The 'alien monster' gimmick was profitable although many of
these 50s films were pure schlock. Sequels (of uneven quality) with more
monstrous creatures included:
Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) - this was Jack
Arnold's horror classic, originally shot in 3-D; it was the last great classic
from Universal Studios; the second film in the trilogy was titled Revenge of
the Creature (1955) and was set in a Florida marine park, with Clint Eastwood
as a lab technician in his screen debut; the third film was The Creature Walks
Among Us (1956) from director John Sherwood; in the first film, a prehistoric,
web-footed, humanoid Gill-Man (Ben Chapman) was discovered swimming in a
Brazilian river in the Amazon by an anthropological expedition; included superb
underwater sequences with the creature's 'Beauty-and-the-Beast' interest in
dark-haired bathing beauty Julia Adams swimming above him in a white one-piece
suit that accentuated her breasts
director Lee Sholem's cheaply-made, kids-oriented Tobor the
Great (1954), looking like an old TV show, featured the first appearance of a
robot (Tobor is 'robot' spelled backwards!) in a 50s film
It Came From Beneath The Sea (1955), about a giant
squid-octopus (with six tentacles to make it easier to animate) threatening San
Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge; again with special effects by Ray
Harryhausen
director Jack Arnold's 'giant-insect' film Tarantula (1955),
about a rampaging, 100 ft. high spider on The Deadly Mantis - 1957the loose in
the Arizona desert (with the tagline: "See its mandibles crush cars like
tin cans!"); with Leo G. Carroll as a biochemist, and John Agar and Mara
Corday (Playboy's Miss October 1958); the film featured an early and slight
role for Clint Eastwood as an Air Force jet fighter pilot who dropped burning
napalm on the arachnid
director Bert Gordon's schlocky Beginning of the End (1957),
about radiation-generated, giant mutant grasshoppers with oversized mandibles
attacking parts of Illinois and Chicago's Wrigley Building
The Black Scorpion (1957), about the unearthing and
unleashing of prehistoric giant scorpions in an exploding volcano in Mexico;
with stop-motion special effects from legendary Willis O'Brien (of King Kong
fame) - his last theatrical feature
The Giant Claw (1957), a cheesy sci-fi film about an
enormous winged bird (the Claw) from outer space that terrorized innocent
peasants in Northern Canada, and then destroyed the United Nations building
while flying southward
20 Million Miles to Earth - 1957Nathan Juran's The Deadly
Mantis (1957), about a sleeping, gigantic, carnivorous green praying mantis,
frozen in the Arctic, that was resurrected by a volcanic eruption, and
threatened the destruction of both New York City and Washington, DC
20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), another 'creature-feature'
from Nathan Juran, this time with special effects stop-motion animation from
Ray Harryhausen and rear-projection Dynamation, about a gelatinous mass
(growing into a reptilian biped called the Ymir) inadvertently brought back on
a returning American spaceship from Venus that crashed in the Mediterranean
near Sicily; the giant Venusian creature then threatened the city of Rome and
met its fiery fate in the Colosseum
director Irving S. Yeaworth, Jr.'s campy The Blob (1958), a
typical combination of 50's teen film and sci-fi outer space creature film;
featured 28 year old Steve McQueen in his debut film role as a delinquent,
misunderstood high-schooler who witnessed the arrival of a meteor that oozed a
pink substance; a sequel Beware! the Blob (1972) (aka Son of Blob) was directed
by actor Larry Hagman (of Dallas TV fame) and advertised as "The Film That
J.R. Shot"
It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958), the inspirational
pre-cursor to Ridley Scott's Alien years later; Reptilicus - 1962set in the
far-off future of 1964, about a spaceship that returns to Earth from Mars with
an additional savage, alien killer life-form (a rubber-suited monster) on board
