-with-fins mockup for the disembarking shots made to look like Checkers. At least he was consistent.

Planet of Babes -- An obscure sub-genre (all-women societies) grows just a bit with FMOS. In the sci-fi flavor, it's preceded by Cat Women of the Moon ('53) and Abbott and Costello Go to Mars ('53). It has similarities to both. There are other all-women movies in the sub-genre too, such as Tarzan and the Amazons ('45), Prehistoric Women ('50), Wild Women (aka Bowanga, Bowanga) ('51) and Mesa of Lost Women ('53). All these deal with a group of young pretty women in their prime, who lack men. This odd little sub-genre is worth exploring on its own, but not here. There will be others to come in this sub-genre in the sci-fi flavor too.

Quota Quickie? -- FMOS is sometimes referred to as a "Quota Quickie." This disparaging term stemmed from the British 1927 Cinematograph Films Act, which mandated that at least 20% of films shown in British cinemas were British productions. Many low-budget (and low quality) films which would lose money, were still worth doing because it allowed American distributors to then also market American films which were high profit. They were like loss leaders in the retail market. Cy Roth, an American producer, would certainly appear to have created a low-budget British film with this in mind.

Juvenile Motivation -- Much of FMOS is built upon the juvenile (male) fantasy of there being many available and eager young women starved for male attention. The behavior of the men in FMOS only reinforces this, as they're all (but one) slobbering to be "lost" among the babes. There's nothing deeper or nobler in play -- simply boy wants girl who wants boy. The many low camera angles looking up the girls' long legs, with glimpses of panties, appeals to the voyeur. It was certain that offering audiences dozens of pretty women in short skirts would sell some tickets. Cheesecake sells.

Amateur Art? -- Cheesecake aside, Cy Roth seemed to be trying to make at least a modest artistic statement as a writer. Roth repeatedly used Borodin's Polovtsian Dance #17, popularized in 1953 as the song "Strangers in Paradise." He seemed to be trying to make the 13th moon into something more than a love-starved sorority house planet. Then there is the Prasus character. He stands as a symbolic father figure, protector and provider for his "daughters." It is he, in father-role, who "gives" Hestia to Luther. Prasus, like most fathers, wants his daughters to marry "good" men. He frets about the black beast-man outside the walls of the happy home -- symbolic of the bad boys "out there" who simply want the girls brutishly. (The fact that we're never told anythig about the Creature -- why he exists, what he wants, etc. -- makes him more symbolic than anything) The climactic scene has the "good" man saving the daughter from the "bad" man. Roth may have been an amateur writer, but he seemed to be trying to do more than a simple exploitation film. A morality play lurks within.

Padding O'Plenty -- One inescapable conclusion in FMOS, is that Roth did not have 80 minutes of script. Tightly edited for a modestly brisk pace, FMOS might run less than 60 minutes. A "feature" film had to be longer than that. You can't help but notice how many scenes are padded with long looks at not much going on.

This Is My Good Side -- The very many close ups of the actors and actresses, in which they look dreamily, or heroically, into the camera, suggests that Roth may have sold many of the "lead" actors and actresses on the idea that the movie (lame as it was) offered them a chance to get their faces on the big screen. All the close ups look like publicity snips, particularly since they do nothing to advance the plot.

Bottom line? FMOS is worth watching only as a representative of the planet-o-women sub-genre, a remake hybrid of two obscure movies, but somehow still trying to have some legitimate artistic reason to exist. If you're impatient with low-quality, slow moving films, it would be best to skip FMOS.

