It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

An at times quite frightening and atmospheric film achieved by means of economy and simplicity

Spoilers follow below…..

In a “future” 1973, the first manned expedition to Mars has been attacked and destroyed by an unknown life form which somehow later manages to stow away on the rescue ship. There is only one survivor from the initial ill-fated expedition: the leader, Col. Edward Carruthers. He is being brought back to earth under suspicion of having murdered his fellow astronauts! Will he have to face a firing squad for the crime of murder, or can he prove his claim that a Martian monster is to blame for the deaths of his crewmates?

Director: Edward L. Cahn
Screenplay: Jerome Bixby
Music composed by: Paul Sawtell, Bert Shefter
Producers: Edward Small, Robert E. Kent
Makeup: Paul Blaisdell
Narrated by Marshall Thompson
Cinematography: Kenneth Peach
Edited by Grant Whytock
Production company: Vogue Pictures, Inc.
Distributed by United Artists
Running time: 68 min.

Cast of Characters

Col. Ed Carruthers: (played by Marshall Thompson) Captain of the first expedition to Mars. All his crewmates were killed by the creature, but he is the one blamed for it.

Col. Van Heusen: (played by Kim Spaldin) Captain of the rescue ship that is sent to rescue Ed Carruthers and his crew. Initially he is hostile towards Carruthers and manages to become infected by the alien stowaway.

Major John Purdue: (played by Robert Bice) He gets injured and spends most of the movie with a bandage on his head.

Eric Royce: (played by Dabbs Greer) Mary's husband we can assume. 

Dr. Mary Royce: (played by Ann Doran) The ship’s doctor.         

Ann Anderson: (played by Shirley Patterson) Scientist and love interest for Carruthers. 

Lt. James Calder: (played by Paul Langton) Suffering a broken ankle and armed with only a blow torch, he becomes trapped between a couple of induction pumps by the monster. 

Bob Finelli (played by Richard Benedict) & Gino Finelli: (played by Richard Hervey) Brothers who fall victim to the creature. 

It!: (played by Ray Corrigan) A Martian life-form that stows away on the rescue ship and sets about picking off the crew one-by-one so that it can drain them of all their bodily fluids. The creature appears to be impervious to bullets, fire and radiation.

Movie Clip

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I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)

A commendable sci-fi film with impressive camerawork, mature dialogue, effective special effects, and good acting - but one that deserves a much better title!

I Married a Monster from Outer Space is set in the fictional town of Norrisville, California where Bill Farrell is having his bachelor party on the eve of his marriage to Marge Bradley. After leaving the bachelor party, he is abducted by an alien that takes on his form. The alien “Bill” marries Marge the next day. It doesn’t take long, however, for Marge to feel that there is something different about Bill. After a year of marriage, Marge realises that Bill has become a completely different man!

How does Marge deal with this revelation?

What else is discovered about this impostor?

Who else has been affected?

What is the purpose of this strange alien invasion?

Directed by Gene Fowler Jr.
Produced by Gene Fowler Jr.
Written by Louis Vittes
Music by Daniele Amfitheatrof, Hugo Friedhofer, Leith Stevens, Franz Waxman, Victor Young
Cinematography: Haskell Boggs
Edited by George Tomasini
Production company: Paramount Pictures
Running time: 78 minutes
Budget: $125,000

Cast

Tom Tryon: Bill Farrell
Gloria Talbott: Marge Bradley Farrell
Peter Baldwin: Officer Hank Swanson
Robert Ivers: Harry Phillips
Chuck Wassil: Ted Hanks
Valerie Allen: Francine - Hooker
Ty Hardin: Mac Brody (as Ty Hungerford)
Ken Lynch: Dr. Wayne
John Eldredge: Police Capt. H.B. Collins
Alan Dexter : Sam Benson
James Anderson: Weldon
Jean Carson: Helen Rhodes
Jack Orrison: Officer Schultz
Steve London: Charles Mason
Maxie Rosenbloom: Max Grady (Bartender)

Trailer

What It Means To Be A Man

Despite the corny-sounding title, I Married a Monster from Outer Space, the film has a lot more depth to it than its title might suggest. For one thing, it speaks volumes on what it means to be a “MAN” in the modern world.

At the time the film was made, there was a lot more certainty surrounding gender roles and expectations. It would have been expected that males would wind up being the bread-winner and head of the family while women would be expected to be largely subservient home-makers and mothers.

As far as conventional male and female relationships is concerned, I Married a Monster from Outer Space calls into question the then contemporary concept of maleness. It even continues to do so sixty years later when right now in the early 21st Century many males often find themselves grappling with trying to figure out what their role in society is supposed to be. This can be quite a daunting task particularly at a time of re-evaluation of gender roles; the push toward gender equality; the increasing feminisation of society and perceived social & political correctness in matters concerning expressions and manifestations of maleness.

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A Tribute To Bert I. Gordon

The Amazing Colossal Film Worlds

Of

"Mister B.I.G."

One thing you may have noticed throughout a number of the films featured in this blog is the name of American film director, Bert I. Gordon. Gordon was famous for such science fiction movies as The Amazing Colossal Man, its 1958 sequel, War of the Colossal Beast and Attack of the Puppet People. (The last two films will be featured in this blog soon.)

