Nothing But The Night

This British production, released in the UK in 1973, did not get reviewed earlier, as it did not show up on lists of sci-fi films. It did show up on lists of horror films, or as a crime/mystery drama. However, at the urging of a reader that Nothing But The Night (NBTN) really was a sci-fi, it is hereby added to the study. Granted, 95% of the film amounts to a murder mystery, but there is a sci-fi connection revealed near the end. Christopher Lee stars as the primary law enforcement official, Colonel Bingham. Peter Cushing stars as the pathologist, Dr. Mark Ashley. NTBN was released in America in 1975, and is sometimes shown with the title The Resurrection Syndicate.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Several trustees of a wealthy trust (which runs an orphanage) are killed, but made to look like suicides. A young girl named Mary is on a bus full of the orphans, that is involved in a crash. Three more trustees died in the crash. While at the hospital, Mary talks in her sleep of strange visions of being burned in a big fire — but the bus did not burn. Dr. Peter Haynes wants to keep Mary for observation, fearing she’s in some danger. The orphanage insists she be returned. A tabloid reporter, Joan, sensing a story, digs up Mary’s biological mother (who lost Mary due to a long criminal record), in an attempt to wrest custody. Anna is a bit psycho, threatening to kill the doctors for not letting her see Mary. Joan and Peter are brusque and caustic to each other, but manage to forget all that and have a night of whoopee. This is when Joan learns of Peter’s tapes of hypnosis sessions with Mary. Anna tries to abscond with Mary, but fails. Peter is found dead, stabbed with one of Anna’s hat pins. Mary is returned to the island orphanage. Anna follows. Police discover her car, so everyone assumes Anna killed Peter and will kill others to get Mary. While on a ferry ride to the island, Bingham and Ashley see the orphanage’s nice motor yacht blow up. Five more trustees on board are dead. Some dynamite from a construction site was missing. People suspect Anna. An island-wide search ensues, but Anna evades them. She gets to the house, but gasps. Joan convinces Ashley to listen to Peter’s tapes. It’s clear that her hypnosis nightmares are the memories of the trust’s founder, Helen Van Traylen. Ashley reexamines the brain tissues of the dead yacht victims. They were dead before being blown up. The local doctor points out that two of the orphanage’s doctors were a biochemist working on the chemical link between the brain and personality, and the other a gifted brain surgeon. Joan and Ashley rush to the orphanage. Meanwhile, at a Guy Fawkes bonfire celebration, the children are dressed as adults — suits, army uniforms, african dignitaries, etc. Mary is dressed to look older (black dress, pearls). The Guy Fawkes effigyy is the body of Anna. Bingham rushes up to warn the children of dynamite in the effigy, but the children tackle and capture him. The remaining adults explain that Helen had her personality surgically transferred into Mary, as did most of the others into other children. This is their ticket to immortality. Bingham refuses to be an accomplice. The children pull him to the fire. Before he is burned, a helicopter with Joan and Ashley arrives. The prop wash causes Mary’s dress to catch fire. She screams, says they’ve ruined her plan. She jumps off the cliff, to die in the sea below. The other adult-dressed children solemnly jump off the cliff too. Bingham is left alone. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
As a suspense/thriller, the story in NBTN is convoluted enough to keep a viewer guessing. The absence of gratuitous gore helps keep the film more cerebral than bestial. Both Lee and Cushing are fun to watch, even when their roles are written rather staid.

Cultural Connection
Symbol of Rebellion — The setting for the last act of the film will probably be unfamiliar to American audiences, but very familiar to British viewers. The bonfire and effigy, the chanted poems and fireworks were a Guy Fawkes celebration. All that began in 1605 when a group of militant Catholics plotted to blow up Parliament and King James I (for whom the King James Bible is named after). A man named Guy Fawkes was apprehended on the morning of November 5th, while guarding the gunpowder stockpiled beneath the Parliament building. He and his co-conspirators were executed. England then celebrated the 5th of November as a sort of victory. The king was not killed. Celebrations came to include a bonfire, upon which an effigy of Fawkes was burned. Children would make the effigy, and gather round the fire to chant poems. “Remember remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason, should ever be forgot.” To the British of the early 70s, Guy Fawkes was still regarded as a villain rebel. This lends some symbolic undertones to trustees as conspirators.

Interestingly, the ‘face’ of Guy Fawkes has come to symbolize rebellion in a different way in the 21st century. The Guy Fawkes mask has come to symbolize a sort of antiauthoritarian rebellion — used by the hacktivist group Anonymous and by some in the “Occupy” movement. The mask image was popularized in the 2005 film, V for Vendetta, in which the protagonist who struck back at the dystopian tyrants wore such a costume. The popularized image was drawn by David Lloyd in 1988, for a graphic novel of the same name. Guy Fawkes has become part of American culture too. How that sense of rebellion (against mortality?) fits the film, is food for thought.

Notes
Based on the Book — The screenplay for the film was based upon the 1968 novel (of the same name) by John Blackburn. He published a different novel in 1966 entitled “Children of the Night”, but the two stories are unrelated. The film is based on the ’68 novel. While it is said that the movie follows the book rather closely, the film has no actual occultism / satanic sub-plot. In the film, the sinister ‘miracle’ is described as coldly scientific and almost matter-of-fact. The work of the Trusts’s Dr. Tittle is that of biochemist, exploring the chemical link of personality in the brain, and Dr. Yeats, a brain surgeon. Neither of these two get much exposure in the script. No devils or demons appear, thought the Guy Fawkes bonfire, etc, might look satanic to non-British eyes.

A Pinch of Science — The script implies (but does not explore or explain) that the two doctors somehow managed to isolate a person’s identity, their memories and personalities, via chemistry. Once isolated, they were able to transfer the essence of the person to a new brain via surgery. Thus, the identity of Helen Van Traylen was extracted and inserted into young Mary. Her psychopathic tendencies (killing Dr. Haynes, young Sidney and perhaps even her mother, Anna) could be seen as Helen’s adult self-preservation agenda filtered through the emotionally underdeveloped girl in Mary. Perhaps knowledge and memories transferred, but maturity did not.

Quest for Immortality — The notion of a brain transplant to achieve ‘immortality’ is an old a trope as Frankenstein. The narrower notion of someone (old) wanting to cheat death by stealing someone younger’s body is also not new. She Demons (’58): The doctor is extracting “youth” from pretty young women in order to restore/maintain his wife. Womaneater (’59): The doctor extracts “life” from pretty young women via strange tree, so that he can cheat death. The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (’63): The doctor looks for a hot new body for his girlfriend’s brain. The Atomic Brain (’64):The doctor is hired by an old woman to transfer her brain into the body of a pretty young woman. The examples are numerous, as the notion is both old and common.

Red Herring — The character of Anna Harp was written as a red herring in the novel, but director Peter Sasdy exaggerates her role visually. More typically seen in the “blonde bombshell” idiom in her prime, Sasdy had her in a brassy red wig. When Anna is on the island, trying to get to Mary, she’s dressed in a red leather coat too. She was a very red Red Herring. Sasdy used editing juxtaposition to keep viewers thinking Anna was the murderer. For example: a clip of Anna walking through the brush, a clip of the discovery of the missing dynamite, followed by another clip of Anna walking.

Rushed Ending — A criticism of Sasdy’s handling of the story, is that he did his job a bit too well in the first 9/10ths of the film, that the last tenth almost fails. He built up so much focus on the red herring, that not enough suspicion remained for the trustees. They still came off somewhat innocent in the end. Speaking of innocence, Sasdy did such a fine job of portraying the children as simple innocent children that the final reveal (that they were all neo-resurrected adults) did not fit well. Add to those misfits how little running time went into the denouement (a scant few minutes), that viewers seem likely to be confused. Why, for instance, would all those neo-resurrected people just jump off the cliff in the end? They were so obsessed with NOT dying that they took the extreme measure of ‘killing’ a child in order to inhabit their body. Then, when the truth is discovered, they just quietly leap to their deaths? Sasdy seemed so intent on delivering a shocker twist ending that he let story-cohesion slip.

Bottom line? NBTN is engaging enough as a mystery/thriller film. The pacing is okay, though it seems to take a long time for it to develop. The acting can seem wooden to modern American audiences. The sci-fi element appears only very near the end, so the film doesn’t have a sci-fi feel. Still, it is reasonably well done and entertaining.

1975

This midpoint of the decade was also the cusp of a cultural watershed. A long dark era was closing out, and an amazing new era was beginning to dawn. The Fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War, but also a beginning of the end of the Cold War era which spawned classic sci-fi. 1975 was also the year a young nerd named Bill Gates launched a little company called Microsoft. A brave new world of high tech was emerging. The sci-fi films of ’75 owe more to the old era than the new.

Stowaway To The Moon — A young boy stows away aboard an Apollo moon mission. He takes over for a sick astronaut, thus saving the mission.

The Stepford Wives — In a peaceful Connecticut town, a secret society of techies is replacing their wives with look-alike robots.

