The Monster that Challenged the World (1957)

Dir: ARNOLD LAVEN
Country: USA

The Monster that Challenged the World is a curious little film from 1957 that is very undeserving of the relative obscurity it has endured. The essential premise borrows liberally from the giants of atomic age science-fiction, but presents the material in a charming and self-effacing spirit made all the more enjoyable by the likeable characters. The story was written by David Duncan who had put his name to such productions as The Black Scorpion (1957), Monster on Campus (1958), The Leech Woman (1960) and most notably of all The Time Machine (1960). Although the film expresses anxieties towards radiation and secret scientific endeavour, the threat to civilisation is never implicitly linked to the effects of atomic testing. Instead an earthquake on the Californian coast creates a fissure in the depths of the Salton Sea which releases an army of enlarged blood sucking molluscs. This exactly mirrors the erupting volcano that creates an opening in the earth to release the giant scorpions of Duncan’s earlier The Black Scorpion. In both of these films the natural world has a destructive capability that matches anything the scientists can conjure up in their laboratories. The Black Scorpion was refreshingly bereft of atom age paranoia, but with its naval base setting The Monster is unable to avoid getting tied up in tensions between science and military. However this remains a subtext here, what emerges as the strongest element of this narrative is professionalism, collusion, respect, and a communal sense of pulling together for the greater good.

Attack of the Puppet People (1958)

Dir: BERT I. GORDON
Country: USA

AKA:
Six Inches Tall
I Was a Teenage Doll
The Fantastic Puppet People

It was very difficult for me to resist a film with the title Attack of the Puppet People, but I wish I had. This flimsy waste of celluloid was created entirely to cash in on the success of Universal-International’s intelligent and philosophical The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). The perpetrators of this mindless travesty were AIP, an independent production/distribution company I have a love/hate relationship with. At times I think AIP are treated a bit too charitably, and while they did produce some worthy additions to popular American genres, this particular movie is one I could have done without. The paper thin screenplay was concocted by sci-fi stalwarts George Worthing Yates and Bert I. Gordon. Yates had shown some flair and intelligence with the writing of Them! (1954) and Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956), unfortunately flair and intelligence are in very short supply with this movie. Perhaps the fault rests more with Wisconsin born director/writer/producer Bert I. Gordon. This was his fifth feature film and the previous four King Dinosaur (1955), Beginning of the End (1957), The Cyclops (1957) and The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) were only distinguishable for their special effects and perhaps their stupidity. Gordon’s films however possess a charm that is highly infectious, which makes Puppet People’s hollowness all the more surprising.

The Black Scorpion (1957)

Dir: EDWARD LUDWIG
Country: USA

The Black Scorpion is a mundane pillar of unimaginative derivation. It efficiently sweeps through the landscape of convention in a desperate bid to resurrect the insectoid nightmare of the far superior Them! (1954). But if one digs around determinedly in the generic soil, one discovers that The Black Scorpion still manages to possess an historical importance. The meta-narrative (apologies for the academic jargon) of 1950’s mutant monster movies is one which explores the perils of atomic radiation, the side-effects of H-bomb tests, and the misuse of a science and technology that has been appropriated by the military. In a novel twist The Black Scorpion opts to entirely do away with this angle. There isn’t a single mention of radiation in this film, and the gigantic scorpions that terrorise the Mexican countryside and eventually the nation’s capital are freed from the bowels of the earth by a catastrophic volcanic eruption. For once mankind is not to blame for the ensuing chaos, but is instead at the mercy of a natural disaster, and at the mercy of creatures that have evolved in secrecy in a vast underground cavern. As a result the sheer monstrousness of the adversary can be combated without the lingering sense that perhaps mankind is getting what it deserves for meddling in the animal kingdom. There is no guilt complex here, and no return of the repressed. The Black Scorpion becomes one of the purest and most straightforward of all 1950’s ‘Creature Features’, it is divested of the extraneous baggage that slows down its contemporaries, its simplicity is a major asset.

