science fiction - FILM & TELEVISION REVIEW

Sci-Fi Films: 1950’s Part 5

Pods, Ants, a Robot & Romance!

**Joan Weldon and friend in** ***Them!***

Them! (1954)

Directed by Gordon Douglas

Screenplay by Ted Sherdeman/Adapted by Russell Hughes based on the Story by George Worthing Yates

Cinematography by Sidney Hickox

Music by Bronislau Kaper

Warner Brothers / 1hr 34min

CAST: James Whitmore (Sgt. Ben Peterson), Edmund Gwenn (Dr. Harold Medford), Joan Weldon (Dr. Patricia Medford), James Arness (Robert Graham), Onslow Stevens (Brigadier General Robert O’Brien), Christian Drake (Trooper Ed Blackburn).

Them! opens with a shot of the desert and Bronislau Kaper’s ominous score as a plane appears in the distance and slowly pulls us into the action. We then meet police Sargent Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) as the plane’s pilot leads Peterson and his partner Ed Blackburn (Christian Drake) to a child (Sandy Descher) that is roaming through the desert as if in a trance. Parking their squad car, they call out to the child, but she does not respond. Obviously in shock, she just keeps walking.

The pilot than contacts them about an abandon car and trailer further down the road. They take the girl and head down the highway. At first it looks normal. Until they walk around to the side of the trailer that has been smashed open. It’s a mess inside, everything even money is scattered inside the vehicle. There is a bloody cloth, but no real clue as to what happened. There is a mysterious print in the sand that neither officer can identify.

When the specialist from the Department of Agriculture arrives in response to the print lifted from the sand at the trailer site, he is taken to see the girl who has not yet snapped out of her shock. He holds a vial of formic acid under her nose and she bursts out of her impingement, jumping up with a scream and shouting, “Them! Them! Them!”

The power of the film emits from director Gordon Douglas’ (They Call Me Mister Tibbs!) direction that keeps a serious demeanor never allowing camp to set in, but he doesn’t forget to include humor. Much of it is centered on Edmund Gwenn’s (The Trouble with Harry) Dr. Medford. From the moment he and his daughter Patricia get off the plane, he contributes the needed comic relief within the bounds of his hyper serious character. He comes down out of the plane’s hatch, but his daughter gets stuck and all that can be seen of her are her legs. Both Sargent Peterson and Agent Graham take note of her predicament while Dr. Medford remains oblivious.

Joan Weldon, James Arness & James Whitmore in *Them!*

Both Dr. Medfords suspect the truth, giant ants, but they refuse to tell even the FBI agent until they are certain. Special Agent Robert Graham is not used to waiting and quickly loses patience with the doctors.

Simply one of the best and most enduring of the creature features from the 1950’s. The ants are really frightening and the action is exuberantly real. A fine cast plays it with deadpan chagrin and terror.

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Directed by Fred McLeod Wilcox

Screenplay by Cyril Hume based on a Story by Irving Block & Allen Adler loosely based on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (Uncredited)

Cinematography by George J. Folsey

Music Department: Bebe Barron & Louis Barron composers of electronic tonalities

CAST: Walter Pidgeon (Dr. Morbius), Anne Francis (Altaira Morbius), Leslie Nielson (Commander Adams), Warren Stevens (Lt. ‘Doc’ Ostrow), Jack Kelly (Lt. Farman), Richard Anderson ( Chief Quinn), Earl Holliman (Cook).

MGM / 1hr 38min

Forbidden Planet was not the first film to have its screenplay based on a Shakespeare play, but it certainly was the most unusual. The film that was influenced by the world of Prospero and Miranda became an influence in the world of science fiction. The excellent script’s original story foreshadowed many science fiction tales to come. Many of the TV shows and films that came later borrowed freely from Forbidden Planet, from the story telling to the uniforms to the use of robots and even the names of weapons.

_{LEFT: Leslie Nielson, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelley, Anne Francis & Walter Pidgeon in Forbidden Planet (1956) RIGHT: William Shatner, DeForest Kelley & Walter Konig in Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)}

In addition, the cast was exceptional including: Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielson, and Anne Francis. The film looks like the blue print for the soon to be popular, Star Trek: The Original Series (1966) right down to the landing party of three (in Star Trek usually the Captain, Spock & Bones), and the Captain getting the girl. More blatantly, Forbidden Planet’s, United Planets Starship C-57D is reflected in Star Trek’s Federation of Planets Starship USS Enterprise.

_{LEFT: Anne Francis & Leslie Nielson in Forbidden Planet (1956) RIGHT: Nancy Kovack & William Shatner in Star Trek (1966) Season 2 Episode 19}

The decompression chambers on the United Planets Starship C-57D look like a prototype for the USS Enterprise’s transporter.

