The Giant of Metropolis

An interesting digression from 1971's Omega Man, is 1961's The Giant of Metropolis (GoM). Both films carried strong warnings about the dangers of science and doom. While the former film is well known, the latter is quite obscure. GoM is an Italian production, but starred American bodybuilder, Gordon Mitchell as the hero, Obro. The english-dubbed version played in America in 1963 -- perfect second-feature fodder for drive-ins. The film is a curious mix of sci-fi and the sword-and-sandal genre. Between the story, screenplay and dialogue, the film had six writers. The result is clearly a soup from many cooks.

Quick Plot Synopsis
20,000 years BC, a band of men trudge over a barren landscape. Their leader falls ill, but before he dies, he tells his son, Obro, (Mitchell) to continue their quest to warn the people of Metropolis to stop tampering with nature or nature will take revenge. He dies. Some men turn back, but Obro and his three brothers continue. In Metropolis' king, Yotar, plans to implant some brain tissue from his dead father, Egon, into the brain of his pre-adolescent son, Elmos. This, so Elmos can live forever and have the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of his dead father. As Obro and brothers approach Metropolis, the city's scientists send magnetic storm to kill them. It turns the brothers into skeletons, but Obro survived. Yotar has him brought before him. Obro's amazing strength may be of use to Elmos too. Yotar puts him through tests. Obro fights a big brute of a man, and wins. Obro fights a gang of cannibal pygmies. They win, but Yotar spares Obro. He tortures Obro with heat rays and freeze rays. Meanwhile, Egon has been brought back to life by the miracles of Metropolis' science. He's not happy to hear why. The queen, Texen, is also not keen on having her son experimented upon. She and Egon conspire to have Obro escape. Egon convinces Obro to periodically raid Metropolis as "a terrorist" to disrupt the experiment. Periodic scenes of hammy fighting are interspersed. Some other scientists warn Yotar that magma beneath Metropolis is rising. Yotar discovers Texen's complicity in Obro's escape. When he confronts her, she takes poison and dies. She never really liked Yotar anyhow. Yotar's daughter, the princess Mercede, runs away, upset at her step-mom's suicide. Guards capture her, but Obro beats up the guards and carries Mercede off to his hideout cave. She now has doubts about her father's ideas after all, and kind of likes hunky Obro. The experiment presses on, despite warnings from his scientists. A storm brews. The city is filled with low dry-ice fog. A power outage stops the transplant experiment before completion. Obro and Mercede rescue Elmos from the table. Pandemonium ensues as the citizens revolt against Yotar, the sea begins to flood the city, and buildings begin to collapse. Yotar says he's sorry, but it's a bit late for that. People are swept into the sea. Metropolis blows up and sinks into the sea. Obro, Mercede and Elmos wash up on a beach somewhere. Hugs, smiles, The End.

Why is this movie fun?
It's hard to get bored with this film. GoM is such a curious mix of genre that it defies prediction. B-grade Italian acting -- especially when dubbed into english -- has it's own bizarre quality that is entertaining. Fighting a gang of cannibal pygmies? Too odd to be boring. Some of the sets and matte art scenes have a hint grandeur beyond the overall low-budget flavor of the film.

Cultural Connection
Perhaps influenced by the sword-and-sandal genre, there are none of the Cold War themes or tropes. Instead, GoM is a mix of good vs. evil with a layer of the Frankenstein theme -- a cautionary tale about scientific hubris.

Notes
Where's the Giant? -- One of the curious features of GoM is that there really wasn't a giant in Metropolis. There was the big brute that Obro defeated in the arena, but that hardly seems title-worthy. There is a giant statue of Atlas in the city square, but it does nothing. Perhaps Yotar is the "giant" villain? Or, Obro is the "giant" hero? Or, perhaps the producers had a cool title first, but the screenplay veered off in its own direction.

Alias Atlantis -- Even though never called by that name, Metropolis is really just a rebranded Atlantis. A city of (supposed) marvelous advances, is lost when it sank into the sea.

Peplum Parentage -- The "peplum" genre, also called sword-and-sandal, was popular in the late 50s to mid-60s. Like westerns, the costuming didn't take much, and barren outdoor location shots were inexpensive. Peplum usually featured a super-strong hero -- Hercules, Samson, Ursus, etc. -- who rescued a beautiful princess from some evil ruler. Single-handed battles against many guards or soldiers were requisite. A few odd monsters thrown in now and then, kept interest up. GoM was clearly an offspring of peplum.

Frankenstein redux -- The sci-fi half of GoM is the traditional Frankenstein theme, but without a monster. True, Yotar's father, Egon, is brought back from the dead, so he's functionally like Frankenstein's monster. Although, Egon isn't hideous, can talk just fine, and even has a kind heart. Yotar is the classic mad scientist, though. His goal was to swap brains and cheat death, the same as Victor. In the end, like most evil scientists, Yotar is killed as a morality message about tampering with nature.

Monotheistic Moment -- Writer #5 or #6 must have thought the script wasn't spiritual enough, so inserted some non sequitur dialogue. While Obro and Mercede are chained the column in the cave of doom, he says that they, and Metropolis are in the hands of the Superior One. Mercede admits she's never heard of this lone god, but quickly becomes a believer. Nothing more is said of the Superior One, but then, they were mostly running for their lives and being thrown into the sea.

What's in a Name? -- Obro isn't regular italian, but it is word in other romance tongues, such as Catalan, Galacian and Spanish, meaning "I build", or "I produce" or "I work." Thus named, the hero is a worker, a maker, symbolic of creative power. At one point, near the end, Egon berates Yotar by telling him that all he knows how to do is kill, he has never created anything. Yotar is symbolic of destructive power. This is all a bit fancy sounding for such a cheap film, but it's fun to muse over.

Bottom line? GoM is a strange little film that resists easy classification. Fans of cheesy sword-and-sandal films will find most of the usual features. Fans of obscure B-grade sci-fi will find some curious nuggets to muse over. The film can be found on some free internet viewing sites. Thanks to blog-reader Paulo for pointing out one of those sites. (Click Here). ---

Invasion of the Neptune Men

Since this English-dubbed version of a japanese superhero movie went straight to television with no American theatrical release, it technically falls outside of the scope of this study. However, it features three things in common with the film just reviewed (Invasion) -- invading aliens, a force-field dome, and a woman named Yoko. Invasion of the Neptune Men (INM) was also requested by one of the followers of this humble blog. So, here it is. The Japanese title was, "Uchu Kaisoku-sen" (Space hypership), released by Toei Company. It stars Sonny Chiba before he was famous for his martial arts film roles. Many viewers rail on INM as one of the "worst films ever." True, it does suffer from being a variation of a copy of an adaptation (more on that below), but most complaints center around the dubbing in the english version released by Walter Manley Enterprises in 1964. In truth, the original Space Hypership was not a great film, but not all that terrible either. What it did have, was atrocious dubbing.

Quick Plot Synopsis

Mr. Tachibana shows his science club (six 10 yr old boys) a film about a satellite going to the moon. They blather praise for Tachibana as a scientist, then go out to watch for a satellite (in the daytime?) with telescopes. The runty boy sees a rocket land. They all run to see. Around town, people experience electrical things running backwards. The boys find the rocket, but instantly surrounded by aliens in bullet-headed spacesuits. The Neptune Men close in and start to strangle the boys, but a blast of wind knocks everyone down. Space Chief rides in to the rescue in his rocket car. The boys run off. Space Chief fights the aliens. They withdraw to the ship and blast off. The boys interrupt a press briefing by famous scientist Dr. Tanigawa. (one of the boys is his son). The reporters ask what caused the electrical reversal. The boy say it was space men. Tachibana believes them (because he is really Space Chief). They take a reporter out to the site. They find an unearthly bit of metal shot off the rocket by Space Chief's ray gun. Tests show trace elements only found on Neptune. Tanigawa thinks they will return. They do, firing missiles at the city. The city's electro-forcefield-dome stops the missiles. The Neptune Men fly off. Later, a small pod lands outside the boys' home. They carry the little Weber Grill pod into space headquarters to show Tanigawa. He figures out that it's a message pod. The Neptune Men tell earthlings that they will return and defeat the electro-dome. Resistance is futile, etc. etc. See you tomorrow at 12:30. Soldiers are stationed all around the dome's power control building (and space lab HQ) At 12:40, a storm brews up. People take cover. Lightning strikes a tree. Evil copy soldiers step out from behind it. They kill some real soldiers (Hiroshima style). Some go in the power building, some accost the boys. Space Chief, once again, saves the boys with a blast of wind. He then zaps the evil soldiers with his ray gun. They briefly resume their bullet-headed true form, then fade to nothing. Too late, though, the power is destroyed. Dr. Tanigawa is left unconscious from their attack. The aliens return, launching six-pointed saucers from their mother ship. The saucers shoot up a bunch of city buildings, making them blow up dramatically -- including the "famous" Hitler building. Space Chief arrives and dogfights the many spiky saucers. He eventually shoots them all down. Meanwhile, back at the underground base, Tachibana shows up to help fix the missile defenses. When up and running, they fire their Nike-esque missiles at the Neptune Men's mother ship. It is hit and explodes. Cheers. Pan up, pan down to the boys, Tachibana and Yoko sitting at a fountain. The boys talk of inventing stuff cooler than what Space Chief has and flying to Mars. They walk arm in arm back to the lab. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
After reading about how awful it was supposed to be, it was actually somewhat entraining to look for silver linings or nuggets amid the ample dross. The rocket car has a sort of 50s kitsch cool to it. Sonny Chiba as a lanky young string bean of a nerd is kind of amusing too.

