It's Alive (1969)

In the autumn of 1974 a sci-fi/horror movie was released with the title It's Alive. This 1974 film was about a monster baby. There was another film, shot in 1969 with the exact same title, but an entirely different story. Before reviewing the '74 film, this is a quick digression to review of the '69 film. 1969's It's Alive (IA) would normally fall outside of the range of this study, as it appears to have been made for television, with no theatrical release. Aside from clarifying the differences between the two films of the same name, the '69 film is of some interest because it was produced and directed by Larry Buchanan -- responsible for many remakes of low-budget 50s sci-fi. The story itself may be based on a short story by Richard Matheson (of "I Am Legend" fame), with the screen adaptation (most likely) by Buchanan himself. No writers are listed in the credits. A telling omission, perhaps.

Super-Quick Plot Synopsis
Norman and Leilla are a middle aged married couple from the big city, taking a cross country driving vacation. As they drive through the back roads of the Ozarks, they run low on gas. They ask a semi-random stranger, Wayne, for directions. He sends them to a farm house he saw a few miles up the road. That house belongs to Greely, a big creepy man who keeps a roadside attraction of snakes, etc. He invites them to wait in the house for a fuel truck due to arrive any time now. While they wait (and ignore warning hints), Greely invites them to see his prize critter. They go down in a cave. Greely locks them in a caged room. Greely knocked out Wayne earlier and threw him in the room too. They learn that they are to be food for "it". During one attempt to get out, the rubber-suit-monster "gets" Norman. Bella, the oppressed captive housekeeper tells her backstory of capture and cruelty. She tries to help them escape. She brings some of Wayne's dynamite. Despite drugged coffee, they get out. Greely catches them again. He shoots Bella, but she lit the dynamite fuse. The disloyal creature goes for Greely. The explosion causes a cave-in. Wayne and Leilla escape but decide that no one will believe them. End shot on the bubbling pool. The End?

Why is this movie fun?
IA falls into that category of movies "so bad, they're good." Bill Thurman, as they creepy Greely, plays his part so over-the-top that it's amusing to watch. The actual monster is almost a parody (if Buchanan had not been serious) of the 50s style of rubber suit monsters.

Cultural Connection
Roadside Attractions -- The setting -- a former roadside attraction in "the middle of nowhere" -- harkens to a bygone day before interstate highways. When the countryside came right up to the edge of the narrow highway, it was easy for any mom-and-pop outfit to offer weary travelers some diversion, or souvenirs, or a quick snack. The venue did not have to be high-class, and usually wasn't. It just needed to be novel enough to pique interest. Concrete dinosaurs, cave tours, exotic animals -- the road-weary got a rest, stretched their legs and a distraction. The venue owner got a few bucks. Everyone was happy. As eulogized in Pixar's Cars, the interstate highway system doomed the roadside attraction. No one could get close to the highway. Rest stops became state-managed banalities. Legs still get stretched, and snacks consumed, but the novelty -- the sense of discovery or wonder -- is missing.

Notes
Some Filler Added -- TV movies needed to be specific lengths. Theatrical release films were often too long, so non-essential footage was cut. Other times the story wasn't quite long enough. In those cases, filler was added to pad out the run time. IA has several of these paddings. There are long, but pointless, bits of dashboard-cam as someone drives along winding back roads. Viewers get to see people walk down long flights of stairs -- all the way down. Poor Bella rocks in her chair and we get to see rocker-cam shots of her room going up and down, up and down. Buchanan must be given some credit for trying to sneak his padding in through a variety of means.

Cheap Thrills -- The television market continued to grow (whereas the theater market continued to decline), such that more and more movies were being produced directly for television with no theatrical release planned. Television was assuming the role that second-feature drive-ins had been serving. So, it is fairly natural that off-hours TV programming would assume the ethos of late-50s, early-60s B films. The twist was that "cheap TV" had even lower budgets than "cheap film."

Paleo-Blaster -- Wayne (Tommy Kirk) starts out as just the random stranger with a jeep, but we later learn that he's a paleontologist -- who pokes around backwoods Arkansas alone in a jeep. Handily, Wayne's career allows for some science-y talk about prehistoric creatures and suspended animation, etc. etc. Especially handy for the plot, is the little known fact that roving paleontologists regularly pack sticks of dynamite. Wayne may have been new to paleo-blasting, however. The wad of sticks he planned to blow the jail door with was also enough to cause the caverns to collapse. Paleontology is a risky career.

Short Mourning -- Granted, Norman is written as a total jerk, so no one feels bad that the monster gets him first. What is somewhat amusing is how fast his widow copes with her loss. Just hours later (if that), she's making smiley eyes at Wayne. "How awful about Norman...but I never really thought about being the wife of a paleontologist...." Leilla was taking her tragic loss pretty well.

Monster Redux -- To keep production costs very low, the monster costume was recycled from an earlier cheapy movie: Creature of Destruction ('67). This prior film was another of Buchanan's cheapies for Azalea Pictures. It was another of his remakes of 50s B films. In this case, The She-Creature from 1956. The '67 film did not attempt to make the monster feminine, but a sort of budget gill man. In IA, Buchanan does a workman-like job of trying to build suspense for his recycled monster. That is, he does not (as in Octoman show his monster even before the opening credits. However, he doesn't attempt disguise his monster with any mysterious shadow shots, or tight shots of a wet claw, etc. Buchanan just has his rubber suit monster pop his head up from behind the rocks. "Hi there." It could be that Buchanan thought the costume's snaggle-toothed, oogle-eyed face was impressive enough for a full reveal.

Bottom line? IA is almost painfully low-budget, suffering most of the usual pitfalls of cheap B films. Unless one likes so-bad-they're-good films, it is probably not worth much effort to find it. This review is mostly to document that Buchanan's 1969 film is not (at all) the same story as the 1974 film of the same name, by Larry Cohen.
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1969

The dreams of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and countless sci-fi writers, was realized in July, 1969. The wide-eyed fascination of Destination Moon ('50) became reality. 1969 was not, however, an outstanding year for sci-fi. For the most part, it was populated with old-formula, remakes and foreign imports. The notable exception being Marooned: a bigger budget production about an Apollo mission.

The Illustrated Man -- Based on Ray Bradbury stories, about a man tattooed by a woman of the future, whose tattoos foretell the future.

Blood beast terror -- A rogue scientist has created a were-moth: beautiful woman by day, giant vampire moth by night.

The Green Slime -- An alien life form infests an orbiting space station. They feed on energy and seek to attack earth next.

Body Stealers -- Aliens steal skydivers to help them rebuild their dying civilization, until the leader alien falls in love with an earthling.

The Valley of Gwangi -- Remake of Beast of Hollow Mountain. Dinosaurs in hidden valley ranchers in the old west.

The Bed Sitting Room -- British comedy about post-apocalyptic England. Amid other absurdities, radiation mutates some people into inanimate objects.

The Monitors -- An odd comedy about a bungling resistance movement against aliens who have taken over and manage Earth for the betterment of mankind.

Journey to the Far Side of the Sun -- A space mission discovers that Earth has an exact duplicate in an exact opposite orbit, so never seen.

Marooned -- An Apollo mission is trapped in orbit with no way down. Can an experimental rocket shuttle get to them before their oxygen runs out?

