The Trollenberg Terror [aka The Crawling Eye] (1958)

An underrated atmospheric sci-fi film that combines competent acting with tight direction but with mediocre special effects.

Directed by Quentin Lawrence
Produced by Robert S. Baker, Monty Berman
Written by Jimmy Sangster
Story by Peter Key
Based on 1956 TV series
Music by Stanley Black
Cinematography: Monty Berman
Edited by Henry Richardson
Production company: Tempean Films
Distributed by Eros Films Ltd. (UK)
Distributors Corporation of America (US)
Running time: 84 minutes

Cast

Forrest Tucker as Alan Brooks
Laurence Payne as Philip Truscott
Jennifer Jayne as Sarah Pilgrim
Janet Munro as Anne Pilgrim
Warren Mitchell as Professor Crevett
Frederick Schiller as Klein
Andrew Faulds as Brett
Stuart Saunders as Dewhurst
Colin Douglas as Hans
Derek Sydney as Wilde
Richard Golding as first villager
George Herbert as second villager
Anne Sharp as German woman
Leslie Heritage as Carl
Jeremy Longhurst as first student climber
Anthony Parker as second student climber
Theodore Wilhelm as Fritz
Garard Green as Pilot
Caroline Claser as Little girl

Trailer

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The Independent Star

Your Weekly View into The Unknown….

In this week’s issue…..

• The disappearance of Professor Quatermass – Dead or In Custody? 
• What happened to the United States Air Force’s 7,600-pound (3,400 kg) Mark 15 nuclear bomb? Was it simply “lost” in the waters off Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia in the United States? 
• What is Project A119 and has the US Air Force detonated a nuclear bomb on the moon? If so, then why?

Feature Article

A remote Swiss mountain resort under threat! 

Alien invaders! 

Telepathic communication! 

Mysterious extra-terrestrial inhabitants of a radioactive cloud!

Be amazed by Philip Truscott’s strange account of the events in which he personally took part, in his article, “The Trollenberg Terror.”

Read on to find out more about the horror of the Trollenberg Terror.......

The Strange World of Planet X / Cosmic Monsters (1958)

Overall, an interesting but somewhat pedestrian and routine 

sci-fi film with special effects failings 

Directed by Gilbert Gunn
Produced by George Maynard, John Bash
Written by Paul Ryder, Joe Ambor
Music by Robert Sharples
Cinematography: Josef Ambor
Edited by Francis Bieber
Distributed by Eros Films (UK)
Distributors Corporation of America (US)
Running time: 75 minutes

Cast

Forrest Tucker as Gil Graham
Gaby André as Michele Dupont
Martin Benson as Smith
Alec Mango as Dr. Laird
Wyndham Goldie as Brigadier Cartwright
Hugh Latimer as Jimmy Murray
Dandy Nichols as Mrs. Tucker
Richard Warner as Inspector Burns
Patricia Sinclair as Helen Forsyth
Geoffrey Chater as Gerard Wilson
Hilda Fenemore as Mrs. Hale 

Cosmic Monsters Trailer

Strange happenings in rural Britain! 

Disruptive magnetic fields affecting distant objects! 

A freak storm and blasts of cosmic radiation! 

Giant mutant insects and spiders! 

Unidentified flying objects from outer space! 

A strange visitor from “a long way off!” 

Impending disaster descending from on high! 

What can all this mean???? 

Read on for more and find out…….

Attack Of The Puppet People (1958)

Although not on a par with "The Incredible Shrinking Man," the effects are OK considering the low budget, the acting performances are competent and the film’s pace never allows boredom to set in. 