Cold War Angle

The Neptune Men blow up a few nuclear reactors trying to get the nations of earth to start a nuclear war with each other and thereby make conquest easier. Instead, the nations band together in noble solidarity to face a common enemy. Of particular note, is how the Japanese soldiers "died" when zapped by the Neptune Men. They left silhouettes on walls, like were found in Hiroshima. The power of this was not lost on Japanese audiences.

Notes
Super, Thrice Removed -- Toei Studios' 1961 super hero "Iron Sharp" (Space Chief in the English version), was a copy of Prince of Space, which Toei marketed in 1959. Prince of Space was himself a copy of Toho Studios' serial hero, "Supa Jaiantsu" (Super Giant), who was himself a copy of Superman. Like Prince of Space, Space Chief had his secret mild mannered civilian guise. Walter Manley Enterprises brought Super Giant to American audiences as "Starman," in such films as Evil Brain From Outer Space

Iron Sharp -- In the beginning of the japanese version, the boys lament that their science club advisor, Mr. Tachibana is smart, but too weak and nerdy. They fantasize about a super hero. They decide to name him "Iron Sharp." Curiously, they use the English words, though pronounced: Ion Shop. In the English version, he is dubbed as Space Chief. The original film includes a heroic song and some extended shots of Iron Sharp flying in his rocket car under the credits. The English version cut this useful backstory.

Shifting Credit -- In the Japanese version, Tachibana talks about following up on the success of Yuri Gegarin's flight (in April '61, so very topical) and working with scientists in Moscow on rocket designs. In the English dubbed version, Tachibana is made to say "Major Glenn's" flight (February '62, INM released in '64) and working with a Dr. Strauss. Can't have the Soviets getting any credit in the space race -- to American audiences.

Rocket Car -- The overall tenor of INM is low-budget matinee fare aimed at young boys. There are a few areas where it is evident that Toei spent some money -- probably in anticipation of doing sequels. Some of the control room and "lab" sets are more extensive than the usual slap-dash cheapie. Space Chief's rocket car is another. In the edited American version, it gets less screen time. It is actually powered (though apparently having no suspension). It looks kind of retro-cool in its flying closeups.

Cathartic Air War -- There is something vaguely wishful in the fight against the Neptune Men. In WWII, Japan did not fare well under American air power. In INM, Space Chief successfully dogfights and shoots down all the invading fighters. Japan's missile defenses successfully destroy the mother ship bomber. Were Japanese audiences enjoying a sort of analogy history as it wasn't?

The Hitler Building? -- The crew of MST3K had great fun with the destruction of a building with a large painting of Hitler on its side. Indeed, it is still a bizarre non sequitur in INM. Actually, the destroyed buildings footage are recycled from a prior Toei film, World War III Breaks Out ('60). Toho's The Last War ('61) was a similar doom story.

Bottom line? INM is not great cinema, but matinee fodder aimed at young japanese boys. They didn't expect deep plots with subtle nuances. Yet, it is not really as bad as its many critics say. Get over the clumsy dubbing and you have a mild story with a hero thwarting some invading aliens.
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Rocket Attack U.S.A.

It would be easy to dismiss Rocket Attack U.S.A. (RA) as one of those worst-movie-ever films, but that would be too hasty. RA is part of the same Doom genre as Dr. Strangelove and Fail Safe, and a product of its time. It was produced, directed and probably written by Barry Mahon. One-man-show productions usually suffer for lack of review, and RA is no exception. Mahon may have aspired to be a Roger Corman, an Ed Wood Jr. or perhaps a Larry Buchanan. He wasn't up to even that level, but it wasn't for lack of trying. With RA, he was certainly topical, and actually beat the more famous members to the screen.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A narrator tells how Sputnik changed modern warfare with musing over what valuable data it was collecting for the Russians. The head of American spy operations in West Berlin assigns John Marston, his "best man" to find out if the Russians are gathering data from Sputnik. He will meet a girl in Moscow who will help. John is flown across the boarder in a small plane, then makes his way to Moscow on foot. There, he meets up with Tannah (Tanya?) in the night club she works in. Later, he comes to her apartment. She explains that as mistress to the Minister of Defense. "When the pig is drunk, he talks." She knows the Russians already have all the data they need and are completing their missile. John persuades her to let him stay in her apartment. In the Kremlin, generals and leaders debate whether to attack soon or not. Back in the Pentagon, general Watkins hears that American missile plans are lagging. The rocket scientist bemoans lack of funding. Back in Moscow, Tannah tells John that Joseph (the pig) is taking her to the missile base. While she's away, a British agent named Morris Steel comes by to give John explosives to blow up the Russian missile. In the Kremlin, the hawks prevail and the launch is set for tonight. At the missile base, John meets up with Tannah. Guards arrest Morris. Another guard follows John and Tannah's footprints. He shoots Tannah, but she pulls out a pistol and shoots him too. John sneaks inside the fence and places the bomb. He sneaks out, but is shot by yet other guards. Soldiers take his bomb off the missile. Meanwhile, in New York, people go about their routine lives. A radio announcer pooh-pooh's his wife's worries and goes to work. A brooklyn warehouse worker tells his wife he'll wear a tie on the next date. A financier lands by small seaplane to manage his wealth. Bill Deale, the announcer, tells how America has launched some satellites too and how there is an important meeting at the Kremlin. Meanwhile, back at the Russian missile base, the order to fire comes through. With much beeping, the missile is finally launched. General Watkins laments that America has no anti-missile defenses. Sirens blare, but drill-weary New Yorkers aren't taking it serious. Cue Bikini Atoll test blast footage. Shots of burning rubble represent New York. A burning necktie hangs from T-shirt man's battered truck door. The narrator talks of how selfish interests lead to all this. Text on screen says: "We cannot let this be -- The End." (but it is).

Armageddon Arrives
As in the more famous films, like Fail Safe, RA plays out the Cold War nightmare of a nuclear attack on America. We get to see the first missile fall on New York, with the same sort of literary device of showing us some "average" lives both rich and poor, before they're snuffed out. The story thread of wife Pat reluctantly sending husband Bill to work in NYC (from Hazlet, NJ) is reminiscent of the 1954 television drama, Atomic Attack. The stock footage of B-52s taking off in response to the incoming missile lets the viewer know that Russia was about to feel a similar fate. Burning rubble (of NYC) is then the fate of millions.

Cold War Spotlight
Unlike the others in the Atomic Doom genre, this nuclear attack was not the result of a mechanical glitch (Fail Safe, The Last War) or a single deranged mind (Dr. Strangelove), although in the latter, the "safeguards" which would have prevented a single man from starting the war were a procedural glitch. In RA, it is plain and simple aggression. The Russians want to attack America quickly any first before America catches up in the "missile gap." This was the nightmare lurking beneath most issues of the day. Will X or Y put us at a disadvantage?

Notes
Lobby By Fiction -- Some reviewers of RA chafe at its blatant socio-political agenda, as if such a thing were rare and out-of-bounds. Lobbying via fiction goes way back. In 1871, a Captain Chesney in the British Army was concerned about British military unpreparedness (compared to the Prussian army which just defeated France). So, to make his case for more military spending -- via fiction -- he wrote his famous novella, "The Battle of Dorking." This kicked off a whole genre of invasion fiction, which would be one of the roots of Golden Era sci-fi. Later, Erskine Childers would write his famous "Riddle in the Sands" (1903) as a wake-up call to British naval unpreparedness. There were many others, some with less subtle delivery of their lobbying payload. "If only Britain had not divided her fleet," or "If only Britain had voted for more warships…" It wasn't only rightist military agendas that got fiction-lobbying. Even modern environmentalism gets it's lobbying films in which the lead character laments aloud, "if only we hadn't cut down all the trees…" or "If only we had been more careful with the environment…" (as in the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.) Same method, different agenda. RA is hardly unique in lobbying. It was just a bit too obvious for some people.