It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

Dir: ROBERT GORDON
Country: USA

AKA:
Monster from Beneath the Sea

It Came from Beneath the Sea marked the first occasion that producer Charles H. Schneer and visual effects wizard Ray Harryhausen collaborated. The two filmmakers would establish a partnership that would survive throughout the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s finally coming to rest with Clash of the Titans (1981). This alone provides the movie with historical importance, even if the content was highly derivative and presented in a somewhat staid and lifeless fashion. Harryhausen’s art was still very much in its infancy at this point, the animated effects he provided for The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) marked him out as a rare and special talent, and here he gets an opportunity too expand his scope with the creation of a giant Octopus. The earlier film is an important reference point because Beneath the Sea is virtually a carbon copy, and adds very little to what was presented in 20,000 Fathoms. It also lacks the charm and dynamism of the earlier picture and a comparison between the two sees Beneath the Sea come off significantly worse. It is possible the film was also influenced by the success of Gojira (1954), itself hugely indebted to 20,000 Fathoms, but important for continuing to prove their was an eager market for giant radioactive creatures from the ocean depths.

Donovan's Brain (1953)

Dir: FELIX E. FEIST
Country: USA

Writer/producer/director Curt Siodmak was an instrumental figure in establishing the cross pollination of horror and science-fiction in the 1940’s and 1950’s. This émigré filmmaker who hailed from Dresden in Germany, wrote key screenplays for Universal’s The Wolf Man (1941), the Val Lewton produced I Walked with a Zombie (1943) and the brilliant Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956). But his most celebrated work was his 1942 novel Donovan’s Brain. It immediately proved a durable and adaptable narrative with an early film version appearing under the title The Lady and the Monster in 1943. In 1944 no less a talent than Orson Welles was suitably impressed by the pulp premise that he commissioned a two part radio production. In 1962 an Anglo/German production entitled The Brain directed by Freddie Francis appeared, but it is the 1953 version featuring Lew Ayers and Gene Evans that remains the most fondly remembered. The premise might be utterly ludicrous, but the notion of disembodied brain’s controlling and dominating susceptible minds became a remarkably pervasive science-fiction staple. From low grade imitations like The Brain from Planet Arous (1957), The Brain that Wouldn’t Die (1962), and the slightly more impressive Fiend Without a Face (1958) to the Steve Martin vehicle The Man with Two Brains (1982), Siodmak’s influence has resonated down the decades.

1950's Science-Fiction Timeline



The following is a chronological guide to science-fiction in the 1950s, a shopping list for those just starting out on this fantastic odyssey. Those titles highlighted in blue indicate films that I consider important, either for reasons of influence and generic development, commercial succcess, or sheer entertainment value. As with any list of this nature there may be some titles I have overlooked. If this is the case I'd like to call on the limitless knowledge of my esteemed readership to let me know, and I will be only too glad to add the titles. Also if there are films that are not highlighted that you believe deserve recognition, please feel free to leave a comment briefly explaining why, and I'll be sure to make the change.

1950

Destination Moon (Irving Picher, USA)

Flying Saucer, The (Mikel Conrad, USA)

Prehistoric Women (Gregg G. Tallas, USA)

Rocketship X-M (Kurt Neumann, USA)

1951

Day the Earth Stood Still, The (Robert Wise, USA)
Five (Arch Oboler, USA)
Flight to Mars (Lesley Selander, USA)
Lost Continent (Sam Newfield, USA)
Lost Planet Airmen (Fred C. Brannon, USA)
Man from Planet X, The (Edgar G. Ulmer, USA)
Thing from Another World, The (Christian Nyby, USA)
Two Lost Worlds (Norman Dawn, USA)
Unknown World (Terry O. Morse, USA)
When Worlds Collide (Rudolph Maté, USA)

1952

Captive Women (Stuart Gilmore, USA)
Red Planet Mars (Harry Horner, USA)
Untamed Women (W. Merle Connell, USA)

1950's Science-Fiction: An Introduction

A myriad of influences and pressures, both external and internal to the American film industry, coalesced in the early 1950’s to create a habitat in which the science-fiction film could thrive. The 1950’s became a golden age for the genre on the cinema screens and the moment at which science-fiction established itself as a major commercial draw. During World War Two and in its aftermath American cinema had expressed cultural fears and anxieties through the paranoid lens of film noir. The horror film by the mid 1940’s (with the exception of the Val Lewton productions for RKO) had degenerated into parody and self mockery. But whilst film noir could explore fears on the ground within the embryonic clutches of suburbia, there was no outlet for American cinema to explore questions of science and technology. The science-fiction film provided this, and it also gave filmmakers an opportunity to take the tropes of the horror genre and reconstitute them within a technological framework.