Manhunt in Space

Originally, this story ran as a three consecutive episodes of the TV series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. They ran in May of 1954. The three episodes were assembled into a "feature" film for theatrical release. While the TV series was fairly cutting-edge for television productions, it was little more than B-grade material in theaters. The producers were probably counting on squeezing the last bit of profit from the Rocky Jones brand. There was the TV show, the product associations (Rocky Jones bread) and the parallel comic book series. All of these were aimed at the young boy market. The feature film was, no doubt, expected to extract a few more coins from that audience in matinee duty.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The United Planets are trying to construct a strategic outpost on the planet Casa 7. Trouble is, the cargo rockets have been disappearing just before arriving. One of those rockets carried Vena, on her way to visit her brother Paul on Casa 7. Rocky Jones is sent to investigate. Space pirates have been disabling the cargo ships, offloading their cargo and leaving them disabled and virtually invisible in geo-synchronous orbits around Casa 7. Nonetheless, Rocky finds the dead ship with Vena on it. He locks his ship to theirs and takes them down to Casa 7. Rocky figures the pirates can only be working from the planet Prah. He flies the Orbit Jet there, equipped with Professor Newton's secret "Cold Light" device which renders his ship invisible. Rocky lands, but gets himself captured. The pirates are actually working for Cleolanta. She wants them to hold Rocky, but he escapes. The pirates plan to simply invade and take over Casa 7, but it turns out their inside man at the control station is discovered. They're about to escape with Vena and Bobby as hostages, but Winky had disabled their engines. Rocky and Winky subdue all the pirates. Cue the silly ending.

Why is this movie fun?
See the notes for Crash of Moons, the previous "feature" film made out of three Rocky Jones episodes. Much still applies. Seeing the simplicity of early TV is interesting. There were a few points. See the Notes section.

Cold War Angle
There's little Cold War in Manhunt. The story line and characterizations bespeak of a pre-Cold War mind set.

Notes
Again, most of the notes to Crash of Moons still apply. See those too. Nonetheless, there are a couple of distinct points to Manhunt.

Western in Space -- The premise and plot of Manhunt is essentially a western. It is little different than a gang of robbers, based out of a remote cave, robbing cargo wagons sent to re-supply a fort. The hero outsmarts the robbers and captures them.

Dazzling Blather -- In an attempt to make the story more science fiction, the writers inserted several scenes with long strings of techno-blather. One of the best is when Rocky is explaining to Winky how the Cold Light device works.

Invisible Advances -- Invisibility was not brand new when the TV series ran in 1954, but Rocky Jones did push sci-fi to a new, higher level. Individual beings had been invisible before: HG Wells' Invisible Man (book, 1897), the alien in Phantom from Space ('53), the incorporeal space creature at the start of Quatermass Xperiment ('55). Manhunt was the first time a ship itself was made invisible by technology. (The high-flying enemy aircraft in Gog ('54) was only invisible to radar.) Once Rocky Jones introduced it, ships with "cloaking devices" (such as the Romulans in the original Star Trek series) would popularize the plot device.

Prop Watch -- Take note of the "space helmets" used when the characters go from one ship to another. You'll see the clear fishbowl helmets used in Abbott and Costello Go to Mars ('53)

Time Capsule -- Most TV shows in the early 50s were performed live, with no record. Rocky Jones: Space Ranger was shot as film for later broadcast (an expensive approach at the time). Film allowed the producers to do somewhat better special effects (such as the invisibility thing), but it also preserved for us an example of what people sat around in their living rooms watching.

Bottom line. Manhunt made for a low-grade B sci-fi movie, even by 1956 standards. As TV, however, it was fairly big budget. Those looking for deep or lavish feature film sci-fi will be disappointed. A fan of the genre, however, can appreciate the spartan innocence of it.

Godzilla, King of Monsters

This is the remixed version of Godzilla that America knew. It's not simply a subtitled or dubbed copy. It takes the original Gojira footage, edits out parts and adds in new footage shot with Raymond Burr and a bevy of asian extras to shoehorn Burr into the original. It's not overly successful, but not that badly done either. If someone had not seen Gojira before, the remix seems smooth enough. That said, the Americanized version is a serviceable, though weaker movie, but it IS the version that American kids grew up watching. For that reason, it's included here.

Gojira came out in '54, but not in America. It wasn't until late 1955 that an American distributor, Edmund Goldman, came across Gojira, bought the rights and set a team of producers onto it. The new producers felt it needed an American star and tapped Raymond Burr to play the role of an American reporter who happened to be in Tokyo when all heck broke loose. Much of the character development of the original was cut out -- to save running time AND because it was a bit long and talky for impatient American audiences. The title needed some juicing up too, apparently. Godzilla, King of Monsters (GKoM) seemed neatly self-explanatory. By April 1956, American audiences had seen many sci-fi movie monsters. They needed a king.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Read the plot synopsis for Gojira for the meat of the story. The story line remains largely intact, though staged as a flashback. GKoM opens with scenes of Tokyo already in ruins and Burr buried in building rubble. Once the flashback story line catches up to the destruction of Tokyo, the story moves on in "real time" to the same ending.