Slow Project -- Barry Mahon produced several low-budget films in the late 50s, very early 60s, before taking the easy route and producing soft porn titles like Bunny Yeager's Nude Camera, and The Adventures of Busty Brown. Before that slide, Mahon was on a more topical and Corman-esque trajectory. Rocket Attack used actors John MacKay (John) and Monica Davis (Tanya) which Mahon would also use in his Rebel Cuban Girls ('59) and The Dead One ('60). Judging from the cars, such as Pat Deale's gorgeous black 1956 Buick Special Estate Wagon, Mahon may have been shooting shortly after Sputnik set off the whole space scare in October 1957. The newest car seen, is a glimpse of a '58 Chevy Biscayne. In some ways, it seems like Mahon started out with one story about an attack on New York, then later inserted the spies in Russia segments. The isolated character groups (who don't interact) suggest Mahon shot this project over an extended period (not Corman's 10 days). Imdb lists the release date as 1961. Perhaps it took Mahon awhile to get RA marketed.

Missing Matte -- One spot in the film which suggests a certain low-budget air comes when the soviet officers go out to admire their missile. There's nothing there -- not even a shadow. He already had the aft-section mockup (what John puts the bomb on). Mahon may have intended to insert a shot of a more complete model or some matte art via post-production for the missile they're supposed to be admiring, but he didn't get to it. Perhaps he thought the scene was good enough as it was, so why waste the money. Indeed, in several shots, the actors somewhat stumble over their words, or have pauses while they recall their next line. For Mahon, pretty-good was good enough -- and more economical!

MST3K -- Mystery Science Theater 3000 lampooned RA in the fifth episode of their second season. It may be the only way for average folk to view RA. It is passable, but Joel and the bots do too much bantering and riffing to hear some of the softer lines. While not one of their best episodes, it is amusing at times. RA is a pretty low-quality film, so ripe for riffing.

Plane Crazy -- A bit of a stock footage treat are shots of the Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star, a forerunner of the more famous Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS of the later Cold War. Also note the Piper Tri-Pacer, three-wheeled variant on Piper's Pacer model -- which was a big brother to Piper's famous Cub model -- as the little plane that smuggled John into Russia.

Bottom line? RA is a good compare-and-contrast film for great productions like Fail Safe. Watch the two as a New York Gets Nuked double feature. They're like siblings. One struck it rich while the other picked cabbages. If you cannot abide poorly made films, avoid RA. It's only a couple pegs above amateur. If you're looking for more insight into the Cold War mood, RA as a lobbying tool, is a perfect (if very cheap) example.

The Last War

In 1961, the same year as Beast of Yucca Flats,Toho Studios put out a blatantly preachy anti-nuke film titled Sekai daisensô. It was their rendition of On The Beach but with the anti-nukes message unencumbered by subtlety or allegory as in Gorath. Toho Studios president M. Shimisa said, "We of the Toho Company are employing every vestige of our technical skill to present as realistically and appealingly as possible exactly what will happen if this colossal horro befalls us. It is our sincere hope that by producing and exhibiting this film we can serve the cause of peace."Sekai daisensô was later edited and dubbed into english, released as The Last War (TLW) in early 1967. This review is for the dubbed version, but comparisons are drawn to the original as well.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The sailors on a Japanese merchant ship say they wish to return to Tokyo, even though they'll die of radiation. The main character, Takano, narrates the story as flashback.Tokyo was a busy, bustling city. It was also the home of the Tamura family whose eldest daughter, Saeko, was his girlfriend. Takano returns from a voyage. He and Saeko deal with how to best ask for her father's blessing for getting married. Intermixed with the family story are news reports of worsening international tensions between two super power alliances (thinly disguised America/Nato and Russia/Communist Block). Military maneuvers with live nuclear weapons increase tensions. A spy sub is captured. Things get more jittery. Both sides experience accidental almost-pushed-the-button moments that were narrowly averted. Other human interest characters are introduced. Takano's ship's cook recovers from surgery (kidney?), so is helping his daughter who is a kindergarten teacher. Lots of cute kids. One of them, Suzuo, is sick and her single mom works far away. Opposing air patrols start firing at each other over the arctic. Nuclear air-to-air weapons are used. The vaguely communist block cross the 38th parallel in Korea but their tanks are stopped. There are appeals for peace by the Japanese government, but summits break down. Takano must ship out again. Saeko goes to Yokohama to see him off, but they get married and enjoy their one night before he does. He ships out. The communist block decide to push their buttons. Missiles are launched -- some to Japanese cities. Panic in the streets as millions flee. Suzuo's mother dies of exhaustion trying to get to her girl. Saeko returns home. There is no defense, so everyone just sits and waits. Tokyo is blown up and consumed by fire storms. Other missiles are launched. Models of Washington DC, London, Paris, and Moscow are blown up too. Everything everywhere is destroyed. Takano finishes his contemplative flashback. Excerpt recordings of JFK's UN speech talk of need for disarmament. Fade to black. The end.

Apocalypse Suffered
Like On The Beach ('59), TLW is a tale in which total global nuclear war is not averted and everyone on earth dies. Like OTB, the intent is to preach disarmament by shocking audiences with the utter horror of global nuclear war. TLW provides a graphic look at how the war started, which OTB left as unseen and unexplained prior events.

Cold War Spotlight
TLW depicts the Cold War scenario with two super power alliances (The Federation and the Alliance, in the original movie), both of which have amble nuclear weapons to annihilate each other. TLW focuses on the hair-trigger dangers in a tense international arena. There is nothing allegorical. Only the names America and Russia are thinly disguised.

Notes
Original vs. Remix -- The original movie ran 125 minutes and told the story in chronological order. About 15 minutes of non-essential footage was edited out of the english-dubbed version. The major re-edit involved starting at the ending (the sailors deciding to return to destroyed Tokyo), and telling the story via flashback and narration. The dubbed dialogue is fairly faithful to the original, though no less awkward as most dubbed foreign films are. A few other peculiar variations exist too, which will be covered below.

No Kaiju -- TLW feels like a typical kaiju movie. It has model landscapes and cities which get destroyed. It has model tanks and planes which fire their little missiles. All it lacks is the monster. Both the special effects men, Eiji Tsuburaya and Akira Watanabe, worked on many of Toho's popular kaiju films: Godzilla, Rodan, The Mysterians, Mothra, Gorath, etc. Their work has a distinctive look and feel, even if there isn't a monster. I suppose the nuclear explosion is their kaiju in this case.

Heart Strings -- The story centers around the Tamura family. Father Moichi, mother Oyoshi, beautiful adult daughter Saeko, and her two young siblings, Hanu and Ichiro. Moichi is the good father, working hard to provide his family with prosperity. Oyoshi is the kindly but sickly mother and family peacemaker. Saeko is in love with merchant seaman Takano (who is also a boarder at the Tamura household, no doubt how he and Saeko got to know each other). Hanu and Ichiro are stereotypic kids. All of the character development is crafted to make the viewer care about the Tamura family. Thus, the viewer's heart strings are supposed to be pulled when at the end, they sit together silently in their living room, waiting for the missile to hit Tokyo.

Blasted Landmarks -- As has become traditional for apocalyptic movies, many familiar landmarks get destroyed. Among them are the US Capitol building, the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty, London's Tower Bridge, the Arc d'Triumphe, the Kremlin and Japan's National Diet building. The pyramidal top of the latter gets show several times at the end, the only recognizable bit amid the rubble and flames of Tokyo. How to show the destruction of Paris? Blow up the Eiffel Tower or Arc de Triomphe. Must faster on screen. This pattern of destroying symbolic landmarks would become an almost-required element for later doom films.

Bad English -- In the original, the two super powers both spoke English (and were played by caucasian actors). Japanese subtitles translated. But, the english spoken by these actors was mumbled or inarticulate, or just badly delivered. To Japanese ears, it probably sounded fine -- a bunch of "foreign" blather anyhow. Interestingly, in the english dubbed version, TLW, the caucasian actors' english was dubbed in too, by better voice talent. Listen for the distinctive voice of Paul Frees.

Random Act of Disney? -- In the original, the old cook's daughter has her kindergarteners sing him a farewell song. It is a traditional New Year's song (though the lyrics were not subtitled). In the english-dubbed version, the kids are dubbed to be singing "It's a small world (after all)." As unrelated as a Disney tune seems to an anti-war film, it actually does have a connection. Disney's songwriters Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman wrote the tune in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis -- which occurred only a year after the original film was released. The song debuted at the '64 New York World's Fair, and later became a Disneyland hallmark.

Biblical Variants -- In the original, Saeko sees that the sweet potato street vendor has a Bible at his cart. She picks it up and reads from it James 4:1-3. These are the verses that say "why are there wars among you? Because you lust and have not." On the one hand, it's clear that Toho was using western tradition (the Bible) as an indictment. On the other hand, it's interesting that a bible in Japanese is included at all. The old street vendor took it with him everywhere, and Saeko was familiar enough with it to flip it open and read from James. In the english version, Saeko reads from the Bible too, but the writers started with Psalm 140, verse 1 and 2, " Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man". Then they added excerpts from Jeremiah 49:2,3 about alarms of war and daughters burned with fire. After that, they resumed the original verses out of James.