Poll Results



Over the last three months regular visitors to The Celluloid Highway will have noticed that a poll to decide the next themed month has been in session. I’d like to thank all those who took the time to vote, and thus decide my fate for the month of May. The last themed month was January’s successful exploration of the Italian giallo, a category which led from day one and won at a canter. This time however it was more evenly contested, with several categories in contention until the last few days. Without further ado here are the full results.

01 1950’s Science-Fiction -  19 Votes (25%)


02 German Expressionism -  15 Votes (20%)


03 Akira Kurosawa -  12 Votes (16%)


04 Universal Horror -  12 Votes (16%)


05 Documentaries -  9 Votes (12%)


06 Wim Wenders -  8 Votes (10%)

May will see a month of 50’s science-fiction, and commiserations to German filmmaker Wim Wenders who picks up the wooden spoon. Many thanks again too all those who took part…and don’t forget to keep watching the skies!

Monsters (2010)

Dir: GARETH EDWARDS
Country: UK

I can imagine that many a mindless moron rented or purchased this title expecting the usual masturbatory excesses of modern CGI, and the hollow spectacle of alien marauders laying waste to mankind. One can well imagine the disappointment of the retards when Monsters develops into a subtle and nuanced character driven narrative that is far more concerned with humanity than it is showing off its visual effects. The sparing attitude to special effects allows the uncluttered narrative an opportunity to develop in interesting ways and retain an emotional core that might have been lost amid the artificiality of modern filmmaking techniques. Monsters also distinguishes itself in the creative control wielded by newcomer Gareth Edwards. British filmmaker Edwards not only wrote and directed Monsters but also acted as cinematographer, production designer and created many of the visual effects. This was also Edwards’ first feature film and he imbues it with a fearless impetuosity and an impressive awareness of the genre it sits within. It is perhaps a little too early to think of Edwards as an auteur, but this level of creative control is most unusual in genre filmmaking, and signifies to me at least, that the career of Edwards will be worth keeping an eye on. It will be interesting to see if Edwards is able to maintain this when the big budget investment of American producers inevitably comes his way.

The Viking Queen (1967)

Dir: DON CHAFFEY
Country: UK

Hammer had a long tradition in the production of historical adventure films, one which dated back to their first Robin Hood adventure The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954), which featured Don Taylor in the role of the outlaw thief. Two more Robin Hood pictures followed in 1960 and 1967, in addition to several controversial tales of Eastern cruelty (The Strangles of Bombay [1959), The Terror of the Tongs [1961]), a slew of pirate adventures (The Pirates of Blood River [1962], Captain Clegg [1962], The Devil-Ship Pirates [1964]), and miscellaneous departures into historical territory such as The Scarlet Blade (1964), The Brigand of Kandahar (1965) and Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966). The emphasis in all of these films is on action and adventure rather than history, and The Viking Queen slots neatly into a subset of films with which Hammer had dealt with consummate ease. However, somewhat unusually, the lifeless screenplay by Clarke Reynolds and John Temple-Smith attempts to place the action within a historical context they believed to be accurate. The use of voice over and on screen captions do a semi-decent job in setting the scene; in this case 1st century Britain, a time when the country was divided up into numerous kingdoms, all ruled in collaboration with the occupying forces of the Roman army. The kingdom under scrutiny here is that of Icena, a realm that has seen the recent death of its beloved king, and the ascension to leadership of his daughter Salina (Carita).