Latitude Zero -- A Toho take on Captain Nemo. An arch villain seeks to destroy the idyllic undersea city of Latitude Zero.

Genocide -- A deranged biologist, sponsored by communists, breeds killer bugs, but a lost H-bomb exposes the scheme.

Hibernatus -- French comedy about a man found alive after frozen in arctic ice for 65 years. To avoid fatal shock, everyone pretends it is still 1905. The charade unravels riotously.

It's Alive -- Low-budget horror hybrid based on Matheson story. A roadside attraction owner keeps a prehistoric creature and feeds it tourists.

Hibernatus

This French film of late 1969 was released in other European countries, but never in english. Hibernatus is listed as a comedy sci-fi. It is a light comedy in the Rip Van Winkle motif, mostly built around comedy star Louis de Funès. It is "lite" as far as science fiction goes, involving only a touch of cryogenics talk and a couple mentions of hibernating astronauts. Being scant on science has not been too unusual in the ranks of sci-fi films. As a strictly foreign film, that would normally put Hibernatus outside of this study, but it does make a nicer note to end this tour of 1969 than on, than the everybody-dies film Genocide.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A team of arctic explorers conduct some blasts on the polar ice. In the crater are two shoes sticking out of the solid ice. Men cut out the block of ice with the man in it and ship it back to France. Also found nearby in the ice is wreckage of the ship La Galand, lost in 1905. Scientists are amazed that, as he thaws, the ice man is still alive. News of this thrills France, and almost upstages a dinner party held by Hubert Tartas, CEO of a factory. He announces the engagement of his son, Didier to Evelyn, daughter of another CEO. During the party, Tartas becomes obsessed with everyone else at the party wearing lapel pins of the Legion of Honor. A telegram arrives from the Secretary of Internal Affairs. Tartas is certain this means he will be awarded the medal too. At the Secretary's office, however, the news is that the ice man turns out to be Tartas' wife's grandfather. Preposterous! No. Paul fell into a vat of glycerine, which the La Galand was carrying when it hit the ice. The glycerine protected Paul's cells so he lived in hibernation. Once shaven, Edmee does recognize him as her grandfather. The scientists worry that Paul's health is very fragile. Any shock could kill him. Since outer space is key to national prestige (and hibernated astronauts the key to outer space), the government finance restoring Tartas' hotel back to how it looked in 1905. Only vintage attire and automobiles are allowed in the area. Paul wakes up, but thinks Edmee is his mother. Everyone plays along. Tartas is dressed up to look like Paul's father, but Paul chases him off in a rage. (they were divorced over an affair with an actress). This allows Tartas to appear as himself (in costume) as a suitor for Edmee. Many hi-jinx ensue. It turns out that Paul is keen on Evelyne. She and Didier didn't love each other anyway. Didier likes Sophie, the pretty maid. When Tartas sees his arranged marriage collapsing, he loses his cool and tells Paul all about modern life in 1970, figuring that if the shock killed Paul, his dream of corporate empire via marriage might be salvaged. Paul doesn't die of shock. Instead, he is intrigued. He watches a TV program about jets and the Concorde. It's true. Paul and Evelyn are in love, so get married. Tartas, at wits end, decides to have himself cryogenically frozen so he can wake up in 50 years live happily ever after. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
It's a comedy. It's supposed to be fun. There are, no doubt, subtle bits of humor that only the French might pick up on. But, there is much about Funès' frantic and physical style of humor that transcend language.

Cold War Angle
There is some reference to the space race, but no reference to Cold War or communists. Hibernatus is lite fare, not heavy commentary.

Notes
Funny Funès -- Louis de Funès was a leading comedy actor in France in the 60s and 70s. He excelled at physical humor -- high-strung and accident-prone characters. His style seems like a cross between the Three Stooges and Jerry Lewis or John Cleese. Funès' style is 90% of the film.

Gags of Note -- Some of the set-piece gags which transcend language are:
The Waiter Gag, in which waiter George keeps walking in front of Tartas as he's trying to announce the engagement of his son.
Legion Lust, in which Tartas notices that everyone -- even his butler Geroge -- is wearing the little red rosette of the Legion of Honor. Obsessed, Tartas keeps trying to steal the pin off his lawyer's lapel.
Hidden Husband, has Tartas hiding under Edmee's bed when Paul rushes in to read his love poem to Evelyne. Tartas keeps bumping up the bed to show his disapproval. Edmee repeatedly pretends nothing happened.
Climactic Frenzy, comes when Tartas tries to shock Paul with news of 1970. Here, Funès is at his animated best as the crazed middle-aged man.

Costume Ball -- Of some visual interest is the total shift from 1969 fashion and technology (such as the slick "moderne" hospital) to the late victorian era costumes, carriages, cars and decor. There is a subtle amusement at seeing people in old (stuffy) fashioned clothes acting silly.

Bottom line? Hibernatus will not be easy to find. Nor is it necessarily worth great pursuit. As a comedy, it's amusing. As a sci-fi, it's almost too thin to merit the label. Fans of Funès get a generous dose. Those unaware of Funès get a good introduction.

Genocide

Closing out the sci-fi films of 1969, is an obscure Japanese-western production in vogue in the late 60s. Originally released in Japan in late 1968 as "Konchu Daisenso" (Insect War), the film was dubbed into english and released in America in late 1969, as either War of the Insects (hence the poster) or as Genocide. It's dark and complicated plot hinges on a mad scientist breeding killer insects, or being used by the insects.

Quick Plot Synopsis

The film opens with stock footage of a Nevada nuclear test. From this cataclysmic ending, the story is told as flashback. On a small Japanese island, Geroge (Jozi, in the original), is sunbathing with his mistress, Annabelle. Overhead, a B-52 files through a swarm of insects that clog the engines. The plane catches fire and explodes. All three crewmen bail out. The forth parachute is the H-bomb they carried. The three crewmen shelter in a cave, but they're attacked by swarms of bugs. The black cewman named Charlie escapes, but falls, and gets amnesia. The American military find the two dead crewman and comatose Charlie. George is arrested for murder because he has an Air Force watch. He telegraphs Dr. Nagumo in Tokyo -- whom he has been collecting rare insects for. Nagumo travels to the island to try and prove George is innocent. Several threads slowly reveal themselves. George's wife Yukari finds out he's unfaithful. She is pregnant with George's baby. The hotel manager, Tsuneo, is a sexual predator and employed by the communists. He and his thugs want the H-bomb for their Russian sponsors, so kidnap Charlie and torture him with stings from Annabelle's bugs to tell where the bomb is. Annabelle is also sponsored by the soviets to produce the deadly poisonous bugs as germ warfare. She, however, is mentally unhinged at past persecution in a Nazi prison camp, so really wants the whole world to die. The thugs release deranged Charlie who then tries to rape Junko. Gordon shoots him. Before he dies, Charlie repeats. "Genocide…genocide…" Nagumo, thinking this significant, lets one of Annabelle's bees bite him, since his assistant Junko has an antidote handy. In the toxin-induced delirium, he "understands" that the insects of the world have decided that humans must be destroyed (hence the title Genocide) since human nuclear meddling threatens to destroy insects too. Annabelle wants to kill Nagumo, but he pushes her down her basement where her own bugs kill her. Tsuneo's thugs force George and Yukari to a smaller island where George saw the H-bomb. It gets found, but George and Yukari escape the thugs and hide in an abandoned hut. The bugs surround the hut, eventually breaking in. George digs a hole in the floor, puts Yukari in the hole and covers it with his body. His last words are for her to live, for the baby's sake and flee the islands. Nagumo and Junko find Yukari in her hole and go back to the bigger island. Yukari flees in a small boat. Colonel Gordon forces Nagumo to come with him. They fly over the islands. Gordon wants to detonate the H-bomb remotely to, (a) cover up this loss, (b) keep the H-technology out of communist hands and (c ) kill all the nasty insects. There is a struggle on the plane as Nagumo and a crewman think Gordon is daft. The bomb blows up anyhow. A swarm of bugs attack the plane and it goes down in flames too. The final scene is teary-eyed Yukari alone in a small boat, watching a mushroom cloud rise over the island. Everyone is dead but her. The End.