JFK Epilogue -- TLW wraps up with an extended quote from JFK's speech to the UN assembly in September 1961. The occasion was a memorial for the death of the Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold. He died when his plane crashed in Rhodesia (later Zambia) while on a peace-brokering mission. The loss of such a capable peace-maker at a time when US/Soviet tenses were flaring, was troubling. JFK used the occasion to denounce nuclear proliferation. The writers/editors remixed parts of JFK's 3rd and 13th paragraphs, including the famous quote that mankind must end war, or war will end mankind.

Bottom line? TLW is interesting as a snapshot of Cold War mood. Told from the Japanese point of view (not one of the warring sides), it captures some of that helpless feeling most people had. The message is delivered with little subtlety, but even this conveys some of the sense of urgency people felt. The model work has its interest, but it's not the focal point. For a personal (if depressing) double-feature, watch TLW to get the war, then On the Beach for doom of survivors, such as the sailors on Takano's ship -- A double dose of doom.

The Beast of Yucca Flats

This is another movie which is often called "the worst movie ever," and perhaps not unrightfully so. The Beast of Yucca Flats (BYF) was Coleman Francis's first screenplay, and his first attempt at directing. The result is too odd to be dismissed as mere amateurish errors. Francis may have tried too hard to put too much "art" into his first film, but lacked the filmmaking experience to succeed. Or, it may be like an un-hip square attempting beatnik poetry. BYF may be yet another example of where being both writer AND director is NOT an advantage.
On the surface, BYF is (or tries to be) in the atomic-monster sub-genre. In that, it's the usual cautionary tale of the dangers of nuclear testing. Yet, there are so many non-sequetors elements, that Francis is trying to say much more. For the vast majority of viewers, he's not successful. It's hard to cast BYF as sci-fi, as there is nothing beyond radiation as the link. It's more of an obtuse "art" movie which requires pondering. It's no quick invasion romp, or monster bash.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Joseph Javorsky (Tor Johnson), a defecting Soviet scientist, lands via a small plane in the Nevada desert. He escapes 2 KGB agents by running into the Yucca Flats nuclear testing range. A test blast transforms Javorsky into The Beast (Tor with radiation burn make up). The Beast strangles a man trying fix his car. He chokes the wife into unconsciousness and carries her to his desert cave. A sheriff is alerted to the crime scene. They find the almost dead woman and decide to mount an aerial search for the killer. Meanwhile, the Radcliff family on vacation has a flat tire while crossing that same desert. The boys wander off. The airborne sheriff spots the father in the desert, searching for his boys, mistakes him for the killer and starts shooting at him. The boys encounter the Beast, elude him and hide, ironically in the Beast's cave. They sneak out while he sleeps, but the Beast awakens and chases them. The two sheriffs catch up and shoot the Beast dead, eventually. Before he dies, the Beast kisses a rabbit. The end.

Beware Radiation!
The basic plot message (not the moral) is the tried-and-true theme of The Dangers of Radiation. Bombs, or being irradiated causes otherwise peaceable swedish wrestlers to become murderous beasts. This plot trope had been around a long time before Francis wrote BYF, so it seems unlikely he was all that invested in the message. The Quatermass Xperiment ('55) featured a man turned into a monster-blob by cosmic radiation. Amazing Colossal Man ('57) and its tribe, all spun off the same notion of a man exposed during a nuclear test. There are many others too, suggesting that Francis just re-used the notion as a framework for his other 'art' messages.

Cold War Angle
A defecting Russian scientist, nuclear tests and an radiation-created beast seem like components of a Cold War parable, but the connection is elusive. Soviet man-of-science Javorsky becoming the nuclear killer beast, may be the analogy, but this seems obtuse.

Notes
Tor the Terrible -- Tor Johnson, former swedish wrestler, starred in Ed Wood Jr.'s Plan 9 from Outer Space as a hulking zombie. His role here is virtually the same, just with radiation instead of aliens as the catalyst. Tor seems to have been chosen for such films for his mouth-agape, arms-outstretched hulking walk.

Faceless Words -- You never see anyone's lips move in this film. Clearly, Francis did so intentionally. Voices and effects were dubbed in later. Some say he was worried about synching the voices, but by 1961, synching was routine. It may have been to save money, or as an "art" feature. The voices seem to lay over the images, rather like a comic book's word balloons exist on a different plane than the characters. An attempt at surrealism? The narrator (Francis himself) explains things, or people "speak" when turned away from the camera or their faces not seen. Watch BYF for this. It is a filmography oddity.

They ARE After Our Women -- The Beast gives us the typical abduction scene. He kills the 4CV's husband, then chokes the wife to unconsciousness and carries her off. He pets her hair and once he has her at his cave, enacts some caveman kissing gestures towards her, definitely intended to push those tribal fear buttons. Beasts want our women!

Pointless Cheesecake? -- The longer version of BoYF opens with a young woman coming out of a shower. She appears topless for a brief moment. She is later strangled in her bed. This is all before Javorsky becomes The Beast, so her nude scenes seem a complete non-sequetor. Is it a flash-forward? One of The Beasts victims we preview? Or is it Javorsky's wife back in Russia -- killed because he defected? Francis doesn't tie this one up. A second scene, when Sheriff Joe gets sharpshooter Jim out of bed, we're given long camera glances at his wife's bosom barely contained in a deep cut nightie. She obligingly bends over slowly (twice) to expose maximum cleavage. She then tucks her long legs back into bed. Again, a total non-sequetor. In fact, she's the largest figure on the (cheap) theatrical poster, even though she plays no role in the plot. Since a re-issue title for the movie was "Girl Madness", one has to wonder if Francis intended more than just a cheap use of boobs to boost interest in his audiences.

Alternate Narrative Agenda -- Nothing in the visual story is all that moving. A nuclear blast creates a beast. The beast kills, is hunted and eventually killed himself. It's in the narration that you get the idea Francis is trying to tell a much bigger story that is not coming off terribly well. Below are some narration snippets.
"Jim Archer, another man caught up in the frantic race for the betterment of mankind." Jim is the sharpshooter who hunts down Mr. Radcliff, not the Beast. "Shoot first, ask questions later." What sort of fascist law enforcement is this? Quite the ranger department out there.
About Hank Radcliff (the boys' father), "An innocent victim, caught in the wheels of justice. A man runs. Somebody shoots at him." Perhaps this is a commentary on the plight of the average man in the witch-hunt environment of the Cold War?
About the Radcliff boys, "Boys from the city, not yet caught up in the whirlwind of progress, feed soda pop to thirsty pigs.." Setting up the boys' innocence? A commentary on the frivolity of modern life?
About the gas station attendant napping in the shade, "Nothing bothers some people, not even flying saucers." The apathy of the masses? One can only guess. No one said anything about flying saucers. It's a radiated Beast movie.
Francis has something he wants to say, but it's not all that clear what it is.

Dangling Non-Sequetors -- There are so many loose ends in BYF that it's like a bad shag rug. Spotting them all can take several viewings. For example, Hank Radcliff was searching for his lost boys, but is shot at repeatedly by men in a plane. (echos of Hitchcock's North by Northwest) When Hank gets back to the road, he leaves his wife there "in case the boys return." Does he dislike his wife? He was just being shot at by men in a plane? Wouldn't she be in danger there? But that's not all. Hank does not go to the police, he summons total strangers to help him look for his boys. What? There are still men with guns in a plane. Does Hank know something about the local police that we don't? He was passing through on vacation. How could he know Jim and Joe were neo-fascist rangers? Why did he think the neighbors wouldn't want to shoot him too? There are many other such non-sequtors which will leave your mouth hanging open, a "what?" on your lips. Like a Rubik's Cube, they take a lot of effort to resolve.

Apocryphal Bunny -- It's been said that the jackrabbit which hops up to the fallen Beast at the end, was a wild one that just happened on the set. Tor, ad-libbed and kissed the bunny before "dying." Francis decided to keep it in the film. This smacks of fabricated urban legend. That bunny acts far too tame around Tor (who was himself surrounded by camera crew, etc.) for it to be a wild bunny. It doesn't struggle at all when Tor grabs it in his huge hand. Nor does it seem likely that Francis had no ending in mind for his movie so a random rabbit would suffice. For my money, Francis planned it all along. Just another random beatnik feature.

Car Nut Moment -- A tidbit only a car nut could love, is that the young couple (of whom the Beast kills the husband and carries off the wife) were driving a Renault 4CV! Here is an obscure little car. Designed in the 40s, while France was occupied by the Nazis, the 4CV was to be the French equivalent to the Volkswagen "Beetle," Manufactured between 1946 and '61, it also had a rear engine like the Beetle, but unlike the Beetle, had a reputation for being particularly unreliable. Not that many made it to the USA for that reason. Perhaps that is why Francis chose it for the hapless couple. If they'd bought American, they might have lived! That's a stretch, but a car nut might think this.

