I’m not a fan of big cities. I grew up in suburban New Jersey and I got really used to its pace, which is relaxed and measured. The hustle and speed of New York City can sometimes overwhelm me (just ask my lovely wife and children). But for two weeks this past April, New York City put me in cinematic heaven. I received a press pass to the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival in lower Manhattan, and I got to indulge my passion for great cinema.

If you’re not familiar with it, the Tribeca Film Festival is one of the largest and most well known movie festivals. It was founded in 2002 by film producer Jane Rosenthal, actor Robert DeNiro and real estate investor Craig Hatkoff. It was created after the September 11th tragedy and was designed to re-stimulate the businesses of lower Manhattan. It has been a runaway success and shows no signs of slowing down.

Over the last two weeks in April, there were concerts, screenings, special family events, discussions and street fairs. And of course, there were celebrity sightings galore. In 2013 there were almost 200 films shown at the festival, from horror and sci-fi to dramas, comedies and documentaries. It seemed to me that it didn’t matter what type of film you were into, Tribeca was showing examples of them all. The festival is so huge that it’s literally impossible to watch every film. There were 12 locations in the area strictly dedicated to the festival, showing films all day long.

I was really astounded by the sheer number of indie films that were shown. The indies represented the largest number of films at the festival, and it gave me a great feeling to know that on one of the largest stages in the country, indie cinema casts a very large and distinctive shadow.

So here’s a brief look at the three components that went into my Tribeca Trifecta. I wish that all Rogue Cinemaniacs could have shared my Tribeca film experience with me.

Trifecta #1 – Press Pass Time

I was lucky enough to have a connection to the festival and I thought that it was time to cover Tribeca for Rogue, so when the press representative of Tribeca e-mailed me and told me that I could pick up my press pass at their office, I was thrilled. I think I actually floated to New York. When I arrived to pick up my pass, the Tribeca staff treated me as if I was the film critic for The New York Times (well it’s true that Rogue Cinema is very cool). They did everything they could to make my experience fantastic. They really powered up my movie mojo.

Trifecta #2 – Some Excellent Cinematic Experiences

I couldn’t get to the festival every day (although I sure wish I could have!). But I was still fortunate to see some first class films. The first two were part of the ESPN “Nine for IX” Series. This is a series of nine documentary films that celebrates women in sports and are directed by women filmmakers. They will run this summer on ESPN from July 2nd to August 27th. The first movie “The Diplomat” (2013) and was written and directed by Jennifer Arnold and Senain Kheshgi. It tells the story of famed East German figure skater Katarina Witt. If you’re old enough to remember the Cold War, this film puts a very human face to the extremely competitive world of figure skating. Witt’s story is amazing, and Arnold and Kheshgi outline the highs and lows of her career, from being embraced by the communist government, to being ridiculed by her fellow countrymen when they discovered some the perks that the government gave her. After the film, Arnold and Kheshgi came down to the front of the theater for a Q&A. They also introduced Witt (who was also in the audience) and had her join them to answer some questions herself.

The next film I saw was entitled “No Limits” and was directed by Alison Ellwood. Its focus was on Audrey Mestre, a young woman who excelled at the exotic sport of free-diving. This is a sport where you ride a lead sled down hundreds of feet on a single breath of air without a mask or air tank, release the sled and then rocket back up to the surface. Tragically, Mestre died during an attempt to break the women’s world’s record for this event. Controversy ensued after her death, and her husband was investigated for his potential culpability. Ellwood’s film was a sad and sobering look at the dark side of competitive sports.

If you’ve read my reviews here at Rogue Cinema, then you know that I love short films, so I was particularly delighted to see “The End is Near”, a collection of six similar-themed shorts about personal and global apocalypses. The films I saw ran the gamut from straight drama to outrageous comedy. My personal favorite of the shorts was Andrew Napier’s “Grandma’s Not a Toaster”, a nine minute hyperactive look at three greedy siblings who hope to change Grandma’s will before she kicks the bucket. Imagine the Kurasawa classic “Rashomon” (1951) on speed and told in the style of the TV show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and you’ve got a good idea of the onscreen insanity.

Trifecta #3 – Potential Filmmaker Interviews

I hope to interview many of the fantastic indie filmmakers whose films I was lucky enough to watch during my time at Tribeca. Hopefully, they’ll be arriving in the near future to the online pages of Rogue Cinema. I was blown away by these talented cinema mavens. So keep checking the magazine each month.

The Tribeca Film Festival was marvelous and I am now hooked on it. I’m clearing my schedule out in 2014 so that I can spend a lot more time in New York City doing what I love most – watching great movies!

For information on the Tribeca film Festival, please visit: http://tribecafilm.com/festival

Ray Harryhausen is gone. My hero is gone. The man I admired for 50 years has quietly slipped away from us. His visions and his unbelievable genius are now part of the cosmos. He captured our imaginations by creating some of the most iconic movie creatures ever seen on film. He put up on the silver screen incredible scenes of pure fantasy in 16 movies by the sheer force of his will, an astonishing achievement. He fired the thoughts of countless millions and inspired dozens of new film-makers. But for one shy, lonely boy in suburban New Jersey, Ray was a hero – a shining light of creativity and possibility during a time when conformity was demanded and imagination was suppressed.

During the 1960s it was important to conform. And as a young Catholic boy, conformity was all around me. My parents didn’t approve of my monster-loving ways and tried their best to push my square head into a round hole. They wanted me to become an altar boy and play Little League baseball, but I fought against the regimentation. I loved my monsters and they were my life. My parents didn’t understand. They just looked at me and shook their heads. But I was hooked on sci-fi, horror and monsters. And the coolest monster maker around was Ray Harryhausen.

A Brief Moment of Clarity

I can remember the singular Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013) moment in my life. It was 1963 and I was in third grade. On the last Friday of each month, the nuns decided that they had done enough teaching and would give themselves (and us) a break by showing the students of Saint Adalbert’s Grammar School a film. Students from Kindergarten to 4th grade would watch a movie in the morning before being released for lunch and kids from 5th to 8th grade would watch the same movie in the afternoon before being dismissed.

Movies were shown in the auditorium of the “old building” (it was built in 1912!). It was a dusty and creaky room that took up the entire fourth floor of the school and had a large stage at the front. It was freezing cold in the winter and boiling hot in the spring and summer. But I loved going there, because I knew that at least for a few hours, I would be spared the torment of the Felician nuns.

Most of the movies they showed us were lame. A lot of them were Catholic miracle films that were intended to reinforce the Baltimore Catechism that we were indoctrinated with. But there were exceptions. I can remember watching an old William Bendix baseball movie called “Kill the Umpire” (1947) that had me laughing very hard. And sometimes the nuns would show us a Disney film. Once they even showed us George Pal’s “When Worlds Collide” (1951). But there was an ulterior motive; they showed us that so that we could have a discussion about the rapture afterwards!

So the nuns herded us into the auditorium like cattle going to the slaughter. I could hear evil Sister Evalda (the 10 ton nun!) yelling at her class that unless they were quiet, she’d make them “stay in the auditorium all night” (a very scary proposal). I sat next to my buddy Mark and we both pondered what movie we’d be watching. Marky looked at me and groused: “I just hope it’s not another one of those movies about the Virgin Mary again.” Then the lights went off and the screen flickered and those magnificent pounding chords of Bernard Herrmann’s overture for “Mysterious Island” (1961) filled the room. I felt an amazing exhilaration. My God, they’re actually going to show us something good! I elbowed Mark and said, “Marky, Marky, this is a really cool movie. I saw it back in first grade. It’s got some great monsters.”