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Dir: TERENCE FISHER
Country: UK

AKA:
The Devil's Bride

Of the three Dennis Wheatley properties optioned by Hammer The Devil Rides Out is by some margin the most enjoyable. It has steadily risen to a position of prominence within the annals of British horror, and can now be viewed as an exemplar of the gothic horror form. The other two Wheatley films The Lost Continent (1968) and To the Devil - A Daughter (1976) are interesting failures. The former is unable to escape the abysmal production values and incompetent direction to realise the promise of the concept, and the latter suffers from its obvious mimicry of The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976), and an incredibly uninterested lead performance from Richard Widmark. By contrast The Devil Rides Out possesses sumptuous production values, truly inspired direction from Terence Fisher, and dedicated displays from the principal players. It appeared at a precipitous moment in the development of the horror genre. A brief window of opportunity for Hammer to produce one last great gothic horror production before the mode became increasingly anachronistic and irrelevant. The film fed into a sub-set of movies dealing with the themes of occultism, witchcraft and satanic worship. In contrast to the US, British horror had a long tradition of engaging with these themes dating back to Night of the Demon (1957), with other examples such as Night of the Eagle (1962), Witchcraft (1964) and Hammer’s The Witches (1966) offering novel approaches. Tigon would take on the mantle and push boundaries even further with Witchfinder General (1968) and Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971). As excellent as all these films were, it is The Devil Rides Out that still leads the way.

Uzumaki (2000)

Dir: HIGUCHINSKY
Country: JAPAN

AKA:
Spiral
Vortex

For many J-Horror began with the investigation into a certain cursed video tape, and the cycle of death and tragedy that followed a viewing of it. Although Hideo Nakata’s low budget Ring (1998) exposed the limitations of modern technology through the incursion of the supernatural, it overflowed with the signifiers of past traditions. Nakata was essentially telling a very old story, and it was only correct that the narrative should have the cautionary quality of a fable or fairy tale. For several years the long haired avenging ghost girl was the trans-national symbol most associated with the Japanese film industry, but few horror films produced during this period offered anything new or original. Their success in the west was almost certainly due to a carefully constructed and self-conscious depiction of a Japanese culture that appealed to a western conception. By the year 2000 I for one was sick to the back teeth of long haired ghost girls, and if derivative Japanese product wasn’t enough, even South Korea got in on the act with their own brand of imitative celluloid waste. With the bubble well and truly burst on this form of cultural expression it’s easier to look back now and see that Higuchinsky’s peculiar feature film debut Uzumaki was one of the most distinctive and original productions of this cycle.

The Peculiar World of Polish Film Posters - Part 2

RODAN (1956)

VERTIGO (1958)

YOJIMBO (1961)

The Peculiar World of Polish Film Posters - Part 1

If you haven’t been exposed to the weird and wonderful world of Polish film poster designs you have missed out on some peculiar and fascinating concepts. Naturally of greater interest is the interpretations given to major Hollywood productions, and they are often given a surreal dimension which makes one wonder quite how they would entice Polish cinemagoers to part with their cash and buy a ticket to the film. Instead of communicating a generic message through the poster images, numerous Polish designs opt instead for symbolism. In this respect Polish posters were conceived at the time as works of art, rather than becoming art retrospectively. These conceptual masterpieces feel as though they should be hanging in a gallery rather than on the wall of a cinema. I welcome all my fellow travellers on The Celluloid Highway to take a peek at some wonderful and exotic Eastern European ephemera.

THE BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925)

THE SEVEN SAMURAI (1954)

YESTERDAY'S ENEMY (1959)

Prehistoric Women (1967)

Dir: MICHAEL CARRERAS
Country: UK

AKA:
Slave Girls

The commercial success of the insipid She (1965) and the far more enjoyable One Million Years B.C. (1966) inspired the powers at Hammer to continue mining the rich landscape of adventure films set in the prehistory of lost worlds. The two films previously mentioned, were by the standards of Hammer, relatively big budget and lavish affairs. She had the commercial draw of Ursula Andress, while One Million Years B.C. had the draw of both Raquel Welch and Ray Harryhausen’s stop motion visual effects. Instead of maintaining these production standards however, Hammer showed predictable contempt for its audience with a thriftiness that ultimately destroyed the epic nature of future fantastical adventures. The inappropriately titled Prehistoric Women (aka Slave Girls - a more fitting title) was Hammer’s third ‘lost world’ film, and like the previous two was lead by a sex symbol - in this case the statuesque Martine Beswick. Beswick is by far the best thing about this movie. The name Michael Carreras attached in a creative role to any film is ordinarily a sign for me to press the eject button on my DVD player - and here he is both writer and director. With the exception of Maniac (1963), which in itself is hardly special, the directorial career of Carreras is an arid wasteland of incompetence. While Carreras is the primary reason for Prehistoric Women’s imbecility, it has to be said he is not the only reason. One of the most damaging decisions for the film was to shoot entirely on a soundstage at Elstree Studios. The usual brilliance of the Hammer technical team has vanished here, instead they contrive to create some of the most unconvincing jungle terrain you are ever likely to see.