Bottom line? BYF is not an entertainment movie. It's a cryptic sci-fi "art" film by an artist who isn't especially gifted. Still, like a stroke victim mumbling at you, there is an urge to try to understand -- on the assumption they are trying to say something rational. Francis went to too much work on BYF to dismiss it as mere dementia.

The Flight That Disappeared

This is a low-budget independent film with a message. The Flight That Disappeared (FTD) amounts to a anti-nuclear moralizing turned into a movie. The writers, Ralph and Judith Hart, and Orville Hampton had a message they wanted to deliver, so they wrapped it in a Twilight Zone style package. FTD is a low-budget film, intended as socio-political preaching more than drive-in fodder. Yet, it is a good example of atomic angst.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Passengers board Flight 60 in Los Angeles for a flight to Washington DC. Among those aboard are Dr. Morris, nuclear theorist; Marcia Paxton, his mathematician associate; and Tom Endicott, rocket engineer. (Much of the movie's first half is made up of character development and stock footage.) Eventually, Dr. Morris, Marcia and Tom all figure out that they're being summoned to Washington for the same meeting. Most likely, they will be asked to create a super bomb and super missile to deliver it. A minor character named Walter Cooper is a mentally unstable "hawk" who tries to convince Dr. Morris that his super bomb must be used first to take out the enemy before they develop a super bomb too. Somewhere over the midwest, the plane climbs over a thunderstorm, but keeps on climbing. The crew cannot stop the climb. The plane flies so high that the passengers begin to pass out. Walter wakes up crazy paranoid and jumps out of the plane. The engines conk out for lack of oxygen, but the plane keeps climbing. Everyone aboard passes out. Air traffic controllers are frantic and searching for the missing airliner. Meanwhile, Tom, Marcia and Dr. Morris wake up. No one else does. The plane is motionless in a foggy dreamscape. A man (The Examiner) calls them out through the door Walter left open. The three are accused of destroying the future and will be tried by a jury of those yet unborn. There is some arguing over semantics, but the jury pronounces them guilty. Their punishment is to be kept in non-time. They make a run for the plane, but are stopped. Just before The Examiner is about to 'freeze' them, a bald man comes up and says the future can't interfere with the "divine order" and has no business judging the present. Tom awakens on the plane back in flight. He talks of his experience, but the passengers and crew think he's delusional from a hit on the head. Later, Marcia and Dr. Morris agree that they had an identical "dream" but have no proof that it really happened. Without proof, they'll just have to assume it was a shared delusion. The plane lands in DC. Mystified air traffic executives meet the pilot and tell him he's exactly 24 hours overdue. Tom, Marcia and Dr. Morris hear this. It is the proof they needed. Dr. Morris tears up his super bomb notes and throws them in the trash. Tom and Marcia link arms and walk off all happy. The End.

Armageddon Averted
FTD is a more aggressive version of Klaatu's warning ten years earlier. In The Day the Earth Stood Still ('51), Klaatu warns the people of earth not to mess with nukes. In FTD, people stand trial for their future use. The Examiner shows images of the possible future (file footage of Dresden and Hiroshima) in which all life on earth is wiped out. Heeding this terrible warning, the three inventors of the super bomb censor themselves to prevent the awful future.

Cold War Spotlight
The nuclear arms debate is carried out by the cast. Dr. Morris has is own misgivings, but goes with the conventional flow of wisdom that he must make his super bomb as a deterrent. Mr. Jameson and Walter Cooper voice the more belligerent tone of hit-em-hard, hit-em-first, etc. The Examiner takes the belligerently pacifist role. Some must perish now, to save those in the future.

Notes
Pacifist First Strike -- Somewhat ironically, the souls of the future perform the exact strategy that Walter Cooper was advocating. In order to prevent armageddon, they struck first. They planned to take out the inventors of the super bomb to prevent it from ever coming into existence. This was exactly what Walter advocated. Use the bomb on the enemy before they invent one too.

Guilt At The Source -- Curiously, the writers have taken the stance that originators -- the inventors -- of a weapon that kills, are ultimately responsible. Those actually pulling the trigger(s) are minor figures. By that (rather liberal) thinking, Smith and Wesson are responsible for gang murders. Exxon killed the girlfriend doused and set on fire by her boyfriend, etc. etc. The presumption being that removing all weapons would remove murder. Mankind has, sadly, proven too resourceful to be thwarted by a lack of obvious weapons. Bare hands suffice, in far too many cases.

Dies Ex Machina -- True to the classical greek theater idiom, a never-before-seen and unnamed bald man (of the future, apparently) steps in at the last minute and gets our heroes out of trouble. He argues that the future cannot circumvent "divine order" and that those of the present have to sort things out for themselves. Where was this bald-guy earlier, during the trial? Was he an archangel who just noticed the future kids misbehaving and had to step in and put a stop to it? Dies ex machina was a weak plot solution back in ancient Greece. It was weak in 1961 too.

Sunset of the Props -- Despite the wording on the poster, it is not a JETliner that disappears. It was a DC-6, four-engined propeller airliner. The script gives some milage to the fact that prop planes were old fashioned, so this doesn't appear to be a last minute change because more stock footage was available for the DC-6. By 1961, most airlines had converted from prop planes to the DC-8 (four jet engines) and the Boeing 707 (also four jets). The choice of setting it on a prop plane is a bit unusual, but could have been for artistic reasons. Just as air travel was transitioning from propellers to modern jets, the old way of thinking (nukes and deterrence) must give way to the modern anti-nuclear dawn. Get it?

Better as a B -- In 1957, Irwin Allen produced a big budget A film attempting to tell pretty much the exact same message as FTD, but generally failing to do so. The Story of Mankind was loosely based on a kids book by Hendrik Van Loon from 1921 that was a one-volume synopsis of human history. Allen took that historical synopsis idea (and the title) and added a trial in which mankind is on trial in heaven for creating the atom bomb. Vincent Price plays the devil. Ronald Colman plays a vaguely milktoast Christ-ish advocate. History is replayed in a myriad of vignettes. Michael Carridine plays Pharaoh. Peter Lorrie plays Nero. Harpo Marx plays Issac Newton, Groucho Marx an American settler, etc. etc. The overall effect is so distracting and ludicrous that it overshadows the moral of the story. The net message is that, yes, mankind is bad, but we can be good too...so there. Quite the non-ending. FTD, as a B film, had a much smaller budget but did a better job of delivering the same message.

Bottom line? FTD is not high cinema art. It amounts to a Twilight Zone episode stretched into a low-budget feature film. But, overlooking the marginal acting and cheap sets, it is not all that bad. FTD does convey some of the ideological passion that swirled around at the height of the Cold War. (The Cuban Missile Crisis is just one year away). Watch FTD as a snapshot of 1961 nuclear philosophy.

Gorgo

Often called the "British Godzilla", Gorgo scarcely qualifies as a sci-fi movie. No "science" is offered to explain the giant monster. Nor is any "science" used to battle it. Gorgo is pretty purely a monster movie. Yet, by association, it gets on sci-fi lists. The poster's tag line: "Like Nothing You've Ever Seen Before!" is not very accurate. The Gorgo story is part Godzilla, in that a giant (rubber suit) monster stomps around destroying famous landmarks in a major city, and part King Kong. Shameless profiteers bring a huge beast into a major city to exhibit it and things go wrong. By 1962, audiences had seen quite a few giant lizard things stomping on cities.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A marine salvage team is working off the Irish coast when an undersea volcanic eruption creates a tsunami that grounds their ship off the island of Nara. Odd dead fish surface. A mysterious underwater monster appears too, upsetting the local divers. The harbormaster on Nara is illegally collecting shipwreck gold. The salvage men, Joe and Sam, offer to capture the monster in exchange for some of the gold. They net the 60' bipedal amphibian and take it to London. There, it is put on display in Dorkins' Circus. Worried professors tell Joe and Sam that their Gorgo is only a juvenile. The parent (gender never specified) looms up and destroys the village on Nara looking for Junior. Gorgo Senior follows the ship's trail towards London. The British military are called in to stop Senior. Naval fire and depth charges fail. Senior sinks a destroyer. Submarine nets across the Thames fail. Senior breaks through. Fire on the water and jet airplane attacks do not stop Senior from wrecking the Tower Bridge and Big Ben on its way to the circus. Giant high voltage lines also fail to stop Senior. Junior is freed from his exhibition pen. Junior and Senior trudge back to the Thames through the burning ruin of London. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
As a monster movie, Gorgo is entertaining. The pace is brisk enough and the action plentiful. The monster itself, and the model work are pretty well done for the kaiju genre.

Cold War Angle
Gorgo is actually a beware-of-nature story. While the similarity to Godzilla (the nuclear metaphor) is clear, there is never any connection made to radiation. Gorgo just is.