And during the credits I saw that name again – “Ray Harryhausen”. Suddenly, it all clicked for me. This was the man. This was the guy who created all those amazing creatures that I loved so much. Up to that point, I had always wondered why some monsters in some films were so cool looking and others looked ridiculous. And I would see that long name in the beginning of the credits of certain films, but I couldn’t pronounce it. But now, it was as if the gates of heaven opened up and shined a brilliant light on me. I was thunderstruck. I felt like an alchemist who had come upon the secret for turning lead into gold. Now I understood. I had acquired a unique knowledge that still escaped most mere mortals. Ray Harryhausen – this guy was the monster maker!

Feeding into an Obsession

There was such life and energy in Ray’s creatures. The way they moved, their actions and their reactions; they were so kinetic. They set my imagination on fire. They actually seared themselves into my very soul. I knew that I had to find out how these monsters came to life.

From that moment in third grade, Ray (and his wonderful creatures) became the singular obsession of my life. I started writing down the titles of the movies that I thought Ray had worked on and when these films were shown on TV, I watched the credits carefully searching for his name. I was thrilled when I caught his name in the credits for 1949’s “Mighty Joe Young” (although I didn’t know just who Willis O’Brien was at the time). I also incorporated Ray’s creatures into my play-time. I used to try and build them out of modeling clay and reenact the scenes from his films. To say some of my attempts were ludicrous would be kind, but in my mind they looked just like the real thing.

When I was 10 I created my “movie review book.” I took an old English composition notebook wrote down the credits and the storylines for every sci-fi and horror film I watched. For Ray’s movies I would write down every creature that was animated during the film and give them a “star” rating (from one to four). Needless to say there were a lot of four star ratings on those pages.

But except for articles in the monster magazines of the day (Famous Monsters, Castle of Frankenstein) there was very little out there on Ray. However, I was able to piece together that he created his monsters through a process called stop motion animation. There even were times that the genre magazines published pictures of Ray actually animating his monstrous delights. I began to understand that he built and bought these creatures to life all by himself. I could not imagine that. What kind of powers did this man possess? Was he a magician and a sorcerer, like Sokura from the “7th Voyage of Sinbad” – carefully putting lifeless bits of clay, moss and twigs together and bringing them to life with the might of his mind? I was awestruck. How could one man do this?

Senior Project

My admiration for Ray carried through my youth and into high school. Occasionally at school, one of my friends would mention one of Ray’s movies that were going to play on TV and I would inundate them with facts about him. I imagine they all thought I was a little mad – to be so obsessed about a process as arcane as stop motion. I even tried my hand at stop motion, animating a marching parade of salted peanuts (trust me - Ray didn’t have anything to worry about). Then in 1973 (my senior year in high school), an opportunity presented itself to me. For the last six months of senior year our class load was reduced to three a day. The majority of our time was to be taken up with a research project. It could be on any subject and would require thorough investigation and preparation. You would have to present it to a panel of your teachers and classmates in June and turn in a 20 page research paper. I was bored with traditional topics like math or history and was at a loss as to what to write about. Suddenly it hit me – a 20 page research paper on the process of stop motion animation for feature films – featuring the movies of Ray Harryhausen. Yes! This would be fun and entertaining. So for six months I researched. I went to famous New York libraries and tried to investigate stop motion. As you can imagine, there wasn’t a lot out there, but I did find a couple of articles on Ray (remember microfiching?). Thankfully Ray published his “Film Fantasy Scrapbook” early that spring. That book became my primary reference. I also used this opportunity to watch any and all of Ray’s movies that played on TV. Hey, I was doing research!

For my presentation, I assembled a 25 page scrapbook of Ray’s famous creations from my collection of film magazines (as well as my written research paper), and I rented two 16mm prints of his classics – 1958’s “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad” and 1969’s “The Valley of Gwangi.” During my presentation I first discussed the process of stop motion in general. Then, I ran scenes from each movie (the skeleton fight from “Sinbad” and the roping sequence from “Gwangi”). I would stop the film (our school’s film projectors could actually pause the film without burning it) and point out different aspects of the process (the background rear projection, the model in the foreground). I could see from the look on some of my fellow students’ faces that they just didn’t understand (or care) what I was talking about. But some of them were very interested and by the end of the presentation I felt I had added to a greater understanding of Ray’s contribution to the world of fantasy cinema. My passion for Ray’s art spoke for itself, so it was no surprise that I got an A+ on the project which assured my graduation. Thanks Ray!

Meeting the Master

As I grew older I continued to see Ray’s movies, follow his exploits in the genre magazines of the 1970s and1980s and collect memorabilia. In the 1980s I read about his retirement, and while saddened, I was hopeful that Ray would write about his career and maybe tour with some of his fantastic creations. My wish came to fruition in 1994 when I saw that he would be appearing at a convention here in New Jersey. I was excited as a kid that day, and sat in awe as the man gave a lecture about some of his exploits. His rich, powerful voice belied the delicate dexterity that he possessed in his hands. I shook one of those hands that day (it engulfed my own) and spoke briefly to him. He was warm and generous and took a picture with me. To say I floated that day would be an understatement.

Ten years later fate smiled on me again. Ray was appearing at a local New Jersey theater, and in celebration of his appearance they were showing 1963’s “Jason and the Argonauts.” I arrived early with my wife, son, and some friends and as we were heading towards the theater I saw Ray carrying a large heavy box filled with his autobiography “An Animated Life.” Like some eager school boy I offered to carry the box for Ray. He graciously accepted and we walked together for a few feet talking about the New Jersey weather. When we got to the theater door Ray’s good friend Tony Dalton took the box from me. Ray turned to me, thanked me and simply said “See you inside.” That evening was one of the most spectacular of my life. Ray autographed one of his books for me and as I sat and watched “Jason and the Argonauts” on the big screen again, I was magically transported back into my childhood. Afterwards Ray graciously answered questions from the audience. For this one amazing evening I forgot about my trials and tribulations and drank deeply from the fountain of youth and possibility. I was on a natural high that lasted for days.

And the Crab Gets Neb – Passing the Passion On

Like most Ray Harryhausen fans, there is an innate desire to pass the passion on to friends and family. When my son was three, I decided to show him “Mysterious Island”. I didn’t want to show him any of the skeleton fights for fear of frightening him. But my son sat in my arms for the entire movie and was simply captivated. The combination of Ray’s visuals and Bernard Hermann’s music was intoxicating for him. He was so taken with the film that the next day he sat down at the kitchen table and put together a storybook for the film. He dictated the story to my wife who wrote it down in longhand and he added in some colorful sketches of the film’s highlights. His favorite scene was when Captain Harding and his men are attacked by the giant crab and Neb is trapped in the claws of the beast. That scene haunted him, in much the same way as I was haunted decades ago by some of the images Ray created. My boy was hooked.

Farewell

I woke up on the morning of May 6th and knew Ray was very ill. You see, I had a dream about Ray the night before and I never ever dream of Ray. It sounds silly I know. I only met the man twice. But somehow I knew. Call it a premonition or whatever, but I was positive that Ray was ill. So when I read the news of his passing, it wasn’t a surprise to me. And I’ll bet that a lot of Ray Harryhausen fans had similar premonitions.

I actually feel sorry for today’s youth. They have gotten so jaded by CGI fakery, that they take films of the fantastic so matter of factly. But in my opinion, today’s films don’t stir the passion that Ray’s films did. When you show them one of Ray’s movies they laugh and complain that stop motion is too “jerky” and that the films are too silly. I know. I’ve tried to teach fantasy and sci-fi movie history to several groups of teenagers. They just don’t understand and fail to grasp Ray’s significance. There was something special about a Ray Harryhausen movie. They (and their creator) are timeless.

Ray’s movies comfort me. They make me believe again in all the possibilities of life. Ray Harryhausen was a magician and a supreme storyteller. Farewell Ray. Thanks for the fantasy and thanks for the majesty of your creatures. Your magic will always be a part of me. And I’m a better man for having been a witness to your magic.

