The End of the World

The old 70s paradigm of doom and malaise lives on in this low-budget indie apocalyptic movie, The End of the World (EotW). The producers managed to recruit some well known, or better known actors such as Christopher Lee, Dean Jagger, Lew Ayres and Madonald Carey. All but Lee get scant screen time. Kirk Scott and Sue Lyon, both second-tier actors, garnered the lion’s share of the camera. Charles Band produced the film before he got better at producing. John Hayes directed, though is forte had been trashy horror or trashy soft porn. The resulting tale of alien-duplication and intrigue to destroy the world unfolds very very slowly.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A cook in a remote diner whiles away the empty hours of night until a Catholic priest walks in asking if he can call the police. Before he can, the pay phone blows up, as does the juke box and coffee machine. The latter scalds the cook such that he runs through a window and kills himself. A stunned Father Pergado (Lee) staggers up to a convent to be greeted by his evil twin. Cut to a “high-tech” computer lab where Andrew works. He picks up some strange signals from space. He has a ‘feeling’ about them. Andrew and his lovely wife, Sylvia (Lyon) investigate where the signals are coming from, but only find a peaceful convent. Andrew brushes off some professional obligations in order to pursue his obsession with the signals. They check out a second site, only to discover that it was a secret government eaves-dropping base. (at least there was a transmitter that time.) They are released. With no other leads, they revisit the convent. The second visit still revealed nothing, so they sneak back in a third time. The nuns capture them and take them down to a basement full of alien technology. The fake Father Pergado is actually an alien named Zindar. He and his “nuns” have taken human form to complete their mission. Unfortunately, their tampering with Earth messed up their matter transporters, so they’re stuck on Earth. Zindar holds Sylvia hostage to force Andrew to steal some special rare isotope crystal which will fix their transporter device. Andrew does so, reluctantly, but successfully. The transporter is fixed. Zindar exposits that they came to destroy the Earth because it spews ‘disease’ into the universe. He tells Andrew and Sylvia that, as aliens, they’re not such bad folks so Andrew and Sylvia are welcome to come to their planet instead of staying on the earth (which is about to blow up). Zindar briefly changes from Christopher Lee to an alien puppet head (seen in the poster), then beams away. Andrew and Sylvia decide life on an alien world is better than blowing up, so they transport away. The Earth blows up. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Christopher Lee is clearly the primary value in EotW. Despite the extra-lame script and career-killing production, he performs as an A-level professional. Sue Lyon is easy on the eyes.

Cultural Connection
Chronic Gloom —The 50s were rife with worries about nuclear doom, but despite that, almost all 50s apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic movies were essentially optimistic. Mankind somehow found a way to avert disaster. By the 70s, however, people seemed to give up that vestige of hope. With all the new plagues of doom the 70s wallowed in — pollution, overpopulation, starvation — it was easy to think there would be no light at the end of the tunnel. No way to avert doom. EotW is a blunt (if clumsy) statement of that sentiment. Nothing mattered. The Earth was just going to blow up.

Notes
Dark Klaatu — Klaatu came to Earth in The Day The Earth Stood Still (’51) to deliver a warning. Mankind had better mind its Ps and Qs or the galactic powers would have to destroy the Earth to preserve all those other planets out there. Zindar comes in a similar sort of messenger role but with bad news. “The planet earth has emitted an overabundance of diseases. You are contaminating the universe. All the planets, lightyears away from here will suffer, unless it is destroyed. We have received our orders.” There is no reprieve. Mankind did not mind its Ps and Qs.

Evil Twin — For no particularly expressed reason, the real Father Pergado is kept alive and allowed to keep praying at the altar. Why the duplicated nuns were not kept on, was never explained. The real Pergado (also played by Lee) is “artistically” differentiated by being dressed in all white. Whereas Zindar, the fake Pergado is in all black (with cape!). The fake nuns come to escort the real Pergado down to test out the matter transporter. They get him just as he finishes reciting the Lord’s Prayer, ending on the line, “…and deliver us from evil.” The transporter is still broken, so the real Pergado dies. Perhaps this is what happened to the real nuns. They were sent in as human guinea pigs to test the unit. Not a very advanced-technology way of testing equipment.

Wasted Talent — Perhaps, due to his father Albert’s reputation (as a second-tier actor, director and producer), Charles Band seems to have been able to sign up some known actors for his very obscure indie film. It is said that Christopher Lee only agreed to take the job because he had been told that the other known actors, such as Dean Jagger, Lew Ayers, etc. were in the film. These other actors, however, were wasted in bit parts with very little screen time. Jagger was Andrew’s cranky boss with only two small scenes. Lew Ayers appears only once as the manager of the eavesdropping base. Macdonald Carey plays a security guard. Instead of having the better talent play major roles, the lead characters were played by middling television actors (Scott and Lyon).

Catholi-phobia? — Screenwriter Frank Ray Perilli must have had a personal fear of nuns and things Catholic. He seemed to expect that the mere sight of a convent and closeups of frowning nun faces would creep out the audience. Maybe for some, they do. For most, however, the dots do not connect. Whatever ‘horror” Perilli was hoping for never materializes. Nuns just are not scary, unless one is already afraid of nuns.

Bottom line? EotW is an almost painfully slow film. At nearly 90 minutes long, it could easily have been cut to run less than an hour. It would still be lame, but faster. Far too much of it is shot at night, with insufficient lighting, which only makes the long padded sneaking-through-the-night scenes feel even longer. Lee is okay acting-wise. Others were wasted efforts (see above). Scott is bland as a hero. Lyon is pretty in a mid-70s (pre-Farrah) sort of way and looks good in a towel (twice!), but she adds little. Charles Band would go on to produce better films, but EotW is not among them. Unless one is a big Christopher Lee fan, there is little reason to sit through this film.

Where have all the people gone?

This is yet another made-for-TV movie that begs inclusion in this study. Where Have All The People Gone? (WHAPG) is low-budget, as fitting its television production, but it mirrors so many classic 50s films as to granted a pass. Peter Graves stars as Steven Anders, father of a family that finds itself more or less all alone after some mysterious event has wiped out almost all the rest of humanity. Lewis John Carlino wrote the story and the screenplay. John Moxey directs. (he had directed episodes of "Mission Impossible," and "Mannix" and after WHAPG, episodes of "Magnum P.I.")

Quick Plot Synopsis
The Anders family is hunting for fossils while on a camping vacation in the California hills. Mom has to leave early, to return to L.A. for work. While dad, college student son David, and teen daughter Deborah are looking for fossils in a cave, a massive solar flare erupts, followed by a mild earthquake. When they come out, their local guide/friend, Clancy is feeling ill. They suspect the cause was a nuclear blast and radiation sickness. By evening, he is in bad shape. Dad decides they need to take him down to town. Before they get far, Clancy dies. Before they can bury him, his body has turned to white powder inside his clothes. Dad, Dave and Deb continue down to, finding many abandoned cars and other powder people, no power, no radio, no phones. They fix up Clancy's Blazer with a new battery (all other cars have fried generators) and continue on to LA in search of mom. While refueling, they discover a woman in shock and take her with them. Later, it comes out that Jenny's husband got sick and turned to powder, then crazed dogs killed her children. En route to LA, they stop to help a stranded motorist, but he steals their working car at gun point so he can get to his family in Phoenix. They come across a farm with the farmer and wife shot dead by car thieves. They find their orphan son, Billy and take him with them. They proceed on foot, coming to a shopping center. They come across another survivor who has taken up farming. Dad declines to join him, as he wants to get to LA and find his wife. When they do get to LA, and home, they find mom's bathrobe and white powder. Dad, despondent at his loss talks gloom and despair. Jenny, still mourning her own losses, decides to walk into the sea and kill herself. Everyone rushes out to stop her. Everyone decides that they must go on surviving. Mom left notes describing how the solar flares knocked out all power and power generation, but also created a mutated virus that killed people in hours. Some people with a particular gene were immune. Since the home in LA had no fresh water or farm land, the group of five don backpacks for a hike to northern California to go live off the land. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The theme of post-apocalyptic survivors is an old familiar one from the Golden Era of sci-fi. The pace is good and the sense of mystery well played -- especially for a low-budget television movie.