Why is this movie fun?

"Fun" isn't quite applicable. Genocide is a grim film with few likable characters, all but one of whom die in the end. Yet, it is also an intriguing film. It is as if the writer had many different movie stories in his head, and didn't want to leave any of them out. The dubbing is a source of mild amusement, for those with a soft spot for dubbed Japanese movies. And, in the Japanese sci-fi tradition, there are models (planes, buildings and landscapes).

Cold War Angle

Even though, by the late 60s, the Cold War was becoming less popular as a topic, there were still a few being produced. Genocide is a preachy (if not a bit self-righteous in its anti-nuke and anti-war sentiments. At one point, when Colonel Gordon lightly accuses Nagumo of being an agent for the East (since Nagumo was not obsessed with locating the missing H-bomb), Nagumo snips, "Both the east and west are wrong. Always trying to outdo each other in a show of force. Both sides are crazy."

Notes

Crowded Plots -- Writer Susumu Takaku would be later famous for many anime stories. In the early 60s, he was writing lighter fare, but in the late 60s, he seemed to have been in a gloomy mood. His script for Genocide is a noir-ish collection of many nihilistic sub-stories -- each of which could have been developed into their own movie.

-- Insects who develop a collective intelligence and decide that they must wipe out mankind in order to save themselves.

-- An insect conquest of the earth, by killing foreigners and laying eggs in their bodies -- knowing that the bodies would be shipped home, thereby spreading the invasion. -- A mad scientist working on a weapon of mass destruction, ostensibly for evil sponsors so they can rule the world, but the mad scientist is really planning to destroy the world for personal revenge.

-- An H-bomb lost by accident, the object of good-guy and bad-guy searches and conflict and double-crossings.

-- A poor foreigner wrongly accused of murdering American pilots as a cover-up for a military mistake, and the loyal friend's investigation to prove his innocence.

Any of these would have made a whole movie in themselves. But, Takaku jammed them all together (and a few more sub-plots) to make an overly complex story which could not do justice to any of the above. He wrote similarly dark tale, Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell, also in 1968, but it would not come to American markets (dubbed) until 1979.

Shadow of Frankenstein -- Apropos of the upcoming study of Frankenstein films, viewers will note the trope alive and well, even in obscure Japanese films. Annabelle is the mad scientist, intent on messing around with nature. She creates a "monster" (the super-poison insects). She is killed by her own creation. But, casting Kathy Horan as the mad scientist was strange. Horan was a young, shapely, budget-version of Ann Margaret. Her babe-ness made it much harder to fit her into the Frankenstein role.

Grim Reality -- Takaku seemed to have been in a misanthropic mood when he wrote Genocide. He punctuated his larger story with abundant violence. Tsuedo tries to rape Yukari early on. Deranged Charlie tries to rape Yukari too, then goes after Junko, ripping off her blouse and jumping on her. Then there is Annabelle's odd pleasure in seeing Charlie tortured with the insects' poison. Thug 1 and Thug 2 are quick to slap people to encourage cooperation. Finally, everyone is killed by the nuclear blast. It's almost as if, when Annabelle talks about the world being full of only hate (herself no exception), her lines are voicing the writer's sentiment.

Bottom line? Genocide is not an easy film to watch. It's complex plot makes it easy to get lost. Takaku filled his story with odd factoids that weren't really needed (so tended to be distracting), as well as typically led nowhere. The dubbing is towards the atrocious end of the scale. It is not a film one would ever say they enjoyed. Still, some of the ideas in the movie are intriguing.

Latitude Zero

Toho Studios tried another "international" sci-fi film starring American actors and Japanese Toho regulars. Latitude Zero (LZ) was written by an American and starred names like Joseph Cotten and Cesar Romero. It was filmed with the actors speaking English, then reverse dubbed into Japanese for the home market. Several regular Toho folk were in the production, such as director Ishiro Honda (of Godzilla fame). The tale is essentially Captain Nemo updated for the late 60s in a Toho flavor.

  Quick Plot Synopsis
(The plot is so full of miscellaneous bits, it's hard to be brief) Three men descend to the Pacific sea floor to study deep currents. Commander Ken, scientist Jules and journalist Perry. Their diving bell breaks loose when an undersea volcano erupts nearby. All three are wounded and unconscious when scuba divers (?) from a sub rescue them. The lady doctor (scantily clad 22 year old blond) tends to seriously hurt Jules. Perry and Ken learn from the genial Captain MacKenzie, of his marvelous sub, the Alpha, and his undersea commune, Latitude Zero. MacKenzie's rival and villain-of-the-tale, Malic (Romero) orders his sub, the Black Shark to stop MacKenzie. This fails and Alpha gets to base okay. The underwater city of Latitude Zero is a utopia where everyone lives for hundreds of years. Everyone is happy because all their needs are met. Diamonds are used as houseplant mulch. Perry scoops up some in his tobacco pouch. Meanwhile, Malic has kidnapped a Dr. Okada and his daughter, supposedly because Okada has a formula that will make people immune to radiation. Okada has a tracking device which let's MacKenzie know his whereabouts. Malic doesn't mind, because his real intent was to use Okada as bait to lure in his rival MacKenzie so he could kill him. MacKenzie, Ken, Jules, Perry, the babe doctor and sturdy Koubo take Alpha to Malic's lair, Blood Rock. Once there, the men all don golden jumpsuits with jet packs and laser-flamethrower gloves. Ann stays with Alpha. The men jet pack up the cliff and begin searching. Meanwhile, Malic's secret weapon is that he is going to create a griffon from a real lion, a real condor and using the brain of KuroiGa (the former captain of the Black Shark). The griffon is supposed to kill MacKenzie. Bat men hold Okada and his daughter. Malic completes his griffen and sends it looking for MacKenzie. Next up is Okada's turn on the operating table. Malic says he can extract the secret from Okada's brain. MacKenzie and crew burst into the lab, interrupting the brain removal. The golden men fight the bat men, many of whom are shot down with MacKenzie's laser glove. Malic escapes. MacKenzie and the golden men jet out with Okada and his daughter. They return to the Alpha. Before they can sail away, the Black Shark appears again. Malic fires lasers at the cliff above the Alpha to bury it in rocks. Ultimately, this fails when MacKenzie makes the Alpha fly and escape. The griffen, now giant sized because of a growth serum Malic injected, attacks Malic in the Black Shark. Malic mistakenly hits the cliff with an errant laser blast, burying the Black Shark in rock and sparking huge explosions. Huge. The whole island of Blood Rock explodes. Back at LZ, Perry is the only one who wants to return. MacKenzie allows it. Perry is picked up by a naval ship. Aboard is an American captain who is named MacKenzie (also played by Cotten), and a Lt. doctor (played by Romero). Perry's film is all blank and his tobacco pouch contains only tobacco. Was it all a dream? A telegram arrives on the ship, telling Perry that a shipment of diamonds was deposited in his bank. The End.