To hear a wonderful interview Ray did with NPR Radio back in 2003, please click here: http://www.npr.org/2013/05/09/181947528/remembering-monster-maker-ray-harryhausen

To read a magnificent and moving tribute to Ray, please visit Tim Lucas’s Video Watchdog site and scroll down to his May 7th entry: http://www.videowatchdog.blogspot.com

My Name is Jason Lockard and I love when dramatic actors transition into horror. Bette Davis did it in What ever happened to baby Jane. Barbara Standwyck did it in The Night Walker and our star of the month Joan Crawford did it in 1964 as well.

Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur on March 23, 1905 in San Antonio, Texas. Lucille began her career in entertainment as a dancer and traveled with theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Than in 1925 she signed a contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and changed her name to Joan Crawford. After years of small roles in the 1930s Crawford's fame began to rivaled that of MGM colleagues Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo and Jean Harlow.

During her career Crawford would appear in some of the greatest films in Hollywood history, such as; 1932's Grand Hotel and Rain, 1937s Mannequin, 1939 The Woman, 1940s Strange Cargo, 1945's Mildred Pierce for which she won her only Oscar as Best Actress in a leading role. Crawford was voted the tenth greatest female star in the history of American cinema by the American Film Institute.

In 1964 Joan Crawford starred in Straight-Jacket. The film follows Lucy Harbin (Crawford) who has spent twenty years in a psychiatric hospital for the decapitation axe-murder of her husband and his mistress. After her release, she takes up residence at the farm of her brother Bill Cutler, his wife Emily and her estranged daughter Carol.

Suddenly a series of brutal axe-murders begin with a doctor, who is found in the freezer & the shady hired man Leo. Is Lucy on her way back to the psychiatric hospital or worse the electric chair, find out when you watch Straight-Jacket.

After a public appearance on September 23, 1974, at a party honoring her old friend Rosalind Russell she saw the unflattering photos of both stars that appeared in the papers the next day, she said, "If that's how I look, then they won't see me anymore." Crawford cancelled all public appearances, began declining interviews and left her apartment less and less. On May 8, 1977, Crawford gave away her beloved Shih Tzu "Princess Lotus Blossom", which she was too weak to care for properly. Crawford died two days later at her New York apartment from a heart attack, while also ill with pancreatic cancer.

Moral Rating: Violence
Audience: Parental Guidance
Genre: Horror
Length: 93 Minutes
Our Rating: A

With summer upon us, most people are dreading the horrific family get-togethers. Who could forget being packed for no breathing space, coast to coast, the road trips, the reunions, etc...? It kind of explains how so many of these characters snap from such feeble brands of reality. Please remember to hound everyone you've ever met in your lifetime with vacation pictures which are at least slightly less annoying than sending 50 different horoscope announcements each day to every Facebook "fiend". Amusement parks are too terrifying when having to contend with all the little screaming brats running more rampant than a moody cheetah-gator.

The trunk is packed with numerous sharp stabby implements, and gas tank is filled with plenty of griping of having to pay so much gas prices. Drive that car wild. Yes, Christine is highway and interstate bound. One more vary important vehicle tip, never ever anger any truckers with monstrous rigs from "Duel", "Jeepers Creepers", "Maximum Overdrive", "Monster Man". It's time to start humming "Holiday Road" while you're on the great American monster vacation. Freddy Krueger is always in the back seat with someone else screaming "quit touching me!" At least, Jason Voorhees and Norman Bates tend to always listen to their mothers. Michael Meyers is being yelled at to take off his mask and stop bothering his sister. If those are problems, the parents of the Invisible Man have a harder time of maybe accidentally being left back at a truck stop.

Have more fun than a Donner party until someone's daddy buries the sarcophagus away. Summer needs some fun and combining it with BBQ cookout helps to kill 2 birds with one monster. Freddy may have the useful knifing glove claw for the meat but the gas grill gets to heat him badly. Dracula keeps getting puzzled about steaks or stakes. It'll be better to keep Leatherface from cooking with Farmer Vincent's fritters. The Wolfman needs to be kept from the raw meat and isn't too happy with whomever sent the "shave the wolf-cook" apron. At a beach, the Mummy better be making some impressive sandcastles and sand pyramids.

It seems that as long as there have been motion pictures, there have been movies about dinosaurs. From Windsor McKay’s famous animated short “Gertie the Dinosaur” (1912) to next year’s “Jurassic Park IV”, Hollywood has continued to pump out movie after movie featuring those majestic creatures that dominated our world eons ago. And if you’re a baby boomer like me, you grew up in front of the cathode-ray baby sitter and watched dozens of dinosaur movies throughout your childhood, over and over again. So this month to celebrate more than one hundred years of dinosaur movies, here’s a special quiz on those prehistoric (and pre-CGI) delights that kept kids glued to their TV sets. The answers to the questions can be found at the end of the quiz along with a handy dandy scorecard. Enjoy!

*   *   *

1. How many movies featuring giant dinosaurs did Japanese maestro Ishiro Honda direct for Toho pictures during his illustrious career?

a. 7
b. 11
c. 25
d. 32


2. In the sequel “Son of Kong” (1933), most of the creatures featured in the movie are of a fantastic nature. What is the one actual dinosaur that makes an appearance?

a. An Apatosaurus
b. A Styracosaurus
c. A Pteradon
d. A Ceratosaurus


3. According to cinematic legend, when producer Robert Lippert was preparing to film “The Lost Continent” (1951), he took a look at Ray Harryhausen’s early stop motion dinosaur experiments before summarily dismissing him. What other famous individual accompanied Ray to the studio that day?

a. Dr. Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)
b. Forest J. Ackerman
c. Willis O’Brien
d. Ray Bradbury


4. The popular 1960s TV series “The Munsters” used a prop dinosaur head for their fire-breathing pet “Spot.” What dinosaur film was “Spot” first created for?

a. The Giant Behemoth (1959)
b. King Kong (1933)
c. The Land Unknown (1957)
d. Dinosaurus! (1960)


5. In 1956 Ray Harryhausen and Willis O’Brien collaborated to create the amazing stop motion dinosaur footage for Irwin Allen’s documentary “The Animal World.” What later fantastic film used this footage?

a. Trog (1970)
b. Creatures the World Forgot (1971)
c. Prehistoric Women (1967)
d. The Mountain at the Top of the World (1971)


6. What Japanese “Kaiju Ega” film attempted to fully explain how Godzilla was created?

a. Godzilla 1985
b. Revenge of Godzilla (1959)
c. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1992)
d. Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)


7. In the 1959 Eugene Lourie dinosaur flick “The Giant Behemoth”, why was it important to destroy the Paleosaurus without blowing it to bits?

a. The monster was extremely radioactive
b. the Behemoth was loaded with a deadly corrosive acid
c. The creature’s blood contained an unknown virus
d. The dinosaur’s toxic flatulence could overpower the city


8. Irwin Allen released his remake of “The Lost World” in1960. Exactly where was the lost plateau of dinosaurs located?

a. In Antarctica
b. In the Canadian wilderness
c. In a South American jungle
d. On a remote Pacific island


9. 1964’s “The Sound of Horror” featured a very unique prehistoric menace. What made this dinosaur so different?

a. It came from another planet
b. It didn’t consider humans a threat
c. It was an expert dancer
d. It was invisible


10. What was the only pre-CGI dinosaur film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Visual Effects?

a. One Million Years BC (1966)
b. When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1971)
c. Gorgo (1961)
d. King Kong (1933)


11. In 1988 famed cartoonist Don Bluth struck box office gold with his animated gem “The Land Before Time.” How many direct-to video sequels have been made since the original was released?