Ib Melchior's cult film The Angry Red Planet (1959) told of
a fateful and deadly expeditionary trip to Mars, in which four crew members
faced devouring and dangerous creatures, including a man-eating plant (a
multi-tentacled Venus fly-trap), a giant crab-bat-rat-spider hybrid, and a
huge, ambulatory amoeba-like jellyfish creature - notably, the film was made
with a special-effects optical process called "Cinemagic" that
created a 3-D depth effect and tinted the Martian landscape reddish
Edgar Ulmer's two quickly-made, low-budget films, the
time-travel film Beyond the Time Barrier (1960), and The Amazing Transparent
Man (1960), about a mad scientist who made a crook invisible in order to steal
radioactive materials and rob banks; filmed at the Texas State Fair Showgrounds
Dinosaurus! (1960), from Irving S. Yeaworth, Jr., advertised
as "Alive with Thrills That Started 4 Million Years Ago", with
prehistoric dinosaurs (a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a brontosaurus) and a Neolithic
caveman revived by lightning in the Pacific
Reptilicus (1962), an unsuccessful co-Danish-American entry
in the giant dinosaur-creature cycle; about the discovery of a large
prehistoric fossil reptile buried for years in ice in Denmark, and its
regeneration into a serpentine-like dragon monster with armor-clad skin
Japan's Giant Monster Films:
Japan's Toho Studios (and director Inoshiro Honda, known as
"The Father of Godzilla") contributed to the "creature
feature" output after noticing the influence of Ray Harryhausen's The
Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953) with stop-motion animation. They released a
trilogy of films about a similar monster (and an additional feature film),
inevitably followed by numerous other schlocky, dubbed sequels. This and
subsequent Japanese monster movies would feature actors in giant, rubber
monster costumes, fake-looking miniatures, and double-exposure photography:
Gojira (1954, Jp.), d. Inoshiro Honda, about an ancient,
monstrous, fire-breathing (with radioactive breath), 400 foot reptilian Asian
creature aka Gojira (a melding of the words gorilla and kujira, which means
whale) - a mutant dinosaur (actually an actor in a lizard suit terrorizing a
miniature city) brought back to life from the ocean depths to terrorize Tokyo
after underwater nuclear testing; made only a decade after the country's
devastating experience with nuclear fallout from Hiroshima and Nagasaki and
during a time of underwater nuclear testing, with the monster representing the
atomic bomb and all of its destruction [Note: a newly-restored 'director's cut'
of this film was released in 2004, with 40 minutes of footage not previously
shown, and subtitles. Godzilla Raids Again (1955, Jp.) (aka Gigantis The Fire
Monster (1959)) - Sora no Daikaijuu Radon (1956, Jp.), (aka Rodan (1956) and
Monster of the Sky Rodan or Radon the Flying Monster), director Inoshiro
Honda's first film in color - about a giant, flying pterodactyl monster that
threatens to ravage the world
Chikyuu Boeigun (1957, Jp.) (aka The Mysterians (1957)), d.
Inoshiro Honda and based upon the successful alien invasion film The War of the
Worlds (1953), without Gojira but featuring a gigantic robot, and repeating the
theme of the deadly after-effects of nuclear radiation
Battle in Outer Space (1959) (aka Uchu Daisenso (1959)), d.
Inoshiro Honda
Mosura (1961, Jp.) (aka Mothra (1961)), d. Inoshiro Honda,
about a giant female caterpillar moth that destroys Tokyo
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), another entry from director
Honda and Toho Studios - see below
The first Gojira sequel was director Motoyoshi Oda's Gojira
no Gyakushu (1955, Jp.) (aka Godzilla's CounterAttack or Gigantis, The Fire
Monster), that was released in the US in 1959 (directed by Hugo Grimaldi) as
Godzilla Raids Again (1959, US) (aka Gigantis and The Return of Godzilla).
Godzilla, King of the
Monsters - 1956Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956, US), d. Terrell O. Morse,
was the US remake of Honda's original 1954 film, released by producer Joseph E.