Death Race 2000 — In a future dystopia, the evil State stages an annual Death Race to distract the masses.

Rollerball — In a future dystopia, the evil State stages an annual sport to the death, to distract the masses.

Strange New World — A third attempt to make Roddenberry’s “Genesis II” story into a television series.

Who? — a.k.a. Roboman. A western scientist is saved from a deadly accident by soviet doctors. Now more robot than human, is he who he says he is?

The UFO Incident — Dramatization of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction story. James Earl Jones stars as Barney.

The Giant Spider Invasion — Ultra-low-budget tale of a black hole which opens up an alternate dimension, thus allowing giant spider eggs (which hatch) to come to earth.

A Boy and His Dog — In a future dystopia, the survivors fight for food and sex. Vic is lured into an bizarre underground civilization, but escapes

A Boy and His Dog

The last sci-fi film of 1975 was A Boy and His Dog (ABHD). This was a somewhat peculiar film in that it was partly a classic post-apocalyptic tale, partly a black comedy, also partly a social commentary, but intermixed with misogynist elements that disturb quite a few viewers. Based on the 1969 novella of the same title by Harlan Ellison, adapted for the screen by L.Q. Jones — who also directed. A young Don Johnson (pre-Miami Vice) stars as Vic, the boy with the dog. Actor-dog “Tiger” co-stars as Blood, the telepathic partner.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The year: 2024. Vic and Blood eek out a living on the barren desert of the American southwest in the post-apocalyptic wastelands following World War IV. They’re “Solos” who forage and steal bits from other bands of foragers. Blood communicates with Vic telepathically. Vic just talks to Blood. Blood can’t hunt for his own food, for some reason, so Vic provides food for them both. In exchange, Blood locates “females” via his heightened doggy senses, so that Vic might have his way with them. Vic is a bit shallow and highly libidinous. Blood does locate a female in disguise. Vic follows her to a buried school. He plans to rape her, but she’s disarmingly calm and chatty. Quilla June is “cooperative” too, which surprises, and beguiles Vic. She knocks him out and flees. Vic follows her down into the “Down Under.” There, he enters the subterranean world of WWIV survivors who have recreated the world above (trees, grass, buildings, etc.) all done in the tone of early 1900s rural America. “Topeka” is run by The Committee. Quilla June was the “cheese” to lure Vic into the trap. She expects to get onto the ruling committee as payment for her service, but she’s put off with excuses. She bristles at this. Periodically, the women of Topeka fail to get pregnant. Underground living does something bad to their DNA. So, a young strong specimen from above is brought down to provide new ‘seed’. Vic thinks stud service would be okay, but he’s hooked up to a milking machine to extract his seed. No joy there. Quilla June helps Vic escape, hoping that he’ll help her and some cohorts kill the Committee so she and her cohorts can take over. Vic has no stomach for revolt and just wants to flee. The coup fails. Quilla June has no option but to go with Vic back to the surface. When they get there, Blood is near death from starvation, having waited all those days or weeks. Quilla June urges Vic to abandon Blood and run off with her. Vic gets a sinister look. Fade to black. Fade back in to a campfire. Blood is better, having eaten well. As Vic and Blood leave, Blood comments that Quilla June had remarkable judgement, if not very good taste. They both laugh at the pun. Freeze frame. Credits. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Once one gets over the disturbing aspects (rape, misogyny, etc.) the dark humor can be fun. The visuals are intriguing too. Long’s vision of post-apocalyptic life: with ragtag bands of scruffy people wearing tattered scraps of clothing and junk for structures, is much like the classic “Mad Max” motif — even if before Mad Max. Long’s vision of the Down Under world is also intriguing for it’s odd veneer of “normal” over a reality of “1984”.

Cultural Connection
Rural-phobia — 1975 was a “good year” for films expressing an urbanite’s fear of rural life. Giant Spider Invasion painted a grim picture of rural folk as crude and hopelessly backwards (as well as morally bankrupt and greedy). Just how city folk might imagine “they” are “out there.” The Stepford Wives painted a grim picture of suburbia. The banality, the conformity, were just too creepy for hip city folk to endure. In ABHD, that fear of the rural is exemplified in Topeka, the land “down under.” Again, the banality and rigid conformity. People go about with smiles painted on their faces, going about with routines of faux-normal — marching bands, barbershop quartets, etc. These three films together start to paint a picture of how big city people might “see” life in the hick middle between two “hip” coasts.

Notes
Misogyny? — Many viewers are disturbed by the apparent misogyny of Ellison’s story and Long’s adaptation. It’s true that the story paints a view in which women are little more than objects to be ravaged then killed (or eaten). Yet, consider the story to be told from the point of view of a hormone-charged 15 year old (the age of Vic in the novella). To a boy of that age, all that matters is getting his rocks off with no regard at all for the woman as a person. ABHD is as self-centered and insensitive as a sex-obsessed teen might typically be. Note that the title stays A Boy and His Dog, not A Sensitive Mature Man and His Dog.

Classic Split — The Down Under scenes are the most intriguing. The trope of post-apocalyptic survivors carrying on with civilization underground, has a long history in sci-fi film. 1952 has “1,000 Years From Now” (or it’s racier title, Captive Women) with the ragtag Mutants living on the surface with the corrupt “Normals” living beneath. Of course, H.G.Wells had his Eloi and Morlocks, 1956 had World Without End, in which the surface was populated with mutant cavemen and underground was civilized society, and with degeneration due to life under ground. In 1973’s Beneath the Planet of the Apes, there were the ragtag humans (and apes) on the surface. Beneath the ruined cities lived a society of “civilized” techno-enabled survivors — also with degeneration. In ABHD, that society is presumed to keep carrying on.

Pre-Max — Even though the make of Mad Max says ABHD was not an influence on him, we see much the same vision of what post-apocalyptic Earth would be like. Barren landscapes. Scruffy survivors wearing rags and mismatched odd things. Vehicles and structures made from junk of the “before” times. This vision was so much invented by any one artist, so much as it multiplied. Glen and Randa (’71) had ragtag survivors scrounging for old-world food amid a desolate post-apocalyptic landscape. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (’73) had ragtag humans and crude vehicles. Death Race 2000 (’75) introduced the “punk” element. Planet Earth (’75) also had ragtag mutants and odd junk vehicles in a desolate landscape (and with civilized normals living underground, from the Genesis II story line). As such, with George Miller’s Max-world came along, there was already a foundation of that view of what a post-apocalyptic world would look like.

Love Cynic — While Ellison might not have intended his story to be misogynist, he did appear to have a grim view of “love.” In ABHD, the men on the surface have no love. They only seek sex. Quilla June uses sex as a tool to get what she wants (power). The Committee use her (and sex) as bait for a trap. Vic hooked up to the milking machine is a fitting visual metaphor for the impersonal nature of sex in 2024. Quilla June tosses around the word “love” but only as a ploy. One minute she’s berating Vic for not doing what she wants. The next minute, she’s professing to love him, as a ploy to get him to do her bidding. Even in the end, she professes love for Vic, but even his simple mind can see through her ploy. She needed him to survive. Vic realized he did not need her nearly so much as he imagined. Hence his willingness to sacrifice her for Blood.

Bottom line? ABHD can be a tough film for some people to watch, given its (apparent) anti-woman elements. But, if one can see even those scenes as part of the selfish pubescent point of view, the rest of the elements can be appreciated. ABHD isn’t for everyone, but it is a well told tale with some intriguing subtexts. Don Johnson actually does a fair job of acting, given that he’s delivering his lines to a dog. ABHD is worth watching, as long as you’re braced for the harsh elements.
—

The Giant Spider Invasion

Bill Rebane took another shot at producing and directing a mega-cheap sci-fi film in 1975. Giant Spider Invasion (GSI) is arguably his best film, though this is not saying too much. He is responsible for Monster A-Go-Go (’65) and Invasion from Inner Earth (’74). Both quite poor. GSI is a very 50s style of film, even if made in the mid 70s. The project was built upon a story written by Wisconin native, Richard L. Huff, fleshed out in screenplay form by actor Robert Easton (who plays farmer Dan) Huff and Rebane produced the film. In addition to dozens of ‘extras’ from the residents of Gleason and Merrill, Wisconsin.