Cultural Connection
As stated before on other recently reviewed movies, the 70s was a time of much anxiety about epidemics, pollution and overpopulation.

Notes
Survivors' Tale -- The band-of-survivors stories have a long history and aren't necessarily sci-fi or nuclear. Recall "Robinson Crusoe" (1719) or a later group-based variant, "Swiss Family Robinson." (1812) and the whole "robinsonade" sub genre. The Atomic Angst era embraced that old theme, but with nuclear detonations or nuclear effects substituting for shipwrecks. An early example, which has many parallel's was Arch Obelor's Five from 1951. Target Earth ('54) had a random collection of survivors of an alien robot invasion. WHAPG flirted with the customary nuclear causes and anxieties.

Double Whammy -- By the mid-70s, atomic angst had cooled significantly. It wasn't gone, per se, but had lost most of its terror in the movie-watching market. The new terrors on the block, for the 70s were highly anxious about environmental issues (pollution, overpopulation, etc.) and unstoppable epidemics (think: Andromeda Strain). WHAPG combined both angsts d'jour for a double whammy. Why be spooked by just one crisis when you can have two? Prescient Angst -- In the 21st century, in fact, ever since the Y2K hysteria went mainstream, many people of the prepare persuasion worry about EMPs (Electro-Magnetic Pulses) frying everything electronic and casting civilization back into the 19th century. Nowadays, the EMP Angst is divided between worries that a rogue terrorist (or terrorist nation) will create a man-made EMP by exploding a nuclear bomb (or bombs) high in the air, OR that there will be a massive coronal event along the lines of 1859's "Carrington" event. EMP-Angst would really not "catch on" in the public imagination until the 2000s. 1974 was a bit too early.

Plot Holes or Leaps -- For the most part, the plot is solid and progresses logically. There are, however, a couple of quirks. One is that the EMP is presented as strong enough to fry automotive generators, yet did not fry the Anders' AM Radio or CB radio. As a side note, 21st century folk who worry about EMPs like to assume that pre-1978 automobiles will remain usable because they lack delicate electronics. WHAPG had the EMP frying all the old cars -- if they were running. A second plot leap was the idea that the burst of "gamma radiation" would mutate some common benign virus in the exact same way, all across the country (and world?) Since the conventional wisdom is that radiation causes random mutations, how likely is that?

Powder People -- The low-budget "special effect" of having the victim's bodies turn to white powder was effective. This effect may have been borrowed from the Star Trek episode, "The Omega Glory" from TOS's second season. In it, some strange germ from the planet in the Omega system causes earth-humans' bodies to lose all water. Only the scant trace minerals remained as white granular powder amid the left-behind clothing of the victims. A somewhat similar, but different effect appeared in the 1963 film When Mars Invaded Earth. There, the martian copy-people eliminated their human originals with a heat beam that left behind white ash in the shape of a person.

Peter's Previous Power Outage -- Actor Peter Graves starred in another movie about a mysterious collapse of the power grid. The earlier movie was It Conquered the World in 1956. In that film, it was a sinister being from Venus that was jamming the world's power sources selectively. Graves also starred in the 1953 film, Killers From Space, in which he was abducted by aliens. These prior roles lend WHAPG a bit more of a sci-fi feel.

The Optimism of CityFolk -- As the movie progresses, it is clear that the power grid, and much of earth's establish civilization has been taken down. Not only is there no power grid to support modern life, there are few people left to man all the technology that did survive. Amid all that, the writers exude the naive optimism of city folks who imagine that if they had to, they would just move out into the country, become farmers and raise their own food. One character even says this. "I guess eventually the store food will run out, and we'll have to learn how to farm. I"m a cost accountant. Born and raised in the city." Growing crops and raising livestock are not that easy -- let alone how to handle the raw products if properly raised. The Anders family truck off into the northern country, each equipped with a "bug out bag" with that hubris of city folk, that they're going to walk into the hills and live off the land. Amusing.

Bottom line? WHAPG is well worth the watch. It is available on YouTube. The acting is passible, but not great. Peter Graves does not grieve very convincingly. He did rugged heroics much better. The pacing is pretty good and the writers don't try to sew up all the loose ends, leaving viewers to ponder over story lines hinted at, but not pursued.

The Doomsday Machine

This is another of those quilt-like film projects, revived from the dead. It was begun in 1967 with a tentative title of "Doomsday +7", but it was never finished. It sat on a shelf until 1972 when producer/director Harry Hope bought it. He added some footage to finish the story (sort of) and titled it Doomsday Machine (DM). The original footage starred Bobby Van, Ruta Lee, Mala Powers and Grant Williams. These were all well-known television actors who still had some market value in the early 70s. Grant Williams was The Incredible Shrinking Man ('57). Mala Powers played in a few 50s sci-fi films too. The eventual title, too, harkens to 1967, when it was the title of one of the episodes of Star Trek's second season. (though the two stories are completely unrelated, except that the two doomsday devices had a similar purpose (the ultimate Cold War threat weapon, and that both end up getting used and wiping out both sides.)

Quick Plot Synopsis
A chinese female spy sneaks into a secret facility. Far beneath the earth is a 'doomsday' device -- a nuclear weapon that Mao's China intends to use as the ultimate Cold War leverage tool. Her pictures are studied in Washington. Experts say that if the Chinese use their device, it will crack the earth and make it explode. The seven astronauts of Project Astra prepare for their upcoming mission to Venus. The launch date is moved up suddenly, and three of the male crew are replaced by three attractive female astronauts. The usual battle of the sexes lines ensue. They blast off. Aboard ship, there are tensions. They see the earth destroyed and realize they were sent as Adams and Eves in a Noah's Ark to save mankind. The destruction of earth and their new roles does not sit well. Kurt, in particular, turns into a jerk, trying to dominate Katie. Georgianna has a soft spot for Danny as the "boy" of the crew. Tough Marion and Tough Ron (the skipper) butt heads, but come to like each other. Old Doc is wise and sage. Dodging hunks of the blown up earth has reduced their fuel supply. Increased radiation means they must land sooner than planned. All this means that only three of them can land. But which? Doc programs the computer to make the most logical selections. Meanwhile, Kurt attempts to rape Katie. While fending him off, she accidentally opens the air lock. They are both sucked out into space and killed. The computer chose Doc, Marion and Georgianna. Danny wonders why people let computers run their lives. All agree, they'll all try a landing despite the risks. However, the spent booster stage won't disengage. Danny volunteers to pry it free, knowing he'll be left behind. He can't do it alone, so Georgianna joins him. The landing stage is free, so Doc, Don and Marion fly down. Danny and Georgianna spot a derelict Soviet spacecraft and 'fly' over to it. Aboard (they never take their helmets off and no longer sound like Van and Powers), they find a dead cosmonaut. Danny charges up the batteries and there is enough fuel to land. They lose contact with the others in Astra. A disembodied voice saying it is the collective voice of the Venusians tells Danny and Georgianna that they will not be permitted to land. They (humans) blew up their home. Instead: "Your journey will continue. Something very strange and very great awaits you beyond the rim of the universe. An now, last of man, your journey will begin." Stock footage of a second stage booster fires. There is a long look at some model planets in front of a star field. The End. Fade out.

Why is this movie fun?
The basic premise, the story and the execution are so thoroughly 50s, it's hard not to enjoy them. The original concept was very much in the ethos of 50s B sci-fi. In fact, if viewed in black and white, it would virtually indistinguishable. On that note, the very "mod" vibrant 60s colors used in the rocket interior sets, have a nostalgia value too.