We Are What We Are (2010)

Dir: JORGE MICHEL GRAU
Country: MEXICO

AKA:
Somos lo que hay (Original title)

Mexican writer/director Jorge Michel Grau has crafted a powerful debut feature which seamlessly blends horror and art cinema into a potent social allegory which has the family at its centre. Although Grau downplays the horror elements of his narrative, the decision to use certain generic signifiers offers a potential new direction for an increasingly unadventurous national cinema that seems more preoccupied in genuflecting at the altar of past glories. For much of the films running time this is a family melodrama, but one which becomes increasingly desperate and hysterical. With this increase in tension comes certain plot revelations that propels the frantic family into a series of actions that eventually lead to disunity and downfall. The film opens with the death of the family patriarch in a modern shopping mall. After riding the gleaming escalators the man stares with undisguised hunger at a series of shop mannequins, before throwing up black vomit and expiring on the spotless white floor tiles. Within seconds of his death his corpse has been carted off and his mess mopped up. The swiftness and efficiency of his removal in this middle class consumerist space is easily the most troubling aspect of this opening. We soon discover that not only was this bedraggled chap the head of the family, but also the hunter. For we are in the company of a family of modern day cannibals. His addiction to whores, and the implicated disease ridden nature of their flesh, not only costs him his life, but plunges his family into crisis.

Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)

Dir: TERENCE FISHER
Country: UK

Hammer’s fourth Frankenstein adventure is a significant improvement over the previous entry - the lacklustre and feeble The Evil of Frankenstein (1964). One possible reason for the shabbiness of that film might be the insipid and blatantly imitative direction of Freddie Francis. Without a doubt Francis was an accomplished cinematographer, but his skills as a director were less impressive. Fortunately for Frankenstein Created Woman (one of the silliest and most inappropriate titles for a film) Terence Fisher was invited back to the series. It had been nine years since Fisher had last had the pleasure of the Baron’s company, and his comfort with the material is obvious from the assured confidence of the direction and his eye for striking visual compositions. This is despite the fact that Fisher is working with, by the standards of Hammer, an incredibly offbeat and outlandish screenplay courtesy of Anthony Hinds. Hinds implements a number of important changes that make this an altogether unique entry in the series.

Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966)

Dir: DON SHARP
Country: UK

Pompous know it all Christopher Lee has made a career out of playing stilted and regimented characters, so its no surprise really that his performances in Rasputin: The Mad Monk and The Wicker Man (1973) stand out. Lee has significantly less dynamic range than this Hammer colleague Peter Cushing, but what he did always bring is a certain gravitas and dignity to roles, that in all reality, didn’t deserve it. In Rasputin Lee was afforded his only opportunity with Hammer to express a more outlandish and eccentric dimension to his acting. The result is a powerhouse display, a marvellously excessive exhibition in which Lee eagerly flaunts his domineering physicality. Equally important is the booming tones of Lee’s vocal delivery, the raucousness and carnivalesque nature of Rasputin betrays a fierce intellect which is often communicated through his voice. The strength of Lee’s performance is such however that practically every other aspect of the film is dwarfed by his fierce intensity. Although Lee is supported by capable actors such as Francis Matthews, Barbara Shelley, Richard Pasco, and Suzan Farmer their performances are mild distractions from Lee’s hyperbolic histrionics. When Rasputin isn’t lighting up the screen with his greed, gluttony, drunken carousing, dancing, violence, and general blasphemy, the film is totally flat. The price for sitting back and enjoying such an overbearing and imperious performance is a terrible dramatic imbalance, an imbalance which ultimately leads to the failure of the film as a whole.