Quick Plot Synopsis
After some flash in deep space, a meteor streaks towards the earth. Some electrical interference is felt, and a B-52 and crew are lost…somewhere. Cut to a country shack in Wisconsin, the home of Dan and Ev. He’s habitually unfaithful. She’s an alcoholic and also sleeps around. Her younger sister, Terry, goes out parking with her boyfriend, David. The meteor crashes near Dan’s farm spectacularly. NASA notes the odd radiation readings and sends crack scientist (and male chauvinist) Dr. Vance to investigate. He seeks out Dr. Langer, who turns out to be a woman. They try to locate the anomaly. Meanwhile, Dan is back from his cavorting. Ev urges him to go see what landed in their pasture. When they do, they find the bones of their cattle scattered around. They also find geodes, so take them home. Dan cracks one open, but does not see the tarantula crawl out. He is interested in the diamonds the encrust the inside of the rocky spider eggs. Suddenly, Ev is quite sweet to him. Dan takes the diamonds to his cousin Billy (who has a rock shop) for authentication. Billy is dismissive in a coy way, so Dan knows they’re genuine. Vance and Langer keep looking. Spiders grow. While Ev is alone, normal-sized tarantulas freak her out such that she runs outside to be eaten by a big spider puppet. Billy has some geodes in his car, which hatch. He freaks out and crashes with a great fireball. Dan, not too worried about Ev’s disappearance, hits on Terry, who is intrigued with having a Sugar Daddy. Later, Dan gets eaten by a big spider puppet while he’s out looking for more geodes. The big spider attacks the house where Terry is in her bikini underwear (naturally). Scream, run, scream. David arrives in the nick of time to drive the spider puppet away with some shots from his 30-30. The townsmen are riled up and form an armed mob. The big spider attacks the town of Gleason. The mob fares badly. Meanwhile, Vance and Langer deduce that a miniature black hole has somehow opened up a hole in the space time continuum, that is allowing these spiders from another dimension to thrive and grow on Earth. The only answer is to use…The Neutrino Initiator — to flood the black hole’s energy with mass and…um…choke it off. Or something. They locate the nearest Neutrino Initiator in Madison. Handy. They have it flown in by helicopter and direct it to the impact crater. After a few dramatic tension developing scenes, the “bomb” is dropped, creating a miniature fireball mushroom cloud. The big spider smokes, then erupts in puss, and maybe explodes too. The black hole is sealed. Earth is safe. Vance and Langer hold hands. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
There is an ample amount of nostalgia in GSI for fans of 50s B-movie science fiction. More on those parallels below. On some levels, GSI is an homage to that simpler time when giant bugs occasionally menace small towns, and a couple of scientist types save the day with some nuclear option.

Cultural Connection
Urban View of The Rural — While both writers (Huff and Easton) were native to Wisconsin, they write about rural Wisconsin life as if they were outsiders. Everyone is sex-obsessed, liquor soaked and greedy. The men of the town are gun-brandishing mob hooligans. The law, Sheriff Jones, is the stereotypic bumbling ineffectual. It’s pretty common for city folks to imagine that proper civilization stops where the pavement ends. Beyond, there be Trash. Indeed, Huff and Easton portray the rural Wisconsin folk more in keeping with the Southern White Trash stereotype — even including banjo picking score. Perhaps neither ventured far from their home cities, so had no idea what people in rural central Wisconsin were like. Or, they figured their audiences would not know anyhow, so let the stereotypes fly!

Notes
Big Bug Redux — The story in GSI was written by Richard L. Huff. This was his one and only movie story. It is set in his home state of Wisconsin and is a medley of 50s tropes. Seeds from Space — Invasion of the Body Snatchers (’56) and Day of the Triffids (’63). Giant spiders — Tarantula (’55) and Earth vs. The Spider (’58). Several of the scenes are reminiscent of the giant ants in Them! (’54).

Parody, Camp or Homage? — GSI is a difficult movie to pigeonhole. On some levels, it appears to be a parody of the 50s Big Bug genre, yet most of the cast act earnestly. On some other levels, the film is campy. Alan Hale’s usual acting style includes side comments to the camera. There are other blatant attempts at humor which suggest that Rebane was aiming for campy. Yet, the spider puppet and giant spider prop were pretty expensive for a parody or camp. Rebane may well have been aspiring to create a typical 50s sci-fi monster movie.

Major Minors — GSI stars two recognizable second-tier names amid a cast of obscure actors and actresses who typically played only bit parts in minor films, or in various television programs. Barbara Hale plays Dr. Jenny Langer. She was best known as “Della Street” in the Perry Mason TV series. Alan Hale Jr. plays the sheriff. He will be forever famous as The Skipper from “Gilligan’s Island.”

T & A. Just ‘Cuz — For no good plot reason, Rebane included some low-brow T and A just to satisfy his anticipated audience. At one point, Dan is trying to recruit Terry to be his personal paid-girl. With diamonds as the payment, she flaunts her credentials by saying that she’s 35-24-35, with the camera zooming in on her cleavage. Later, there is a brief moment of toplessness for Terry. Then, when Terry is in the conventional Helpless Female Victim costume (scanty underwear), the camera zooms in on her bikini panty butt. A giant spider is moving up to the house to attack her, but we’re supposed to be looking at her butt? Rebane had a problem staying on script.

Science Mumbo-Jumbo — One of the fun scenes in GSI comes when Vance and Langer have dueling epiphanies over how the problem of giant spiders happened in the first place end how to end the menace.
Vance: The energy pattern has to feed off the gravitational field of the black hole.
Langer: “Could we soak up the energy?”
Vance: “We could feed it so much extra mass, we could choke it.
Langer: “We could shower it with neutrons.”
Vance: (out of the blue) “Neutron Initiator. It just might work.”
Fortunately for Earth and the plot, Neutron Initiators were fairly common, so not too far away, and wasn’t being used for anything at the moment, so NASA okayed its destruction. All very handy, indeed.

Science Lab To The Rescue! — Note Dr. Langer’s “Lab”, in which she and Vance figure out how to seal up a rip in the time-space continuum with a bomb. It is actually the electronics lab at Nicolette College and Technical Institute, in Rhinelander, WI. How would a dozen identical (and turned off) oscilloscopes help the good doctor? And the giant slide rule hanging on the wall over the rows of black lab tables? Every brilliant rural scientist uses giant slide rules. She did get to use the observatory at U of Wisconsin, Stevens Point as an establishing shot. That’s something.

Bottom line? GSI is a cheap local indie film that really wanted to be more, but just didn’t have it. GSI is almost a remake of the classic 50s big-bug formula films, though with enough tangental plot threads (over-sexed yokels). GSI is not great (or even good) movie making. It is, however, entertaining as long as one turns off one’s inner movie-snob. GSI has its fans. The tropes are thoroughly 50s. Enjoy it as an homage to the Golden Era. —

The UFO Incident

Released amid the mid-70s renewed fascination with flying saucers, The UFO Incident (TUI) is a made-for-TV movie dramatizes the famous “Hill Abduction” of the 60s. (Hence the DVD jacket in lieu of a theater poster.) James Earl Jones stars as Barney Hill. Estelle Parsons stars as Betty Hill. This is a television movie, but it is included here for its legacy connections to the Golden Era of sci-fi: the 50s. (more on that below). TUI, as the film version of the 1966 book about the event, becomes the seed for many movies to come, from Close Encounters to Altered to Fire in the Sky, etc.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Note: The screenplay interweaves the therapy and remembering with flashbacks of what was remembered. This synopsis does not interweave.
Betty and Barney Hill return from a vacation in Montreal. As night falls, they are crossing into northern New Hampshire’s White Mountain area, en route to their home on the coast in Portsmouth. They make small talk until they notice a strange light in the sky. It gets larger and appears to follow them. Barney is worried and dismissive. Betty is curious. Eventually, they are stopped by several aliens in the road. The aliens take Betty and Barney into their saucer. They take tissue samples and poke a long needle in Betty’s navel. The aliens seem mild and dispassionate, but not hostile. The Hills are allowed to leave, but told they will not remember any of their experiences. Per the aliens’ word, the Hills arrive home two hours later than they should have, and have no memory of traveling a long stretch of road. Both are bothered by their hole in time. The stress prompts them to seek therapy. Dr. Simon uses hypnosis to explore their repressed memories. Both Barney and Betty describe the abduction event in very similar accounts. Once they listen to the tapes of their sessions, the Hills find some peace at having filled in their missing memories. The movie concludes that the Hills remembered what they believe happened to them. The Dr. Simon character is not convinced there were real aliens, but thinks they’ve shared a common fantasy. They express their individual concerns — him with being persecuted, her with being in control. But Dr. Simon not out to burst their happy bubbles. The Hills go on to fairly normal lives, a triumph for hypnotherapy. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Knowing how many alien abduction movies will be made after TUI, it is like looking at photos of great-grandparents and seeing family resemblances. What makes TUI interesting as a film, is the lack of sensationalism. The matter-of-fact-ness has a humble charm.

Cultural Connectiions
Alien Abductions — While not the first occurrence of the trope, the Hill Abductions are the first to get mainstream traction. The 1966 book about their experiences, by John G. Fuller, and the 1975 movie (TUI) were more documentary in form than speculative fiction. This helped legitimize the account in the popular mind. The various elements of the Hill Abduction became the model by which many others would be patterned. Though, as noted below, those various elements were not created by the Hills, but pre-existed in the culture via sci-fi.