a. twelve
b. nine
c. ten
d. eight


12. In the dino magnum opus “Gorgo” (1961), why was the creature called “Gorgo”?

a. It was a descendent of the actual Gorgosaurus dinosaur
b. It was given that name by the young boy Sean (Vincent Winters)
c. It was so frightening that it was named after the fearful mythological Gorgon
d. It was named after one of the first people who saw it


13. How many film appearances did Godzilla’s son (aka “Minya”) make in the Japanese series of big “G” films?

a. two
b. three
c. four
d. five


14. In Ray Harryhausen’s wonderful “The Valley of Gwangi” (1969) how many different dinosaurs appear in the film?

a. four
b. seven
c. one
d. five


15. The low budget dino fest “The Beast of Hollow Mountain” (1956) was based on an idea from what famous Hollywood filmmaker?

a. Ray Harryhausen
b. Merrian C. Cooper
c. George Pal
d. Willis O’Brien


16. Classic dino films usually have a scene where the hero uses modern technology to destroy the prehistoric menace. Which one of these films lists the incorrect method of killing the title beast?

a. Dinosaurus (1960) – a construction crane
b. The Crater Lake Monster (1977) – a dump truck
c. The Giant Behemoth (1959) – a mini submarine
d. King Dinosaur (1954) – the atomic bomb


17. Which one of the following dino movies did not feature a flying dinosaur?

a. Destroy all Monsters (1968)
b. When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1971)
c. One Million BC (1940)
d. The Land that Time Forgot (1975)


18. In the 1995 film “Godzilla vs. Destroyah”, how did Godzilla actually die?

a. Godzilla’s level of radiation rises to the point where he actually melts down
b. The Destroyah creatures succeed in penetrating Godzilla’s tough skin and devour him from the inside
c. The Super X-3 cadmium missiles kill big G
d. Little Godzilla accidentally kills big G


19. “You know, all my life I hoped this would happen. Ever since childhood, I’ve expected it. I knew these creatures were alive somewhere, but I had no proof, no scientific proof. And I had to keep it to myself or my colleagues would have laughed at me.”

This reflective speech is from what classic dino feature?

a. The Land Unknown (1957)
b. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
c. Baby, Secret of the Lost Legend (1985)
d. The Giant Behemoth (1959)


20. How many dinosaur films did Ray Harryhausen animate during his illustrious career?

a. four
b. five
c. three
d. six


Scroll down for answer key...

































Answer Key

1. b – Honda directed 11 Toho films with dinosaurs and a total of 25 Toho films

2. b – Only the Styracosaurus is based on a real prehistoric creature

3. d – Ray Bradbury. Bradbury got his revenge when at the movie’s premiere he went up to producer Lippert shook his hand and told him that his dino movie “wouldn’t make a dime.”

4. c – “The Land Unknown” (1957)

5. a – Trog was also the last movie for screen legend Joan Crawford!

6. c – “Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah” showed how a regular dinosaur (that previously protected Japanese troops on a war-torn island) was transformed by an atomic blast into the big G

7. a – The Behemoth was intensely radioactive

8. c – In a South American jungle

9. d – The dino was invisible

10. b – “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” (1971) (the animator was Jim Danforth)

11. a – There have been 12 direct-to-video sequels!

12. c – The owner of Dorkin’s Circus (actor Martin Benson) gave the creature its name for its mythological value

13. d – The little squirt appeared in five movies with his more fearsome dad

14. a – There are four dinosaurs in the movie: a Pteradon, an Ornithomimus, a Styracosaurus and of course Gwangi the Allosaurus. The Eohippus is a little horse

15. d – Willis O’Brien wrote the original story

16. b – The Plesiosaurus was destroyed by a snow plow

17. c – The Hal Roach original didn’t have a flying dinosaur

18. a – Godzilla has a literal meltdown, but his energy enters his dead son’s body and revives him

19. d – This wistful speech is from the film’s paleontologist Dr. Sampson (Jack MacGowran)

20. a – Though he filmed many experimental dinosaur projects, he only completed four: “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” (1953), “The Animal World” (1956), “One Million Years B.C.” (1966) and “The Valley of Gwangi” (1969)

Prehistoric Scorecard

0-5 correct: Trilobite – Yes, you are a prehistoric worm! How can you possibly know where the dino genre is heading when you don’t know where it’s been? Your destiny is to be stomped under foot by a much larger creature unless you go back to Netflix and search out some of these classic dino features. Uh oh. Did I just hear an impact tremor?

6-10 correct: Gorosaurus (from “King Kong Escapes” [1967]) – I know you think you’re good and know it all, but that’s all relative isn’t it? Sure, there are tasty young morsels for you to snack on (and gloat over), but if you don’t hit the DVR and catch up on these classic dino-mite dino movies, something bigger is going to come along and gloat (and probably snack) on you! So pick up that remote and get cracking!

11-15 correct: Rhedosaurus – All right, you deserve some props. You can kick some major dino movie butt, and you definitely can make a major city cry uncle. But you’re not there yet! If you don’t go back and re-watch some more of these dino flicks, you’ll always be susceptible to that radioactive isotope!

16-20 correct: Godzilla (King of the Monsters) – Take a bow. You’re the man (I mean the monster!). Nobody can touch you when it comes to dino movie trivia knowledge. There’s no getting around it. You’re one prehistoric bad-ass! Now I suggest you head out and stomp a city flat.

Selected References

Berry, Mark F. The Dinosaur Filmography. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 2002.

Galbraith, Stuart IV. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 1994.

Harryhausen, Ray and Dalton, Tony. An Animated Life. New York, New York: Billboard Books. 2003.

Marrero, Robert. Giant Monster Movies – An illustrated Survey. Key West, Florida: Fantasma Books. 1994.

Ryfle, Steve. Japan’s Favorite Mon-Star – The Unauthorized Biography of “The Big G.” Chicago, Illinois: LPC Group. 1998.

Senn, Bryan and Johnson, John. Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 1992.

Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties (The 21st Century Edition). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 2010.

Webber, Roy P. The Dinosaur Films of Ray Harryhausen. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 2004.

He is known for playing the role of attorney Fred Gailey in the 1947 Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street. Our Classic Cinema Star of the Month is John Payne.

John Howard Payne was born on May 23, 1912 in Roanoke, Va. to Ida Hope, a singer, graduated from the Virginia Seminary in Roanoke and married George Washington Payne, a developer in Roanoke.

John attended prep school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania and then went to Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York City in the fall of 1930. He studied drama at Columbia and voice at Juilliard School. To support himself, he took on a variety of odd jobs, including wrestling and singing in vaudeville.

In 1934, a talent scout for the Shubert theaters spotted Payne and gave him a job as a stock player. He traveled with the show for 2 years and in 1936 he landed a contract at Samuel Goldwyn, and he left New York for Hollywood. He worked for various studios until 1940, when he signed with 20th Century Fox. Fox made him a star, in 1940s musicals. Than in 1947 Payne's most popular role may be his final film for Fox, that of attorney Fred Gailey in Miracle on 34th Street. Later in his career Payne changed his image and began playing tough-guy roles in film noir and Westerns and one of his film noir's is our feature of the month, Kansas City Confidential.

Kansas City Confidential follows Joe Rolfe (Payne) an ex-con who's trying to go straight with a job as a deliveryman for a florist company. A Criminal master mind has been watching him and he and his gang of thugs have arranged a bank robbery using a van that looks just like the one driven by Rolfe. So Rolfe himself takes the fall for the heist. When Rolfe is taken in by the police and accused and subsequently released for lack of evidence; he sets out to find the ones that set him up. His search leads him to Mexico and a love affair with the gang leader's daughter. Will John clear his name and live happily ever after or will he be done in by the bad guys? You'll have to watch the film to find out.

This film features a great supporting cast featuring Lee Van Cleef, Preston Foster, Colleen Gray and a very young and thin Jack Elam. The gangsters are rough and play rough. While there is no blood the violence is more than you would expect from a 50s film noir.