  Why is this movie fun?
As a modernized variant on the sturdy Jules Verne story of Captain Nemo, LZ has its interesting points. The rubber-suit-monster, which apparently all Toho movies must have, is an eyebrow raiser. Of some interest, too, are the bizarre costume designs by two people had not worked on any other movie, before or after.

  Cold War Angle
For the most part, LZ is an eclectic adventure dating before the atomic age. One rewrite for the Cold War audience was that Dr. Okada's formula would make people immune to the effects of radiation. MacKenzie cautions about what a powerful "weapon" it would be. If one side's population was immune to radiation, the other side's nukes would be no deterrent. When Okada is kidnapped, the Americans and Russians blame each other for trying to steal that secret. This, however, is a very minor part of the story and pretty much inconsequential.

  Notes
Atragon 2? -- MacKenzie's super sub, "Alpha" is not purported to be another Atragon, but the movie serves as a loose sequel. Toho Studios' Atragon ('63) featured a super sub that could also fly. It also featured an underwater city (though an evil empire version) and the idealist scientist-inventor-pacifist and captain of the super sub. Rather than an actual sequel (picking up the story from where the other left off), LZ is more like a cousin. "Atragon" bt Shunro Oshikawa (original creator of "Atragon" in 1899) and Ted Sherdeman (creator of Latitude Zero's "Alpha" in 1941) were both inspired by Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.


Radio Roots -- Ted Sherdeman wrote "Latitude Zero" originally as a radio serial adventure. It ran only one season in 1941 -- before America had entered World War II, but tensions were mounting in the Pacific. It was crafted for juvenile audiences. That trait still comes through the modernized version, filtered through Japanese hands. The many undeveloped elements in FZ may have been better explained in the various radio show episodes.

  Nemo & Nemesis -- The whole (militarist) world, more or less, was the enemy of Verne's Nemo. Atragon's captain Jinguchi was ascetic, like Nemo, but the evil Mu Empire became his enemy (not the world, per se). LZ's MacKenzie is also the reclusive (and cynical) genius in the Nemo mould. His enemy list is much shorter. Not the world, nor an evil empire. MacKenzie's nemesis is a cartoonish, small-scale villain (Malic) who has an entourage of the usual cinematic minions.

  Materialist Dream -- Idealists of the late 1800s and early 1900s liked to imagine that violence and crime were primarily the struggles over material things. Greed, envy and strife stemmed from the unequal distribution of "stuff". Sherdeman's utopian Latitude Zero commune-under-the-sea is a prefect example of this. With the god-like MacKenzie providing all their material needs, the inhabitants were free to frolic and laugh (you'll notice that they laugh a lot). Idealists turn a blind eye to mankind's propensity to evil and violence, even if well-stocked with "stuff". (Rich people don't do evil?)

  A Woman Scorned -- Malic's supposed master stroke is to create a special monster to "get" MacKenzie. He creates a "griffin" from a male lion and a condor. A human brain would give it the facility of taking (his) orders. A major flaw in his plan is his choice of brain. Malic's selects the petite Kuroi Ga, woman captain of his evil sub. All she wants is a little love from Malic. He betrays her affection, making HER the brain donor. And Malic wonders why his KuroiGa-brained Griffin doesn't obey him, but attacks him instead? Are arch-villains really that stupid?

  Dubbing Irony -- LZ was filmed with all actors speaking english. Even the japanese actors who did not speak english, learned their lines phonetically. This led to lines like, "I hear you rowd an crier". Viewing the Japanese version carries the amusing irony of Japanese actors lips not matching the Japanese words.

  Super Charger -- A curious automotive bit, was MacKenzie showing off his model (not too well done of a model) of a 1969 Dodge Charger. It had a special extra canopy and its wheels folded up inside, so it could be a submarine too. This was how the various "missing" scientists were brought to Latitude Zero by LZ agents. Of course, the budget would only allow film clips of agents walking up to actual '69 Chargers and nothing more, but it was an interesting teaser bit.

 Bottom line? LZ is, at least, a more sci-fi offering than Toho had been offering in the mid-to-late 60s. The acting is flat or melodramatic. The sets and model work were modest, given Toho's reputation. There are far too many plot elements for any of them to get developed or incorporated. (like aqua cars, finger lasers, bat men, giant rats, etc.) This may be a legacy of a season's worth of the radio serial being condensed into a single movie. As long as viewers don't take the film too seriously -- more akin to a juvenile comic book -- it has some entertainment value.

Marooned

"Hard" science fiction was not common, but Marooned proved it was still a viable sub-genre. Given the then-current advances in manned space flight, the story seems less fictional. it is certainly less "fantastic" than stories with aliens or monsters. Marooned was a big-budget "A" production by Columbia. It starred A-level talent such as Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, James Franciscus, and Gene Hackman.

  Quick Plot Synopsis
Three astronauts are launched into orbit to man an orbiting space station. Commander Jim Pruett (Crenna), Buzz Lloyd (Hackman) and Clayton Stone (Franciscus). All seems routine and going well enough. The goal was to test man's endurance for prolonged space flight, for future interplanetary missions. After five of the seven months, however, the men as showing degraded abilities. They are ordered back to earth two months early. Strapped in their Apollo command module, their retro-engine fails to fire. Many efforts are made in the ship and on the ground, to solve the mysterious failure, but nothing seems to work. The crew have only enough oxygen for 42 hours. While launch director Keith (Peck) is stoically resigned to their slow deaths, astronaut Ted Dougherty (Janssen) insists on mounting a rescue mission using an untried shuttle craft. Keith resists the risky plan until the President tells him ALL efforts must be made to rescue the men. A booster slated for a later launch is set up. The "Lift Body" prototype is airlifted in. To add to the tension, a hurricane is bearing down on Florida, due to make landfall at launch. The crew of the ill-fated Ironman One are conserving their oxygen as best they can, but their nerves are beginning to crack. Lloyd, especially, is the loose cannon. High winds force cancellation of the rescue flight. Again, Keith is resigned to their loss. The crew say their veiled goodbyes to their wives. Meteorologists bring word that the "eye" of the hurricane will pass over the cape. All readiness is made to launch during the calm of the eye. Rescue One launches successfully, but late. There isn't enough oxygen aboard Ironman One for all three of them to survive to the rendezvous time. After tense talk about who will be the odd man out, Pruett bravely insists he will go EVA and fix the engine. His space suit gets ripped on the antenna. He dies and drifts off into space. Stone and Lloyd deteriorate more. A Russian cosmonaut steers his Soyuz nearby to help. Dilerious Lloyd blows the hatch, which pushes Ironman One too far away for the Russian to reach them. Stone pushes the semi-conscious Lloyd over, but the Russian can't catch him. He drifts away. Dougherty arrives on the scene. He jet-packs over to retrieve Lloyd. The Russian is helping Stone when Dougherty arrives with spare oxygen. They're saved. At mission control, there is much rejoicing. Rescue One fires its engines for re-entry. The End.