Notes
Primal Aduction, or Sci-fi Legacy? — The Hill Abduction became the model many subsequent reports. Author Thomas Bullard wrote “UFO Abductions: Measure of a Mystery” in 1987. In that book Bullard suggests that the Hill’s story is authentic because they were “entirely unpredisposed,” to a culture of UFO lore. That is, they weren't UFO 'nuts' before the event, so not inclined towards that sort of thing. Or were they?
A 1990 article by Martin Kottmeyer titled “Entirely Unpredisposed” outlined how much of the classic abduction story already existed in American culture, even if one were not a “UFO nut”. Kottmeyer cites 1930s’ Buck Rogers comics in which Wilma is abducted by the Tiger Men of Mars, taken aboard their saucer and given a medical examination. He also notes how people in a culture pick up and repeat tropes. As an example, he cites how the term “flying saucer” was not the shape Kenneth Arnold said he saw in 1947, but that was a term a reporter used (with no drawings of what Arnold saw.) “People started looking for flying saucers and that is exactly what they found.”

Some examples of the abduction story from sci-fi of the 50s (and early 60s) include:
-- The Day The Earth Stood Still (’51) has a scene in which Patricia Neal is picked up and carried aboard Klaatu’s flying saucer by the alien's robot (abduction trope). Aboard the saucer, the robot (Gort) performs medical procedures on the wounded Klaatu. Granted, this is alien-on-alien medicals, but the motifs are there -- getting carried aboard a saucer in which medical procedures are performed.
-- Invaders From Mars (’53) has the woman carried aboard the martian saucer (abduction trope). Once inside, she is laid on an operating table and about to be injected with a very large needle.
-- Killers From Space (’54) features Peter Graves as a man abducted by aliens (though not aboard their ship, per se), subjected to invasive medical procedures (leaving scars) AND amnesia of the event. Graves is also haunted by images of the aliens’ eyes, which float disembodied in his nightmares. Note Barney Hill’s words while under hypnosis (repeated in TUI) “All I see are these eyes... I'm not even afraid that they're not connected to a body. They're just there. They're just up close to me…”
-- Posters Galore The abduction trope was published dozens of times in the 50s via movie poster art. Even if the story did not feature aliens abducting earthlings, the posters often depicted an alien or robot carrying off a swooning woman. Someone did not even have to watch the movie. The posters themselves transmitted the message: Aliens want to capture you. Kottmeyer also cites an episode of -Outer Limits entitled “The Ballero Shield” which featured an alien with big slanted almond-shaped eyes. This was also the look of the aliens in Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (’56)
Could the Hills have unwittingly adopted the tropes of 50s sci-fi to flesh out their vision? Once the Hills’ story went mainstream, it followed the pattern of Arnold’s flying saucers. Once people were familiar with alien abductions, missing memories, etc., that is exactly what they found more of.

Bottom line? TUI is rather well done for a made-for-TV movie. While it has many of the usual budget constraints, the production doesn’t feel cheap. The quick intercutting of therapy sessions with flashbacks keeps the pace brisk -- a good thing, given the very talky nature of the script. Jones and Parsons do a good job portraying their characters with depth and subtlety. For someone unfamiliar with the famous Hill Abduction story, TUI is a good introduction (though not “the last word”). For fans of 50s sci-fi, it is fun to look for the movie precedents and familiar tropes. Also of interest is seeing the ancestor that spawned so many later movies. The Hills did “abduction” before abduction was cool. TUI is worth seeking out to watch. —

Who? (aka RoboMan)

This British production was released in the UK in late 1973 with the title, Who?. The German release has the title Der Mann Aus Metall. It was released in the US in August of 1975 with the title Roboman. The story is nominally a sci-fi, but largely a Cold War spy drama. Elliot Gould stars as the skeptical FBI man. Joseph Bova stars as the metal man who may or may not be the brilliant scientist. Trevor Howard stars as the devious soviet spy-master. The screenplay is based on the 1958 novel “Who?” by Algis Budrys, following it fairly closely. Roboman is sometimes compared to RoboCop, but it predates the more familiar RoboCop by over ten years. There are affinities to the more familiar Six Million Dollar Man, though both were made in the same year, (’73) so Roboman is not a plagiarism of 6M$M either. Besides,  the source novel was 1958.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Along the border West German border with East Germany, there is a fiery car crash. Soviet doctors saved Martino’s life, but to do so had to replace much of his body with robotic substitutes. After several months, the soviets send Martino back. He is picked up by American agents. Shawn Rogers of the FBI does not believe Martino’s story, suspecting he is a soviet spy pretending to be Martino. With the cloud of suspicion, Martino is not allowed to return to his super-secret work on Project Neptune. Instead, he goes through much interrogation. Flashbacks show how Martino underwent similar interrogation by soviet colonel Azarin — who wanted to break Martino (Manchuran Candidate style) and make him a spy so the soviets could learn about Neptune. Other flashbacks show Martino’s early career as a work-obsessed young man (squandering potential romances). These old flames become potential corroboration that Martion says who he says he is, though this proves to be unconvincing. A pair of gunmen try to shoot Martino while he’s boarding a plane. Even this proves nothing. Azarin could have staged a fake assassination attempt. The only other person who might know if he is the real Martino, was his Neptune colleague, Frank. But, he died in a crash a few months ago. Via flashback, we learn that Frank’s death was staged, that he is really in the Soviet Union. Azarin wants Frank to undergo the Robo-man implants/substitutions, and pretend to be Martino. Frank agrees. Back in the USA, Martino has given up trying to get his former life (and work) back. He takes up farming on the abandoned family farm. Flashback to Russia, reveals that Frank died. He was not mentally strong enough to accept his cyborg-ness. Since the time is up, the soviets must release the real Martino. Back in the USA, Rogers visits Martino on his farm. Rogers is convinced that Martino is the real Martino and he can have his Neptune job back. Martino declines. His post-release experiences have proven that he cannot resume that part of his life either. Instead, he will contribute to mankind by tilling the earth. Long zoom out. Cut to credits. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
There is the more cerebral aspect: questions about identity and just what, actually, defines who someone is. Lucas amounts to a cyborg — part human, part machine — though not much is made of this.

Cultural Connection
Durable Cold War — Budrys’ novel was written during the height of the Cold War. His novel predicted that the two supra-national sides would still be locked in Cold War games of cat and mouse into the mid 70s — the timeframe the novel is set in. Budrys was right. However, by the mid 70s, the Cold War had subsumed into more of a background constant than the anxious twitch that it was in the late 50s. The culture in general had become acculturated to the East vs. West status quo and begun to find new reasons for anxious twitches — environmentalism, pollution, overpopulation, etc. Yet, the old bogey man still had some life in him. The stalemate had become the status quo.

Notes
Dumas Meets the Manchurian — The fact that the lead character, Lucas, is always behind a metal mask, Roboman invites comparison to Alexandre Dumas’ “Man in the Iron Mask”. Where Dumas’ masked man was a twin of the king, Roboman could be Lucas, or his professional “twin” Frank. Mix into that a strong dash of The Manchurian Candidate — a westerner brainwashed and trained by the commies to infiltrate -- and you’ve got the gist of Roboman. The puzzle is to discover if he is a communist spy.

Who Is The REAL Mechanical Man? — An artful theme beneath the slow and talky story is one of humanity (freedom, etc.) vs.mechanical men. Yes, Lucas is the obvious mechanical man with his nuclear-powered heart pump and metal parts, but note how rather “mechanical” Lucas was before the accident. He was too obsessed with his work to have a real relationship with either of the pretty women who liked him (but sakes only knows what they saw in him). He was too work-obsessed to have any friends. Note, too, how rather mechanical Gould is as Rogers, the FBI man. He relentlessly refuses to accept that Lucas might be who he says he is. Rogers is equally obsessed with HIS job, and proving that Lucas is a spy. Ironically, it is Lucas as the metal man, who softens into a human. He resigns to his fate and solemnly embraces his new life as a bachelor farmer. Getting “back to the land” was a very noble thing in the mid 70s.

What’s In A Brain? — Like several prior sci-fi films, Roboman explores the line between natural humanity and artificial being. This goes back to Frankenstein, of course, and Lucas is a sort of cyborg Franken-thing. The film is also similar to 1959’s Colossus of New York in which a brilliant scientist is fatally injured in a car accident and his brain put into a robot body. This trope survives today too, showing up rather obviously in the sub-plot in “Star Trek, the Next Generation,” and Data’s regular quest of “be” human.

Bad Russian — While most of the film is marked with television-grade acting, a real stand out (and not in a good way) is Trevor Howard as the Russian Colonel Azarin. Howard was thoroughly British. Born in England, and almost always playing a stereotypic Englishman: Sir This, Lord That, or Colonel Something. For all his abilities as an actor, however, Howard could not produce a Russian accent. At times, he sounded somewhat less British (though clearly not Russian), but at other times, his native accent was quite obvious. This undercut the intended sinister angle, as a British accent just carries little malice in it.

Weak Directing? — A criticism Roboman gets as a film, is that it was poorly directed. Granted, Jack Gold’s directing was often tame — many times relying on a single-point fixed camera. This gives the film more of a made-for-TV feel. Gold had done quite a bit of directing for TV productions prior to this, so this look-and-feel may be understandable. TV producers have little interest in artistic views. Just get the thing shot and in the can. Yet, Gold went to some directorial lengths in Roboman. Note how in the flashbacks of Lucas’ life, he only shown in a first-person POV. The camera IS Lucas. We never see his pre-Roboman face. There are some other near-far depth shots which read well.