Cold War Angle
As a product of the mid-60s, Cold War themes were much more in vogue. The commie Chinese are behind it all. Their nuke takes on the symbolic power of all nukes. Yet, by the early 70s, dystopia was more in vogue, so a "doomsday" spin was still marketable. Nukes would reduce mankind back to an Adam and Eve state -- a theme explored since the early 50s, (q.v. Arch Obelor's Five, '51).

Notes
Patchwork Project -- The movie project started with a story outline by Stuart J. Byme with a working title of "Deadmen in Space." According to a post on imdb, two men, Fred Long and a Henry Blum acquired the rights to the screenplay and began producing the work in 1967 as an Allied Artists production. Originally retitled as "Armageddon 1975", it was re-retitled as "Doomsday + 7". Herbert J. Leder was the director of the '67 footage. Cost overruns, mismanagement, and perhaps some other intrigue apparently killed the project before it was finished. Little of the film's ending had been shot yet. Five years later, producer Harry Hope acquired the rights and the shelved footage. None of the original actors were available (or interested) in completing the film, so Hope had to improvise. Harry and a Lee Sholem directed the new footage, but with very little skill (or care).

Saving White Bread -- A friend of mine, with a particularly sensitive eye regarding ethnic diversity, would probably have kittens at the premise in DM. The all-white crew aboard the space ark in When Worlds Collide ('51) caused him to label WWC as "racist" film. DM would get the same tarred brush, no doubt. The saving of the human race comes down to white Americans. Granted, it was a NASA project that was hastily reconfigured as Eden 2, but still. Only the presence of Major Bronski keeps it from being an all USA Eden.

New Via Hope? -- Some of the "new" 1972 footage is obvious. There is a clear break between when Danny and Georgianna spot the derelict Isvestia 2 and when they board Isvestia 2. Once aboard, they never take their helmets off and the voice-overs are not Bobby Van's or Mala Powers' voices. One might also suspect that the Mission Control footage with Casey Kasem was also shot in 1972. Kasem was a frequent voice talent for TV shows in the 60s, but his first film appearance was in 1967 in a tiny bit role. By the early 70s, however, Kasem had done some more prominent roles (in less prominent films). Thus, it seems the mission control footage was probably "new" via Harry Hope.

Non-Ending -- The film, as Hope finished, stops without any resolution. The collective Venusian voice monologues about how Danny and Georgianna aren't allowed to land on Venus, but that they'll have some other amazing fate "beyond the rim of the universe." Then it ends, or at least stops. This non-ending does not fit with all the build-up and character development by Byrne and Long. Everything up to the point where Long's production ends suggests that the five remaining people were to have a happier ending on Venus. Danny has Georgianna, Marion has Don and the wise old Dr. Perry as their Moses-figure. Imagining Venus as a prehistoric earth would have been par for the course in the mid-60s. Compare with Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet ('65) and Voyage to the Planet of the Prehistoric Women ('68). Having our two Adams and two Eves land on a "prehistoric" planet smacks of Eden. This would have been a very logical conclusion for Byrne's story.

Four Rockets In One -- An amusing detail to watch for is how the Astra ship is shown as four different ships. One of them is the JX-1 rocket from Gorath ('64). Other clips were re-used from Gorath too. There are two different hub-and-ring craft (yet to be identified), and the rocket from Wizard of Mars ('65). Other clips, especially the whole avoid-the-meteorite segment were also lifted from WoM. This last is not too surprising, as David Hewitt was the "special effects" man on WoM as well as DM. Perhaps he got some rights to the material in lieu of payment.

Bottom line? Don't watch DM as a single entertainment item. Instead, watch it as a frankenfilm, brought back from the dead with a few spare parts. In its 1972 completion, it is a mediocre film that can be confusing if one expects smooth continuity. Bobby Van is as annoying as he usually was, but the ladies are rather nice mid-60s ladies. The film, in its 1967 trajectory, would have been a bit banal, but not too bad. The non-ending (see above) drains out what little B-grade power the '67 project had created.

No Blade of Grass

Apocalyptic movies were still much in style in the early 70s. Nuclear armageddon had to share time with other causes, though. Bio-geddon was a popular second. An obscure member of this group was No Blade of Grass (NBG). Based on the 1956 novel by John Christopher, the screenplay was co-written by, then produced and directed by Cornel Wilde. Nigel Davenport (who we had just seen in The Life of Mr. Soames) stars as the hero father trying to save his family amid the collapse of civilization.

Quick Plot Synopsis
People in a London pub carry on their consumption while the television, barely noticed, tells the backstory. A virus emerged in China which kills off plants in the grass family -- such as rice. Failure of the harvest caused massive famine and riots. The Chinese were rumored to have bombed their own cities to reduce the population. The virus has spread to wheat, oats, barley, etc. (all grasses) and to other areas. Roger, a government worker, tells John Custance (Davenport) that the government is taking the virus seriously and has some severe plans. That night, Roger calls John, telling him to get his family out of London immediately, as the city will be closed in the morning. He packs his wife, Ann, and teen daughter Mary into the car. They and Roger get out just in time. Their goal is John's brother's farm in the north. They get their young son, David, from his boarding school. En route, they pass through rioting mobs. They try to buy some guns but don't have the proper papers. They get the guns anyhow, and joined by Pirrie and his wife Clara. Rapists ambush John's car, raping his wife and Mary. All but one rapist are shot -- one by Ann herself. Another band steal their cars so they have to proceed on foot. Along the way, Pirrie's wife plays the flirty tart with John. Pirrie shoots Clara in jealous rage. Suddenly single, Pirrie takes a shine to Mary. Much tension, resolved by Mary accepting his attentions. (Despite his recent track record.) Their group merges with another, larger group, as John tells them of the wonderful valley of his brother. After much trudging though bleak Yorkshire hills dotted with dead animals, the group is best by a biker gang. The well-armed group takes cover amid boulders and holds off the circling bikers and even thwarting a biker charge. Once they get to the valley, John's brother won't let the group in. There's not enough food to support them all. He offers to let John and family sneak in, but John declines. Instead, he rallies his group to attack his brother's wall. John and Pirrie pick off several sentries in the pre-dawn light. Pirrie shoots the brother, but dies of a gunshot. The rest of the men storm the wall with ladders and take it. The men defending the valley surrender. John brings his group in and is the new leader. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Apocalyptic movies aren't "fun" per se, but they have become common enough to invite some compare-and-contrast exercises which can be fun. NBG shares features with many other films. More on those in the Notes section below.

Cultural Connection
Environmentalism was just starting to be a hot-button issue. It would grow to rival Radiation as the bugaboo of choice in the post-Cold-War world. For example: Toho Studios used Godzilla as a metaphor for nuclear war in 1954. In 1971 Toho would bring us Heorah: The Smog Monster. Pollution would assume many of the same magical qualities that radiation did in the 50s. It could create, transform things, and even think -- in villainous ways, of course. Watch for the magical new moister as the 70s progress. Much later, we'll see The Day the Earth Stood Still remade, but with mankind's sin being pollution instead of nuclear arms.

Notes
By The Book -- The movie version of NBG follows the novel fairly well, with some of the usual necessary deviations when going from print to screen. The most significant deviation, however, was the heavy-handed insertion of pollution as the ultimate case of doom. In the novel, the Chung-Li virus arises in China with no described cause. There is little, if any, preaching about pollution. The virus became the global scourge through bureaucratic bungling.

Themes Familiar -- NBG has a lot in common with the 1962 film Panic in the Year Zero ('62), which also features a strong father trying to preserve his family amidst the collapse of civilization after an apocalyptic event. PYZ also has a conflicted (soft) mother, a gun shop scene, a rape scene, and ends with the family making it to safety. Then too, you have the Valley of Safety in Day the World Ended ('55), which also featured a strong father, a lovely daughter, a tough guy and a floozy. The flight to safety is also reminiscent of Wilde's own 1966 film, The Naked Prey, in which a lone European is pursued through the African savannah by natives until he reaches his own Valley of Safety -- a colonial fort.  Of course, both NBG and PYZ harken to Moses leading the Israelites from Egypt (the bad place with famine and death) to the Promised Land, while encountering hostiles along the way (The biker gang as Amalekites, etc.) and even the crossing a river and fighting the original inhabitants (Canaanites) to posses the Promised Land.