 Why is this movie fun?
The visuals were luscious, even if not on a par with Kubrik's. The acting was solid enough to forget they were actors. Knowing that Apollo 13 would happen just four months later is the stuff of goosebumps.

Cold War Angle
It seems that Cold War hysteria was cooling somewhat by the late 60s. The Russians (via the anonymous cosmonaut) are the good samaritan, not the evil empire.

  Notes
A Tale of Two Novels -- Science fiction writer Martin Caidin wrote his original "Marooned" novel in 1964. It was a similar story to the movie, except that it was a Mercury capsule (one man). The (then) untried two-man Gemini capsule was the rescue craft. When the movie was in the works in the late 60s, the NASA technology was upgraded to a stricken Apollo module. The rescue craft by then, was the cutting-edge "Lift Body" type of craft. Caidin rewrote his story in '69, to align with the screenplay and released this second version when the movie went public.

  "Hard" SciFi -- A small portion of sci-fi films dealt with space travel in practical (if still future-tech), not the fanciful stuff of saucers and aliens. The first such film of the Golden Era was Destination Moon ('50). Marooned has some affinities to DM in that it is also a drama about astronauts almost facing death in outer space. Other films in this sub-genre include: Magnetic Monster ('53), Riders to the Stars ('54), Conquest of Space ('55), the Soviet version of Nebo Zovyot ('60), not the Corman adaptations, and the middle portion of Kubrik's 2001.

Lost in Space -- Note how Marooned and 2001 both include an extended scene in which an astronaut is lost, drifting off into the void of space, and his fellow astronaut free-flights over to retrieve him. Lesser films, from Riders to the Stars ('54) to Mission Mars ('68) include a lost, dead astronaut too. Apparently, the thought of being lost forever in space carried a special horror in the early days of space travel.

  Prophetic Tale -- It is interesting to note that the premise of Marooned got played out in reality in the Apollo 13 mission just four months after the movie came out. Granted, there we deviations from the script. Reality is like that. But both film and reality had a three-man Apollo crew potentially trapped in space due to a malfunction. In both cases, they were in danger of running out of oxygen before the "rescue" could happen. With just a little artistic license, the Apollo 13 LEM served as a parallel "Rescue One", though not in exactly the same way.

  Shuttle Seeds -- The "LIft Body" rescue craft in Marooned, and the somewhat similar "Lift Body" used in "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun," were studio prop makers expressions of the cutting-edge thinking of the late 60s for space craft. Re-usable re-entry craft had always been part of NASA research thinking, but lost out to the more practical "ballistic" style re-entry approach. Still technology and materials kept advancing. NASA had several configurations. In 1969, President Nixon formed a task force that eventually shaped a program that culminated in America's Space Shuttle fleet.

  Tough Women -- Also worth noting is how the three wives were portrayed. They were not the usual movie sex-objects, nor the traditional damsel in distress to be rescued, nor the saucy shew to be tamed by the hero. Instead, they were the stoic wives -- brave women of brave men. They added pathos to the screenplay, but were thankfully not interjected beyond that.

 Bottom line? Marooned is somewhat slow paced for modern audience tastes, but gets more conventionally active in the last quarter. In the late 60s, anything to do with NASA had a fascination of its own that could bridge the longer scenes. Modern audiences without that fascination will feel the pace drags. Yet, Marooned is a well told drama of danger, entrapment and daring rescue. They could have been miners, or sailors on an experimental sub, or any number of other scenarios. With that, and some patience, the film can be enjoyed, even by people not normal fond of sci-fi.

Journey to the Far Side of the Sun

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Monitors

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Bed Sitting Room

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Valley of Gwangi

Warner Brothers / Seven Arts produced an A-grade film that defies easy categorization. The Valley of Gwangi (TVG) proved that cowboys are a versatile story component. You can mix them almost anything: dinosaurs, aliens, whatever. The stop-motion animation of the various critters, great and small, was done by the great Ray Harryhausen. While not his last animation, it was his last go at dinosaurs. James Franciscus and Gila Golan star, but Harryhausen's work dominates the movie. The story, originally written by King Kong effects master, Willis O'Brien, was itself an adaptation of the basic Kong story. A giant creature is captured from his native Eden, hauled into civilization to be exhibited, breaks loose, rampages, and dies. But, instead of a giant gorilla, the beast is an allosaurus.

  Quick Plot Synopsis A battered and bloody gypsy man staggers and dies just as his family find him. In a burlap bag is the miniature horse he took from the Forbidden Valley. The old woman of the clan warns that it will bring a curse on them. Carlos gets the miniature horse for T.J. Breckenridge (Golan) who is running a traveling wild-west show cum circus that travels around Mexico. The tiny horse is to be the star act that makes her show profitable again. Enter Tuck Kirby (Franciscus) who was once TJ's boyfriend, but he left her. The gypsies sneak in and steal back the eohippus. Carols blames Tuck, but it was actually Professor Bromley who tipped off the gypsies. He wanted to follow them to find the source. They find a narrow passage cave through the ring of mountains. In the forbidden valley, a pterodactyl almost carries off Lope. Carlos wrestles it and kills it. They chase an Ornithomimus, thinking to capture it for TJ's circus. However, a big blue allosaurus, named Gwangi, catches and eats it first. They all flee Gwangi, while a Styracosaurus intimidates him. They find a cave to hide in. Tuck asks TJ to settle down with him in Wyoming. She agrees. Eventually, Gwangi finds their hideout cave, but the Styracosaurus arrives again. While they do battle, everyone rides away, like the wind. Gwangi gives chase, catching and eating Carlos. Everyone else gets out through the cave. Gwnagi is too big, so gets stuck. In freeing himself, he causes a rock slide which knocks him out. Tuck, Champ and the others tie up Gwangi and take him back for TJ's circus. TJ fancies a world tour with Gwangi over settling down in Wyoming. Tuck is hurt. Meanwhile, the gypsies conspire to free Gwangi before he is exhibited. The dwarf gypsy loosens the bolts on Gwangi's cage, but gets caught and eaten anyhow. Gwangi breaks out of his cage, causing the stadium crowd to stampede for all exits. Many people flee to an old cathedral under renovation. Gwangi follows them in, so they trap him inside. His big tail knocks over conveniently placed pots of open fire. This catches the drapes on fire. Soon the whole place is engulfed. Gwangi screams in pain and takes a long time to die. Outside, the crowd watch in stunned silence as the cathedral crumbles amid the flames and plaintive roars. The End.

  Why is this movie fun?
That's easy. Cowboys AND dinosaurs. What's not to love? Harryhausen's work is excellent and usually well integrated into the live-action.

  Cold War Angle
Since the story is a recast of the classic Kong theme, and Kong was pre-Cold War, TVG has no Cold War to it. Just good ol' monster rampaging.