Fingerprints? — Some wonder why the FBI doesn’t just check Lucas’s fingerprints instead of all the machinations and guessing. Lucas himself offers this. Rogers said they already did. “The Arm is Lucas Martino’s. The arm can go anywhere it wants. It’s the rest of you we’re not sure about.”

Bottom line? Roboman is more of a thinking film. It is not an action film in any real way. A couple of lame car chases and crashes are about it, and they’re mild. The acting is flat and the cinematography somewhat flat too. This won’t be a film that gets recommended to friends: “Oh, you gotta see this movie…” But, for people who like to explore the more philosophical threads, there are a few for the musing.

Strange New World

Someone at Warner television must have really believed in Gene Rodenberry’s “PAX” story line. In ’75, they tried a third variation on the PAX theme. This time, the title was Strange New World (SNW) — taken from the prologue of Star Trek. Roddenberry himself had lost enthusiasm for the project by this point and bowed out. Warner pressed on. John Saxon stars again as the leader, though renamed Anthony Vico instead of Dylan Hunt. This third and final installment in the PAX Trilogy is more of a derivative than a sequel. The establishing back story is different. This pilot also failed to engender enough interest to get development into a series. It had no theatrical release, hence the VHS box in lieu of a poster.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Set-up Story: The science community of PAX has an orbiting space station. It’s three-person crew are undergoing hibernation experiments. A swarm of deadly meteorites is headed for Earth. PAX extends the timers on the hibernation computers and sends the space station into a long orbit around the sun to get the station out of the path of the meteors. Earth is pummeled into the dark ages. The space station returns 180 years later. Upon awakening, their new mission is to find PAX where other survivors may be in suspended animation too. Captain Anthony Vico (Saxon), Dr. Allison Crowley and Dr. William Scott, zoom down in a shuttle. From there, they roam the “new world” in a eight-wheeled vehicle named Vestia. From this commences two distinct “episodes”. Eterna is an advanced civilization enclave that tricks the 3 PAX folk into range via a faked PAX signal. They are stunned and brought inside. Once in, it is clear that all is not right in paradise. There are no old people and no children. The 20-30-somethings live “forever”, doing nothing much. Their leader, The Surgeon, shows them advanced surgeries and science, since they’ve been advancing science for the missing 180 years. Surgeon wants Scott to take over as the new leader, as Surgeon is going senile. The Eternals use clones to provide donor organs to keep fixing themselves up, but with each cloning, their resistance to disease decreases. Surgeon wants to drain Vico and Allison of all their blood to rejuvenate the clones’ immune systems. Scott rebels and the cloning lab “blown up.” Somehow, this kills all of the Eternals at once. The PAX team flee. Animaland is a tale of mankind divided. The team first encounter the outsiders, the poachers. Allison is captured by the Insiders, so Vico and Scott employ the aid of a poacher named Badger to find her. Instead, they get captured too, and Badger gets the much-coveted flare gun. The insiders are descendants of park rangers, so their mission is to protect the animals — from the poachers. Eventually, Allison and Vico convince the old Warden that they are good-guys, when they stop an attack by Badger and four poacher henchmen. In parting, the wardens agree to share water resources with the poachers and maybe become friends someday. They also promise to not be so hide-bound to their old Fish & Wildlife Manual as their law book. The PAX team drive on, still in search of the PAX base out there…somewhere… The end.

Why is this movie fun?
The premise of SNW has some intriguing possibilities. Seeing some previous tropes recycled had some amusement value too.

Cultural Connection
60s Optimism Meets 70s Pessimism — Gene Roddenberry’s original Star Trek series placed its emphasis on an optimism about mankind and their future. This may be part of why the original series developed a cult following among the young. The 70s however, was a very different decade. Technophobia and pessimism about all the BAD things that science would do, was the rule of the day (decade). Roddenberry’s PAX story placed an emphasis on the gloomy side of humanity and its history. Whereas Star Trek’s Federation was a better upgrade of contemporary society, the background in the PAX Trilogy is of a post-apocalyptic Earth with mankind starting over in all its brutalism and bad tendencies.

Notes
Neo-Sequel — First, there was Genesis II in ’73. This was revamped as Planet Earth in ’74. The third installment of the PAX Trilogy was more a re-telling of the original premise in Genesis II, but with variations. Both feature someone from the past in suspended animation, awakening to a post-apocalyptic Earth, primitive survivors and getting captured by one side or another, or both. The PAX team roam from adventure to adventure, encountering “strange new” enclaves of survivors. SNW varies things in that the PAX team are all there is of PAX. In fact, PAX lives on in name only and as a sort of long-lost McGuffin for the team to search for.

Episode One: Eterna — James Olson stars as the leader of a supposed Utopia named Eterna. This episode has more than a passing resemblance to Zardoz. A colony of immortals who cheat mortality with clones. Where Sean Connery served as the outsider that crashes the system, Saxon does exactly that — also in a scanty red costume. Where Star Trek had its noble Prime Directive, the PAX folk seem unburdened by any such moral foundation. By blowing up the cloning lab, they manage to somehow kill all of the Eternals. The PAX team just walk off, stepping over the bodies, as if to say, “Oh well. That didn’t turn out very well, but let’s push on.”

Episode Two: Animaland — Somewhat recycling the premise in Star Trek’s “The Omega Glory” episode. Instead of Yangs and Kohms, the PAX team discover a community of wardens who care for (and almost worship) animals with a former state park, and a tribe of scruffy poachers who live on the outside. There is an environmentalist undertone to the episode. Friends of the Animals are nominal good guys, who, like the Yangs, have a pseudo-religious devotion to their pre-holocaust documents. In this case, it was a Fish & Wildlife book of regulations. This book has clearly been ignored or heavily amended over the years, as death penalties seem rife. Not quite SOP for the current Fish & Wildlife Service.

Weak Sister — Among fans of the PAX Trilogy, SNW is often regarded as the weakest of the three. SNW had a less complex plot line — 3 people roving in search of a lost base. It also had just the three main characters. These three were somewhat stock characters too: The macho/implusive/fight-prone leader, the token pretty female, the wise older guy. The woman is somewhat stereotypic in being the damsel in distress which needs rescuing by the hero. SNW doesn’t develop the three much at all. Perhaps this was what the series episodes was intended to do. But, in just the pilot, it leaves the 3 rather flat. The special effects were fairly modest too. The overabundance of stock library music and effects gives the production a generic-TV-show quality. Warner tried, but not terribly hard.

Enterprise On Wheels — The little multi-wheel vehicle, Vestia, serves a similar role to the starship Enterprise. Her mission was to be the vehicle that ferries the crew from weekly adventure to weekly adventure. Instead of planets, as on TOS, they would have been isolated enclaves of somethings “strange.” In this, Vestia functions like the tube trains in Genesis II and Planet Earth, but with more individuality, like the Enterprise.

Pre-Logan — The move Logan’s Run (’76) and subsequent TV series by the same name, made a much bigger impression on the culture than SNW did. People who see SNW after its original broadcast (via VHS and later DVD) often see it as a poorer version of Logan’s Run. This, despite the fact that SNW came first. In this case, being first was not a ticket to immortality.

Bottom line? SNW is passable entertainment, if one is accepting of 70s style television production values. Fans of TOS and/or the PAX story line, can find some additional fodder, even if in diminished quality. Fans of 70s style dystopias will find more of the same. Not great stuff, but not bad either.