Tedious Eco-Brimstone -- Wilde inserted FAR too many ecology harangues. Smoke stacks belching smoke, industrial runoff, dead fish, oil-soaked birds, and dead animals, etc. They weren't salient to the plot, but just there to browbeat the audience with how nasty pollution is. Shame on you all! The shaggy street corner "prophets" of the new Mother Earth cult would be every bit as strident, preaching eco-hell for our enviro-sins. Juxtaposing images of starving Africans with close-ups of Brits chewing big mouthfuls was such flagrant "liberal" nagging that it bordered on comical. Comedy was probably not Wilde's intention.

Early Global Warming -- An interesting tidbit, almost tossed in offhand, is the whole (current) global warming topic -- but 35 years before Al Gore took it mainstream. Young David says (as voiceover) "The earth is getting warmer because all the pollution is keeping the heat in and the polar ice caps will melt. Everybody will be drowned." This was more of a deluvian doom, (ala Noah) than is currently in vogue, but NBG had Global Warming back in 1970!

Flash-Forward Flaw? -- Many viewers have been put off by Wilde's use of flash forwards, feeling that they ruin the surprise or break the viewer's sense of experiencing the story alongside the characters. Awkward as they are, Wilde had a reason for them. For instance, early on, Mary is coyly telling Roger that she doesn't think she needs her virginity anymore. She says he should make her "a woman." Wilde then inserts a flash-forward clip of the rape scene. She would lose her virginity alright, but not at all the way she presumed. Wilde inserted many other flash forwards, using them as an exo-narrative commentary, undermining the characters' presumptions. The terrible new world was not going to work the way they imagined.

Bottom line? NBG has its flaws, but is still an intriguing look at the collapse of civilization due to global famine. Some of the film's flaws may stem from the usual pitfalls when the same man writes, produces and directs. The author's original premise remains thought-provoking. NBG is obscure, but worth the effort for fans of post-apocalypse movies.

The War Game

A dark companion to the Doom genre, which almost didn't see the light of day, is Peter Watkins' 1965 film, The War Game (TWG). It is a story about a fictional nuclear attack on Britain, particularly focused on communities and citizens in the Kent area. Instead of being told in a more conventional fiction style, like Fail Safe, or The Last War, etc., Watkins created a pseudo-documentary form. The BBC "reluctantly approved" the script, according to Watkins, and funded the project. He was warned that it might not get finished. When it was done, it was strong on the horrors of nuclear war and critical of government's planning. The BBC brass forbid it to be shown publicly. Much drama ensued. Despite their ban, TWG won an Academy Award for best documentary.

  Quick Plot Synopsis
A narrator opens, telling how Britain's nuclear deterrent policy is that it's V-force bombers would retaliate. Those bombers were dispersed around England to prevent being an easy target. This then exposed most Britons to danger. The flashpoint is told as American deployment of tactical nukes in South Vietnam. As a show of communist solidarity with the Chinese, Russia surrounded West Berlin. Skirmishes grew. The NATO troops in West Berlin were buckling. President Johnson allows use of tactical nukes on the Russians. This triggers a missile attack from Russia on NATO nations -- such as Britain. Evacuation had already begun as tensions mounted, but wasn't going smoothly. People complained that they were told to make shelters in their homes, but materials, such as sandbags, were in very short supply. Some with adequate shelters were belligerent about sharing. While a doctor is making a house call, a soviet missile explodes nearby. The flash blinds some people. The blast sets homes on fire. Firemen battle a warehouse blaze. The narrator recounts factoids about cities experiencing fire storms, like Dresden did. People tumble in the strong wind towards the flames. People collapse for lack of oxygen. British bombers cross the Russian border to drop bombs on people there. Several man-in-the-street clips have people saying they're all for retaliation. The dead are laid out in rows. Even Kent, which was lightly hit, suffered thousands of casualties. Hospitals could not care for all the wounded. Severely wounded were left to die, or shot in the head to end it quickly. Inadequate food supplies meant rationing, but emergency workers (police, fire and civil defense) were fed first. This set off food riots. Police and troops guarding the food are killed. Looters and those thought to kill policemen were executed. A doctor tells how inadequate vitamin C would mean scurvy would be common in a few months. A priest manually turns a record player, playing Silent Night at Christmas. Gaunt parishioners sit motionless. Children asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, replied. "Nothin'" The narrator recounts how nuclear stockpiles have doubled and continue to grow. He predicts that the scenes just watched are likely to happen before 1980. End text says the film was based on information from the bombings of Dresden, Darmstadt, Hamburg, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The End.

  Armageddon Unavoided
Watkins plays out what he thinks a nuclear strike would be like on the populace. Watkins' conviction was that the British were ill-prepared for what would happen if the unthinkable did happen, so he told his story from point of view of the hapless. Where prior films in the genre stopped at the moment of the blast -- leaving the viewer to imagine the awful outcome -- Watkins showed that outcome. Narrators told of melted eyeballs. A nurse talked of a boy with his legs burned off, etc. Make-up portrayed many facial burns and open sores. TWG would have been the 1960s' shocker film, as The Day After was in the 80s. had the BBC not succeeded in stifling it until much later.


Cold War Spotlight
While not as blatantly propagandistic as Rocket Attack U.S.A. was for the pro-nukes side, TWG was more powerfully propagandistic on the disarmament side. It played out a similar scenario to others in the genre, about how a smaller squabble becomes the flashpoint for WWIII.

  Notes
It's Only A Movie -- From reading accounts of people who saw TWG as youths, some people at the BBC may have been right. They came away feeling like they had seen actual footage of a nuclear attack. Television, and the documentary, still had some credibility. If it was presented as news, it must be true. Yet, TWG was a work of fiction: actors in make-up, being filmed by a crew, saying lines memorized from the script. It helped that Watkins used no famous actors. He did a brilliant job creating his "what if". People easily forgot they were watching a movie. The documentary style for fiction was not new in 1965, but rare enough to catch viewers off guard. Note Watkin's use of fast cuts and wiggly-cam, intercut with stiff man-in-the-street "interviews". Sprinkle in a few equally stiff "experts" (always unnamed) and some text onscreen. The fabric of the film is so broken that it appears to not have a story line -- but it does.
  Live and Let Die -- Watkins theorizes that a management shake-up at the BBC mean his script got more approval than it might have otherwise. Perhaps finding themselves between ideological rocks and reality hard places, they let his project come to life, but warned that it could get killed later. Sure enough, once complete, the BBC refused to air it, or allow it to be shown. They blew smoke about it being an "artistic failure" but were happy enough to accept the Academy Award for it, nonetheless.
  Awkward Position -- Nuclear disarmament was a hot and divisive issue in the early 60s. Prime Minister Harold Wilson's Labor Party had supported unilateral nuclear disarmament (before his PM-ship) Around three-quarters of the CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) were Labor Party members. Things were already unsettled when Wilson's government not only didn't push for disarmament, but expanded Britain's nuclear force. (Perhaps, like other "opposition" politicians, it was easy to promise things which, once in office, were proven to be not nearly so easy, or even a bad idea after all). All this inner turmoil did not help Watkins' project. His pro-disarmament propaganda piece (TWG), which was critical of the government, was doubly embarrassing for Wilson's Labor coalition. Small wonder that politicians pressured the BBC to make it go away quietly.
  Propaganda Spin? -- The label of "propaganda" is usually assigned to views one disagrees with. Watkins' ideology is transmitted by the more subtle directorial arts (as opposed to the ham-fisted writing in Rocket Attack USA). He portray's only exposure victims, not survivors who did take shelter. The British bombers were reported as going to bomb people not military targets. In focusing on the victims, Watkins handily avoids the larger, driving issue of international power, of which nukes are just one tool. He often cites what happened in Hamburg and Dresden for the horrors of war, but skips that those were "conventional" wars resulting from international power struggles. Watkins had the luxury that pre-Prime Minister Wilson had. It's easy to take a bold stand, when you don't have to balance the whole cart.
  Python Moment? -- At one point, about half way in, text on the screen says: "An Ecumenical Council meeting at the Vatican says that the faithful should learn to live with,though need not love, the nuclear bomb, provided it is clean, and of a good family." Given the grim seriousness of the topic, this insertion has a bizarre Monte Python quality to it. One wonders what Watkins was thinking with this.