John Payne was a contract star with Pine-Thomas Productions where he shrewdly insisted that the films he appeared in be filmed in color and that the rights to the films revert to him after several years, making him wealthy when he rented them to television. Payne went on to star as Vint Bonner, an educated, commonsense gunfighter, in the tv western series The Restless Gun.

In March 1961, Payne suffered extensive, life-threatening injuries when struck by a car in New York City. His recovery took two years. In his later roles, facial scars from the accident can be detected in close-ups.

Later in life, Payne, became wealthy through real estate investments in Southern California. Payne was married 3 times and had three children… John Payne died on December 6, 1989 in Malibu, California, of congestive heart failure , he was 77.

So uncover some of John Paynes work did much more than just Miracle on 34th street. Until next time this is Jason Lockard reminding you if you want to see a good movie check out a classic.

Moral Rating: Violence
Audience: Teen and Adults
Genre: Film Noir
Length: 99 min.
Released: 1952
Our Rating: A
 

The 1950s are acknowledged as the first great decade for the sci-fi film. And if you take a look at the world during that time, it’s easy to see why they dominated the cinematic landscape. The world was changing so fast that it was almost too much for people to comprehend, and thus very frightening.

Movie producers (being the opportunistic type) seized on these fears and struck box office gold time and time again with imaginative tales that started with the question “what if”? The result was some true sci-fi classics. From 1951’s “The Thing from Another World” to 1954’s “Them”, and 1956’s “Forbidden Planet”, the 1950s were the home of some iconic sci-fi movies that remain beloved to this day.

And the images from these movies seared themselves into the sub-consciousness of millions of malleable young minds. Some of the kids who saw and fell in love with these films went on to become writers and film makers themselves. They never forgot the thrills they felt watching these classics over and over again, so when the opportunity presented itself, they created their own versions.

The first “remakes” of sci-fi films from the 1950s were made in the 1960s by American International. AI had signed a contract to provide sci-fi movies to TV stations around the country so they decided to use their own films as a basis for some remakes. They gave a young filmmaker from Texas named Larry Buchanan an obscenely tiny amount of money (less than $60,000 for each movie) along with their original scripts and told him to recreate their low-budget wonders. The results (including “The Eye Creatures” [1966] and “Creature of Destruction” [1967]) are still considered among the worst movies ever made.

But not all remakes are worthy of such disdain. So this month we’ll look at four different 1950 sci-fi classics that were remade in the 1980s. The original ideas from these films were used as the launching point, but each movie explores different themes and bears the distinctive vision of its creator.

1. THE THING (1982 – Universal) - Director: John Carpenter

In the winter of 1982, boredom is setting in at the American scientific outpost in Antarctica. The quiet is shattered by the arrival of a terrified sled dog being hotly pursued by a Norwegian helicopter. Upon landing, the agitated crew tries to kill the exhausted husky, but instead are destroyed themselves. The dog is taken in by the Americans, and later that night it transforms into a hideous monster and tries to absorb all of the other sled dogs. Quick thinking by pilot MacReady (stalwart Kurt Russell) and several others destroy the creature before it can harm any humans. The next day MacReady and Doc Copper (Richard Dysart) fly out to the Norwegian outpost and find it totally destroyed. They gather what scientific notes they can (along with a strange burnt out corpse) and return to their base. After an examination, scientist Blair (the great A. Wilford Brimley) realizes that the Norwegians discovered a spacecraft long buried in the Antarctic ice along with its occupant. He deduces that the alien awoke from suspended animation and comes from a horrible species that can absorb and imitate any life form perfectly. And if Blair’s calculations are right, this species will take over the earth in about a year, unless it can be stopped. Now all of the Americans look on each other suspiciously. If they can’t determine who’s human and who’s not, the team (and all of the earth) are doomed.

Although now acknowledged as a sci-fi classic, John Carpenter’s seminal remake of the Howard Hawks’ favorite was vilified in the media when it was first released (I remember a review in Starlog magazine being especially brutal). No one seemed to understand what Carpenter was trying to accomplish, which was to go back and film John W. Campbell’s original novella, since Hawks only used the basic premise of an alien and an Arctic location for his version. Carpenter used Campbell’s idea of a shape-altering alien and updated it for the greedy me-first 1980s. The characters here aren’t as likeable as those in the original, but that makes the paranoia they feel more unsettling and their fear becomes very, very palpable. People hastily form bonds with others and then turn on each other a moment later, all in an effort to survive. Carpenter assembled a great group of actors who all turn in bravura performances, from the terse and laconic Russell to the intense Brimley. Rob Bottin’s make up effects were a wonder to behold back in 1982 and though they look a bit rubbery now, they still are the stuff of genuine nightmares. “The Thing” remains one of John Carpenter’s greatest cinematic triumphs and gets better and better with repeated viewings.

Quotable Movie Line: “I know what you mean Blair. Trust is a hard thing to come by these days. Maybe you’d better just trust in the Lord.”

2. INVADERS FROM MARS (1986 – Cannon Group) - Director: Tobe Hooper

Young David Gardner (Hunter Carson) lives with his parents in an idyllic small American town. But early one morning David sees a strange light-covered object descend into the sand pit nearby his house. Mom (Larraine Newman) and Dad (Timothy Bottoms) don’t believe him, but later go out to investigate. When they return, both are cold and robotic, and David also notices a strange mark on both of their necks. At school David notices the strange behavior of his teacher Mrs. McKellch (Louise Fletcher). She also has that mark on the back of her neck. David follows her after school right to a cave above the sand pit. He enters a weird doorway and realizes that he’s now in a spaceship from Mars inhabited by ugly monsters that are enslaving humans and want to take over the earth. David runs away in terror, but no one will believe his wild tale until the kindly school nurse Linda (Karen Black) realizes that David is genuinely frightened. She drives David to the nearby rocket base so they can alert General “Mad Dog” Wilson (Pathmark ad man James Karen). The general believes David’s story because there have been acts of sabotage at the base. Troops are mobilized and the military descends on the sand pit, ready to kick Martian butt. But before they can attack, David and Linda are sucked under the sand. Now the Marines must send a rescue team in before they can blast the aliens right back to Mars.

After watching his remake, it’s clear that Tobe Hooper has a genuine love and affection for William Cameron Menzies original 1953 paranoid classic (he even casts Jimmy Hunt, the star of the original movie in a cameo). But by updating the film to the 1980s, he makes two major mistakes. The first is his choice of production design. Menzies was the greatest production designer of all time (David Selznick coined the term specifically for Menzies for 1939’s “Gone with the Wind”). And his set designs for the original evoke an ethereal dream-like feeling throughout, which makes the famous “it’s only a nightmare ending” plausible. Hooper’s design ignores this aspect so the dream ending approach seems to come out of left field. It doesn’t work. The other main problem is that Hunter Carson was not a good choice for the lead role. While he has that generic 1980s child look, he doesn’t convince you of his character’s fear and paranoia. And that’s critical for “Invaders from Mars” to work. Hooper does sprinkle the film with some good in-jokes (such as the original Martian alien head that can be seen in the school basement) and there’s a lot of good special effects from John Dykstra (“Star Wars”) and Stan Winston (“Jurassic Park”), but that said, “Invaders from Mars” is a tepid and lackluster remake. Coming from the man who gave us “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974), I expected a lot more.

Quotable Movie Line: “Don’t worry David. Marines have no qualms about killing Martians!”