Levine and his Transworld Pictures. It was a very different, butchered and
Americanized film for US audiences (without most of the anti-nuclear political
statements and references to the dangers of the H-bomb), with 40 minutes
excised and 20 minutes of new footage. The poorly-dubbed film featured American
actor Raymond Burr as an American reporter who pleads with a scientist named
Dr. Kyohei Yamane (Takashi Shimura) to challenge the monstrous dinosaur with
his invention - an 'oxygen destroyer.' This film was remade as a Hollywood
blockbuster by Roland Emmerich, titled Godzilla (1998), starring Matthew
Broderick and featuring a computer-generated monster.
Inoshiro Honda's trilogy of monster films spawned new giant
monsters, such as Majin (a monster of terror), Gamera (a jet-propelled flying
turtle), Barugon (a gigantic lizard), Ghidrah (a three-headed dragon), Dagora
(flying jellyfish) as well as Godzilla clones named Agon and Gappa. The sequels
were often battles of elimination, including King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962),
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964) (aka Godzilla vs. The Thing), Ghidrah: The
Three-Headed Monster (1964), Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1965) (aka Monster
Zero), Destroy All Monsters (1968), and Godzilla's Revenge (1969) (aka All
Monsters Attack). The Japanese Godzilla monster would later return in the
mid-80s as Gojira (1984) (aka Godzilla 1985: The Legend is Reborn) - a remake
of the 1956 classic, in the mid-90s as Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995), and at
the turn of the century with Godzilla 2000 (1999) (the first Japanese Godzilla
movie since the 1985 installment to receive a US theatrical release). Toho's
franchise of Godzilla films totaled almost 30 films in all. The ultimate films
in the US series were Roland Emmerich's big-budget Godzilla (1998), and the
50th Anniversary film Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) - reprising the giant
monster's battles with many of its old foes.
The Giant Mutated Monster and Giant People Films of Bert I.
Gordon (1957-1977):
The famed schlockmeister B-director Bert Gordon (nicknamed
Mr. Big, whose initials were B.I.G.) specialized in cheesy "giant mutated
monster and giant people" films with cheap special effects, many of which
were lampooned on the TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000. His most famous
film was The Amazing Colossal Man (1957), about Army Lt. Colonel Glenn Manning
(Glenn Logan), who in a futile attempt to save a downed pilot, was blasted by a
plutonium bomb, and grew to the height of 50 feet as a bald giant and then
rampaged through Las Vegas, where he fell off Hoover/Boulder Dam to his
apparent death. (It was followed by an inferior sequel War of the Colossal
Beast (1958), notable only as a B/W film with a color finale when the Beast was
electrocuted.) Other notable Gordon films included the giant grasshopper film
Beginning of the End (1957) (that resembled Them! (1954)) and starring Peter
Graves, Earth Vs. the Spider (1958) (remade as a 2001 TV movie), a beach-party
rock 'n' roll monster film Village of the Giants (1965) starring young Beau
Bridges, Ron (as Ronny) Howard, Tommy Kirk and Johnny Crawford, The Food of the
Gods (1976), and Empire of the Ants (1977) about giant marauding mutated ants
in backwater Florida. Britain's 50s Quatermass
The Quatermass Xperiment - 1956By mid-century, Britain's
Hammer Studios' also produced some pioneering sci-fi films, adapted from the
BBC-TV's earlier six-part serials or mini-series between 1953 and 1960, each
written by Nigel Kneale:
The Quatermass Xperiment (aka The Creeping Unknown) (1956),
told of a rocket launched into space with three astronauts; when the rocket
crash landed back in England, at the scene was American rocket scientist
Professor Bernard Quatermass (Brian Donlevy); the only astronaut found
returning in the capsule was Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth), who now had
the special ability to absorb any living thing into his body- he was turning
into, transforming or mutating into a monster due to the alien creature that
had 'infected' him. Endangering Earth, Carroon was electrocucted in the film's
climax. [The film inspired - or was copied by - The Blob (1958).]