Why is this movie fun?
GKoM is a great deal more fun to watch if you've watched Gojira first. You know what Ishiro Honda had done in '54, and so you can spot what Terry Morse added. Morse actually did some clever shooting to make his new footage fit into the original. You know Burr is NOT there with the others in Japan, but it's quite fun to see how Morse made you think so. Overall, the original story still asserts itself, which has a layer of fun to it anyway.

Cold War Angle
Gojira was all about the dangers of nuclear testing with politely hinted at accusations that the United States was reckless in how it went about "staying ahead" in the Cold War. For American consumption, much of this message is edited out or reduced to easily-missed proportions. One rather telling bit of remix comes when Dr. Serizawa (inventor of the terrible Oxygen Destroyer) is fretting about his invention. In Gojira, he worries about politicians (in general) getting his destructive device and turning it into a superweapon that will be worse for the world than the A-bomb was. In GKoM, he frets (via dubbing) of his secret falling into "the wrong hands." This was more in synch with the American mood.

Notes
Careful Insertion -- One of the interesting features of GKoM is how Morse managed to put Raymond Burr into the original footage. By careful editing, directing and costuming, Burr is wedged into the story. One example is when Dr. Yamane and entourage are examining the destruction of the village on Ohto. Villagers are lined up at the edge of the holes (footprints) watching Yamane. Morse had several Asians wearing similar Japanese peasant costume stand side by side peering down. Burr stands behind them, also peering down inquisitively. Behind them all is generic leafy vegetation. A few quick cuts back and forth like this and you could get the idea that Burr was there, even though he wasn't. Many other such graftings are done much like this one.

Lost in the Herd -- When Gojira debuted in 1954, he was one of the first radiation-mutation monsters. Godzilla has to share the platform with the giant ants in Them! (June '54). By 1956, however, Americans had seen the radiated-boyfriend-beast in The Day the World Ended ('55), the radiation-mutated-minigodzilla in Phantom from 10,000 Leagues ('55) and the giant spider in Tarantula ('55). Radiation mutated monsters were becoming almost commonplace by the time the Americanized GKoM came on the scene. Poor Godzillia looked like just another copy-cat monster, when in reality, he was one of the first.

Lost Love -- The original Gojira had much more footage devoted to the love triangle between Emiko, her 'betrothed' fiancee, Dr. Serizawa and her actual love interest, Ogata. This triangle had more meaning in Gojira, but so much of the character development was cut out of the Americanized version that their actions make almost no sense. This severe editing also reduces Serizawa to a rather minor role so that his sacrifice at the end feels less significant.

King of Sequels -- Godzilla proved so popular (even from the weaker GKoM platform) that he became almost a franchise. American audiences would be treated to (or subjected to) dozens of Godzilla vs. (whatever) flicks of mostly declining quality. Several other rubber-suit-monsters would become popular too, such as Gamera, primarily on Godzilla's coat tails. Ishiro Honda had no idea his metaphoric monster would be such a hit.

Bottom line? If you can get it, watch the original 1954 Japanese version (with English subtitles). It is a more cohesive movie. If you can't find the original, this 1956 American remix will (barely) suffice, but you should plan on cutting the movie a lot of slack.

Beast of Hollow Mountain

This movie is sometimes categorized as sci-fi, but it really isn't. Beast of Hollow Mountain (BoHM) is a monster movie. There is no "science" to explain the existence of the beast. Instead, as was typical of the monster genre, he simply exists, and the characters must deal with him. A dinosaur monster movie and western hero / romance movie hybrid, is an odd mix. Even though it doesn't really qualify as sci-fi, it's included here only because the title shows up in other people's lists of 50s sci-fi.