3. THE FLY (1986 – 20th Century Fox) - Director: David Cronenberg

Scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) tries to convince beautiful science reporter Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) of the importance of his research. He cons her into joining him at his laboratory/loft and successfully demonstrates his device – a pair of telepods that can instantaneously transport matter between them. Veronica is amazed and wants to write about Seth’s invention. But Seth refuses and instead offers Veronica the option of filming him as he continues to refine his telepods (they can’t transmit living tissue– yet). Veronica agrees, and as the two work closely together they also fall in love. But one day when Veronica returns home, she finds her mentor (and former lover) Stathis Borans (John Getz) in her apartment. She throws him out, but while she’s gone, Seth mistakenly thinks that she has left him. So he bravely enters one of the telepods and transmits himself. He emerges and feels revitalized. When Veronica returns, she is at first amazed at Seth’s accomplishments, but later is frightened by his alarming physical changes. The scientist slowly becomes grossly misshapen. Seth works diligently to discover the cause of his illness, and at last discovers that a common housefly entered the telepod moments before he transmitted himself. Seth is no longer human, but a horrible combination of human and housefly. He knows that it is only a matter of time before his insect side takes over his human side. The only way to become more human is if he teleports himself with another human being. And his insect side tells him that Veronica would make a perfect test subject.

David Cronenberg’s “The Fly” stands shoulder to shoulder with John Carpenter’s “The Thing” as one of the great remakes of classic sci-fi. The movie is an intense and gut-wrenching experience. A lot of critics point out that this movie is a metaphor for the AIDS epidemic that was sweeping the nation in the 1980s and I can see that. But to me Cronenberg is also examining the consequences of growing up emotionally stunted. Seth is the epitome of the 1980s super company worker; supremely gifted, talented and driven to the point where his work is his soul passion. He has not grown emotionally, and has never had mature, natural relationships, especially with the opposite sex. When Veronica comes into his life, he is both smitten and emotionally overwhelmed, so much so that when he learns that Ronnie has gone to see Stathis, his immediate reaction is so emotionally juvenile that it leads to an action that seals his doom. Veronica is much more mature than Seth and as he physically changes, she is the first to warn him about this. Seth merely thinks that all his changes are the result of some great transformation of the species that he’s undertaken for mankind (the whole plasma pool thing). He realizes his error only when the physical changes take control of him.

Cronenberg has made a mature adult sci-fi/horror film that has lost none of its power 27 years later. Featuring outstanding performances by Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis (along with Oscar-nominated makeup by the great Chris Walas), this is a draining movie experience. And it’s one of those movies that stays with you long after you’ve turned off your DVD player.

Quotable Movie Line: “You’re afraid to dive into the plasma pool, aren’t you? You’re afraid to be destroyed and recreated, aren’t you? I’ll bet you think that you woke me up about the flesh, don’t you? But you only know society’s straight line about the flesh. You can’t penetrate beyond society’s sick, grave fear of the flesh. Drink deep or taste not the plasma spring. See what I’m saying?”

4. THE BLOB (1988 – TriStar) - Director: Chuck Russell

In the small vacation town of Arborville, things are rough. Business is bad and all of the townspeople are hoping that an early winter will bring in skiers. However, the town’s situation dramatically changes when a meteorite crashes in the nearby woods releasing a blob of sentient protoplasm. The monster first attaches itself to a homeless man (Billy Beck) who’s rescued by teenagers Paul Taylor (Donovan Leitch) and Meg Penny (Shawnee Smith). They take him to the town hospital accompanied by town punk Brian Flagg (Kevin Dillion). At the hospital, the blob grows and consumes the old man, and devours Paul right in front of Meg’s horrified eyes. No one believes her story of a large jelly-like creature, so Meg sneaks out of her house to find Brian so they can search for evidence of the beast. Meanwhile, the many disappearances in town alarm the local sheriff Herb Geller (Jeffrey DeMunn). But by the time a military contamination team led by the sinister Dr. Meddows (Joe Seneca) arrives in town, the creature has grown to such gigantic proportions that it is in no mood to be contained.

While Chuck Russell’s lively movie doesn’t have the innocent charm of the Steve McQueen original, his “Blob” remains a terrific 1950s remake. Among its virtues are a competent and scary script courtesy of Russell and then newcomer Frank Darabont. Darabont and Russell knock off cast members left and right so you’re never sure who’s going to survive the blob attacks, which forces you to be concerned for just about everyone. Just as you get to like a lot of these characters, they’re consumed in horrible, disgusting ways. They also take a cue from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 masterpiece “Psycho” by killing off a main character. There are also many inventive, creative deaths in the film including a cook being sucked in and digested through a sink drain (a cinematic first!). Lyle Conway (Creature Effects), Tony Gardner (Makeup Effects) and Hoyt Yeatman (Visual Effects) all contribute spectacular pre-CGI effects that help sell the all consuming nature of the blob. Featuring solid direction by Russell, and good performances by supporting actors Jeffrey DeMunn, Candy Clark, Joe Seneca and Del Close, “The Blob” is a satisfying and grisly remake that comfortably stakes out its own niche in the world of 1950s remakes.

Quotable Movie Line: “Well you’re meteor brought something all right. But if it’s a germ, it’s the biggest son of a bitch you’ve ever seen.”
 

These are certainly not the only remakes of 1950s sci-fi (see below for some additional entries, along with a few suggestions of which ones Hollywood should remake), but they are among the more worthy entries. And it’s probably only a matter of time before the entire catalog gets the CGI treatment. After all, Hollywood prefers to recycle and re-invent rather than to create something new!

Additional Remakes of 1950s Classic Sci-Fi Movies (not a complete listing)

1. Godzilla (1998) – Godzilla’s body looks far too humanoid.
2. War of the Worlds (2005) – Love the Tripods, but Tom Cruise? Really?
3. The Quatermass Experiment (2005) – BBC remake not shown here yet.
4. It Came from Outer Space (2006) – Sloppy Sy Fy garbage without the lyricism or intelligence of the original.
5. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978, 1993, 2008) – so good it’s been remade 3 times!
6. Not of This Earth (1988, 1995) – Roger Corman loves to remake this!
7. Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman – Remade for HBO in 1993.
8. The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) – disastrous, useless remake of the Robert Wise classic.

1950s Sci-Fi Films that Should be Remade

1. The Crawling Eye (1958) – this pulpy tale of cantaloupe-like aliens living in the Swiss mountains is literally ripe for a remake.
2. Kronos (1957) – A great ignored semi-classic about a giant energy-sucking dreadnaught sent from another galaxy.
3. I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958) – another neglected thriller about disgusting aliens who want to mate with earth women.
4. The Lost Missile (1958) – a fantastic sc-fi and disaster movie all in one!

Selected References

Muir, John Kenneth. Horror Films of the 1980s. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 2007.

Senn, Bryan and Johnson, John. Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 1992.

Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties (The 21st Century Edition). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 2010.

My name is Jason S. Lockard and I love classic cinema and they don’t come more classic than our star of the month Al Jolson!

Al Jolson was born Asa Yoelson on May 26, 1886 in the Jewish village of Srednik near Kaunas in Lithuania. He was the youngest of Rabbi Moses Reuben and Naomi Yoelson's five children. In 1894, Moses Yoelson moved his family to New York to secure a better. Tragedy struck the family when wife and mother, Naomi, died in later that year. Asa was in a state of withdrawal for seven months after his beloved mother's death.

In 1895 Asa and his brother Hirsch were introduced to show business by entertainer Al Reeves and by 1897 the brothers were singing for coins on local street corners, using the names "Al" and "Harry". In spring of 1902, he accepted a job with Walter L. Main's Circus. Although originally hired as an usher, Jolson was given a position as a singer during the circus's Indian Medicine Side Show segment. By the end of the year, however, the circus had folded and Jolson was again out of work.

Al Jolson went on to perform in burlesque shows and even moved to vaudeville forming a team with his brother "Harry". While performing in a Brooklyn theater in 1904, Al decided on a new approach and began wearing blackface makeup. The conversion to blackface boosted his career, and he began wearing blackface in all of his shows.