 Bottom line? TWG is a good example of the disarmament voice in the Cold War era. As a film, it is particularly well done. People forget that they're watching actors reciting lines, wearing "burn" makeup, and think they're watching reality. Watkins' skill as a director can be seen in how much TWG does not look directed. The horror he portrays is that taboo topic everyone back then knew: nuclear war would be terrible. The mood of the day preferred it left unsaid, with mutant monsters standing in as metaphors.

Rocket Attack U.S.A.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fail Safe

Curiously, Columbia Pictures ended up with two Brink-Of-War films in 1964. Fail Save (FS) came out 10 months after Columbia's Dr. Strangelove. They're bookends. FS was well directed and well filmed. It had big name actors, such as Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau. It even had some "free" pre-release publicity. Yet, FS did not do well. Unlike the satire, Dr. Strangelove, FS was a serious drama on the same topic, but following comedy made it harder to be taken seriously. The film deserved better. Watch for a young Dom DeLuise in his first film. A bit part as Sgt. Collins.

Quick Plot Synopsis
General Black wakes from a recurring bad dream, but composes himself, leaves his wife and two boys in New York City and flies to a pentagon briefing. Professor Goetschele (Matthau) is a political scientist and advisor to the Pentagon. He thinks nuclear war can be survived. The real question is which superpower is better prepared to survive and emerge. At an Air Force Base in Omaha, generals give a tour for a congressman. They get a brief moment of tension as a UFO scrambles fighters and puts patrolling bombers on alert. The UFO turns out to be commercial plane off course. A faulty circuit box is replaced, causing a brief blip in the system. This blip sends the attack order to bomber Group 6. They head for Moscow. The Russians have a radio jammer going, so the recall order doesn't get to Group 6. The President (Fonda), the Pentagon and Omaha base confer on what to do. The President orders some fighters to intercept and shoot down the bombers. But, with such a head start, they fail to reach them. Hawks among the advisors, such as Colonel Cascio and Professor Groeteschele urge that America capitalize on the error and launch a massive first strike. Win the Cold War right now. Doves among the advisors speak of the millions killed and moral wrong. The President calls the Russian Premier to discuss options. After some bickering and jockeying, and the Soviet's failure to shoot down all the bombers, the President orders defense secrets given to the Russians to improve their success. This works, but patriotic Colonel Cascio can take no further compromise and takes command of the Omaha SAC base. He is taken into custody. The Russians shoot down all but one bomber. Their last defense is to launch up all their surface to air missiles (heat seekers), in hopes of making a fireball and trap the low flying bomber. To prove his sincerity that it was all an accident, the President tells the Premier that if the bomber gets through and Moscow is bombed, he will order an American bomber to bomb New York City. The trade is horrible, but keeps the general peace. Grady, the pilot of the bomber, figures out the Russian missile tactic and evades it. The blast irradiates them (he says) so they decide to blow up with their bombs over Moscow. The President hear's the ambassador's phone squeal, so orders General Black to drop the bombs on New York. He does, then injects himself with poison. He realizes he is the matador from his dream. Routine life in NYC is shown in mini-video vignettes. They all zoom in and freeze frame for the moment the bombs explode. The End.

Armageddon
All four of the big Nuclear Doom movies came out of the late 1950s. On the Beach ('59) was the first movie. The stories from which Fail Safe and Dr Strangelove would come, were written in 1958. The Last War came out in 1961. At that time, Russia had the bomb, and post-Sputnik ('57), they'd proven they had capable rockets too. Diplomacy was not going well. Things looked especially bleak. The Cuban Missile Crisis was coming together. All four stories imagined the unimaginable -- that global nuclear war would happen, and wipe out all life on earth. In FS, it is only the two major cities, Moscow and New York that are wiped out, but they serve as proxies, representatives for what would happen to the whole world if that terrible compromise had not been reached.

Influence on Sci-fi
As mentioned before, many of the post-armageddon stories that populate sci-fi, usually pick up their stories well after the above-mentioned nuclear armageddon has taken place. These four apocalyptic films serve as understood footnotes for how those future worlds of mutants and cave-dwelling remnants got that way.

Cold War Spotlight
FS is pretty much 100% Cold War as a topic, but a little bit of American boosterims manages to seep through. The American President is the cool, calm leader type. The Russian Premier (all off camera) is more flighty and prone to brag and bluster. American weapons and defense systems are superior to the Russians. The moral of the film is delivered by Fonda near the end, talking to the Russian Premier. "We're to blame, both of us. We let our machines get out of hand. Today we had a taste of the future. Do we learn from it, or go on the way we have What do we say to the dead? We must say that it will not happen again. What we put between us, we can remove." FS preaches reconciliation.

Notes
Battle of the Books -- Before both films, Dr. Strangelove and Fail Safe, had been released, there was a rather public legal battle. The writer of the story that would become the basis for Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, sued the writers of the book "Fail Safe." (published in 1962) for plagiarism. While the book had been on the shelves for over a year, it was news of Max Youngstein (former of United Artists) working on a film version of "Fail Safe" that prompted the suit. Peter George's "Red Alert" was published in 1958. He alleged plagiarism. Harvey Wheeler, one of the authors of "Fail Safe" countered that the book was based on his prior story, "Abaraham '58" and that George took no legal action until news of the movie broke. The parties settled out of court, with part of the settlement being that Columbia be granted rights to the Fail Safe. Now Columbia had two Doom movies.

Early Trace -- Harvey Wheeler asserted that he did not plagiarize Peter George's "Red Alert", but wrote a similar story a year earlier. His short story had a similar scenario and was titled "Abraham '58". There is a hint of this in the screenplay. At one point, the President asks Blacky if he remembers his Old Testament. Particularly the story of Abraham. Not much more is said in the movie, but this was a reference to events in Genesis 22, where Abraham follows orders from God to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar. (God stops him at the last minute.) Wheeler used this imagery for a president's burden in deciding people's fates, hence his title. Perhaps this is a bit of his short story that survived into the script. It's interesting that Wheeler assumed he could include a mere mention of Abraham and that his audience would be familiar enough with the Bible to catch his inference.

Nascent Technophobia -- The distrust (if not fear) of machines had been perking in the background during the 50s. It showed up only a few times. In Gog ('54), robots and computers kill, but it is still by a human (enemy) hand guiding them. In Invisible Boy ('57), a super computer becomes sentient and tries to take over. Amid the Cold War, technophobia got a huge boost as people realized the vast power (nukes) that their machines controlled. In the Marathon of Doom films (see below), mechanical failures are the sparks that blow up the world. Fear of computers would grow as the 60s and 70s wore on. These Doom films highlight that moment when people realized they had voluntarily yielded too much power and responsibility to them. Many a sci-fi tale would spring from this.

Dying Phones Squeal? -- An iconic element in FS was the pronouncement that they would know if the bombs were dropped on Moscow because the phone line would emit a loud squeal as the ambassador's phone melted. It's dramatic, like a symbolic technological metaphor for the screams of the millions of Moscovites. The reality would be less dramatic. A nuclear bomb would be more likely to have broken phone lines (simple, undramatic dead air) than it would have left them intact long enough to melt the phone. The death squeal is undeniably more powerful for storytelling, though.

