Charles Laughton is superb as H. Science has never been more evil! Island of Lost Souls Then there was the adaptation of H. Progress is not living. It should only be the preparation for living.
The electrical secrets of heaven, the lighting, the elaborate sets designed by genius Kenneth Strickfaden with his lights throbbing gizmos flashing and zapping, the creepy atmosphere of murky tones.
The consummate Universal monster movie with iconic scenes introducing a new face, Boris Karloff who would become the great father of terror stories …. Colin Clive becomes hysterical as he has creates life from death, but that life would become a whole new ethical, moral and imposing dilemma for Dr. And the laboratory as gorgeous set pieces would become a staple of the science fiction realm.
The splitting of the atom, ushering in the atomic age and the collective anxiety most definitely was the catalyst for the many of the movie fantasy stories known as the s Sci-Fi film. By that I mean that science fiction movies deal with scientific possibilities and technologies that do not exist yet but that might exist someday. Science fiction is the realm of the not-yet. Then you got the next phase which is The Cold War again which is to do with paranoia.
Movies started to dip into that. It was not just fear of being beaten up by the local bully. And these movies were all metaphors for those fears.
About the end of the world, issues that were always going on about how many bombs were being built. The Cold War was always in the media. Reflecting the growing internal struggles within American society and the developing mistrust about Soviet aggression and anyone and anything perceived as subversive. The phenomena of sightings of UFOs would continue throughout the s, though agencies were fully prepared to explain away the reports.
Yet the public had a hunger to and fascination with the possibility of extra-terrestrials. Destination Moon did attempt to accurately portray a trip to the moon given the technology and knowledge that was stuck in Then we shot past the moon in cinema and went straight to the red planet with Flight to Mars !
Themes and metaphors that emerged from anxiety about the atom bomb , radiation fallout , the advent of modernity , the space race and the wanderlust to conquer outer space , interplanetary warfare , military vs. There were also science fiction films that rang the warning bell about cosmic calamity and catastrophic world coming to an end , annihilation fantasies like When Worlds Collide It was a great reflexive move for those science fiction films to portray aliens that were sympathetic, yet non-humanoid in appearance.
Most Sci-Fi films show aliens as menacing, not only destructive but dangerous because they also wanted to keep us as captives, zap our resources and colonize our planet, sometimes even take our women, oh god no unhand Faith Domergue you pants wearing Mutant!
That you would come home and that you would not recognize your mom and dad they would have changed into people who hate you! I can attest to the persuasion these films could have over the burgeoning imagination of a child, especially one like me who felt very much like an outsider as a kid. One night, as sure as my name is MonsterGirl , I went home, looked at my parents, decided they had been switched by aliens and ran out of the house, walking around the block for at least an hour before I convinced myself that I was being ridiculous.
Or was I? These themes did have a not so subtle impact on a young impressionable mind who could easily question the world around them. Who could you trust? Would would believe you anyway? There is the outsider narrative, diminishing human forms as in Bert I.
Although mad -bad science has shrunk down people before the s in The Devil Doll and in the hands of crazed Albert Dekker in Dr. Cyclops There is the quintessential existential crisis, the beautifully thought provoking film by director Jack Arnold starring the eternally transcending man Grant Williams in, The Incredible Shrinking Man Giant insects, sea creatures and people who ran around half crazed and scantily dressed were a by-product of the atomic age! In Queen of Outer Space the masked disfigured Queen Yilana Zsa Zsa Gabor imprisons the men who crash land on her planet, intending to annihilate the earth with her beta disintegrator, though her beautiful subjects revolt in the name of love.
Their dancing their music their leotards were so Moderne! Missile to the Moon Stevens and one of her maidens in distress…. Mark Hamill who narrates the wonderful documentary written and directed by Richard Schickel Watch the Skies!
They would create love stories in space! There were menaces from without, menaces from within. The ordinary world transformed into the monstrous.
There were warnings from benevolent aliens and aggressive attacks by aliens who wanted to colonize our planet. And by the end of the decade we were left a legacy of impressive productions that remain timeless masterpieces, the cult grade- B Sci-Fi picture with their indelible charm and kitsch emblems, and the true stinkers that are so bad there too good not to appreciate. There were collections of stylized works by Jack Arnold, Bert I. Gordon , Edward L. Cahn and one indie auteur who showed us how to make a memorable movie on a shoe string budget who also launched many a career, the inimitable and grand Roger Corman.
Killers from Space And just as key to the atmosphere and attitude of the films were the musical contributions which defined that certain feel of chills and excitement, screwball antics and off-beat perscussion that filled up your head with pulsing visions of laser beams and other-worldly noises that ran up your spine like a finely coiled wire resonating the confluent sounds of the cosmos!
Geesh that was a mouthful! There were composers who masterfully underscored some of the BEST films and even the worst! Salter and Henry Mancini to name a few. Instrumentalist Clara Rockmore mastered the Theremin which had a cosmic, universal vibe that was, well out of this world! Popular were the films that dealt with the hubris of science that ultimately manifested monsters. There were even pants monsters, yes!