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

Classic Sci-Fi Film Ladies: Part 4 (1957 – 1958)

Welcome to yet another one of the tributes to the wonderful ladies who appeared in the classic sci-fi films of the 1950s. We’ll start off with…..

Not of This Earth (1957)

With Beverly Garland as Nadine Storey

Mr Johnson, an alien from the planet Davanna, has come to Earth seeking a new supply of blood because his people are dying out. Mr Johnson sends human specimens through a portal to Davanna. Nurse Nadine Storey and Mr Johnson’s chauffeur, Jeremy become suspicious concerning Mr Johnson’s activities and team up to investigate.

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Giant from the Unknown (1958)

A rather cheap and pedestrian sci fi film with an absurd premise, lots of “stuff” happening, rather unconvincing acting, somewhat dull dialogue and a largely unimpressive “monster’ character. Perfect viewing fare for a rainy afternoon!

Directed by Richard E. Cunha
Produced by Marc Frederic, Arthur A. Jacobs
Written by Ralph Brooke, Frank Hart Taussig
Music by Albert Glasser
Cinematography: Richard E. Cunha
Distributed by Astor Pictures
Running time: 77 minutes

Cast

Ed Kemmer: Wayne Brooks
Sally Fraser: Janet Cleveland
Bob Steele: Sheriff Parker
Morris Ankrum: Dr. Frederick Cleveland
Buddy Baer: Vargas the Giant
Oliver Blake: Cafe Proprietor
Jolene Brand: Ann Brown (as Joline Brand)
Billy Dix: Indian Joe
Gary Crutcher: Charlie Brown
Ned Davenport & Ewing Miles Brown: Townsmen

Trailer

In your endless wanderings throughout the 1950s classic sci-fi universe, you manage to trudge into yet another film world, this time with your coat collar turned up high around your neck and your coat buttoned up tightly against the onslaught of wind and rain from a thunderstorm. As you make your way through a mountain forest, you fail to notice a warning sign in the form of a 16th century axe embedded in a log of wood.

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Fiend Without a Face (1958)

More than just another atomic cautionary tale that is saved by a rip-roaring climax with a pretty nifty use of stop motion animation.

Directed by Arthur Crabtree
Produced by John Croydon & Richard Gordon
Written by Herbert J. Leder
Music by Buxton Orr
Cinematography: Lionel Banes
Edited by R.Q. McNaughton
Production company: Amalgamated Productions
Distributed by MGM (USA), Eros Films (UK)
Running time: 77 min.
Budget: £50,000 (estimated)
Box office $650,000 (on double bill)

Cast

Marshall Thompson: Maj. Cummings
Kynaston Reeves: Prof. R.E. Walgate
Kim Parker: Barbara Griselle
Stanley Maxted: Col. Butler
Terry Kilburn: Capt. Al Chester
James Dyrenforth: Mayor
Robert MacKenzie: Const. Gibbons
Peter Madden: Dr. Bradley
Gil Winfield: Dr. Warren
Michael Balfour: Sgt. Kasper
Launce Maraschal: Melville
Meadows White: Ben Adams
E. Kerrigan Prescott: Atomic Engineer
Lala Lloyd: Amelia Adams
Shane Cordell: Nurse

Trailer

U. S. Air Force Interceptor Command Experimental Station No. 6 is a long-range radar installation located in Winthrop, Manitoba, Canada. Its function is indicated by the periodic overhead slicing of the sky by supersonic jets and the demented electronically choreographed nodding and swivelling tracking motions of the radar antennae.

As darkness slowly and silently slides over Air Force experimental station 6, a sentry stops to light up a smoke when suddenly he hears strange sounds emanating from the nearby woods. A scream from the woods brings the sentry running to investigate where he soon finds the body of a man with a hideously distorted face.

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Earth vs. the Spider (1958)

A cheap, brisk, enjoyable and cheesy fun film

Directed by Bert I. Gordon
Produced by Bert I. Gordon
Written by László Görög, George Worthing Yates
Music by Albert Glasser
Cinematography: Jack A. Marta
Edited by Walter E. Keller
Distributed by American International Pictures
Running time: 73 minutes
Budget: $100,000

Cast

Ed Kemmer as Mr. Kingman
June Kenney as Carol Flynn
Eugene Persson as Mike Simpson
Gene Roth as Sheriff Cagle
Hal Torey as Mr. Simpson
June Jocelyn as Mrs. Flynn
Mickey Finn as Sam Haskel
Sally Fraser as Mrs. Helen Kingman
Troy Patterson as Joe
Skip Young as Sam (the bass player)
Howard Wright as Jake
Bill Giorgio as Deputy Sheriff Sanders
Hank Patterson as Hugo (high school janitor)
Jack Kosslyn as Mr. Fraser (camera club teacher)
Bob Garnet as Springdale pest control man
Shirley Falls as switchboard operator
Bob Tetrick as Deputy Sheriff Dave
Nancy Kilgas as a dancer
George Stanley as one of the men in the cavern
David Tomack as the power line foreman
Merritt Stone as Jack Flynn (Carol's dad)
Dick D'Agostin as the pianist

Film Excerpt

In our own age of gross hyperbole, overstatement and exaggeration, the title, “Earth vs. the Spider” makes perfect sense as a means to achieving a particular end. After all, who would want to go and see a film titled, “Small town of River Falls takes on big spider?” Strip away the bullshit and what are we really left with? As far as Earth vs the Spider is concerned, read on to find out…..