  Notes
Cowboy-Dino Redux -- As unusual a mix as it is, TVG is not the first time cowboys and dinosaurs have been together. In 1956, the indie film Beast of Hollow Mountain had a group of cowboys, also in Mexico, discover a T-Rex. They don't want to capture it for exhibition, just to stop it from eating their cattle. Instead of the beast burning in a church, they lure it into some quicksand in the swamp. TVG is a far superior film, just not the first. Before all of that, and even before King Kong, there was the silent film version of Conan Doyle's "Lost World" which also featured some dinosaurs brought back from a hidden valley, for exhibition, who also break free, rampage and die.

  Gila Revoiced -- Actress Gila Golan is obviously dubbed with some other woman's voice, but why? The dubbing job is only passable at times, suggesting that it was a last-minute decision. Watch Our Man Flint ('66) to hear her real voice. She is clear and articulate enough, but does have something of a latent eastern European accent, like a mild Gabor sister. The original producers and director must have been okay with Golan's accent when they cast her. She was hardly the only well-built beauty available at the time. It may be that some late-to-the-table producer at WB/7A, who viewed the final cut and didn't like the sound of her. Perhaps he thought it was too close to the Green Acres scenario of an eastern european accented beauty amid American rustics. So, he ordered all of Golan's lines dubbed with a blandly American-sounding voice.

  Harryhausen's Last Dino -- Ray would continue to do stop motion animation after TVG, but this was his last dinosaur movie. Dinosaur films were falling out of favor at the box office and would remain so until CGI-animated ones made a comeback in Jurassic Park in the 80s. Some scenes in TVG look like inspiration for scenes in Jurassic Park.

  Great Score -- One of the highlights of TVG is the rousing musical score by Jerome Moross. The motif is pure western, full of galloping cadence and manly brass. It ranks right up there with the themes from The Magnificent Seven and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and How The West Was Won.

 Bottom line? TVG is often listed as a sci-fi movie, but has little science to it, beyond a backwater paleontologist spewing some blather about evolution and wanting to study the dinosaurs (which by their very existence seem to disprove his blind faith in evolution). Beyond that, it's essentially a ramping monster film. As a film, TVG is rollicking and fun, provided one does not take it too seriously. Harryhausen's work is worth watching, regardless.

The Green Slime

MGM produced this odd Japanese-American-Italian hybrid film in 1968. It played in Japan in 1968, America in 1969. The Green Slime was shot in Japan, using western actors speaking english (though often still dubbed). The story was written by one of the writers of the Italian Gamma One quadrilogy. One of the screenwriters was from the Batman TV series.The extensive models and miniatures work was done with former Toho craftsmen, guided by Akira Watanabe -- special effects director for many of Toho's kaiju epics. The resulting film is a medley of many flavors.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Space radar has detected a rogue asteroid named Flora which will hit Earth in 10 hours. General Thompson of United Nations Space Command sends up his best man, Jack Rankin and a team, to set explosives on the asteroid and destroy it. En route, there is a stop at space station Gamma 3. We learn of a former team mate and now simmering rivalry (for command and Dr. Lisa) between Jack and Vince Elliot, commander of Gamma 3. The beautiful italian doctor Lisa Benson is also abroad Gamma 3. The team embarks and lands on Flora. They drill for their explosives, but also discover green slime which is attracted to their gear. For no apparent good reason, Jack smashes the doctor's sample in a glass jar, spattering a bit of slime on the leg of a team mate. They all return to Gamma 3. They're decontaminated, but the slime fed on the energy and grew to a monster. It kills a couple of expendable crewmen. The doctor wants to save it for study, but it gets loose and kills still more. They discover that even drops of its green blood can grow into a new monster, so shooting them is a bad idea. Instead, they try to lure the (now) herd of monsters into a store room with a generator as bait. This eventually works, but the one they trapped in the infirmary grows too strong to contain and rampages, setting the others free too. After an explosion, the creatures are on the outside of the station, gathering energy from the sun. The station crew can't escape while creature keep the hatch closed, so Vince and a team go EVA and fight the monsters with laser rifles. Two escape ships get away. The last ship is ready to go, but Earth command can't control Gamma 3 remotely (to send it to a fiery doom). Jack stays behind to set the controls manually. He gets in trouble, but Vince comes to his rescue. In the fight, Vince is killed by a monster. Jack sets the controls, sending Gamma 3 hurtling earthward. He, with Vince's body, escape and are picked up by the third ship. Gamma 3 burns up obligingly, along with all the creatures stuck to its hull. On earth, a solemn ceremony (of sorts) commemorates Vince's sacrifice.

Why is this movie fun?
GS has many faults, which can make it amusing to watch in a sort of MST3K mood, but even if enjoyed as a "serious" B-grade sci-fi, it moves along at such a quick pace that viewers never have a chance to get bored.

Cold War Angle
There doesn't seem to be any real Cold War allegories going on. Instead, GS taps into the old Space Is Dangerous theme.

Notes
Gamma Five -- Fans of the Gamma One series will see many similarities, making GS almost the fifth installment in the series. Note the very similar modern cityscape, the Jetson cars, and of course, the big-wheel space station named, handily, "Gamma 3." Also similar are the characters. You have your hunky, gruff, bossy hero type, your rebellious rival and of course, your space babe who happens to be italian. Since Ivan Reiner was producer and writer for GS AND a writer for all four of the Gamma One stories, this similarity is no coincidence.

No Trope Unturned -- One interesting feature of GS is how many tropes it uses. Many of them have been entire movies on their own. The rogue object which will crash into earth has been done several times. When Worlds Collide ('51), The Day the Sky Exploded ('61) and Gorath ('62) to name just a few. Then there is the rogue monster hiding aboard and killing crewmen trope. The Thing ('51), It: Terror From Beyond Space ('58) and many others. Innocuous slime creatures: Space Master X-7 (58), The Blob ('58), H-Men ('59) to name some biggies. Mutiny in Outer Space ('65) featured a wheel-like space station overrun with some alien life (fungus instead of slime). GS is like a sampler platter of sci-fi plots.

Cast of Cliches -- With all the action in the plot of GS, there is no time for character development. As such, the writers have relied on stock characters at every turn. The hero is Mr. Gung-Ho guns ablazin' who is (almost) always right. His commander is gruff but it's all empty bluster, as the hero can do whatever he pleases. The rival can't do much of anything right, and "screwed up" in the past. He atones for his sins by sacrificing himself while saving the hero. The love interest is beautiful and torn between the flawed nice guy and the tough hero, but otherwise she's just a damsel in distress to be rescued or a prize to be fought over. The monsters are mindless killing machines. The misguided doctor wants to save the creature for study, but gets killed by it instead. (How many times has THAT been used?) Lastly, the crew is well stocked with expendable crewmen for the monsters to kill.

Hair of Iron -- Note how Jack's seriously cantilevered hair defies being mussed up, despite running, explosions, multiple tuck-and-roll escapes from creatures, and however many times he puts on and takes off his space helmet. That's tough heroic hair.

Bottom line? GS is proof that sci-fi had not necessarily matured just because Kubrik produced 2001. GS is a campy and at times absurd B sci-fi with a very strong 60s flavor. (note the colors, the styles, the dancing, the music ! The story has huge holes in it, leaving it ripe for riffing. Fans of the Gamma One series might appreciate this film as a sort of "lost episode." Those seeking thoughtful science fiction will likely catch themselves asking, "What were they thinking?"