Rollerball

Continuing with the gloomy pessimism of the 70s, AND trope of dystopias with deadly super-games, Rollerball came out shortly after Death Race 2000. Where DR2K was a dark comedy with undertones of social commentary, director Norman Jewison gives Rollerball a very serious approach to the same topic — an oppressive future tyranny that used a brutal sport to distract the populace from their oppression. James Caan stars as the awakening sports hero, Jonathan E. John Houseman stars as the sinister corporate board chairman. The game of Rollerball is a convoluted mix of roller derby, football, basketball and cage fighting. The game is only a tool, however, of the supra-national corporations who control every aspect of citizens’ lives. The corporations, however, unwittingly spawn a populist hero. That was the last thing they wanted.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The story opens (slowly) to a rollerball game between the Houston team and Miami. The game is tough, but Jonathan’s leadership gives Houston the win. Afterward, Mr. Bartholomew (Houseman) gives the team a locker room pep talk about their semi-finals match against Tokyo. He also asks Jonathan to come see him at his office. At the corporate headquarters, Mr. Bartholomew tells Jonathan that the corporation wants him to retire. Jonathan is puzzled, thinking only of his team winning another championship, but Bartholomew insists that he announce his retirement on a TV special. Jonathan is polite, but noncommittal. Later, he asks his trainer to find out why he is supposed to retire. Jonathan, still trying to research why he is being pressured to retire, tries to check out books from a library. All his choices have suddenly become classified. His corporate-assigned mistress has been replaced. Daphne tries to urge him to retire. At the taping of the television special about Jonathan’s career, he refused to make his retirement announcement. Jonathan flies to Geneva to get information from a major computer portal. Zero, the computer quietly managing mankind via information control, only answers in tautologies. “Corporate decisions are made by executives. Executives are those who make corporate decisions.” Bartholomew demands that Jonathan retire. Jonathan demands several concessions — one of which is to see his former wife, Ella, who was taken by an executive that fancied her. There is a party in Jonathan’s honor (and to watch the TV special). Later, many of the party guests go outdoors and blow up several spruce trees with incendiary bullets. (a metaphor) The Tokyo game is brutal, as a rules change eliminated penalties. Still, Jonathan leads his team to victory. His friend and teammate, Moonpie, is rendered brain dead by the Tokyo team. Jonathan refuses to sign the release to take Moonpie off life support. When Jonathan returns to his ranch, Ella is there. They reconnect in a distance sort of way, and share apologies, but their former life is irretrievable. She, too, urges him to just do what the corporation tells him. “Comfort means freedom.” Still, Jonathan refuses to retire. The finals match against New York has more rules changes. No penalties, no substitutions, and no time limit. It is, essentially, a cage fight to the death. Many players are killed in savage ways. It comes down to two NY men vs. just Jonathan. He escapes the attack by one of the NY men, killing the NY man in front of Mr. Bartholomew. He defeats the attack of the second man, but stops at the moment of killing. Instead, he takes the ball and scores the game’s only goal. The stone-silent arena bursts into cheers and chants of Jon-a-than, Jon-a-than! He skates toward the camera, smiling. Freeze frame. Roll credits. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
This is a serious and well-done dystopia tale. There is much to muse over and discuss over beverages later. The directing and acting are great. The writing has depth. The cinematography, while dark at times, has a richness to the views and textures. While the vehicle is gruesome, the story is engaging.

Cultural Connection
Corporate Villains — Big corporations as villains was not a new trope. They had taken on some air villainy back in the late 1800s. This was the era of the “robber baron” tycoons: Carnegie, Mellon, Morgan, Vanderbilt, etc. A couple world wars and a Cold War added some more urgent villains, but when those waned, the old corporate villain archetype re-emerged. The “flower child” youth who came of age after the crest of Atomic Angst did not share their elders’ fear of communism. Instead, the old villains were rediscovered.

Notes
Pre-Hunger Games — There are many similarities between the 70s dystopia of Rollerball, and the 2000s’ dystopia in The Hunger Games. Both feature an oppressive tyranny that uses an annual brutal sport as a distraction to keep the masses’ energy spent in useless channels. In both, the protagonist is good at “the game.” In both, the protagonist becomes aware of the larger picture (the games are deception) and thus the protagonist opts to rebel. In both, the evil overlords try to manipulate the rebellious protagonist with rules changes. In both, the protagonist “wins” their way and thus anger the overlords, who are all the more angry at the protection fame gives. Rollerball is the Hunger Games of the X generation.

Boring Middle? — Some viewers regard the middle third of Rollerball to be weak and boring. This may be because they expect an all-action film. Instead, the middle of the film is all about the awakening of Jonathan’s soul. In the first third, he is the unaware pawn of the overlords. He lives to play the game and win. His natural leadership qualities, which made him the championship team captain, alarm the overlords. They rule by bribes. Keep the people comfortable and they won’t make trouble. The game was designed to vent any aggressive urges. But, the overlords’ brutal diversion was breeding a populist leader. That would not do. The call for his retirement on the eve of another championship series is the dissonance that breaks the spell. The middle third of the film is about Jonathan’s growth. He is the reluctant rebel. His former life was good, but once the genie was out of the bottle, there was no turning back. Even when the corporation gave him his stolen wife back, he could not resume his former life. Everything had changed. His growth in the middle third explains why he fights so hard to stay in the game designed to kill him: why he kills the second-to-last New York player directly in front of Mr. Bartholomew: why he refuses to kill the last player and why he bothered to make the winning goal. Defiance of the overlords. That, is what the middle third is about.

Closet Colossus — Behind the scenes of this comfortable world of 2018, is the super computer Zero. Not much is made of it, but it is hinted at by the Librarian, that Zero controls everything. Zero talks in smoke-screen tautologies. Zero controls all of mankind’s information. If Zero wanted the whole of 13th century history to “disappear down the memory hole,” that history is gone. With no books anymore, mankind has no recourse. Unlike Colossus (of the Forbin Project), Zero operates behind the figureheads of the corporate oligarchy. But, do even those directors actually control things, or does Zero actually control them?

Hockey Roots — Screenwriter William Harrison was a hockey fan. He liked the game as a game. It was at one particular game that a nasty fight broke out (surprise!) and the fans cheered with bloodlust. It was the savage nature of the hockey fan and the opiate of violence that inspired and informed his screenplay. Rollerball is not so much an indictment of sports — even violent sports — so much as it’s an indictment of the masses’ addiction to them and the corporate/media pushers who feed the addiction.

What’s Up With Killing Trees? — A scene that puzzles some viewers is when the guests at Jonathan’s screening party amble outside and take turns gleefully blowing up tall spruce trees with incendiary bullets from a revolver. This scene often elicits a “What was THAT all about?” It’s partly a metaphor for how the corporations consume (burn up) the rollerball players with the game. Note how many players die before the end. But it is also a metaphor for the public’s complicity. Note the idiotic glee the guests show while destroying the trees. Only the acceptance by millions of fans can give the game its mesmerizing power. Near the end, the team’s exec shouts at the trainer, who was upset that the game had become just a street fight. “The Game? This was never a game!”

Bottom line? Rollerball is well worth watching. The party music is badly dated, but the rest of the film is timeless. Yes, it has some brutality. The “gore” is very mild by today’s grim standards. Caan plays his role excellently. He is heroic, but has no swagger. Houseman does an excellent job too, as the silky smooth villain. The supporting cast are good too. There are a great many subthreads and tangental topics in Rollerball. This makes it worth watching several times.

Death Race 2000

Roger Corman’s Death Race 2000 (DR2K) was an unabashed exploitation film (nudity and violence) within a tale of a dystopian future. The film is often classified as a sci-fi, though there is no real science elements in the fiction. The dystopian-future sub genre is a close cousin to sci-fi, so DR2K is included here. Roger Corman produced the film. David Carradine stars as the popular champion racers. A young pre-Rocky Sylvester Stalone stars as the champion’s ill-fated rival. As an exploitation film, there is implied violence, tacky gore, buxom blondes, some frontal nudity and lots of explosions. The gist of the film is a series of gags, vignettes and snappy lines, more on the order of a Coyote vs. Roadrunner cartoon, cast by the WWF. The plot is more of a framework upon which gags and dark humor are hung, so the plot synopsis will not sound particularly funny.

Quick Plot Synopsis
In the grim future of America, the oppressive dictatorship keeps the people distracted and amused with an annual “Death Race”. Five teams race from New York to New Los Angeles. Teams get points for arriving first AND points for killing pedestrians on the way. The teams in the year 2000 are: Calamity Jane in her bull-mobile, Nero the Hero, Matilda the Hun in her nazi-themed V1-mobile, Machine Gun Joe (Stalone), in his black gun-wagon and the returning champion, Frankenstein (Carradine) in his godzilla-mobile. Each driver has a navigator / paramour. Frankenstein’s navigator, Annie, is the granddaughter of Mrs. Pierce, the leader of The Resistance who seek to sabotage the race and rescue America. Annie’s role is to facilitate the capture of Frankenstein. The race begins and so does the gratuitous killing. The Resistance blow up Nero’s car first, with a bomb in a fake baby. At a rest stop in St. Louis, the drivers get massages, so the viewers get lots of nudity. The government covers up Nero’s death by The Resistance. Later, The Resistance kill Matilda with a detour off a cliff. Calamity Jane is taken out with a land mine. Annie leads Frankenstein into a Resistance trap, but the Resistance are too incompetent to capture him. Later, Lt.Fury of the Resistance tries to bomb Frankenstein with a small plane. This fails too. Annie asks why Frankenstein is so obsessed with winning the race. He confides that his artificial hand (always gloved) is a hand-grenade. (Get it? HAND-grenade?). He plans to blow up Mr. President and thereby free America. During a desperate driving battle between Joe and Frankenstein, Annie uses the hand-grenade to blow up Joe. Frankenstein arrives in New Los Angeles, the winner. Mr. President is there to congratulate the winner. Annie, dressed in Frankenstein’s black leather costume, mounts the podium with a knife, but Mrs. Paine steps out of the crowd and shoots at Mr. President, only to hit Annie instead. Amid the chaos, Frankenstein (now naked) revs up his car and rams the podium. Mr. President falls to his death. Fade to black, Fade in to Frankenstein and Annie in white, at their wedding. He is now President Frankenstein, who promises to many good things and restore America. In one last act of poetic justice, he runs over the whining and obnoxious TV reporter. Roll credits. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
DR2K is a comedy — albeit a very grim and dark comedy. Despite the juvenile gore-humor, there are some amusing lines and a few funny sight gags. The social-commentary part, while secondary to the blatant exploitation pandering, does give some fodder for musing.