Directed by Bert I. Gordon
Assistant director: Jack R. Berne
Produced by Bert I. Gordon
Executive producers: Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson
Written by Bert I. Gordon, George Worthing Yates
Music by Don A. Ferris, Henry Schrage
Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo
Edited by Ronald Sinclair
Distributed by American International Pictures
Running time: 79 minutes

Cast

John Agar: Bob Westley
John Hoyt: Mr. Franz
June Kenney: Sally Reynolds
Susan Gordon: Agnes
Michael Mark: Emil
Jack Kosslyn: Sgt. Paterson
Marlene Willis: Laurie / Theme song Vocalist
Ken Miller: Stan
Laurie Mitchell: Georgia Lane
Scott Peters: Mac
June Jocelyn: Brownie Leader
Jean Moorhead: Janet Hall
Hank Patterson: Janitor
Hal Bogart: Special Delivery Man
Troy Patterson: Elevator Operator

Trailer

A deranged doll-maker afraid of being alone! 

A machine that can shrink humans down to only a few inches tall!

A collection of miniature prisoners forced to perform and serve as living dolls! 

What can the pint-sized plaything puppets do to save themselves? 

Read on to find out more......

The Space Children (1958)

An intelligent underrated low budget science fiction film with a strong message

Directed by Jack Arnold
Produced by William Alland
Screenplay by Bernard C. Schoenfeld
Story by Tom Filer & based on The Egg by Tom Filer
Music by Van Cleave
Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo
Edited by Terry O. Morse
Production company: Paramount Pictures, William Alland Productions
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Running time: 69 minutes

Cast

Michel Ray: Bud Brewster
Adam Williams: Dave Brewster
Peggy Webber: Anne Brewster
Johnny Washbrook: Tim Gamble
Jackie Coogan: Hank Johnson
Richard Shannon: Lieutenant Colonel Alan Manley
Raymond Bailey: Dr. Wahrman
Sandy Descher: Eadie Johnson
Larry Pennell: Major Thomas
Peter Baldwin: Security Officer James
Ty Hardin: Sentry
Russell Johnson: Joe Gamble
David Bair: Saul Wahrman
Johnny Crawford: Ken Brewster
Eilene Janssen: Phyllis Manley

Trailer

A father takes up new job at a top-secret Air Force base in California.

A family apprehensive about this sudden upheaval in their lives.

What’s this - a strange light in the sky aimed at the beach?

Strange powerful telepathic communications from an unknown source!

An alien presence in the form of a growing brain within the cave near the beach!

A missile project, designed to place a hydrogen bomb in orbit, capable of being used on any target in the event the United States is threatened!

Children being used to persuade parents of the danger posed by the project!

Will the parents be prepared to listen?

What will the alien brain do if the children’s appeals are ignored?

Read on for more.....

The Lost Missile (1958)

An over-ambitious very low-budget film with a Cold War-era message and an over-reliance on Air Force and Civil Defense stock footage

Directed by Lester Wm. Berke
Produced by William A. Berke, Lee Gordon
Screenplay by John McPartland, Jerome Bixby
Story by Lester Wm. Berke
Music by Gerald Fried
Cinematography: Kenneth Peach
Edited by Everett Sutherland
Production company: William Berke Productions, Inc.
Distributed by United Artists
Running time: 70 minutes

Cast

Robert Loggia as Dr. David Loring
Ellen Parker as Joan Woods
Phillip Pine as Dr. Joe Freed
Larry Kerr as General Barr
Marilee Earle as Ella Freed
Kitty Kelly as Mama
Lawrence Dobkin as Narrator (voice)

I would recommend that you watch The Lost Missile and follow it up with two classic films with similar themes, Dr. Strangelove [1964] and Fail-Safe [1964]. However, before you begin watching The Lost Missile I would suggest by way of introduction that you check out the following chilling information concerning “Project Pluto.”

Reality Catches Up With Fiction

Project Pluto was a US government program to develop nuclear powered ramjet engines for use in cruise missiles. Two experimental engines were tested at the United States Department of Energy Nevada Test Site in 1961 and 1964. Project Pluto seemed to operate much like "The Lost Missile": a cruise missile (supersonic low altitude missile) that would fly at Mach 3 at 1000 feet, dropping multiple nuclear weapons and destroying everything it passed over by means of a sonic boom and the radiation from its atomic ramjet.