LEFT: Decompression Chambers in *Forbidden Planet* RIGHT: Transporter in *Star Trek: the Original Series*

Set design in subsequent science fiction films echo the long before its time set design displayed when Morbius takes Adams on a tour of the Krell’s astonishing complex. Star Wars (1977), Blade Runner (1982), and Total Recall (1990) come to mind. In Total Recall it was a machine that was built by ancient Martians to create air on the planet.

Robby the Robot not only influenced both television shows and films, but the robot in the 1966 television series, Lost in Space was designed by Robert Kinoshita who had also designed Robby for Forbidden Planet.

_{LEFT: Anne Francis & Robby the Robot} _{in Forbidden Planet (1956)} _{RIGHT: Robot (B-9 class) & Jonathan Harris in Lost in Space (1965)} _{Publicity photo}

_{LEFT: R2D2 in Star Wars (1977)}_RIGHT: _{The Robot & Maxwell Jenkins in Lost in Space (2018-2021)}

Forbidden Planet is a classic of the genre and remains a must see film for both science fiction fans as well as the casual film viewer.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Directed by Don Siegel

Screenplay by Daniel Mainwaring & (Richard Collins/Uncredited due to being blacklisted) based on story by Jack Finney serialized in Collier’s Magazine

Cinematography by Ellsworth Fredericks

Music by Carmen Dragon

Allied Artists Pictures / 1hr 20min

CAST: Kevin McCarthy (Dr. Miles J. Bennell), Dana Wynter (Becky Driscoll), Larry Gates (Dr. Dan Kauffman), King Donovan (Jack Belicec), Carolyn Jones (Theodora Bellicec), Jean Willes (Nurse Sally Withers), Ralph Dumke (Police Chief Nick Grivett).

The undeniable high point in 50’s Science Fiction, Invasion of the Body Snatchers has so much going for it that it will never go out of date. The opening is unforgettable as Kevin McCarthy tries to convince disbelieving doctors and authorities that the world is in danger of being invaded by interstellar plant life! Just the extreme yet subtle manner in which the aliens supplant the humans in their own bodies defies rational thought.

_{Larry Gates, King Donovan, and Kevin McCarthy in Invasion of the Body S}_natchers

Once the doctor calms Dr. Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) down getting him to calmly tell his tale, the action begins. As the good doctor returns home from a trip, we are introduced to the characters as he finds that something odd has been going on during his absence. Many of the townspeople have tried to make appointments while he was away, but on his return, most of those that seemed panicked to see him, cancel without explanation! At the same time, there are a number of people that are under the delusion that someone they are close to is not really that person anymore.

Dana Wynter in *Invasion of the Body* *Snatchers*

Once Bennell realizes what is actually going on, the clock begins to tick as he and Becky Driscoll are aided by Belicec’s in plotting to escape and expose the alien plot.

Dana Wynter & Kevin McCarthy in *Invasion of the Body Snatchers*

A well honed script based on a serialization that ran in Collier’s magazine is transformed into a masterpiece of science fiction, horror, and suspense. Don Siegel’s direction employs economy and pacing to keep the beat as it gradually quickens with every scene. The cast is as memorable as the story itself, and each character is fully realized as the horror slowly engulfs them. The exceptionally shot black and white adds to the feeling of isolation and fear.

The film has been re-made three times: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Body Snatchers (1993), The Invasion (2007) with varying degrees of success; although none have surpassed the original, they stand as a testament to it’s influence.

Facts, Rumors, and Hearsay

Them!

“Sharp, slightly vinegary formic acid is the one-carbon volatile acid, a chemical weapon found in ants and other insects but turned against them by the anteater, which relies on it to help digest them.” Harold Mcgee WSJ – 10/24/2020, What Does Outer Space Smell Like?

Forbidden Planet

The Robinson’s (Lost in Space – 1966) robot was created by Robert Kinoshita, who also designed Robby the Robot for Forbidden Planet (1956).

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Don Siegel directed two episodes of the original Twilight Zone. One of the episodes featured Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet. The episode aired November 15th, 1963 and was titled, Uncle Simon.

The last sequence was not filmed on the Hollywood Freeway, but on an out of the way cross-bridge. The cars were actually manned by stunt drivers. Don Siegel admitted that Kevin McCarthy was in real danger of getting hit, because the sequence was shot at dawn and the actor was nearing complete exhaustion.

Years after the film, Dana Wynter received a message on her answering machine from Kevin McCarthy and he said: “Hi Becky, this is Miles. Stay awake won’t you!”

Science Fiction Films: 1950’s

INTRODUCTION

ABOVE: The Lost World (1925) & Metropolis (1927)

The precursors to the science fiction films of the 1950’s continue to influence film-makers today. From 1925 and 1927, The Lost World based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis respectively; one a silent masterpiece that carries the same basic truth as the Hunger Games that is still relevant today! The Lost World still echoes in the Jurassic Park films. With the advent of sound, the genre thrived. In the early thirties, horror films were big box office.