The Body Stealers

Tigon Pictures sought to produce a more general-audience film than its usual exploitation and horror fare. The Body Snatchers (TBS) was certainly a milder project, though perhaps too mild. Patterned, in part, along the traditional sci-fi trope of alien abductions and substitutions, that plot line itself is abducted by low-budget James-Bond-esque elements. An uneasy alliance of government, military and scientists try to uncover the mystery of 14 men who disappeared in "Thin Air" (an alternate title). The film features a couple familiar (if not that big) names, such as George Sanders and Maurice Evans, but is mostly filled out with lesser or obscure actors.

  Quick Plot Synopsis
Three men skydive to test out a Jim's new parachute design. While they're floating down, they disappear. Only their chutes come to earth. At an air show, exhibition skydivers also disappear without a trace. Jim (Niel Connery, yes, Sean's brother) and General Armstrong (Sanders) want all parachute jumps cancelled while they investigate. Mr. Hindsmith, a Minister's aide, blusters pompously. Jim and Armstrong are told to investigate quietly to avoid publicity. Jim calls on Bob Megan (Patrick Allen), who has an overactive libido. Cynical Bob doesn't really care, but takes the job for $25,000. Bob finds a parachute pack buckle on the airfield. Later that night, Bob comes across a tall leggy blond on the beach. He quickly puts the moves on Lorna, who kisses back, but runs away and disappears. Later, Jim tells Bob to "lay off the dames." They meet Dr. Julie Slade who is not charmed by Bob. Word comes in that they found one of the missing men, but he dies. Later still, Bob is killing time on the beach. Lorna reappears, apologizes for running off. They kiss some more. It's implied that they go far beyond that. Next morning, Jim comes upon them, taking photos. Lorna runs away again. At the hotel, Julie calls with news. Before she can tell Bob, she's knocked out. Bob rushes to the lab. She's sore, but okay. Dr. Matthews thinks it might all be something extraterrestrial, but Bob scoffs. Julie explains that the fiber of the parachutes and even dead Harry's tissues were changed. Radiation? Maybe something more. The parachutes are gone. Bob fetches his buckle. It tests radioactive too. Jim's photos showed only Bob. Lorna did not photograph. Bob plans to do a skydive himself, in a radiation-proof suit, to investigate. Lorna tries to talk him out of it. He goes on up. Jim chases Lorna into the woods. Sees something. Screams, and is later found dead. Bob parachutes, feels the same pain, sound and disappears for a short while. He reappears, but remembers nothing. Bob goes to talk to Armstrong. Julie goes to find the now-missing Matthews. At Matthew's dark and spooky house, Julie looks down in the creepy basement. She finds Matthews (dead) and under glass. She turns and delivers two really serious screams, then faints. Bob finds Lorna at the beach again. Hug, kiss. Meanwhile, Armstrong finds out that Matthews signed the test papers saying the chute's were fine. Bob follows Lorna to Matthews house, where he finds the fainted Julie. One of the aliens. named Martis, appears, looking like Matthews. Exposits about how their planet, Mygon, is dying of a plague and they needed these kidnapped men to help them. Martis plans to kills Bob and Julie for knowing too much, but lurking Lorna stuns Martis with her ray gun. Bob persuades Lorna to leave the kidnapped men. He'll drum up a squad of volunteers when she comes back in a year. The men start to wake up. Jim walks Lorna to her ship. They hug and kiss some more, then she disappears, as does the ship. No one will believe the whole incident, so Hindsmith says to lose the files and just pretend it never happened. The military men smile and agree. Julie flies off with Bob in his private plane. The End.

  Why is this movie fun?
Another iteration of the venerable body-snatcher trope has a level of fun, even if done poorly. The aerial footage adds some visual fun. Aviation fans get a few more visual treats too.

  Cold War Angle
With the mixture of traditional themes and tropes, it is doubtful that the writers or producer were crafting anything related to the Cold War.

  Notes
Snatchers -- The premise plays on the old body-snatchers trope of Golden Era sci-fi. The aliens in TBS are both simple kidnappers, but also the traditional form-takers. They do all this, not to invade, but because they need humans to help them with their plague problem. Though one wonders what earthling parachutists would have had to offer this Mygonian civilization that builds interplanetary space cruisers and has ray weapons.

  Ol' Fashioned Abduction? -- The original story had perhaps come from late 50s, or early 60s when alien-takeover was still cool). Even the title is obviously close to the 1956 classic. By 1967, when They Came From Beyond Space was produced, the trope was already tired. There are some small hints that the original script may have been intended for an American production that wasn't especially forthcoming. Note that Jim refers to women as "dames" (not a british-ism) and also promises to pay Bob 20,000 dollars (not pounds).

  Too Much Plot? -- The traditional plot of aliens abducting humans and taking on human form, was itself abducted and took on the form of a "free love" spy "thriller." The newer writers were much more interested in Bob's rapid sexual conquests than aliens abducting people. What was the point of Jim discovering that aliens can be photographed? If poor Harry's body was transformed into something "else", what about all those men in the basement waking up? Aren't they something "else" too? What about the plague on planet Mygon? If the Minister wants it all to have "never happened", will there be any volunteers like Bob said? Ministerial denial is tidy, but Lorna is coming back in a year. What then? The writers had far too many ideas to ever get resolved in one low-budget movie.

  Cheap Dames -- A curious feature to TBS is how women are portrayed. Except for Dr. Julie, they're little more than objects for sexual conquest -- even if they're aliens. In that vein, the alien-of-interest is a tall blond with long legs and fond of short short short skirts, though she never appears in the two-piece shown in the poster. Hindsmith's secretaries smilingly accept that their job is to "please" the boss. The poor hotel keeper, Mrs. Thatcher (a past-prime woman fond of deep-cut necklines) blatantly wishes she could "please" like the young girls, but gets no offers. Yes, movies are short, but Bob's character is written such that serious necking, (and more, if time allows) routinely follows "Hi, what's your name?"


Good Alien / Bad Alien -- We only get two aliens: Lorna and Martis. She is "good", while he is "bad." She is enjoying the sensuality of the human form (skinny dipping, sex, etc.). She develops compassion for us lowly humans. Martis is heartless and goes about his kidnapping mission with no remorse. Good triumphs over evil. This duality is also an old trope. The Brain From Planet Arous ('57) being a flagrant example. Teenagers From Outer Space ('59) also featured the alien who gets a soft spot for earthlings because of "love."

  Talk is Cheap -- The producers and director followed the B film solution to having too much story for their budget. Quite often, the characters sit in plain rooms talking about events off camera rather than those events being filmed. Talk is much cheaper than special effects or stunts. Some missing elements suggest that the aerial footage might have eaten most of the meager budget, forcing the cheap talk. Jim sees something behind the tree, screams and dies. Julie sees what we must assume is the alien Martis in his horrible native form. She screams and faints. This would have been the logical spot for the director to show the hideous alien (model, mask, makeup, post-production optical effects…something) even if only briefly. But we see nothing, making her scream pretty pointless. Perhaps there was no budget left for it. The omission leaves an odd hole.