Notes
Gozillas For Everyone! -- Seems like having one's own giant monster to ravage your capital city, was important back in the 50s and 60s. New York had the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms in 1953. That seemed to kick off the sub-genre. Tokyo got the most famous monster, Godzilla, in 1954. The Danes got Reptilicus to ravage Copenhagen in 1963. The Brits were not the first in the kaiju parade, but they made a good example of it.

Ravaging Deja vu -- When Gorgo Sr. stomps through London causing great havoc, it wasn't the first time this had happened. In the 1925 silent film, The Lost World, Professor Challenger's party brought back a dinosaur from that remote Amazonian plateau. It, naturally, gets loose and does some rampaging through London's streets. Another bit of deja vu, and probably no accident, is Gorgo Sr. stomping in the midst of a roller coaster. This harkens to the big finale in Beast from 20,000 Fathoms which director Eugene Lourie just happened to have directed too. Yet another bit of deja vu is that Lourie also directed The Giant Behemoth ('59) in which another dinosaur comes to stomp around London. Some things just don't seem to change.

Missing Woman -- A distinctive feature of the King Brothers' production of Gorgo is that they avoided the typical Hollywood formula of including a female lead, to provide a love interest for the leading man. Joe and Sam start out as partners in the enterprise, but friction develops over the ethics of exploitation. The usual love-interest conflicts wold have cluttered that subtle subplot too easily.

A Boy & His Monster -- Before the Gamera franchise made it campy and trite, young Sean has a sympathy and protective feelings for Gorgo Jr. He tries to "free Willie" at one point. At the end, he smiles contentedly when Gorgo Sr. escorts Junior back to the sea. Never mind all the hundreds of people who were killed just minutes ago. Isn't it sweet that they're going home together? This young boy and his monster angle was (thankfully) not overplayed in the script.

Moral of the Story -- Nature is personified by the Gorgo pair. Junior is the abused and exploited side -- exploited by shallow and greedy men looking to hustle a buck (or pound). Senior, is the remorseless consequences side. Build your house on the beach? A big storm will come and wipe you out. Over clear the land? Rains will wash away all your soil in a deadly mudslide. Etc. etc. In case the metaphor escaped viewers, the screen writers made it plain at the end. An overly loquacious radio reporter sums it all up as the Gorgo pair walk out into the Thames, They are "leaving man to ponder his proud boast that he alone is Lord of all creation."

Bottom line? Gorgo as a sci-fi movie is questionable. It is, nonetheless, a well done monster movie in its own right, and not simply a British copy of Godzilla. For fans of rubber-suit monsters stomping model cites, It has all the appeal of a classic kaiju story.

The Most Dangerous Man Alive

We must digress a bit. This is a 1961 film -- one of those marginally-sci-fi pictures -- which escaped review with the rest of '61's films. If you didn't see the copyright date of 1960 for The Most Dangerous Man Alive (MDMA) you could swear it was a 50s B sci-fi. In a way, it is. It was shot in 1959, but not released until 1961. The story line is also very 50s: nuclear radiation alters a lone man who then becomes something of a monster to the world. More on the similar movies in the notes below. MDMA is, in large part, a mobster drama with a dash of sci-fi to stir things up.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Reports of the escape of Eddie Candell has members of a mobster gang nervous. They had tried to muscle him out for threatening to blow the whistle on them. Eddie shot one of them. During Eddie's trial, they all perjured themselves to send him to the gas chamber. Then, he escaped. Wandering alone in the desert, he happened across an odd water tower which was actually a nuclear bomb test. It detonated. Eddie was not killed, however. Instead, the radiation altered his cells so that they absorbed metals (like the handcuffs) giving his body the invincibility of steel. Eddie eventually catches up with the mobsters. They try to shoot him, but the bullets do no harm. Most of them escape. Through a series of plot threads, the mobsters want Eddie dead, and the police want him stopped. A Dr.Meeker wants him alive for study, but worries that the radiation will have affected his brain, making him a hating, killing monster. Only Eddie's girlfriend, Carla, is good to him. The mobsters try to kill him again, but fail. Eddie takes two of them out to a gravel pit so they can announce to the assembled cops that he is innocent and they are guilty. This goes poorly and both mob boss and his mol are killed. Carla clings to Eddie, so the cops can't fire their flame throwers at him. In a last show of compassion, Eddie pushes Carla away. The flame throwers torch him. He falls dead. His body turns to ash. People say poignant words. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The basic trope is not new, but it is a somewhat different spin on it. The visual flavor is very much 1950s B movie, which has a charm of its own. The acting is reasonably good for a low budget production. It's always fun to see Morris Ankrum, here as tough a police captain.

Cold War Angle
This could be a reach, but Eddie can be seen as the dark side of humanity (the communists) made almost invincible by nuclear weapons. The contemporary angst was that if the commies did not feel vulnerable (because of our nukes), they would surely cause trouble.

Notes
Indestructible II -- The 1956 film Indestructible Man also featured a criminal who becomes immune to bullets, etc. In his case, it was a mad scientist experimenting with electricity on dead bodies. That film was a lesser remade of the 1941 horror film, Man-Made Monster which also featured electricity. For Eddie, it was the more trendy nuclear radiation that does the trick. Once indestructible, the same revenge motive drives the plot. Interestingly, flame throwers were also conspicuous.

Manning & The Beast -- Eddie wanders into a nuclear test site. He survives, but is mutated. This happened to Colonel Manning in The Amazing Colossal Man ('57). Manning became a giant. It happens to Josef Javorski in Beast of Yucca Flats ('61). Javorsky became a brutish hulk. Similarly, the Japanese fishermen become the liquid "H-Men" when exposed to a Pacific test. Each become a monster in their own way. They all fit the analogy of nukes making men into monsters (dangerous political brinksmanship).

Power Corrupts -- MDMA features the recurring literary theme: man (with his fallen nature) cannot handle immunity. Make him unstoppable and he'll go bad. H.G. Wells featured this in The Invisible Man back in 1897. Less stellar examples from the 50s include, The Amazing Transparent Man ('60), and The 4D Man ('59). Give the average man an unstoppable advantage, and he'll eventually use it for evil. They form a sort of dark-side antithesis of Superman who used his invincibility for good.

Monsters With Heart -- Hollywood liked to soften up their monsters. They might be bad, but show some glimmer of compassion at their ends. Colossal Manning ('57) sets Carol down, allowing the army to blast him. Beast Manning ('58) sets down the bus full of kids before he dies. Transparent Joey blows up the evil Krenner (and himself). Yucca Beast kisses the bunny. In this softie tradition, Eddie pushes Carla away from himself so she doesn't get hurt when the army blasts him.

Bottom line? MDMA may appeal to fans of old mobster movies, as that comprises the bulk of it. Fans of saucers, aliens and special effects will find little to like. Yet, as an installment in the unkillable-man trope, it's above average.

Valley of the Dragons

I closed out 1961 just a bit too quickly. There was one more "sci-fi" film of '61, though like many B-grade sci-fi, it only just barely qualified.
Columbia Studios' B-wing put out a low-budget film based on lesser known Jules Verne story: "Career of a Comet." Edward Bernds directed and wrote the screenplay. Bernds made a mark for himself in 50s sci-fi with such films as World Without End ('56) and Spacemaster X-7 ('58) and others. Valley of the Dragons (VoD) is part Robinson Crusoe, part caveman/dinosaur flick, and only marginally a sci-fi tale. In all this, it is throughly a "50's" era style of film.

Quick Plot Synopsis
It is 1881, outside of Tangiers. An Irishman named Michael Denning and a French Captain Servadac are about to fight a duel with pistols over some fracas involving a woman. The duel is interrupted when a comet rushes in, narrowly missing, or perhaps grazing the earth. Everyone but Denning and Servadac are swept away in a windstorm. The two duelists find themselves alone in a changed landscape. The sahara had become a lush jungle. They are attacked by brutish Neanderthals. They watch "dinosaurs" fight. They find a tribe of cave-dwelling people (Cro-magnon?). When a "mammoth" attacks, the two are separated. Servadac fell over a cliff and is swept far down river. A pretty blonde cave-babe finds him and takes him home to her tribal camp as "hers". While recovering from his injuries, Servadac teaches her english. Meanwhile, Denning helps the cave people's leader after a failed ox hunt. Denning is taken to the cave where he becomes the fancy of a pretty brunette cave-babe. Both Denning and Servadac go through similar exploits as modern men in cave society. While exploring a cave with Servadac, the blonde Deena is captured by Morlock-like cavemen. She escapes but is lost. Men from the cave tribe find her. Denning hears her broken english and knows Servadac is alive. While en route to restore Deena to Servadac, the volcano erupts and causes an earthquake. The rest of the cave tribe are trapped in their cave by dinosaurs displaced by the lava. The part of cave tribesmen and hut tribesmen must work together to save them. Servadac finds the ingredients to make gunpowder and his men set charges on the ridge above the cave. The ensuing landslide buries or frightens off the dinosaurs. The two tribes learn to be friends. Servadac figures the comet will pass by earth again in seven years. In the meantime, they'll enjoy their pretty mates. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Several of the tried-and-true plot devices and tropes are trotted out once again, with predictable results. There is something familiar and comfortable (to a 50s fan) about them.