ABOVE: Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) all directed by James Whale.

In 1931 and 1933 and 1935 appeared three of James Whale’s Universal horror classics: Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and his greatest achievement, The Bride of Frankenstein. Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein are based loosely on Mary Shelley’s book about science gone wrong in the first mad scientist story. Of course, playing God is not an acceptable pastime as the good doctor learns as his experiment is chased across the countryside. This tale of hubris was continued in The Bride of Frankenstein as the good doctor is once more lured into the insane pursuit of creating life by the spectacularly mad Dr. Pretorius, stunningly portrayed by Ernest Thesiger. The Invisible Man is driven daft by the potion that gave him his invisibility. Science gone wrong again in this film version of the H.G. Wells novel.

Then in 1936 Flash Gordon hit the screens in a 13 episode serial with Buster Crabbe in tights and the beautiful Jean Rogers as his constant companion, and was an immediate hit. It seems that audiences were ready for some positive science fiction. An heroic space adventurer that fought evil proved a winning formula as well as the pattern for much of the science fiction to come in the 1950’s and beyond.

Jean Rogers & Buster Crabbe in Flash Gordon (1936)

The success not only spawned a second Flash Gordon serial but was followed by a Buck Rogers serial also starring Buster Crabbe. And, in the far far away future it would give rise to a Rebellion against an Empire that would strike back again and again and again.

1940 brought to the screen, Doctor Cyclops which starred Albert Dekker. Audiences were thrilled by the Technicolor and oversized props that made a man seem like a monster. It brings to mind Dr. Pretorius’ little people from The Bride of Frankenstein while taking on an entirely new dark dimension all its own while foreshadowing Richard Matheson’s novel, The Shrinking Man.

It also influenced the 1968 TV show, Land of the Giants that seems to be its direct descendent. Land of the Giants starred Gary Conway, Heather Young, Kurt Kasznar, and Deanna Lund. Guest stars included: John Carradine, Broderick Crawford, Alan Hale Jr., Bruce Dern, Yvonne Craig, Ron Howard, and Sam Elliott just to mention a few. The show ran from 1968 to 1970.

Two more science fiction related serials came out before the end of the decade, Batman in 1943 and in 1949, Superman. Both heroes would show up on the small screen within the next two decades.

In the Superman serial, Superman was played by Kirk Alyn and Lois Lane by Noel Neill, who would reprise the role in the hit television series Adventures of Superman with George Reeves as Superman which ran from 1952 to 1958. The caped crusader would have to wait until 1966 to see himself and Robin the boy wonder in the light of the flickering TV. Batman was played by Adam West and Robin by Burt Ward. Batman ran until 1968 and was absurdly campy but had the most impressive guest star list of the 60’s.

ABOVE: Joan Collins, Vincent Price & Michael Rennie in Batman (1966)

Everyone wanted to be on this hip, tongue in cheek show including: Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin, Vincent Price, Carolyn Jones, Glynis Johns, Bruce Lee, Sammy Davis Jr., Terri Garr, Ida Lupino, Rob Reiner, Michael Fox, Steve Allen, Art Carney, Liberace, Joan Collins, Jill St. John, and Michael Rennie–and speaking of Michael Rennie that brings us to our first classic 50’s science fiction film, The Day the Earth Stood Still.

PART ONE

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) 20th Century Fox

Directed by Robert Wise.

Screenplay by Edmund H. North based on a story by Harry Bates.

Music by Bernard Herrmann.

CAST: Michael Rennie (Klaatu/John Carpenter), Patricia Neal (Helen Benson), Hugh Marlow (Tome Stevens), Same Jaffe (Professor Jacob Barnhardt), Billy Gray (Bobby Benson), Frances Bavier (Mrs. Barley), Lock Martin (Gort).

Rated G / 92 minutes.

This first of the classic 50’s science fiction films skillfully addresses the two growing fears of Americans of the 1950’s, nuclear war and flying saucers. The idea was relatively simple, but the emotions drawn were extremely complex due to the unanswerable unknowns and the growing paranoia of the time. Director Robert Wise (The Haunting, West Side Story, Star Trek: the Motion Picture) took advantage of the unknowns and brought the entire story down to earth by having the alien viewed through the eyes of a child.

From the eerie opening strains of Bernard Herrmann’s brilliant score (for which he employed the use of two Theremins, an early electronic instrument), and the appearance of the unsettling title, viewers knew that they were in for something special.

Immediately, they find that an object moving at 4,000 miles per hour has entered the earth’s atmosphere. Newsrooms around the world are reporting on the progress of this unidentified flying object as ordinary people watch and wait in growing suspense.