Project Pluto (SLAM)

The lost Missile Trailer

Read on to find out more.......

The H-Man (1958)

The H-Man

美女と液体人間

(Bijo To Ekatai-Ningen)

A slow-paced allegory about the effects of radioactivity conveyed via a disconcerting clash of plot elements from both the crime and science fiction genres.

Directed by Ishirō Honda
Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
Screenplay by Takeshi Kimura
Story by Hideo Kaijo
Music by Masaru Sato
Cinematography: Hajime Koizumi
Edited by Ichiji Taira
Production company: Toho
Distributed by Toho
Release date: 24 June 1958 (Japan)
Running time: 87 minutes
Country: Japan

Cast

Yumi Shirakawa as Chikako Arai
Kenji Sahara as Dr. Masada
Akihiko Hirata as Inspector Tominaga
Makoto Satō as Uchida the gangster
Korenari Senda as Dr. Maki
Eitaro Ozawa as Inspector Miyashita
Hisaya Itô as Misaki, the dissolved gangster
Machiko Kitagawa as nightclub hostess
Yoshio Tsuchiya as Detective Taguchi
Naomi Shiraishi as Mineko, Dr.Maki's assistant
Kô Mishima as Kishi, gangster in nightclub
Yoshifumi Tajima as Detective Sakata
Tetsu Nakamura as Mr. Chin, gangster
Haruya Katô as Mattchan the Fisherman
Ayumi Sonoda as Emi, lead exotic dancer

Trailer: Japanese version

Trailer: American version

Read on to find out more........

A Tribute to Eugène Lourié

A film pioneer of many talents

Eugène Lourié, French film director, art director, production designer, set designer and screenwriter was born in Charkov, Ukraine on April 8, 1903. He was well known for his 1950s science fiction movies, some of which have been featured in this blog.

The Early Days

In 1919, Eugène Lourié worked on an anti-communist film titled Black Crowes. Having fled from the Soviet Union, he made his way to Istanbul where he earned enough money for a fare to Paris, France by painting and drawing movie posters.

Film career

While in Paris, Lourié studied painting and stage design. He designed sets and costumes for various ballet companies before turning his attention to film.

In the 1930s, Eugène Lourié worked as a production designer for the likes of such directors as Jean Renoir, with whom he worked on the French films, La Grande Illusion and La Règle du Jeu. Lourié took over as sole art director for the former film.

In the early 1940s, Lourié moved to Hollywood and worked with such directors as Sam Fuller, Robert Siodmak and Charlie Chaplin. He was art director for Chaplin's last American film, Limelight (1952).

In 1953, he made his directorial debut with The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, the first of three dinosaur films that Lourié would direct and which tended to typecast him as a science fiction film director. For these giant-monster films, Lourié often did the art direction and special effects on them as well.

After his 1961 film, Gorgo, Lourié stopped directing movies because he did not want to direct "the same comic-strip monsters."

He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1969 for best visual effects on the film Krakatoa, East of Java. In this film, Lourié made a non-speaking cameo appearance playing the part of a lighthouse keeper on the coast of Java in 1883 who observes Krakatoa's final cataclysmic explosive eruption and sends news of it to the outside world by telegraph.

In 1980, Lourié designed Clint Eastwood's Bronco Billy, and had an acting part in Richard Gere's 1983 film, Breathless.

Eugène Lourié’s Filmography

Jeanne (1934) 

The Bread Peddler (1934) 

Dark Eyes (1935) 

The Alibi (1937) 

The Messenger (1937) 

Ramuntcho (1938) 

The Lafarge Case (1938) 

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) 

The Colossus of New York (1958) 

Behemoth, the Sea Monster (1959) 

Gorgo (1961) 

Flight from Ashiya (1964) 

Crack in the World (1965) 

Krakatoa, East of Java (1969)

DeathLourié died on 26 May 1991 (aged 88) due to a stroke while in the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills. He was survived by his wife Laure and a daughter.

©Chris Christopoulos 2018