Cold War Angle
As an adaptation of a Verne story, there is little of the usual Cold War symbolism. Only the two rivals setting aside their difference for a common defense, might be seen as a soft Cold War message.

Notes
Semi-Verne -- As with most film adaptations of Verne novels, Hollywood tweaked things heavily. In Verne's novel, many people were taken by the comet, not just two. Like other disaster film plots, the band of castaways must survive both the elements and interpersonal friction. Verne's novel was more of a spotlight on Anglo-French tension, with a dash of anti-semitism. Bernds cast the story in more traditional Hollywood tones of boy-meets-babe.

Ancient Recycling -- VoD contains a good deal of footage recycled from One Million B.C., a 1940 dinosaur-caveman film by Hal Roach. Aside from the oft-reused scene of the alligator (with fins) battling a large lizard, the earthquake and lava footage was reused too. Bernds even reused the basic plot elements: a member one tribe is lost and taken in by rival tribe. The lost man and beautiful blonde girl of the other tribe fall in love. This romance becomes the key to intertribal peace.

Fanciful "Science" -- At one point, Servadac theorizes what happened to them. They are riding on a "comet" which periodically has visited earth over the millennia, each time, it snatched off some hunk of earth bringing with it some flora, fauna and atmosphere. This handily explains the co-existence of dinosaurs and cave men, as well as themselves. Servadacguesses that evolution would be 'frozen' with such isolated samples. Therefore both dinos and cavefolk did not advance during the thousands of years. Handy.

Cave Brutes, Cave Babes -- It is interesting that in the film, cave men (not the Neanderthals) are brutish and not too bright. Cave women, on the other hand, are exactly as we idealize them today -- beautiful, shapely, and hungry for love. Oh, and they can learn english pretty quickly, while the men are stuck with grunting and pointing. Much food for musing in all this stereotyping.

Morlock Ancestors -- One intriguing short scene is when the Morlock-like subterranean men try to capture Deena. Clearly not just more Neanderthals, these white-haired brutes were some other form of humanoid. Did the comet take them off the earth at some point too? Did they come off some other planet? No explanation is given, so the pre-Morlocks are just a fun tangent in VoD.

Bottom line? VoD amounts to a semi-remake of One Million B.C. with some help from Jules Verne. In that, it is yet another caveman & dinosaur movie with little "science". A fan of saucers and aliens will not find much to like. Yet, there are some minor points of interest for the hard core sci-fi fan.

1961

While there were more sci-fi films than the year prior, there still weren't many in 1961. Yet, even with a small sample there were two dominant themes. There were three movies that featured Captain Nemo to varying degrees. There were three films which featured a global warming disaster. Since all came from different sources, it makes an intriguing coincidence.

Konga -- A scientist discovers a plant growth hormone that works on animals. He uses it to make a chimp into a gorilla to silence his enemies.

Master of the World -- Two of Jules Verne's novels are blended to produce one story about the rogue genius and peacenik: Robur.

Atlantis: The Lost Continent -- A greek fisherman returns a lost princess to Atlantis but becomes embroiled in palace intrigue and a plot for Atlantis to rule the world.

The Day the Earth Caught Fire -- Nuclear weapons tests bump earth into a decaying orbit into the sun. Oppressive heat, fires, riots. Can similar blasts move earth back into proper orbit?

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea -- Admiral Nelson, aboard his super-sub "Seaview" must race against balking bureaucrats and on-board saboteurs to save the earth from the burning Van Allen belts.

The Day the Sky Exploded -- English dubbed version of '59 italian film. An errant atomic rocket causes a giant asteroid to head for earth. It's approach causes climate disasters and oppressive heat. Are earth's nuclear missiles enough to stop it?

The Phantom Planet -- An astronaut lands on a mysterious asteroid to find miniature people. He is told he can never return, lest their secret existence be compromised.

Assignment: Outer Space -- A reporter is attached to a routine space mission, which becomes a desperate race to save the earth from a deadly rogue spaceship.

Mysterious Island -- Jules Verne's story of Civil War soldiers cast away on a remote island with giant animals and Captain Nemo. Can they escape a pirate attack and exploding volcano?

The Giant of Metropolis -- Italian film about a leader of Atlantis who seeks to transplant the brain of his father into his son's head, so he can rule forever, runs afoul of "the gods."

The Beast of Yucca Flats -- More of an atomic angst film than sci-fi. Tor Johnson becomes a killing brute after exposed to an atomic test.

Rocket Attack: USA -- Another atomic angst film, not really sci-fi. Low-budget spy drama where the Russian's launch a nuke at New York.

Valley of the Dragons -- Loosely based on a Jules Verne tale. Two men about to fight a duel are swept up by a comet, which is inhabited by cavemen and dinosaurs.

The Most Dangerous Man Alive -- A criminal, framed by his cohorts, escapes onto a nuclear test site. The blast makes him invincible. Revenge ensues.
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The Day the Sky Exploded

This Italo-French production was actually produced in 1958. The American release did not hit theaters until the autumn of 1961. Even though Il Morte viente dallo spazio (Death Comes From Space) was produced in 1958, the American release came in the autumn of 1961. As The Day the Sky Exploded (DSE), it formed the third version of an intriguing co-incidental theme of sudden global warming. The first (of '61) was the British film, The Day the Earth Caught Fire. The second was an American film, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Like the other two, DSE blames nuclear energy for earth's trouble, and uses nuclear weapons as its savior.

Quick Plot Synopsis
An international space agency is about to launch a manned moon mission using the atomic powered XZ rocket. American astronaut John McLaren is tapped for the job. The launch goes smoothly enough, but when he goes to throttle-up for leaving earth orbit, one of the engines misfires. He cannot correct the errant rocket's course. He ejects the capsule and returns to earth safely, but the atomic powered XZ continues on into space, exploding among some asteroids. The dislodges them into an orbit that will strike earth. Worse yet, they've clumped together to form a giant asteroid. If it hits the earth, all life will be doomed. As the mega-asteroid approaches, it causes climate disasters. Tidal waves, freak winds and oppressive heat. The only hope for earth is to fire all available nuclear missiles at the mega-asteroid in hopes of blowing it up. The nations of earth unite to set all missiles ready. The base at Cape Shark is to supply them all with firing data, but the heat is too much for their super computer. One of the scientists named Randowsky has gone wacko. He shut off the air conditioning to prevent the launches. Everyone should just accept their doom, he says. There's a fight. He kills Herbert, but dies too. The others restore power to the air conditioning, so the computer is able to calculate all the data. All earth's missiles are fired. They do the job and blow up the asteroid into small bits. Earth's climate pretty quickly returns to normal. All are happy. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
It was interesting to yet another global-warming disaster film in the same year. Again, it was oppressive heat caused by improper nuclear power.

Cold War Angle
The sometimes contradictory attitude towards nuclear power (and weapons) is captured in DSE. They threaten to destroy the world (as in the XZ causing the mess in the first place), yet they can save the world (all the missiles that blast the asteroid). Note the subtle details. Mishandled nukes cause trouble. Rightly-applied nukes save the world.

Notes
Internationalism -- A recurring trope in later Cold War films, was the international team. Here, the mission team includes an American, a Russian, and a smattering of other nationalities. The future was imagined to have moved beyond the caustic nationalism of the day.

Mad Scientist(s) -- It was interesting that the scientist named Randowsky loses his cool (pun intended) and rants about people getting the fate they deserve for messing with nuclear power. He sabotages the rescue effort. In this, he is reminiscent to the two saboteurs in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. There, the religious zealot Alvarez does the ranting, but it was the scientist Dr. Hiller who actually sabotaged the missile firing to save earth.

Acting Odd -- As an Italian film, the acting and direction can look a bit odd to American eyes. Paul Hubschmid plays a strangely wooden astronaut. He gets better when back on earth. The developing love between Katy and Peter comes across as dysfunctional, at best.

Safe for Boys and Dogs -- The heavily symbolic ending asserts that all is well again on the earth. Young Dennis runs through a tranquil meadow, chasing the dog named Geiger. The earth (trees, grass, sky) recovered almost instantly from the massive heat. Oh, that global warming could so quickly be reverse, eh?