Star Plane -- Where Dr. Strangelove had some of its story play out in the cramped interior of a B-52, FS's counterpart was the cramped cockpit of a Convair B-58. In real life, the B-58 was called "Hustlers." In the movie, they're called "Vindicators". (Also note how the planes are always shown in negative) In reality, the B-58 was America's ace in the Cold War game. Capable of flying at mach 2 and very high, it was thought that the Hustler would be nearly impossible for the Soviets to stop, far better than the huge, lumbering B-52s. Strategic Air Command imagined the B-58 performing just the role depicted in the film. Actually, advances in Soviet missile technology made high altitude approaches too risky. The B-58 was then planned to fly in low, under radar, but at the lower altitude, it could not fly as fast. The B-58 was also tricky to fly and expensive to maintain. By the mid-60s, the Pentagon sought a better, less expensive alternative. By 1970, the B-58 was retired. The FB-111 was that smaller, cheaper alternative. Ironically, the B-52s that the Hustler was designed to replace, stayed in active service into the 21st century as the only viable carrier of air-launch cruise missiles.

Doom Marathon -- An interesting movie marathon (though not necessarily a "fun" one), would be to start off with The Last War ('61) for a third party's view of Armageddon-Via-Mistakes. Follow that with Fail Safe ('64) for an American view of the same scenario (just expand Moscow/New York to mean the world). Third up should be Dr. Strangelove ('64) for a satirical view of the same. Stop there if you wanted a fun evening with friends. But, if you wanted the complete Atomic Angst experience, wrap it up with On The Beach ('59) for that last forlorn look at mankind's end. Any Generation Y or Millennial who doesn't understand what everyone was so stressed about back in the Cold War days, should have a pretty good idea after this Marathon of Doom.

Bottom line? FS is a solid film, well paced, well acted, and visually strong (aside from the odd negative airplanes). It is well worth watching as a drama-thriller, but especially so as a window into the soul of Cold War fears.

Dr. Strangelove

Stanley Kubrick created a masterpiece of Cold War satire in 1964 with Dr. Strangelove (Dr.S). The full title includes the line "…or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb." It stars some big-name actors who live up to their reputations. Peter Sellers, especially, plays three important roles as Colonel Mandrake, President Muffley and Dr. Strangelove. George C. Scott plays General Turgidson. Sterling Hayden plays the unbalanced General Ripper. Dr.S is another Atomic Angst movie to fret openly about the imminence of destruction of all life on earth, but it does so in the rare style of satire and dark humor. Gallows humor? Much has been written about this movie already, so this review won't be exhaustive.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The commander of a Strategic Air Command base in Texas issues an attack order to his 34 B-52 bombers who are on routine air-readiness stations aloft. General Jack D. Ripper (Hayden) also orders the base closed with shoot-to-kill orders for anyone approaching. The commies will disguise themselves as American troops. The bombers open their Attack Plan R envelopes and proceed to targets. The rest of the government are aware of the bombers heading for Russia, but they cannot be contacted. Plan R ordered radio silence and allowed only one secret recall code, known only to Ripper. The president (Sellers) and other advisors debate what to do. General Turgidson (Scott) urges for full scale attack with missiles too. Might as well do the job right and prevent retaliation. Meanwhile, Colonel Mandrake (Sellers) is holed up with Ripper, who is clearly a paranoid psychotic. It unfolds that he sees fluoridation as a communist plot to weaken the American male's "bodily fluids." The president orders nearby troops to storm the closed base and get Ripper for the codes. A protracted fire fight ensues. When it is apparent that the bombers will reach their targets before the code is obtained, the president contacts the Russian premier, giving them the data necessary to shoot down the bombers. The SAC base is stormed, but Ripper commits suicide before being captured. Mandrake deduces the secret code from Ripper's desk doodles. He eventually contacts the president and all the planes are recalled -- except one. Major "King" Kong's (Slim Pickens) plane suffered radio damage in a near miss from a soviet missile, so did not get the recall. Suffering other damage too, Kong opts for a target of convenience, an ICBM base. The bomb bay doors are also damaged. He splices the wires while sitting atop one of the bombs. The doors open. He rides it down like a bronco. Back in the Pentagon war room, they find out that the Soviets have a Doomsday Device, which will automatically launch missiles with extra deadly radiation that will wipe out all life on earth -- if anyone bombs Russia with nukes. Realizing that doom is coming, the men in the wareroom listen to Dr. Strangelove's notion that they find 100,000 people to hide deep in mine shafts and wait the 100 years until it's safe to come out. He paints a male fantasy scenario of 10 women (all eager to breed) to each man, who has little else to do down in the mine shafts, so… Turgidson worries that the Russians have their babes in mine shafts already and that there is a "Mine Shaft Gap." The film ends with a montage of many different nuclear test explosions, with Vera Lynn singing her famous song, "We'll Meet Again." The End.

Armageddon
Dr.S shares with others in its doom genre that total global destruction is not averted. It shares this pessimistic view with On The Beach ('59) and The Last War ('61). It has more in common with the latter, in that it plays out in detail just how the nuclear powder keg gets touched off. Unlike The Last War in which errors eventually result in Armageddon, Dr.S makes it the willful act of a single deranged man. Interestingly, Columbia pictures felt they needed to include a scrolling-text disclaimer at the start, saying how the Air Force's safeguards would prevent anything like this from happening. Many classic era sci-fi took the presumption of events in Dr. Strangelove occuring, then spun out the tales of what happened to the scant survivors. 1000 Years From Now ('52), World Without End ('56), Planet of the Apes ('68) to mention just three of them.

Cold War Spotlight
Peter George's original novel was a cautionary tale of how the best laid plans for security in the Cold War could backfire and actually cause the cataclysm they sought to prevent. Kubrick's adaptation added the mythical Doomsday Device as a single focal point for all of the nuclear arms dangers. Just one bomb dropped would launch the end of the world. Mutually Assured Destruction.

Notes
Based on the Book -- Dr.S's primary story came from the 1958 novel by Peter George: "Red Alert". George's story is essentially the same as the primary plot in the movie, except for the ending. In the book, the president offers to let the soviets bomb one American city (Atlantic City, NJ) as compensation for the one bomb that the unreachable bomber will drop. It turns out that the lone bomber fails to drop its bomb, so all ends well. Kubrick changed that 180 degrees. George later sued the writers of the story "Fail Safe" (also made into a movie) for plagiarism.

Sex and Violence -- Kubrick's screenplay and directing interweave sex into just about every aspect of the plot. From the opening scene of a B-52 and air tanker "coupled" with lounge music in the background, to the names of characters and many visuals and scenes, Kubrick makes the story almost more about sex than nukes. Examples:
General Jack D. Ripper ( a killer of women) is paranoid about communist plots to weaken his "bodily fluids". We later learn that he means sperm, specifically. When besieged, Ripper wields the huge machine gun in particularly phallic fashion (actually impossible for the real gun).
Colonel Mandrake: The mandrake was a root plant thought to be an aphrodisiac or would enhance fertility. It's even mentioned in the Old Testament in a spat between Rachel and Leah.
President Merkin Muffley: A merkin is a pubic wig. A "muff" is the natural hair in the same role. The president is cast as a sort of feminine-side leader who is too easily side-tracked into quibbles over feelings.
General "Buck" Turgidson: is the hyper-male counterpart to Muffley. Turgid means swollen. Buck is all for getting in there and getting the job done. Very macho. He is shown in a hotel room with his secretary in a bikini. He is also keen on Dr. Strangelove's scenario of 1 man per 10 women secluded in mine shafts. There are more, too numerous to list here.