Very Quick Plot Synopsis
An rancher in Mexico is losing cattle. He suspects a rival rancher who is trying to put him out of business. The locals say it is a "beast" which comes out of Hollow Mountain whenever the swamps surrounding it dry out enough. A love triangle develops between the two rival ranchers and a pretty seniorita. The feud between the two ranchers is interrupted when the beast, a T-Rex, appears. The T-Rex first stampedes the cattle, threatening the village. It then tries to get the seniorita and a little boy. It chases the two ranchers into a cave, finally getting the sinister rancher. The good rancher leads the beast towards the swamp and lures it in. The beast sinks in the quicksand. All is well and the triangle resolved. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
As a simple monster film, BoHM has its own quirky appeal. Dinosaur vs cowboy! The pace in the last 20 minutes of the movie is brisk. This last part has much affinity to more sci-fi movies like Beast from 20,000 Fathoms ('53), It Came From Beneath The Sea ('55), Revenge of the Creature ('55), The Snow Creature, ('54) etc. Monsters running amok among people. This may be why BoHM gets lumped into the sci-fi genre. Still, the animation has its amusing moments to watch: T-Rex carrying off a steer in his mouth, and that crazy flailing tongue!

Cold War Angle
As a hybrid of the western genre (which has no Cold War baggage) and the monster movie (which also has no Cold War heritage), there's no allegories to commies or nukes.

Notes
Timeless Dinosaurs -- True to the monster genre, the beast simply exists. Given the narrator's talk of old legends, that T-Rex had lived in that mountain for centuries. Not a self-sustaining population of Ts, just this one, who can apparently go without food for years at a time. All this points ton almost mystic view of dinosaurs -- a creature beyond mere biology.

Budget Beast -- The stop-motion animation of the beast was passable. It was certainly not up to Harryhausen standards. While not as smooth, it wasn't too bad. What was more fun, was the big rubber T pants. There were two or three scenes where the monster's approach was shown with an actor taking big steps in a waist-down costume of T-Rex legs. Given how much prop recycling has gone on already in B-movies, it will be interesting to see if the rubber T pants show up in some other low budget film.

Typical B Western -- The western tale portion of this hybrid had all the usual ingredients. There was a clear good guy and clearly bad bad guy. There was a knock-down fist fight between them. There a full-gallop scene, a stampede and, of course, a beautiful young woman for the good guy and bad guy to fight over.

Remake -- As obtuse as a dinosaur & cowboy movie might sound, it was apparently credible enough to be done again in 1969. The Valley of Gwangi is a more complex tale and a better done film. Of course, coming 13 years later gives people some time to polish the brass.

Bottom line? BoHM really doesn't belong in sci-fi movie lists. It really offers none of those thoughtful moments or allegories or even social commentary. It's just plain old entertainment. If you like old westerns, and like rampaging dinosaur movies, BoHM is just the hybrid for you.

Satellite in the Sky

This little British sci-fi movie, brought to you by the people who gave us Devil Girl from Mars, ('54) is almost impossible to find these days. It was released in America in July of 1956, but seems to have failed to linger in fan memory enough to keep it even nominally active in the late-late-show runs, or sci-fi DVD collections. This obscurity is undeserved. Satellite in the Sky (SitS) tried to be a serious sci-fi genre commentary on the nuclear arms race. It has rockets and astronauts and some respectable sets (for a B movie). What it lacks is an alien or a monster. Perhaps it is this lack of a monster (absurd or impressive) which hurts SitS. It's not silly enough to laugh at (MST3K-style). Instead, it's a serious topic set in a space-flight story with technology being fairly credible, as in Conquest of Space.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The British space agency is about to launch it's first space mission, "Operation Stardust." First, it needs to test the engine design one last time -- one being installed in a small jet plane. The test is successful. At a press briefing afterward, a prickly anti-space-program lady reporter named Kim gives the pilot a hard time. He tries to charm her. She asks to see the Stardust up close. He shows her. She notices the serious lack of security within the base and sneaks back later to get into the Stardust and hide in an equipment locker. Meanwhile, there are several romantic back-stories spun out about the various crew members. When it's time for launch, the secret is revealed that the Stardust is to carry aloft a "Tritonium" bomb, more powerful than the H-bomb. It's to be exploded in space for the whole world to see the folly of continuing notions of wars. The crew balk, but comply. Once in space, Kim is discovered. She spews a few anti-nuke phrases. The crew deploy the bomb, but it's internal thrusters fail after a short burst. The bomb drifts back to the ship, magnetically attracted. They can't fly away from the bomb. It stays stuck on them. Attempts to fling it away fail. It just drifts back to them. With only a short while remaining before the bomb goes off (timed fuse they can't stop), two of the crew (one with guilt, the other with a tragic love life) sneak out in space suits. They use their suits' thrusters to carry the bomb away. The Stardust is able to power away to safety. The bomb blows up impressively. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Firstly, British sci-fi has a certain charm to it. Secondly, the sets and models are pretty good for B-grade productions. The pace is pretty good, despite the interjections of love-life back story. More tidbits in the Note section.