Quatermass 2 (aka Enemy From Space) (1957), a chilling alien
invasion sequel to the original film; Earth was threatened with an invasion
carried out by a multi-cellular brain creature; Professor Quatermass (Donlevy
again) was called upon to investigate a huge mysterious scientific plant being
constructed where hollow meteorites were landing (and harboring an
ammonia-based gas that caused V-shaped lesions on people's faces); the plant
with zombie-like guards was supposedly producing synthetic food - a cover-up
for a deadly alien take-over of the local population and government, that
invaded the bodies of humans and controlled their minds as a single organism.
Quatermass and the Pit (aka Five Million Years to Earth)
(1968), the third in the trilogy, coming 10 years after the last film; with
more threats to London after workers uncovered another strange discovery - a
buried alien Martian spacecraft (nearly 5 million years old) near the
construction site of a London Underground extension; the finding haunted
anthropologist Professor Quatermass (Andrew Keir); it was deduced that the
craft, containing human skeletons and 'locust-like' devil creatures, was
causing powerful psychic disturbances and unleashing dormant powers, and was a
key to humanity's ancient history
a later sequel, Quatermass Conclusion (1979) was comprised
of condensed highlights from the 4-hour British TV serial (4 episodes, each 60
minutes in length)
Verne and Wells Derivatives:
Many SF films were (and still are) a futuristic combination
of the work of visionaries Jules Verne and H. G. Wells (1866-1946). One of the
earliest adapted US/Hollywood science fiction films was Mysterious Island
(1929) - the filmed version of Jules Verne's 19th century novel with a Lost
Atlantis theme. Other Verne adaptations (some not in the sci-fi genre) reached
their peak in the 50s and 60s, and included:
Journey to the Center of the Earth - 195920,000 Leagues
Under the Sea (1954), both a 1916 silent version and Disney's version, about
Captain Nemo aboard an advanced submarine; also an animated version in 1990 producer
Michael Todd's episodic, all-star adventure film extravaganza Around the World
in 80 Days (1956)
From the Earth to the Moon (1958), about a rocket trip to
the moon, starring Joseph Cotten, George Sanders, and Debra Paget
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), based on Verne's
1864 novel, a fascinating exploration into the earth's core by way of an
Icelandic volcano, led by a Victorian scientist (James Mason) and a
star-studded group of travelers
the fantasy-adventure Mysterious Island (1961) about two
escaping Civil War prisoners whose flying balloon landed on an unusual Pacific
island populated by threatening, gigantic animals and more (with spectacular
Ray Harryhausen special effects)
Master of the World (1961), with a mad-scientist who wanted
to rule the world plot, starring Vincent Price and Charles Bronson; also
appeared in an animated version in 1976
director Irwin Allen's Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962), an
adventure tale of a 19th century British explorer who conducted a ballooning
expedition to Africa
In Search of the Castaways (1962), based on Verne's novel
Captain Grant's Children
H.G. Wells' books also provided material from which to
compose film adaptations, such as:
Island of Lost Souls - 1932The Island of Lost Souls (1933),
the original classic with Charles Laughton (in his first starring US role) as a
disturbed, fugitive mad doctor (similar to Dr. Frankenstein) on a remote tropical
island who experimentally turned beastly jungle animals into half-human-like
creatures; British censors banned the film, claiming it was "against
nature"; the film was remade twice with Wells' original book title The
Island of Dr. Moreau - in 1977 with Burt Lancaster as the sinister scientist,
and director John Frankenheimer's version in 1996 with Marlon Brando in the
title role
a classic mad science film, James Whale's The Invisible Man
(1933), Things to Come (1936), Alexander Korda's sci-fi fantasy The Man Who
Could Work Miracles (1937), with Roland Young as a mild-mannered and timid
department store clerk who suddenly became omnipotent
the classic alien invasion film The War of the Worlds
(1953), based upon Wells' 1898 novel, see above; [remade in director Steven
Spielberg's War of the Worlds (2005)]
the classic time travel film The Time Machine (1960), based
upon Wells' 1895 novel, see further below
The First Men in the Moon (1964), a tale of
turn-of-the-century lunar explorers; the film was noted for Ray Harryhausen's
wonderful special effects
The Food of the Gods (1976)
source : filmsite.org
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