Subtle Humor -- The excellence of Kubrick's humor lies in its understatement. It also plays on absurdity set against the backdrop of the terrible and serious topic of global nuclear war. Some examples include: when Turgidson and the soviet ambassador are scuffling, the president tells them, "You can't fight in here, this the war room." When Colonel "Bat" Guano (Keenan Wynn) allows Mandrake to call the president on a payphone, he doesn't have enough change for the call. He tells Guano to break into the nearby Coke machine. With armageddon near, he refuses (deadpan), because it's private property. Also, with armageddon looming, the president and the soviet premier continue to get into protracted telephone spats over their feelings. Or, when they all discover that the soviets had a doomsday device, Dr. Strangelove points out that a deterrent is pointless if you don't tell people, the ambassador says sheepishly, "We were going to announce it on Monday?" As with the sexual references, the dark deadpan humor moments are too numerous to list here.

Military Machine -- As an interesting counterfoil to the bumblings and ineptitude of the politicians and the generals, the men aboard the B-52 carry out their roles with machine-like rhythm. Even when their plane is damaged by the soviet missile, they go about their emergency operations with cool dispatch. In Kubrick's hands, they become a human metaphor for the fabled Doomsday Device which will operate automatically -- free from meddling by fallible men.

Ghost Plane -- Admittedly a small thing, but when Kong's B-52 is flying low over the snowy Russian landscape, there is one spot, about 1 hour 35 minutes in, where the shadow can be seen. It is the shadow of a WWII bomber, the B-17. Just plane trivia.

Bottom line? Dr.S is a must-see as a cultural icon alone. Slim Pickens riding the bomb bronco style has been repeated and parodied many times. Aside from its value as an insight into Cold War mentalities (sane and insane), the acting from the stars is not to be missed. Peter Sellers plays all three of his roles amazingly well. Yet, he is almost upstaged by George C. Scott's comedic talent. Also look for an early film appearance of James Earl Jones as the bombardier on the B-52. While Kubrick gave the world a cathartic black humor look at the topic, another 1964 film, Fail Safe would examine a similar scenario, but from a totally serious point of view. The two make a great double-feature.

The Illustrated Man

1969's sci-fi season started off with a film adaptation of Ray Bradury's 1951 book The Illustrated Man (TIM). The book was more of a collection of short stories with vaguely common theme. Warner Brothers' movie used just three of the stories. The three chosen and developed by writer Harold Kreitsek have a dystopic air in common, which fits neatly into the psyche of many 50s and 60s sci-fi. Kreitsek also developed more of a "glue" story for the illustrated man himself, to better bind the three separate tales. Rod Steiger stars as Carl. Claire Bloom plays Felicia. Robert Drivas plays Willie.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Willie is a young man hitchhiking and working odd jobs to get to California where the thinks he'll find a job. He stops for the night beside a rural lake. Carl comes upon Willie's modest camp. Carl has tattoos all over his entire body, from the neck down, except for his left shoulder blade. Carl is testy about them being called tattoos. "They're skin illustrations. Don't you ever call them tattoos." He says he's looking for a particular house and woman who lives in it. She gave him the skin illustrations. He wants to kill her for it. Carl has been an outcast ever since. When people look too long at one of the illustrations, they start to move. They see things. They get angry at Carl. Willie stares at the lion tattoo. The first story begins. Carl and Felicia are a worried mom and dad in the moderne future. Their kids are using the "play room" simulator (like Star Trek NG's holodeck) for grim games with lions eating things. They tell the defiant kids that they're going to remove the play room. The kids protest. That night, mom and dad are awakened to calls from their kids. They go into the play room and are eaten by the lions. Back to hobo Carl and Willie for some banter. Story two takes place on Venus. Four astronauts crashed and are looking for one of the many "sun domes" to take shelter from the incessant rain. They wander around behind Carl's authoritarian leadership. Two end up committing suicide to escape the rain. One is killed. Finally, Carl makes it to a sun dome where a virtual Felicia greets him. Back to hobo Carl and Willie and a bit more back story about Carl getting tattooed. Finally, Willie (unable to resist looking) stares into a tattoo of lips. Story three takes place in an idyllic future. Husband Carl returns to wife Felicia with news that everyone in the world council had the same dream that this would be the last night of earth. Nothing could be done about it, except to give all the children of earth pills so they die in their sleep. This is to spare them any possible agony, should the world end in fire or something. Felicia can't do it. She and Carl have a romantic evening, then fall asleep. Felicia wakes up. The world didn't end. She finds Carl at the children's beds. He wakes up, but the kids are dead. Scream! Back to hobo Carl and Willie. Willie is horrified that Carl would kill his children. Carl dismisses his horror and lies down for sleep. He tells how the lady and the house disappeared after he was all tattooed. "She went back to the future." Willie stares at the blank patch on Carl's should and sees Carl strangling him. So, Willie picks up a big rock and pounds Carl's head. He runs away, but Carl isn't dead, just bloody. He chases Willie. Felcia's voiceover says "Each person who tries to see beyond his own time, must face questions to which there cannot be absolute answers." The End.

Why is this movie fun?
TIM isn't so much "fun" as thought provoking. Ray Bradbury penned some great stories. His imagination shines through even a major studio's adaptation of his work.

Cold War Angle
The undercurrent of dystopia and doom in Bradbury's three short stories are of that Cold War angst mood.

Notes
Prophetess of Doom -- As written by Kreitsek, the tattoo artist Felicia becomes a prophetess from the future who traveled back to the 1930s to leave a sort of message in a bottle (all over Carl's skin) about the bad things that mankind will experience in the future. Were they hints and warnings so mankind would (maybe) avoid the missteps? Some viewers criticize Steiger's portrayal of hobo Carl as being too gruff and hard to sympathize with. Yet, this fits too. He did not much like being the message in a bottle about how bad the future could be. People blame the messenger.

Pictures Without Pain? -- The tattoos on Carl seems quick and painless. No bleeding, no weeks of bandages, etc. While it could be a concession to keeping the plot moving, (no time for distracting details) it could also be that Felicia, from the future, had techniques beyond 20th century methods. She was able to imbue them with prophetic message ability. Thus, they're not your average 1930s tattoo.

Forever Carl -- It seems odd, at first, that all three of the visions Willie sees in Carl's tattoos feature Carl as the primary male character and Felicia as the woman. Rather than just being a shortcut on casting costs, it could represent the vision as Willie sees it. Carl and Felicia are the two people most intimately involved in the prophetic visions, so it's not that far fetched that Willie would use their likenesses in his seeing of the visions.

The Veldt -- The first tale is from one of Bradbury's short stories. He was amazingly percent about technology (in the future) being able to serve up virtual realities. It was even a fitting analogy for the battle between children and parents over television. Bradbury also casts an indictment against the modern "enlightenment" in childrearing. Expression, like any other tool in the hands of humans, can have a sinister dark side.

The Long Rain -- The second tale is similarly dark. All four of the astronauts are stressed to the breaking point by the unrelenting rain of Venus. Three of the four reach their limit and die. One exposes himself to lethal radiation. The second drowns himself in the rain. The third shoots himself with his laser to end it all. Only Commander Carl presses on to find the haven of a sun dome. Inside is yet another play on virtual reality -- a projected Felicia to welcome him.

The Last Night of the World -- The third tale is very much akin to atomic angst movies about the end of the world. This was a prevalent theme in Cold War era writing. Here, the story is focused down onto just one family. The means of the end is never explained, but Cold War audiences didn't need it explained. Similar to On The Beach ('59) people are given poison pills to avoid the actual (and terrible?) end. Similar to The Last War ('61), the family quietly awaits their fate. After all the prior movies about doom, the twist ending is excellent. The prophets of doom were wrong about the end of the world. There was a morning after. They killed their own hope (symbolized by the children) for naught.

Bottom line? TIM is not an easy movie to watch. In a distracting environment it could easily seem like it made no sense whatsoever. This quality it shares with Kubrik's 2001. People who prefer a simple action plot with clear good guys and villains will probably not like TIM. Yet, for 50s sci-fi fans, the three Bradbury vignettes are worth the tangle.