Cold War Angle
SitS is in-your-face blatantly about the Cold War. It's all about a nuclear bomb co-developed by the US and UK, intended to deter others (i.e. the Soviets).

Notes
Nuclear Irony -- SitS is an interesting time capsule of Cold War thinking. The whole point of the Tritonium bomb explosion in space was to shock and awe the "other side" into giving up on ideas of war. Ironically, this is the same rationale that underlaid all the previous nuclear weapons test demonstrations. (which all failed to accomplish this same goal) The writers clearly still believed the (flawed) reasoning.

Plane Crazy -- Stock footage of airplanes is standard fare for B-movies. Usually, they're P-80s or B-47s. SitS gives the viewer something special. First off is ample footage of the Avro Vulcan, Britain's huge delta-winged bomber -- symbolic of its nuclear might. For Americans, this is rare footage. The second is even more rare. The little test jet that Mike Hayden flies is the Folland Midge. Though given an underpowered engine, the little jet was able to break the sound barrier in a dive (which they do in the movie too). The particular prototype in the footage first flew in August of 1954 but crashed on September 26, '55, about the time production on the movie began. For fans of old airplanes captured in B-movie stock footage, these are two rare treats.

Space Soap -- One feature of SitS that stands out is its soap opera quality. The crew, and their various love interests, are given a prominence that Hollywood typically didn't. In that regard, all the relationship back story seemed tedious, but it did suggest that the writers were trying to paint their characters as fuller than the usual two-dimensional hero / heroine sort that Americans were growing accustomed to.

Mixed Feminism -- A recurrent sub-theme in SitS toys with women's place in the world. The reporter, Kim, is a strong willed, capable woman. Yet, when they're all trapped aboard the Stardust, Kim (like a good girl) cheerfully makes and serves the men coffee. Professor Meritty rankles at her for having stowed away, "You attractive young women think all you've got to do is smile and wave your hips and all will be forgiven you." The writers got in their digs.

Bottom line? SitS is a drama about the risks, and human toll, of nuclear supremacy. It uses space and rockets as a setting, but in a more realistic tone. The sets actually aren't that bad for a B-movie, and at least they didn't re-use someone else's props. Overall, it's not riveting entertainment, but for a fan of the genre, it has it's own little rewards.