Al Jolson's unique singing style would make him a star he would go on to make many #1 records star on many radio programs and headline many films probably most notably 1927's The Jazz Singer, but just a short 6 years later he would star in our Classic Cinema feature for the month Hallelujah, I'm a Bum.

The film follows Bumper (Jolson), a popular New York tramp, who rescues the mayor's girlfriend June Marcher who has amnesia and is attempting suicide. After rescuing her Bumper falls for the beautiful woman and vows to make something of himself so he can marry her and live happily ever after!

Will Bumper have that happy little life? Will June regain her memory? Will the mayor find her? All these questions are answered in this little romantic musical comedy!

While the controversial "blackface" that Jolson wore made many feel he was racist; nothing could be farther from the truth. Jolson promoted the play by black playwright Garland Anderson, he brought an all-black dance team from San Francisco that he tried to feature in his Broadway show; he demanded equal treatment for Cab Calloway, with whom he performed a number of duets in his movie The Singing Kid. Al Jolson was the only white man allowed into an all black nightclub in Harlem.

In his heyday, he was called "The World's Greatest Entertainer". In the 1930s, he was America's most famous and highest-paid entertainer. On October 23, 1950 while playing cards in his suite at the St. Francis Hotel at 335 Powell Street in San Francisco, Jolson collapsed and died of a massive heart attack. His last words were said to be "Boys, I'm going.". He was 64.

I highly suggest you go out and find some of these Al Jolson films they bring you back to a simpler time and it's a great escape from the hustle of everyday life. So until next time this is Jason Lockard reminding you if you want to see a good film check out a classic!

Moral Rating: Nothing offensive.
Audience: All Audiences
Genre: Musical comedy
Length: 82 Minutes
Our Rating: A

When I was a little kid, my parents would always drag my sisters and me to see their special friends. They lived a good hour away and I hated to go because there was nothing ever to do at their house. They had two sons, but both were substantially older than me so they didn’t have any toys to play with. They were also very, very tall (which always freaked me out). They usually ignored me, but this one time (I believe I was four) their oldest son came up from behind me while I was in their backyard, grabbed me in his arms and repeatedly (and sadistically) threw me in the air as high as he could. I was terrified and began to blubber and scream for him to stop, but he just kept throwing me in the air. Finally, after a minute or so his mother came out and yelled at him, but the damage was done. I was inconsolable and cried for a good hour. Afterwards, every time my parents wanted to go back to visit, I begged to be left at my grandmother’s. There was no way I ever wanted to see that mean human giant again.

For centuries, stories about giants have scared the crap out of us. Giant humans have been a mainstay of mythology and literature since biblical times. From David battling Goliath, to Odysseus fighting the Cyclops, books are filled with examples of human giants squabbling and fighting with their smaller cousins. These gargantuan are usually presented as somewhat slow and dimwitted, and are always outfoxed by their smaller human brethren. One of the best known children’s tales, “Jack and the Beanstalk”, is a perfect example of this. Young Jack is able to outwit the stupid giant and return back home with a ton of treasure for his poor mother.

With this well of material to draw from, it’s no surprise that movie producers began to make films with human giants. From “Giant from the Unknown” (1957) to “War of the Gargantuas” (1967), Hollywood (and Tokyo!) have churned out movie after movie with giant human menaces. And with Bryan Singer’s “Jack the Giant Slayer” opening, this trend shows no evidence of slowing down. So here’s a quick look at three older, fantastic films that feature a giant human menace. They may vary in the quality of their special effects, but each one serves as a building block for later movies about giant humans.


1. THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN (American International, 1957) - Director: Bert I. Gordon

At a secret military test site a group of soldiers led by Colonel Manning (Glenn Langan) prepare for the detonation of America’s first Plutonium bomb. Suddenly Manning sees a small plane crash in the middle of the test site. He runs out into the test area to try to rescue the downed pilot. Before he can, however, the bomb explodes and Colonel Manning is subjected to the full force of the explosion. But miraculously, he doesn’t die. Instead, he begins growing at a rate of eight to ten feet a day. Soon he’s 60 feet tall and a growing problem for the U.S. Army. Manning’s fiancé (Cathy Foster) is at first relieved to see that he survived the explosion, but is puzzled when a few days later the hospital tells her that they’ve never heard of him. Through her own dogged perseverance, she’s able to track him down to a secret military base in Nevada and is understandably upset at his new condition. Manning rapidly begins to lose his mind, until by the end he becomes a monster and rampages through Las Vegas, destroying landmarks and generally making a nuisance out of himself. His fellow soldiers have no choice then but to blow him off Boulder Dam.

If there ever a was a filmmaker who loved working with giants, it had to be Bert I. Gordon (Mr. BIG). Throughout his career he made five films that dealt with giant humans. “The Amazing Colossal Man” was one of Bert’s best. It was a huge hit and it’s easy to see why. First and foremost there is Glenn Langan’s caring performance. He generates a lot of sympathy as the soldier who can neither control nor reverse the massive changes going on in his body. He’s able to communicate with everyone for a good portion of the film, so the audience understands the frustration he feels. Bert’s special effects (he usually did his own effects in his films) are also better than usual. Instead of just using mattes and split screens, he also had some special props built as well, which also add credibility and realism to the scenes where Langan runs around Las Vegas. The only exception is the giant hypodermic needle made by low budget effects artist Paul Blaisdell. It’s just hysterically bad. But despite this gaffe “The Amazing Colossal Man” remains a most satisfying “giant” movie. It’s so good that it’s actually surprising that no one has remade it yet.

Quotable Movie Line: “I don’t want to grow anymore. I just don’t want to grow anymore!”



2. THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER (Columbia, 1960) - Director: Jack Sher

British physician Dr. Lemuel Gulliver (Kerwin Matthews) is very poor, so poor, in fact, that he tells his fiancée Elizabeth (June Thorburn) that he can’t marry her until he makes his fortune. So he pays for passage on a ship and sets sail for India. During a storm, he’s swept overboard and finds himself washed ashore on an island inhabited by little humans known as Lilliputians. After he establishes their trust, he helps them overcome their fiercest foe by carrying off all the enemy ships. But when he disobeys the Emperor (Basil Sydney) by refusing to open his eggs on the little end, the Lilliputians turn on him and force Gulliver to leave. He then travels to another island which is populated with giant humans known as Brobdingnagians. There he is reunited with Elizabeth (who also became shipwrecked) and treated as a pet of the King. But when the doctor uses science to treat the Queen’s indigestion, Gulliver is labeled a witch and he and Elizabeth flee and try to return safely to England.

By 1960, Ray Harryhausen had established himself as a bona fide special effects genius and had elevated stop motion animation into an art form with his amazing films. “The 3 Worlds of Gulliver” remains one of his best. It retains some of the satire and bite of Jonathan Swift’s novel and is visually stunning. While there are only two stop motion creatures in the film (the fight with the alligator is a fabulous highlight), Harryhausen’s use of split screen, sodium matting and forced perspective is simply spectacular. This film is an absolute visual delight and is especially enchanting for young children. I remember being dazzled by the array of special effects wizardry on display here when I first saw “Gulliver” in a local New Jersey movie theater. This is also one Harryhausen movie that features excellent performances. Kerwin Matthews is appropriately confused throughout as he meets humans of various sizes. He’s also a good swashbuckler in all of the fighting scenes. But perhaps my favorite performance is by Peter Bull as the evil sorcerer who’s mad at Gulliver for usurping him. The film also features a sonorous music score by the great Bernard Herman which is rich, vibrant, and dreamy. “The 3 Worlds of Gulliver” is a great “giant” fantasy and remains a sparkling tribute to the consummate skills of the legendary Ray Harryhausen.

Quotable Movie Line: “You can’t fool me. The criers are going though the square proclaiming your kindness. That means somebody is going to be executed soon!”