The Last War

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Panic In The Year Zero!

American International Pictures was not famous for great movies, but Panic In The Year Zero (PYZ) was a pretty good movie. It was highly topical, given that it was released at the frightening height of the Cold War. It starred, and was directed by Ray Milland -- an actor past his peak, but still solid. Frankie Avalon -- before becoming mired in the whole beach party genre, plays his son Rick. PYZ is classic Atomic Angst, playing out the "what if..." following an all-out nuclear war. The film is sometimes categorized as sci-fi, but this may be because nuclear apocalypse films often were. There is no science in PYZ. There is a tangental connection to sci-fi via the writer Jay Simms. He did pen several B sci-fi movies, however. He brought us The Killer Shrews, The Giant Gila Monster (both '59) and Creation of the Humanoids ('62)

Quick Plot Synopsis
The Baldwin family set out for a fishing vacation in the hills. A few hours outside of Los Angeles they see bright flashes from behind them. Massive mushroom clouds rise of LA. Ann, Harry's wife, wants to return to see if her mother is okay, but reckless refugee traffic eventually turns them back. Harry decides that civilization is about to crumble so he turns off to an out-of-the-way small town to buy supplies. They stock up on groceries and hardware like axes and rope. When Ed Johnson, the hardware store owner refuses Harry's check and promise to return and pay, Harry decks him and leaves (with the goods). A gas station operator tries to gouge $3 a gallon (sakes!) where his sign says 34 cents per gallon. Harry decks him and leaves the ten dollars (regular price.) The Baldwins eventually escape the traffic, but are beset by a convertible carrying three hoodlums. The three plan to rob and kill Harry, but Rick (Avalon) shoots from within the trailer, wounding Andy slightly. The hoodlums depart. Once at the remote campsite, Harry and Rick wreck the rickety bridge, limiting access. Rick knows of a cave in the rocky hills big enough to live in. The family set up home in the cave. Scattered radio reports tell of other major cities being destroyed by nuclear attack, and American counter attacks on enemy cities. Law and order difficult to maintain. The UN declares this to be the year zero. Harry encounters Ed Johnson in the woods. He and his wife set up home in the Baldwin's abandoned trailer. Harry's cool to the idea of socializing, worried that it would expose their cave hideout. Smoke from a distant farmhouse belies someone else living in the area too. While hunting a buck, Rick hears two shots fired. Later, he and Harry find Mr and Mrs. Johnson shot dead at the trailer. The three hoodlums have set up home in the farmhouse. One day, Ann does laundry in the river, but one of her slips floats away. Andy and Mickey find it, follow upriver, and come across Karen (the Baldwin's teen daughter). There is an off-camera suggestion that Mickey sexually abuses Karen. Her screams bring Ann running. She takes a distant shot at the men, frightening them off. Harry finds out and is outraged at the hoodlums. He and Rick sneak up to the farmhouse while the leader, Carl, is away. Harry overhears Mickey and Andy talking about attacking Karen. He and Rick burst in. Mickey makes a move for a gun, so Harry shoots him. Andy looks contrite, but Harry shoots him anyway. They search the house and find the hoodlums' sex slave, Marilyn locked in a bedroom. She's wary, but agrees to come with them. They hide the bodies in the barn. Back at the cave, Karen is recovering and Marilyn is softening to Rick's 50s cuteness. Carl, prowling for who killed his buddies, comes upon Marilyn and Rick out gathering firewood. Carl shoots Rick in the thigh. Marilyn shoots Carl dead. The first aid kit isn't enough for Rick's wound, so they uncover the car and drive to the nearest town looking for a doctor. They find one, but he says Rick needs blood. The nearest hospital with blood is 60 miles away. The Baldwins drive on into the night, but encounter another vehicle. Instead of hoodlums, it turns out to be an advanced Army patrol. They direct Harry to an aid station just 10 miles down the road. As they drive off, the two soldiers reflect on the hopeful future of America. The End.

Apocalypse Survived
Like many dramas of the Cold War era, PYZ plays out the scenario of the collapse of civilization after a massive nuclear war. Instead of focusing on radiation (mutants or sickness or death), the story stays confined to lawlessness and survival. The off-screen devastation and chaos leave survivors in the hinterlands on their own. Some become greedy, some become rapists and killers. That background of fallen man is what Harry Baldwin is headstrong determined to have his family survive. They do, but not unscathed. The moral of the story is: as bad as nuclear war can be, it can be survived. This is quite the opposite message from the movie On The Beach ('59) in which no one survives.

Cold War Spotlight
One of the nagging fears of the Cold War era was that doom could rain at any moment -- without warning. The Baldwin family blithely start a vacation with no hint from current events that a nuclear attack was at hand. The radio announcer provides the larger off-screen view that most major western cities were destroyed and that American had retaliated. Several of the "enemy's" cities were destroyed too. A subtle hint of patriotic confidence is written in, such that we hear the enemy sues for peace terms. America "won."

Notes
Man's Dark Side -- The real story within PYZ is not the more familiar atomic mutants that result from a nuclear war. It is the emergence of mankind's own "dark side" from within. The various institutions of civilization corral and leash fallen man's tendency towards evil, but it is never truly tamed, or eliminated. In the Cold War ethos, global nuclear war would break down civilization's fences, snap the leash. This is shown in small stages -- price gouging, etc. -- but most clearly in the three hoodlums: Carl, Mickey and Andy. They represent ruthless, black-hearted man, amused at theft, killing and rape. But note too, how Harry, Ann and Rick discover their own hint of dark side. Each comes to accept killing too, albeit for more noble reasons.

Panic's Two Faces -- It can seem, at first, that the characters of Harry and Ann are written shallow. She is all denial. He becomes authoritarian, with total bunker-vision. Yet, with a bit deeper look, Harry and Ann each portray two polar responses to the nuclear apocalypse -- go into survival mode and try to remain civilized. Both of these would be present in most people. Indeed, the two responses are present in both Harry and Ann. He chides her for clinging too hard to the old ways of civility, yet acts honorably. He decks the price-gouging gas station man, but still pays (advertised price) for his gas. Ann, still expecting mutual civility, balks at the killing of hoodlum Andy at first encounter. Yet, later, she is quick to shoot at him as they ravage her daughter. By the end of the film, the two faces have become more blended in both Harry and Ann. Both live in bunkerism with hope for civility's return.

Army? Thank God! -- A background current within the story is that American society and institutions are essentially "good." There are just some very bad apples in the bunch. Store owner Ed Johnson turns out to be just a regular guy, then hapless victim of evil. Dr. Strong (aptly named) is a noble remnant. The America-is-okay sentiment is most evident when the Baldwins encounter the army patrol near the very end of the film. "Oh Harry, the ARMY. Thank God!" Darker, most pessimistic (modern) films would have cast the doctor as just another guy on the make, and the army patrol is little better than uniformed hoodlums.

Familiar Ground -- The boulder-strewn landscape of "the hills" in which Harry hides is family, could look very familiar to people who watched a lot of westerns on television or Republic serials shot in the 40s and 50s. It looks familiar because it's the same land. TV series like Bonanza, Gunsmoke,The Virginian, and The Rifleman were shot there. In the sci-fi realm, the Commando Cody serials and Captain Video series were shot there too.

Car Nuts -- Fans of 50s (and early 60s) cars will find a candy store on parade. All the traffic scenes feature dozens of 40s, 50s and 60s iron. The Baldwin's '62 Mercury Monterey gets a lot of camera time, but there are glimpses of many less-famous models, too numerous to list here.

Bottom line? PYZ is well paced, with enough action and events to keep the average viewer engaged. The film's low budget prevent more lavish treatment of a nuclear holocaust, but Milland navigates this well enough by focusing on the human drama rather than topics requiring special effects, sets or extensive makeup. The result is a focused drama about the thinness of civilization's veneer. PYZ is a good peek into the Cold War citizen's heart.