It Conquered the World

The final product of It Conquered the World (ICTW) is typical of low B-grade 50s sci-fi. It aspires to some lofty literary goals, but is hamstrung by a tiny budget. At its heart, ICTW could have been a somewhat thoughtful tale of a scheming invader playing on the bruised ego of a man, to turn him into an unwitting traitor. There could have been some eerie tension as people become "possessed" by the invader, etc. etc. Director Roger Corman does a fair job directing, with a few notable missteps. However, there is only so much one can do with a sow's-ear budget. The acting of Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef and especially Beverly Garland do a lot to keep ICTW from falling apart.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Tom, a scientist who has become discredited for having too many wild theories, tries to warn the authorities not to launch a satellite. They do anyway. It is lost, but returns mysteriously. Tom reveals to his friend Paul (a rocket scientist) that he has been communicating with a being from Venus, who is coming to earth in the errant satellite. Paul does not believe him. After the satellite comes down, the venusian takes up residence in a steamy cave. It somehow manages to stop all power sources. Electricity, steam, hydro, even mechanical watches stop. It releases eight manta-like flying creatures who 'bite' their intended target person in the back of the neck, implanting an electronic control device. The alien then directs them to do its bidding. The Army General of the rocket base is bitten, and so is the police chief of the town. They become emotionless tools of the alien. Paul's wife Joan is also bitten, but Paul eludes and kills his manta-bat. When he realizes that his wife has been taken over by the alien, he shoots her. Tom feels much inner turmoil. He believed that the alien was coming to earth to improve mankind, but events have caused him to doubt. The alien orders him to kill Paul, but he can't. The doubts have grown. Tom's wife, Claire, (Beverly Garland) takes matters into her own hands, drives to the cave and tires to shoot the alien. Bullets are useless. The alien kills Claire, which Tom hears over his radio. This is the turning point for Tom. He drives to the cave. A squad of soldiers tried to shoot the alien, also to no avail. Tom uses a kerosene torch on the alien's eyes. It grabs Tom in its claws. They die together. Paul (Peter Graves) gives a longish epilogue speech about imperfect man needing to find his own answers. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
By modern movie standards, ICTW could almost be annoyingly bad. However, its fun to see where it almost rises towards its lofty intentions. It tries to evoke the disconcerting mood of Invaders From Mars ('53) and the dark conspiracy of Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56), but just never quite makes it. There are many story threads, which could, if explored better, and with better funding, could have made good movies.

Cold War Angle
There is an undercurrent similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers in which a hostile force is taking over people, (especially authority figures) turning them into emotionless puppets of the future new world order. The cautionary moral of the story is how a man can be seduced by the pretty lies of an invader, and unintentionally doom his people. Beware of commie smooth talkers.

Notes
Getting All Emotional -- A familiar trope is that people "possessed" by the alien lose their emotions -- their ability to love and "dream". Instead they are passionless tools of the master. This appeared The Man From Planet X ('51) with zombi-fied towns folk. Again in It Came From Outer Space ('53), and of course Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56). A closer precedent to ICTW is in Invaders From Mars ('53) in which the alien implants a control device in the back of the victim's neck.

Ego: Achilles Heel -- The alien flattered Tom, praised his work, while his fellow humans derided him as a crackpot. With flattery, the alien got his foot (or claw) in the door. By promising to do good for mankind, the alien wooed Tom into helping him come to earth and begin the invasion. He persists in believing the pretty lie until Joan is killed and finally his wife, Claire, is killed by the alien. This is the real core of ICTW -- a man's well intended, but misguided trust.

Small World -- It must be inferred that the alien's power to stop all power applied to the entire world. That must be the "conquering" in the title, since the alien only takes over a few people in a small town before being killed.

Cheap Exploitation -- Notice that the poster for ICTW is very similar to others, especially The Beast With a Million Eyes in which an ugly monster face menaces a scantily clad damsel. This had become a stock formula for low-grade B-movies. Promise a menaced babe, and they will buy a ticket.

Killer Carrot -- The "lame" monster is a sore point for many viewers. Paul Blaisdell created the alien costume. This venusian, which resembles a demon-possessed giant carrot. It was a more ambitious costume than his mutant "Tommy" in Day the World Ended ('55) and the little critter alien in Beast With a Million Eyes ('55). Blaisdell was an illustrator. Many of his monsters come across as sculptures of illustrations, rather than plausible beings. . Corman erred in allowing audiences too long and good a look at the monster suit. It looked too absurd.

Safe Sax -- An absurd little touch can be seen when the crowd of townsfolk are fleeing in a mild panic, out of town. One of the men running at the camera is carrying a saxophone. If you had time to grab just one thing, would it be your saxophone?

Lame Comic Relief -- Corman includes comic relief with the hispanic soldier. Unfortunately, he uses it too much. Any spooky or poignant moment he had been building, is trashed by the comedic moment.

Secular Humanism Ascendant -- Previously, it was customary to include (somewhere) that God has a hand in the world (even a world with aliens). Peter Graves' epilogue speech shows an interesting shift, then underway in sci-fi. Man, all by himself, would solve his own problems. He (man) was the only answer. This is interesting, given Tom's earlier speech about how mankind has done nothing but screw things up since the dawn of mankind.