  Prop Watch -- You have to wait until the final few minutes of the movie, but you get to find out that Lorna and Martis are (or must be) Dalek's. Her ship is clearly the saucer-cruiser featured in Dalek's Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. ('66). Tigon must have paid some licensing fee for the use of the model from Amicus Productions. Perhaps they paid by the minute, as the appearance is very brief.

  Plane Crazy -- A visual treat for aviation buffs is the multiple appearances of the De Havilland DH89 "Dragon Rapide" twin-engine biplane. First built in 1934, the DH89s were a mainstay of pre-war local passenger service. It's an unusual plane for American audiences. Also of minor interest is Bob's personal plane, a Beagle Pup. The Beagle company was on hard times and hoped the Pup would be a popular private aviation machine. It wasn't popular enough. Beagle made it for only two years, 68-70) then went into receivership.

 Bottom line? Viewers with a low tolerance for very cheaply done films might want to give TBS a miss. Fans of cheap Bond knock-offs will get to see Bob try to jump anything with two X chromosomes. TBS is definitely a weak member of the alien-takeover genre, but fans of that flavor will find a little bit to like. The airfield settings and occasional skydiving are different, but perhaps not enough for most folks.

Blood Beast Terror

Tigon Productions seems to have been striving to play in Hammer Studios' market of monster-horror films, but on a shoestring budget. Blood Beast Terror (BBT) is the British title. It was marketed in America as Vampire-Beast Craves Blood. There is a scant amount of sci-fi to the plot, but for the most part BBT is classic (cliche) a horror-monster-crime hybrid. Peter Cushing stars as Inspector Quennell, who tries to solve a string of grisly murders, eventually centering on a rogue scientist and his creation.

Quick Plot Synopsis
BBT opens with some shots of victorian explorer Mr. Britewell in Africa gathering samples. Cut to England. A cabbie hears a man scream. When he finds the bloody victim, he is attacked by some big winged thing. Inspector Quennell (Cushing) visits a professor Mallinger, giving a lecture on insects. Quennell wants to ask about a student of Mallinger's, a pre-plot victim. No clues. Policemen bring the cabbie-found victim to the doctor for help, but the doctor secretly dispatches him. Mallinger's pretty daughter Clare distracts everyone. The cabbie raves insanely about giant wings. Britewell arrives with boxes of collected chrysalids from Africa for Mallinger, who is up to some breeding experiments with "deaths head" moths. Around the prior crime scene, are found large scales. Mallinger says he has no clue what they are. Clare flirts with Britewell, and after an amateur play presentation, takes him on a walk in the dark. Britewell is attacked by a "giant moth". When Britewell is found dead, Mallinger denies knowing who he is. When police figure out that this was a lie, Mallinger and Clare have already fled. The butler is found dead in a closet, and a locked room has several skeletons in it. Train station porters give Quennell a clue to where Mallinger may have gone. Quennell and his daughter Meg go on a vacation to the same town, pretending to be a banker and his daughter. While staying at the inn, Meg and another guest's son, William hit it off. William is an amateur entomologist. Meanwhile, in the country manor nearby, Clare takes a hungry liking to the gardener, Clem. She flirts with him. They go for a walk. She turns into the giant moth and kills Clem. Mallinger has been growing a man-sized cocoon in the stoney basement, so as to create a male were-moth for Clare's mate. But, it needs human blood. Clare absconds with Meg. After a transfusion and some post-hypnotic suggestion, Meg is released. Clem's body is found in the river with the same wounds as those in London. Quennell and sergeant Allen head for the manor, as does zombie-walking Meg for another dose. Mallinger changes his mind about breeding the male were-moth and burns it. Clare turns were-moth and kills Mallinger. She flees. Meg finds the dead Mallinger, screams and runs. She trips and drops her oil lamp, staring a fire. Quennell and the sergeant arrive in time to save her. Outside, Clare is walking with William and goes all were-moth on him. Quennell and Allen interrupt. Quennell starts a fire, which, of course, Clare-moth cannot resist. She flies close and catches on fire. As she dies, she turns briefly back into her beautiful woman-self, then turns to smoking ash. Quennell and Allen agree that no one will believe them. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Mostly, Peter Cushing's superior acting save this film. The victorian era setting adds a bit of Sherlock Holmes air which is a nice break from future-dystopia films. In fact, the overall effect is that BBT is hybrid of Sherlock Holmes Meets The Wasp Woman.

Cold War Angle
There is no Cold War in BBT. It is the old Frankenstein myth recast. Misguided scientist tampers with nature, creates a monster, which kills him.

Notes
WereBeast -- At the heart of it, BBT is a blend of the classic werewolf mythos with dashes of Frankenstein. People turning into insects was far from new by 1968. By then, we had all three Fly films and Wasp Woman ('59) with which this film shares some underlying psychology. (predatory women).

Bad Bug? -- The "Death's Head" moth developed some superstitious air about it, but only because of the vaguely skull-like markings on its thorax. But that's about it. It's not carnivorous (like a wolf), nor aggressive and painful (like a wasp). It lives a life like most moths -- not very frightening. From the film, one would think the moths were nastier than killer bees.

Good Girl / Bad Girl -- Another standard element in many B movies is the casting of two women in opposite lights. A really "bad" female character is usually balanced by a "good" one. This could be a faint literary version Yin-Yang more than caution about feminism. Clare is not only the murderous were-moth, but she uses the suggestion of sex to trap her prey. We see her with some serious thigh showing in her play costume. She also flashes some considerable cleavage -- a fact advertised on both American and British posters. Clare is the harlot. To balance out Clare, the plot gives us Meg. She is young and pretty in a plain sort of way. Note that she wears dresses with high necks and has the air of innocence in her mannerisms. She is the good and chaste woman.

Got Plot Holes? -- Much of BBT relies on prior monster-horror films for its existence. Having seen so many of them, audiences could more easily just accept things without them being explained or making much sense. Why was Mallinger creating huge were-moths in the first place? Did he create Clare? Her title of "daughter" appeared to be a cover more than a fact. How had he managed to create a beautiful young woman? Nice trick. What was he going to do with a breeding pair of them? Unlike so many were-monster stories, Clare-moth is able to transform herself whenever she wished. How'd that work? And what happened to her floofy victorian dresses when she was in moth mode? What was the point of the butler with the disfigured face who liked to taunt the pet eagle? And then there's the story shortcut regarding the abduction of Meg. On minute she's riding with Clare in the buggy, the next, she's naked, unconscious and strapped to Mellinger's lab table. I suppose it didn't matter too much.

Foreshadowed Conclusion -- When gardener Clem lights his puny pile of leaves on fire, it makes no sense. Why bother? Except that then Clare has to walk past it so she can say she didn't like fire. This pretty well tips off her doom. Since everyone "knows" that moths are attracted to flames (which they aren't really), BBT gives us a fairly lame demise for the monster. She flies too close, catches on fire and burns. How handy. And, like most good were-monsters, she turns briefly back into a human as she dies, as if to underscore there were-part for a modicum of sympathy.

Bottom line? BBT is a fairly predictable blend of familiar characters and tropes which yield an rather underwhelming monster story. Peter Cushing is good, but he cannot carry the story alone. If you think you'd like to see Sherlock Holmes battle the Werewolf / Wasp Woman, BBT might have some entertainment value. Sci-fi fans who expect a bit more science (i.e. sense), may find BBT slow and annoying.