Patricia Medford in Them! There are way too many that fall right on the gray line that either exists in the middle or transects both themes at once. One could say the film is also a crime drama. There are too many nuances and parameters that intersect. Science fiction takes place in the realm of the not-yet; supernatural horror films operate in the realm of the impossible. The enormous influence that Science Fiction cinema had long-lasting effects on the advent of television.
The show came in on the end of the decade. Stories that were infused by the themes of the 50s and set the tone for future decades to come. The Twilight Zone was groundbreaking and thought-provoking, dealing with issues of war, class, race, it was a socially conscious program that constantly tried to remind us of our humanity.
The decade of s Science Fiction also bled into the mindfulness of my favorite early 60s science fiction anthology series The Outer Limits. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. Say what you want about Mr. BIG, he has staying power. William Bryant who plays Dr. Ralph Martin was a popular, well, at least prolific actor in the past. He appeared in over 70 films and TV guest appearances in the past 4 decades.
Gordon is played by Douglas Henderson, also quite a productive actor who appeared in such films as Abbott and Costello Go to Mars , From Here to Eternity , and a bit part in the sci-fi classic The War of the Worlds.
Sadly, Mr. Henderson committed suicide in at the age of The two female leads, Dr. Neither actress had a career to speak of after this film. Anyway, this film certainly is bad: Tons of stock-footage, cheap special effects, and headache inducing dialog. After the usual credit sequence full of blaring horns and crashing drums i. Basically, the USA needs to build a "passenger rocket ship" as quickly as possible.
Because of the "new planet" discovered by an astronomer. Name not important. The planet is named "Nova", which actually is an astronomical term for an exploding star, but, oh well.
Moving right along we learn that "new metals must be developed with tensile strength capable of withstanding great atmospheric pressures. Well, it sure sounds scientific!
Oh brother…yeah, it gets better. Apparently a new source of power is created. Why in fact, a hand-held nuclear power plant will be brought along to serve as an "auxiliary source of electricity" for the astronauts.
And it will also be used as an atomic bomb to blast the dinosaurs to smithereens. Spoiler Alert. Plot Point:The narrator takes the extra step to explicitly explain that the nuclear reactor could explode if the power was "unharnessed". After about 4 minutes of narration and stock-footage…yes, 4 solid minutes, we meet our first crew member, zoologist Dr.
Richard was chosen for this mission because of his discovery of "the giant prehistoric tar pits near Salt Lake City. Ah yes, now for our first female astronaut. As the narrator explains, we see geologist Dr. Nora Pierce Patti Gallagher clumsily chipping away at a pile of rocks with a pick-axe in a manner which suggests she certainly is not a geologist.
As if it really matters, we learn that Nora was chosen because of her "mineralogical research in the Himalayan mountains. I wonder if that had a role to play. Ah yes, more stock-footage, before meeting the physician that will be joining the crew. Ralph Martin William Bryant! Well, it was his "war service that fortified [? Oh wait, now I remember. Never mind. Yup, her studies in the use of "radiochemistry in medicine" have hooked her up with a ticket to Nova.
You betcha. Yet more stock-footage ensues, this time of a V-2 rocket being readied for launch. Ah, Bert, how do you do it? Ok, the V-2 finally takes off as we hit the 6-and-a-half minute mark of the film.
Oh joy. Or is it the trees that are in front of the rocket? Who knows. Did I mention that the rocket lands in a very very very Earth-like forest? The movie was filmed around Bronson Canyons. As in all cheap sci-fi movies, the actors will quickly test the atmosphere, amazingly find it "Earth-like", and immediately remove their suits so as to be more comfortable while filming the duration of the movie. A brief sweep of a Geiger counter and a couple other bogus "tests" reveal that, surprise! For some reason, oh, of course, the script says so, the four researchers leave behind all their equipment and head off to take a look at a nearby lake.
In the middle of the lake is an island. Despite being a completely normal looking island and it is a normal island since it was filmed in Griffith Park , the script requires Nora to remark, "Boy, that sure looks strange! As they head of to…do something…investigate I guess. After a lengthy trudge, including cut-away stock-footage shots of a flock of ducks and a sloth!
After another small bit of hiking they take yet another pause. Ralph quickly blows the snake away with his rifle.
Great scientists. Boy, travel to another planet, encounter exciting new life forms, and blow them away. Well, after that unnerving brush with stock-footage, the scientists decide to call it a day, and build a shelter in which to spend the night. Director Bert I. Bert I. Top credits Director Bert I. See more at IMDbPro.
Photos Top cast Edit. William Bryant Dr. Ralph Martin as Dr. Ralph Martin. Wanda Curtis Dr. Patricia Bennett as Dr. Patricia Bennett.
Douglas Henderson Dr. Richard Gordon as Dr. Richard Gordon. Marvin Miller Narrator as Narrator voice. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. Blasting off to a newly discovered planet called Nova, which moved into our solar system, four explorers behold a fantastic adventure. The mysterious new planet has similar characteristics of Earth, except it is home to terrifying monsters like giant snakes, giant ants, mutated alligators, and most terrifying of all, King Dinosaur, a strange lizard-like being that is a fatal threat to the explorers.
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