Bottom line? DSE makes a good triple feature with Voyage and Caught-Fire. It is the lesser of the three, in terms of quality. Yet, it is also an ancestor to the modern "Deep Impact" type disaster movies of later decades. Not great, but worth watching.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Irwin Allen did not let disappointment over Lost World get him down. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (VBS) was a hit. It spawned a TV series that brought sci-fi adventure in "inner space" into millions of mid-60s living rooms. Allen provided a mix of classic Jules Verne style travel adventures with techno-gadget appeal. The story turns out to be more of a human drama than sci-fi, but the sci-fi element at least still fairly visible. There is a visual slickness to the production which heralds the coming flavor of second-generation sci-fi. VBS was also the American edition of a world cast into sudden global warming. The first was the British film The Day the Earth Caught Fire.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The new atomic submarine USOS Seaview has completed it's trial voyages. A congressman and Dr. Hiller, a psychiatrist, come aboard for a demonstration voyage under the polar ice cap. The ensuing tour of the ship is as much for their benefit as for the viewers to marvel at Seaview's coolness. After a couple of days, Seaview is being gently bombarded by falling chunks of sea ice. Seaview surfaces. The crew see that the sky is on fire. Meteorites have somehow ignited the Van Allen Belts. The earth is being scorched. Top scientists are convening at the UN to find a solution. Admiral Nelson is ordered to attend. Before they leave, they find a lone man on the ice. They take Alvarez aboard. At the UN, Nelson proposes firing a nuclear missile at the belts to "pop" them. A rival scientist says the belts will burn themselves out. The UN body likes the do-nothing plan, so Nelson storms out. They rush aboard the Seaview and speed off. Nelson plans to fire the missile anyway. The trip around South America is long enough to build some sub plots. The men are growing restive with worry about loved ones. Alvarez talks of accepting doom if that's God's will. Captain Crane is often at odds with Nelson over the men. Nelson gets death threats. Dr.Hiller suggests that Nelson is delusional and faked the threats. Crane is conflicted. A UN sub tries to sink them, but blows up trying to match Seaview's diving ability. It turns out that Dr. Hiller is actually the saboteur, but she is eaten by a shark and her damage repaired. Just as the savior missile is about to be launched, Alvarez holds everyone hostage with a bomb. Crane dons scuba gear and triggers the missile manually. In the jolt of launch, Alvarez is overpowered. All are safe. The missile does the job. The fires are poofed out. Everyone reconciles their differences and sail happily for home. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
There is ample action and no shortage of subplots. Walter Pigeon (Morbius of Forbidden Planet ('56) ) gives a good show as the misunderstood champion. Barbara Eden (I Dream of Jeanie) does surprisingly well as more than just eye candy.

Cold War Angle
While commies aren't present, there is the metaphor of the burning radiation belts which will soon destroy the earth. The solution is a well-placed atomic warhead. Add in some spy story sabotage, and the Cold War is well represented.

Notes
The Neo-Nemo -- Allen positions VBS as the modern replacement for the 19th century's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Like Nemo, Admiral Nelson is lauded as the brilliant (one man) inventor/scientist and builder of the amazing submarine. Like Nemo, Nelson pursues his own inner vision of what must be done to save the world. Like Nemo, the world is out to stop him. Having Peter Lorrie among the cast makes for an unmistakable tie to Disney's 1954 film version of the Nemo story. In VBS, his role is peripheral, but the connection works. In the TV series, Nelson's adventures in Seaview become a modern Nemo & Nautilus for the 20th century.

Super Sub II -- Just two years after Atomic Submarine, the notion of a high-tech nuclear submarine, on adventures to save the earth, still had legs. What a difference two years made too. Where 50s films were rife with war surplus equipment, Allen's Seaview represented more of a forward looking design.

Early Global Warming -- A few movies before have suggested climate upheavals due to space phenomena. When Worlds Collide had this in 1951. The Lost Missile ('58) had a rogue missile burning up swaths of earth as it orbited. This was more of moving a local problem than global, but still... Also from 1958 was an Italo-French production, "La Morte viente dallo spazio" (Death comes from space) which had a mass of asteroids raising global temperatures. In an interesting coincidence, the english dubbed version, entitled The Day the Sky Exploded will be released only a few months after VBS. Then, there is The Day the Earth Caught Fire (' ) which also features a scorched earth. A cooked earth was becoming, (dare I say it?) a hot topic. (sorry) These early looks at extreme global warming have an intriguing relevance again.

TV Trump -- The television series based upon VBS would buck the trend. Often enough, TV series based on a movie would not live up the film's magic. Not so with VBS-TV. The series was, in many ways, better. For gadet-crazed young boys, the Flying Sub was too cool for words. The crew of Seaview, much like Roddenberry's Enterprise crew a few years later, would take their wonderful ship on many amazing adventures. After all that, the original movie seems tame.

Prop Watch -- Note the wall of blinking square "computer" lights in the control room of Seaview. It was not new, but recycled. In the age before personal computers, someone had gone to a lot of trouble make the light-bank blink its lights in such an artful, almost thoughtful, way. It was too cool of a prop to leave in storage. It was part of the evil super computer set in Invisible Boy ('57). The light-bank appeared again in Return of the Fly ('59).

Bottom line? VBS is well worth the time. It may be a bit light on the science (or just plain wrong, such as sinking ice), but it is briskly told story that avoids predictable traps.

Mysterious Island

Columbia released yet another adaptation of a Jules Verne story in late 1961. Mysterious Island (MI) tries to follow Verne's novel as much as Hollywood tended to. Variations aside, the big screen, bigger budget production has more special effects and even some Ray Harryhausen animation to provide an almost modern level of eye candy. Even though the science part of the fiction is pretty thin, there is more than enough action to make up for it.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Three Union soldiers, a war correspondent and an unwilling Southern soldier flee a Richmond prison in 1865. A huge storm blows them far out into the Pacific. The balloon tears and they land on an island. They are joined by Lady Mary and her niece Elena, shipwrecked. The seven set up a camp and begin work on a boat. They encounter a giant crab and a giant bird chick. Both provide ample food. Elena and Herbert develop a love interest and become trapped in a giant bee honeycomb. Some pirates arrive to replenish supplies. A gun fight ensues until the pirate ship blows up and sinks. Captain Nemo is revealed as the cause of the sinking and other mysterious events on the island. He reports that the volcano will soon blow up. Everyone's only hope is to repair the sunken ship, pump it full of air from the Nautilus and refloat it. Everyone sets to their chores to do so, but the volcano erupts sooner than expected. Nemo despairs, but Captain X suggests they repair their balloon and use it to quickly float the ship. While arranging all this, Pencroft is grabbed by a giant squid beast. Herbert uses Nemo's electric gun to make it retreat. Nemo turns on the pumps. The ship refloats. Everyone climbs aboard, but the eruption traps Nemo aboard the Nautilus as the volcano causes massive damage. The seven sail away, vowing to work for a peaceful world as Nemo would have wanted. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Despite deviations from Verne's novel, MI has a well crafted and action packed screenplay. The special effects are still effective, even in today's CGI world.

Cold War Angle
The message via Nemo is clearly anti-war, though nothing is particularly nuclear.

Notes
Nemo III -- MI marks the third appearance of Nemo references in 1961 films. It is also the most clearly Nemo. The first was Master of the World which featured Robur as a sort of airborne Nemo, opposing war as well. The second was Atlantis which featured a Nautilus-like submarine. Interestingly, MI included some submerged Greek ruins as an unnamed reference to Atlantis. MI was the most blatant of the three Nemo films in featuring Nemo himself.

Typical Nemo -- The writers paid homage to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by making their Nemo (Herbert Lom) very similarly to Disney's Nemo (James Mason). They even have their Nemo play Bach's Toccata and Fuge in D minor on the pipe organ.

Gotta Have Women -- As with most Hollywood adaptations, the writers inserted two female characters which Verne did not have. The young and voluptuous Elena (Beth Rogan) provides the usual love-interest for young Herbert, who are then the modern movie demographic interest. Elena gets to wear a very short goatskin dress with a cleavage enhancing neckline -- a ticket-selling scheme in the Hollywood tradition. Young Herbert, just to be fair, gets to run around in just shorts so the ladies can enjoy his shirtlessness.

Naive Peacenik -- MI's Nemo monologues about stopping war by solving world hunger via his huge animal technology. The assumption is that people fight wars over food. Yet, even the Civil War, which Verne used as a background, had nothing to do with anyone's lack of food. Even with Nemo's giant chickens, men would still find things to fight over.

Second Go-Round --Ten years earlier, in 1951, Columbia produced a theatrical serial of "Mysterious Island." This, too, followed the novel to various degrees, although it added some aliens from the planet Mercury, who had ray guns. It starred Richard Crane as Captain Harding. Crane would go on to star as Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. Gene Roth, who often played the villain in early 50s serials, did so here too, as the pirate captain.

All Hail Harryhausen! -- Ray Harryhausen lends his talent to make the various giant creatures come to life. His unmistakable touch can be seen in the giant crab, the giant chick and of course, the sinister squid-beast near the end.

Bottom line? MI is entertaining and captivating, even today. It is well worth the effort to find a copy.