Cultural Connection
Cannonball Run — In the 70s, there were several coast-to-coast unsanctioned amateur races from New York City to Los Angeles. They started as a sort of grassroots protest against stricter traffic laws. Speed limits were disregarded (though each driver was still responsible for his own tickets.) As such they began with an air of “stick it to the man.” With the oil crisis of 1973, its subsequent gas shortages and rationing, the “freedom” of the open road seemed like lost dream. In 1974, the federal government imposed the nation-wide 55 mph speed limit (on the pretense that it would save a significant amount of gasoline). The 55 limit was widely unpopular, seen as just another heavy-handed intrusion by “the man.” This was the background in which DR2K was released.

Note
Based on Print — Ib Melchior wrote a short story titled “The Racer,” published in the January 1956 edition of Escapade (a minor “men’s magazine). His story featured a transcontinental road race in which the drivers scored points for killing bystanders. It also suggested the idea of The Resistance, in passing. Melchior said the inspiration for his story came from a speedway race he attended and the crowd’s bloodlust enthusiasm for crashes. (A parallel to hockey fans who watch for the fights, not the game.) Melchior’s story also featured a woman who changes the protagonist, Willie, from heartless killer to caring human being. Melchior would later write Angry Red Planet (’61) and Robinson Crusoe On Mars (’64).

Political Statement — Despite the trappings of comedy, DR2K makes dystopian warnings about America becoming a dictatorship under a president who uses crises as an excuse to remain in office. Mr. President sponsors the gruesome annual race as a sort of “bread and circus” distraction to keep the masses minds off the oppression. Note how the government is constantly trying to control the media and what the public hear. Note too, how “France” is blamed for just about everything. France as the evil empire? That’s funny by itself.

Evil Media — Where DR2K can be seen as an indictment on oppressive government, it is even more of an indictment on the entertainment media. In a rather fitting commentary, even for today, is the sinister collusion between Big Media and the oppressive government.

Virgin Sacrifice — An odd, and somewhat disquieting scene features Lori. She is the “chosen” fan from the Frankenstein fan club. She talks with Frankenstein so that he will know her and remember her. The next day, the fan club has her set up in the middle of the road, dressed in a flowing white “virgin sacrifice” dress. She will give her life for Frankenstein to get more points. He coldly runs her down. Why? asks Annie. “Because she said she loved me.”

Euthanasia Day — On race day, a hospital sets all it’s old infirm patients out in the road. That way, the racers can get some valuable points and the hospital clears out some beds. In a foreshadowing of Frankenstein’s change of heart, he drives instead behind the hospital, running over several of the doctors and nurses who were trying to thin the geriatric wing.

Inept Resistance — Of some comic value is the bumblings of The Resistance. They talk in high-sounding phrases, but are poorly organized and inept. They do manage to blow up Nero with the baby bomb, get Matilda to drive off a cliff and blow up Jane with a land mine, so they do manage to strike a blow at “the man,” and his Race. Their leader, Mrs. Paine’s announcement over hijacked TV waves was “The Age of Obedience is Over!” Surely a motto that resonated with young drive-in audiences.

Spawning Sequels — DR2K managed to spawn remakes and sequels. There was a video game named “Carmageddon” in the late 90s. The movie Death Race in 2008. Death Race 2 in 2010 and Death Race 3 in 2012.

Mad Before Max — The Mad Max movies did not invent the trope of tricked up cars covered with spiky and jagged things, as featured so prominently in the second Mad Max film, 1981.

Auto Trivia — DR2K feeds on the muscle car mindset which the oil embargo was emasculating. For those into automotive trivia, Frankenstein’s car is a modified Corvette. The cars of Jane and Joe were heavily costumed Manta kit cars (fiberglass “Mclaren” bodies on VW Beetle running gear). Nero’s car was a gussied up Fiat 850 Spider. Matilda’s car is a Karmann Ghia with much added bodywork to make it resemble a nazi V1 buzz bomb.

Plane Crazy — For aircraft fans, there is good footage of the Rutan VariViggen 2-seater. it is a pretty cool looking machine, so it is a treat to get to see it doing so many fly-bys.

Bottom line? DR2K is a pretty flagrant exploitation film. The female announcer’s name, Grace Pander, makes it clear that the movie makers knew they were pandering. The gore and violence are juvenile. The nudity is gratuitous. The film amounts to pro-wrestling in cars. Still, the dystopian elements and social commentary between the humor, do make DR2K worth sitting through.

The Stepford Wives

The first theatrical release sci-fi movie of 1975 was The Stepford Wives (TSW). It is one of the landmark films of the 70s. William Golden developed the screenplay from Ira Levin’s 1972 novel of the same name. Bryan Forbes directed. Katherine Ross and Paula Prentiss starred. Many in the rest of the cast were familiar faces too. Tina Louise has a small but important role as the first woman to change.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The Eberhardt family move from an apartment in downtown New York City, to an upscale suburb in Stepford, Connecticut. The move is entirely Walter’s idea. Joanna reluctantly goes along with the disruption. She notices that the women of Stepford are nice, but shallow. Joanna meets another newcomer to Stepford, Bobbi. (Paula Prentiss) Happy to find another “normal” person, they become friends. Walter is invited to join the locally prestigious Men’s Association. This flares up some lingering squabbles over male chauvinism vs. feminism between Walter and Joanna. Odd little events start to worry Joanna. Joanna and Bobbi notice that the Stepford husbands are bland milk-toasts of men, but all have adoring trophy wives. Joanna and Bobbi do meet Charmaine, (Tina Louise) another newcomer and avid amateur tennis fan with her own court. Joanna sits in on a Men’s Association meeting at the Eberhardt home, One man (a sort of Vargas parallel) sketches Joanna while the others banter fundraising ideas. The meeting leader, (Patrick O’Neal) is called “Diz” because he was once an engineer at Disneyland. Charmaine goes away for a weekend with her husband and returns a Stepford wife. Bobbi and Joanna are convinced that all the high-tech firms in Stepford must be polluting the water. They get a sample analyzed, but there’s nothing odd in the water. Bobbi goes away for a weekend with her husband, and returns a Stepford wife. In a moment of frustration, Joanna stabs Bobbi. There is no blood. Bobbi goes into repeated motions (dropping coffee cups) and repeating phrases. Joanna runs home to find that her two kids are gone. She comes the Men’s Association mansion on a suitably dark and stormy night. Diz is there and tells her it is her time. Joanna runs from dark spooky room to dark spooky room, stopping in what looks like a partial recreation of her bedroom. In it, is a copy of herself, brushing her long hair. The copy, however, has only incomplete black spheres for eyes (Eyes as windows of the soul, therefore Robo-Joanna has no soul, get it?). Joanna 2.0 looks the same, but is now a 36 DD where Real-Joanna was a 34 AAA at best. Robo-Joanna smiles a menacing smile, secures a strangling cord in both hands and walks towards Joanna. Fade to black. Fade back in to the Stepford supermarket. Tepid muzak plays while Stepford wives float along behind their shopping carts. They are all dressed in long, frilly sun dresses and wide-brimmed hats. Joanna is there too, in similar frilly attire. Zoom in on her now complete, but expressionless eyes. Freeze frame. Roll Credits. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Fans of the paranoia sub-genre of 50s sci-fi, can appreciate this mid 70s refresh of the trope. There are a lot of tangent topics raised by the script.

Cultural Connection
The term “Stepford wife” entered into the general cultural language. Even forty years after the movie, it is still understood. The word “Stepford” has gotten into dictionaries, meaning someone that is bland and submissive. A “Stepford wife” being  “a married woman who submits to her husband's will and is preoccupied by domestic concerns and her own personal appearance.” In 2011, Cindy McCain (wife of Senator John McCain) said, “I've seen things written about me that said "she's cold," or "she is a Stepford wife." Really, I'm just very shy.” Levin’s novel, and Forbes’ movie, made a lasting impression on the culture, even spawning

Notes
Based on the Book — The movie follows the story line of Ira Levin’s 1972 novel very closely. There are always ways in which movies cannot capture what the written word can, but in this case, the movie almost did a better job. For instance, in the book, the robotic nature of the duplicates is not made as clear. Levin may have preferred the ambiguity. Were they biological clones? Petty zombies? Forbes makes it clear that the Stepford wives are robot duplicates. The real wives were killed. This point too, is not as clear in the book. Forbes' scene with Robo-Joanna and her strangling cord make the fates of the real women terribly clear. Both the book and the movie indulge in vulgarity like a college freshman away from home for the first time. Both Levin and Forbes may have sought to use vulgarity as a marker for “real” people, but what does that say about the culture?