Bottom line? Don't watch ICTW with any expectations that it's in the same league as Body Snatchers or Forbidden Planet. It is a very low budget affair, with minimal sets, cheap effects, and mixed acting. Instead, watch it as a low-B-movie which has dreams of being something bigger.

Earth vs. The Flying Saucers

Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (EvFS) is the flagship of 50s sci-fi B movies. It has all the hallmarks of a typical B movie: shot in black and white, much stock footage, low-budget props, etc. That said, EvFS is still the best of its breed. The acting is good (for the most part). Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion animation of the saucers is great. His saucers have more "life" than any model on a string could attain. The basic premise of hostile aliens invading the earth with flying saucers was a classic. EvFS would be a significant influence in Tim Burton's 1996 movie Mars Attacks.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Marvin (Hugh Marlowe) heads a nascent satellite program, but all of his satellites blow up or fall from orbit. A saucer buzzes Dr. Marvin and his wife as they drive to the base. Despite a call from Dr. Marvin's father-in-law (Morris Ankrum), they launch the next rocket. A saucer descends on the base. Troops open fire. The saucer is invulnerable, but one of the robot-like aliens is hit. The other alien-bots use heat beams to destroy the base. Only Dr. Marvin and his wife escape because they were in a deep bunker. The aliens came from a defunct solar system, intent on taking over the earth. They want earthlings to surrender peacefully so their new home won't be a ruin from the battle. Mankind is defiant. The aliens give earth 56 days to think it over. The time is used, instead, to develop an anti-saucer weapon. Dr. Marvin and staff develop a magnetic disruptor which makes the saucers unstable. When the fleet of saucers finally arrive over Washington DC, a whole fleet of disrupter-beam equipped Ford flatbed trucks is there to greet them. A mighty battle rages. Saucer heat beams destroy much, but the trucks take their toll too. Saucers wobble and fall into a variety of DC landmarks, including the Washington Monument. Finally, the last saucer falls. Earth is saved! The end.

Why is this movie fun?
It's hard not to enjoy this classic of 50s B sci-fi. It has everything a 50 sci-fi fan loves. The acting is reasonably good, the pacing is pretty good too, so even someone who isn't a fan of the genre could be suitably entertained.

Cold War Angle
EvFS is a classic allegory of Cold War tensions. A hostile force seeks to invade and take over. In the mid-50s, the threat from communism was never far from viewers' minds. The caustic Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev would say, later in 1956 "We will bury you!" would say later. When, in the movie, the earthlings decide to fight the saucers, an Army general says: "When an armed and threatening power lands uninvited in our capitol, we don't meet him with tea and cookies!" Such was American popular sentiment towards the threat of communism.

Notes
Stock Footage Fun -- amid the usual clips of P-80s and V-2s (Checkers!) and other military clips, are stock disaster clips. Storms, fires, destruction. For the sci-fi fan, there are also snippets recycled from earlier sci-fi movies. There are battle scenes cut from War of the Worlds ('53) and The Day the Earth Stood Still ('51).

Cheap Suit -- The aliens walk about in crude robot-like suits with faceless bullet-shaped helmets. The fit and finish of these suits is quite poor when you get a good look at them.

Alien Glimpse -- The brief scene in which the real alien (head) is exposed, reveals the taxonomy that would become archetypal: big head, tapering to a small neck, large almond-shaped eyes, tiny mouth. They're also said to weigh little, being fairly weak and frail. Of the many sorts of invading aliens seen thus far in the 50s, some were simple -- men in leotards Killers from Space, if not just plain people Devil Girl from Mars and Flight to Mars and giant humanoids: The Thing. A very few hostile (or at least frightening) invaders were not humanoid: Invaders from Mars and War of the Worlds. The alien in EvFS appears to be an early showing of what would later become the presumed "true" shape of alien life forms.

Bottom line? EvFS is well worth watching. Fans of 50s sci-fi will enjoy it. Family members of fans of 50s sci-fi can tolerate it. In many ways, it is the epitome of the B grade 50s science fiction movie.