3. JACK THE GIANT KILLER (United Artists, 1962) Director: Nathan Juran

In medieval England, a young famer boy named Jack (Kerwin Matthews) is tending to his chores when he hears a young woman screaming. Jack then sees a fierce giant carrying off a pretty maiden. Without thinking of his own safety, Jack immediately attacks the giant. He manages to kill the beast and rescue the girl who turns out to be the royal princess Elaine (Judi Meredith). For his bravery, Jack is knighted by Elaine’s father, but the evil sorcerer Pendragon (Torin Thatcher) still manages to capture her. Jack decides to sail out to Pendragon’s castle, but his crew rebels and throws him overboard along with his young ward Peter (Roger Mobley). They are rescued by a Viking named Sigurd (Barry Kelley) who is in possession of a bottle that contains a magical Irish imp (Don Beddoe). Together the four adventurers travel to Pendragon’s evil lair and attempt to rescue the princess.

The history of the original “Jack the Giant Killer” is a fascinating Hollywood story. Producer Edward Small once turned down the opportunity to make “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” with Ray Harryhausen. After the film’s phenomenal worldwide triumph (it was the “Star Wars” of its day), Small decided to make his own similar film. He hired the same actors (Kerwin Mathews and Torin Thatcher), the same director (Nathan Juran) and employed stop motion for all the creatures in the film as well (a firm called Projects Unlimited did the effects). However, Columbia Pictures slapped Small with an injunction claiming copyright infringement and halted its release. The case was eventually settled and the film was distributed, but it was not the huge success Small hoped it would be (he even added musical numbers to it and rereleased it). Despite all the legal problems, “Jack the Giant Killer” is still a fun “giant” fantasy. All of the giants are humanoids in appearance and are quite menacing. And while the puppets themselves don’t have the level of detail that Harryhausen’s puppets always do, they are still well animated by a young Jim Danforth.

I remember loving this movie as a seven year old. The scene that stood out for me was when Pendragon’s witches descend on Jack’s ship. I was truly terrified and glued to my seat the entire time. All of the actors acquit themselves well and Don Beddoe is charming as the rhyming leprechaun. This is one of those movies that can be easily dismissed by a modern day audience, but is adored by those folks who first saw it as children. After more than 50 years, it’s still a ton of fun.

Quotable Movie Line: “What’s that? A little man you say? Oh for that there’ll be the devil to pay!”

Fun Movie Factoid: Here’s an interesting story about “Jack the Giant Killer.” Back in 1957/58 teenager Jim Danforth contacted Ray Harryhausen and told him of his interest in stop motion. Just as a young Ray was encouraged by his mentor Willis O’Brien, Ray generously invited the young Danforth out to his California studio and encouraged him about his work. The two struck up a great friendship and Danforth carefully watched how Ray worked his magic. Danforth later used many of these same techniques in “Jack the Giant Killer.” When Ray saw the film, he was upset that many of his cinematic secrets that he pioneered were being used on another company’s film. Supposedly, Ray never let another young animator watch him work that closely again.

Of course there are many more movies that feature human giants (see below for a partial list). But I will always be loyal to these three entries. They feature great colorful giants and are all solid examples of this incredible sub-genre.

Additional Movies with Human Giants

1. Atlas Against the Cyclops (1961) – Sword and Sorcery Movie

2. Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1958) – Allison Hayes is still the sexiest giant ever!

3. The Cyclops (1957) – Cheap Bert I. Gordon monster fest.

4. Frankenstein Conquers the World (1964) – Gothic horror and Kaiju Eiga meet!

5. Giant From the Unknown (1957) – Buddy Baer as a revived conquistador.

6. Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) – Bud Abbott and Lou Costello meet Buddy Baer.

7. The Magic Sword (1962) – Bert I. Gordon again!

8. Sword and the Dragon (1956) – Weird combination of sorcery and myth.

9. The Thirty Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959) – Lou Costello’s girl gets large!

10. The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962) – Moe, Larry and Curly Joe fight a two-headed Cyclops.

11. Ulysses (1955) – Classic with Kirk Douglas fighting a Cyclops.

12. Village of the Giants (1965) – Guess who? Yup – Mr. BIG once again.

13. War of the Colossal Beast (1958) – And one more Mr. BIG special!

14. War of the Gargantuas (1967) – Its giant vs. giant action as two huge monster brothers square off.

Selected References

Brosnan, John. Movie Magic. The Story of Special Effects in the Cinema. New York, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1978.

Naha, Ed. Horrors from Scream to Screen: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Greatest Horror and Fantasy Films of All Times. New York, New York: Avon Books, 1975.

Pettigrew, Neil. The Stop-Motion Filmography. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc, 1999.

Senn, Bryan and Johnson, John. Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 1992.

Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties (The 21st Century Edition). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. 2010.

My Name is Jason Lockard and I love Classic Cinema…. As a filmmaker myself I enjoy watching how directors take the productions and shape them into their vision. Where most people sit and enjoy the film I analyze them much to the dismay of people who watch films with me! Well this month I am going to uncover a gem of a film from one of the great directors from yesteryear; Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard.

Billy Wilder was born on June 22, 1906 entered the arts in his twenties becoming a screenwriter while living in Berlin. When the Nazi Party rose to power, Wilder, of Jewish decent, left for Paris. There he made his directorial debut. Than in 1933 he moved to Hollywood. Just a short six years later he would co-write the screenplay to the screwball comedy Ninotchka for which he would receive his first Academy award nomination. In another six years in 1942 he would release his first Hollywood directed film The Major and the Minor.

Billy Wilder's directing style was his belief that the screenplay was key. He avoided the cinematography of Hitchcock and Wells because he felt "shots that called attention to themselves would distract the audience from the story." I guess you can't dispute success though. Billy Wilder directed some of the greatest films in cinema history including, 1944's Double Indemnity, 1945's The Lost Weekend, 1953's Stalag 17, 1957's Witness for the Prosecution, 1959s Some Like It Hot and 1960s The Apartment, just to name a few. In 1950 Billy Wilder directed one of my favorite films Sunset Boulevard.

Sunset Boulevard is a classic film noir. The film opens with the camera tracking down Sunset Boulevard as police cars begin racing down it. The lifeless body of Joe Gillis floats in the swimming pool of a palatial mansion. As the police begin converging on the house Joe's voice narrates, in flashback style, the events leading up to his own murder.

Joe Gillis (William Holden) was an unsuccessful screenwriter who fleeing from repossession men in his car, one of Joe's tires blows out in front of a large and seemingly deserted mansion on Sunset Blvd. Hiding the car in the garage, he is called inside by an older woman. When Joe sees her he realizes he is in the presence of the long-forgotten silent-film star Norma Desmond played spectacularly by Gloria Swanson. When she learns that he is a writer, she asks for his opinion on a script she has written for a film about Salome that she hopes will revive her faded acting career. Joe flatters his way into a job as editor. Than the downward spiral into crazy obsession starts. So does Joe help Norma Desmond become a star again? How does Joe end up face down in the pool? All these answers are available when you watch Sunset Boulevard.

In 1968 Billy Wilder was given the AFI Life Achievement Award. In 1988, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. In 1993, the National Medal of Arts. On March 27th, 2002 at the age of 95 after battling cancer, Billy Wilder died of pneumonia in Los Angeles, California. Wilder died the same day as two other comedy legends: Milton Berle and Dudley Moore.

So this month marks the eleven year anniversary of the death of the great Billy Wilder. Well, this month I say celebrate Billy Wilder's great career by watching Sunset Boulevard or one of his other great films, you won't be disappointed! So until next month this is Jason Lockard reminding you if you want to see a good film Check out a classic!

Moral Rating: Mild Violence and Murder
Audience: Parental Guidance
Genre: Film Noir
Length: 110 Minutes
Released: 1950
Our Rating: A