Better Without Bimbos — William Goldman had originally envisioned the Stepford wives to be dressed provocatively. They would be trophy bimbos. Bryan Forbes’ wife, Nanette Newman, was cast as Carol Van Sant. Newman was an accomplished actress in her own right and attractive, but at 40 years old, did not look good in Goldman’s bimbo-wear. So, the costuming took a more conservative tack. Barbie gave way to Betty Crocker. This actually saved the film from becoming kitsch — a slightly darker version of Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (’65) in which the robots are primarily eye candy. Middle-aged men making bikini-babes would have been shallow and juvenile. Them making “nice” mild suburban homemakers has more complexity.

The Dark Side of Disney — Apparently, the animatronics at Disneyland creeped some people out. Disney’s robo-entertainment was also the inspiration for Westworld (’73). Forbes’ robots don’t go bad as overtly as the Gunslinger, but the scene in which Robo-Joanna is implied to kill the real Joanna shows the same technophobia. The Disney connection is made abundantly clear in the “Diz” character, who worked for Disney. When Joanna is talking with the therapist she says she knows she is due to be replaced. It will look like her, “but it won’t be me. She’ll be one of those robots at Disneyland.” Some people saw a dark side to the magic kingdom.

Pods For A New Age — The Stepford wives are the pod people for a new generation. There is much similarity between TSW and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (’56). Both are classics of the people-being-replaced conspiracy trope. In both stories, the “normal” people exhibit several human imperfections, and they are slowly and systematically replaced by bland, emotionless duplicates. Where Body Snatchers was responding to the insidious creeping in of communism (or McCarthyism, if you prefer), the Stepford wives represent a very common 70s anxiety about technology dehumanizing us.

Feminist Film? — On a shallow level, TSW serves as a feminist indictment of male-dominated society. There is talk of male chauvinism, burning bras, equality and mean-old-men forcing women into domestic roles. Yet these are more of a red herring. Beneath that veneer lurks the darker story of men willing to live a lie. Diz rationalizes the scheme to Joanna. “Wouldn’t you do the same thing? Wouldn’t you like some perfect stud waiting on you around the house? Praising you. Servicing you. Whispering that your sagging flesh was beautiful, no matter how you looked?” That was, after all, what the men of Stepford were doing. They wanted trophy wives, or at least the appearance of them, to lie to them, even though they knew it was pre-programmed lies. Why would a tape recording of a woman saying "You're the best!" have any value to the man? In this, Levin and Forbes make a commentary about that darker side of mankind’s heart. To paraphrase the bible verses, They refused to accept the truth, instead believing the lie. TSW is also about there being something wrong with the men.

Bottom line? TSW is not to be missed. One need not be a fan of sci-fi to benefit from watching it. TSW is a cultural touchstone. There is the usual 70s technophobia, but there are some many tangental social commentaries to muse over too. The banality of suburban life. An urban-dweller’s fears of un-hip suburbia. The subtle Frankenstein: Adam trying to fabricate his own idealized Eve. Science and technology doing the immoral “Because we can.” There are more than a few cup-of-coffee conversations to be mined from TSW. The film spawned several sequels and an unfortunate remake in 2004. The original is best. Watch it.

Stowaway to the Moon

This first sci-fi film of 1975 did not have a theatrical release, but was a made-for-TV movie. Stowaway to the Moon (StM) is included in this study because of its affinity to several early 50s sci-fi movies about the dangers of space travel, and that it has Lloyd Bridges and John Carradine in the cast. Both figured in 50s sci-fi. StM is an example of that sub-genre of “hard” science fiction — which features credible technology doing serious science-y things, just with a fictional story line. This time, it’s told as a for-kids movie.

Quick Plot Synopsis
EJ is an 11 year old boy who dreams of being an astronaut. He has devised a plan to sneak aboard an Apollo mission just prior to launch. Dressed as a worker, he gets aboard and hides in a storage bin. The launch takes place, despite computers saying the rocket is 87 pounds overweight. En route to the moon, astronaut Rick discovers EJ in the bin. There is much official hand wringing and ranting about this ruining the mission. This gets subsumed by the popular appeal of a boy in space. And, since they spent all that money and came al that way, they might as well go through with the mission. This proves beneficial since Ben, the Command Module pilot comes down with a bad flu. He’s too sick to continue, so EJ takes over the necessary tasks. The LEM crew, Rick and Dave, go off course and land somewhere lost. Much worry and fret from Houston. EJ eventually spots them. They find their sought-after Genesis Rocks and fly back up. Before they redock, however, EJ turned the wrong valve and vented most of the Command Module’s atmosphere. Rick docks the LEM just in time. The three adults have their space suits for oxygen, etc. EJ must shelter in the LEM on minimum heat and oxygen. Houston works on fixes to stretch the oxygen supply. EJ is losing consciousness, but Ben has him look at the approaching earth and wax poetic about what a wonderful sight it was. That worked. At the last minute before reentry, EJ pressurizes the LEM and rejoins the 3 adults. This gives the Command Module just enough air for re-entry. Cross-fade the fiery re-entry of (something) to a campfire. EJ remembers the nice things the astronauts said about him. Roll credits. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
While predictable enough, the story remains mildly engaging enough. Happily, the writer and director did not make EJ the more-modern-style smarty pants kid. Instead, he’s portrayed (and acted) more believable. For those who grew up in the Apollo era, all of the stock footage and references will have nostalgia value.

Cultural Connection
Waning Moon — The Apollo program had wrapped up by the time this movie came out. Apollo 17, the last manned moon mission, returned in Decmeber of 1972. This was only two and a half years after the first man on the moon: Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11, July of 1969. But, by those few short years later, America’s fickle interest in manned moon missions had waned. Where once millions tuned in eager to get any scrap of news about Apollo 11, audiences for Apollo 16 and 17 were small. Some viewers even complained that news coverage of Apollo was cutting into their Brady Bunch or Sanford and Son.

Notes
Based on the Book — Author William Shelton published his novel, “Stowaway to the Moon: The Camelot odyssey” in 1973, the year after the last Apollo mission. The movie follows his plot and mood — that of a fan of the Apollo missions. CBS turned his story into a movie.

Apollo 13 B — StM can be seen as a sort of mild retelling of the Apollo 13 story. That parallel isn’t played very strongly, however. Its more of an overlay atop the precocious-boy-saves-day plot. Charlie asks his team for solutions to the lack of oxygen problem — just like in Apollo 13 — but no clever solution is shown. Things just work out okay.

RXM Revisisted — The presence of Lloyd Bridges invites comparison to the 1950 film, Rocketship X M, in which the 32 year-old Bridges played Col. Floyd Graham, on a rocket bound for the moon, but which goes errant and lands on Mars. There is also a nice affinity for the 1950 classic, Destination Moon which featured a lunar landing mission which runs into trouble, but by pluck and determination, manage to return to earth okay. Even after 20 years, the story thread still had some legs.

Star Gazing — In addition to Bridges, note another veteran fixture from 50s sci-fi: John Carradine. He gets a small bit part in StM as the backwoods Mr. Avril who does not contribute much to the story beyond supplying the boys with the boat they used to sneak into the launch site. Carradine played in such 50s B-flims as Incredible Petrified World, The Unearthly (’57), and Cosmic Man (’59). His role as Avril was more of a cameo than anything.

Security? What Security? — The portrayal of NASA security in StM was lax and loose, even by the real standards of the day. After all, it was still the Cold War era. But the extremely casual approach to security in the movie can strike 21st century viewers as bizarre. People are able to boat up to drains under the barbed wire fence? All those security cameras, and the guys watching them just nonchalantly guess who an unidentified (and obviously too small) person is? No one is actually watching the capsule? The security gate is a purely voluntary stop? (no gate). Yes, the 70s were a milder, gentler time, but not THAT mild and gentle. After all, there were school shootings, hijackings and the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympic games. (The "good ol' days" weren't always that good)

Boy-O-Vision — For viewers who snark at the naivety and simplicity of the story, consider that it could “have all been a dream.” The whole story could be what EJ imagines as he’s sitting in the capsule exhibit at the NASA visitor center in the movie's first scene. As a boy’s daydream, things would naturally be simpler and a bit naive. Instead of snarking, look at StM as the vision of a space program fanboy — and a young one.

God, Before He Was un-PC — Interesting to 21st century ears are the references to God by the crew and EJ. When EJ is marveling at the moon, he summarizes the amazingness with “compliments of the Creator.” EJ and Ben talks about home as the “land of milk and honey”, both acknowledging that it was read to them from the Bible. When EJ is rhapsodizing about how beautiful the earth would look to pioneers looking for a home, he says, “This is the one God picked out for us,” the land of milk and honey. With the 21st century’s tyranny by apoplectic ACLU lawyers, prime time TV just can’t do such things anymore.

Bottom line? StM isn’t a cerebral film or a fanciful sci-fi. Instead, it’s a juvenile-market “hard” sci-fi for fans of the early 70s NASA world. StM is banal enough and mildly entertaining enough. It’s, perhaps, not worth a great effort to seek out, unless one were a big fan of 60s and 70s NASA missions. But, it’s not bad either.