Then come shots of Washington, DC’s well known monuments and the saucer flies over the White house to finally land on a ball field with the Washington Monument in the background. Ball players and spectators flee from the field as the craft slowly hovers down and lands. The symbolism is strong as anticipation grows and the police and the military mobilize.

This straight forward story of an alien arriving on earth to ask for a conference of all of the world’s leaders is a moral tale of the growing pride and foolishness of man’s progress. The government reacts to the craft’s landing with fear and surrounds the ship with a heavily armed infantry. A newsman attempts to calm the population as the suspense mounts two hours after the ship has landed, pointing out that the military has taken every precaution, and as he speaks, something begins to happen. A platform emerges from the ship where there is no door; the ship opens and a space suited alien appears. He advises that he has come in peace and bears no ill will, but as he reaches to remove something from his glittering suit and draws a device that he holds out toward the crowd. The reaction of the soldiers is to draw more weapons. When he activates it and a small antenna ring opens, a shot is fired at the alien that takes him down. Director Robert Wise’s focus on all of the armament trained on the ship points to the heart of the matter.

At this moment, Gort (Lock Martin) appears. Gort is a large, featureless robot. The robot’s visor lifts and a beam is fired toward the military surrounding the ship; the guns and tanks vanish as the laser strike them, but the soldiers are unharmed.

Klaatu is taken to the hospital where he is cared for and meets the secretary to the President of the United States, Mr. Harley (Frank Conroy). He advises that he must explain his mission to all of the heads of state of all the countries of earth at once. The response from the White House is that it is not practical because of the world’s politics. Klaatu assures Mr. Harley that there will be dire consequences for the planet if such a meeting is not arranged. The earth’s development of atomic weapons has made it a danger that the alien’s world cannot ignore.

ABOVE: Michael Rennie (Klaatu), & Frank Conroy (Mr. Harley).

Making no progress with the emissary from the President of the United States, Klaatu escapes the hospital. He finds the rooming house where he makes contact with the planets true representatives in the form of Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby (Billy Gray). He and Bobby become fast friends, and when his mother wants to go on a date with her boyfriend, Klaatu offers to spend the day with Bobby. He tells her that he’d hoped Bobby could show him around the city.

ABOVE: Klaatu (Michael Rennie) and Bobby Benson (Billy Gray).

Eventually, this will lead Klaatu to Dr. Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe), a renowned scientist, but first he learns more about the potential of earthlings as he visits Arlington cemetery and the grave of Bobby’s father along with other sites of the capitol city. The boy is fascinated by the arrival of the alien. He is thrilled to have this mysterious new guest in the boarding house to share the experience. The excitement is almost too much for him as things begin happening around him with incredible speed. His mundane life is over as thoughts of space men fill his head.

ABOVE: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, & Billy Gray.

He’s in for some adventure and so is his mom, and so much more than either of them bargained for! It is the bond that forms between Bobby and his mother and Klaatu that finally save the planet. The petty squabbles and sociopathic behavior of the world’s governments aside, Klaatu sees hope in the child and his mother. Robert Wise created a film ahead of its time as well as very much of its time, a cautionary tale that has gone unheeded. The film is still unsurpassed, and takes on a new significance when viewed in the wake of the current fall of reason.

MORE ABOUT THE SCORE

For the score that is as much a classic as the film itself, Bernard Herrmann used two Theremins (one bass one treble) along with: harps, pianos, electronic organs, brass, and percussion.

The opening theme from Herrmann’s score was used in the pilot of Irwin Allen’s 1965 TV series Lost in Space as well as in various episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-68).

DIALOGUE HIGHLIGHTS

Bobby: I like you Mr. Carpenter, you’re a real screw ball!

Klaatu (at the Lincoln Monument): Those are great words. He must have been a great man!

Klaatu (At Arlington Cemetery): Well, they have cemeteries, but not like this one. You see, they don’t have any wars.

Bobby Benson: Gee, that’s a good idea.

“Klaatu barada nikto“ is one of the best known commands in science fiction. If you are unfamiliar, you really need to see the film right now.

CONFESSIONS, FACTS, & JUST PLAIN IRONY

Patricia Neal later admitted that she found it hard to keep a straight face when giving her lines. She thought it was just another trashy flying saucer picture, and she didn’t realize she was in a classic in the making.

Danny Elfman was inspired to become a composer by Bernard Herrmann’s score for The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Although Sam Jaffe was already under contract to play Professor Barnhardt the studio was going to fire him due to the prevalent political witch hunts. Julian Blaustein (producer) convinced Darryl F. Zanuck not to let Jaffe go, but it was the last Hollywood film Jaffe was in until the late 50’s.

NEXT: Part Two

THE THING (1951)