ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Scientist Robert Shayne developes a serum that reverses evolution.

He uses it on his housekeeper and regresses her to a cavewoman state, then he tries it on himself and ends up stalking the area as an ugley, hairy-faced monster. Several transformation scenes are shown, but they aren't very well done, and the makeup consists of a stiff mask, completely without mobility. In the end, Shayne is killed by the sabre-toothed tiger he creates from a house cat.

Co-starring Richard Crane (TV's "Rocky Jones - Space Rangers").

Directed by E. A. Dupont. Not well done -- but suppose Shayne had used the serum on a few lizards, a squirrel, and an elephant in the local zoo. Persto! A herd of stop-motion dinosaurs, a giant tree sloth, and a wooly mammoth!

Just a thought.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Shout Factory provided this short (but very sharp) clip from the DVD they sell. I watched a download of the movie a few month ago, and it wasn't very impressive I'm afraid. Ah well . . .


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has 5 trivia items for this movie, and they're all somewhat interesting.
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~ When the Professor gives his talk to the Scientific Society, he uses the Piltdown Man in the progression "Chimp - Java Man - Piltdown Man - Cro-Magnon Man - Neanderthal Man - Modern Human."

The Piltdown Man was a fake fossil that was comprehensively debunked in 1953, the same year that the film was released.

Note from me: Well, since Richard Crane was really just a "fake caveman" in a movie, I guess you could say he was more Piltdown than Neanderthal anyway!

~ When a saber-tooth tiger attacks George, the close-up image of the beast is a cheap stuffed animal with long teeth added in and whiskers drawn in. The image only appears for a second.

Note from me: Good heavens, the scientist's serum proved that modern cats actually evolved from cheap stuff animals!

~ This provided a rare top billed role for veteran character actor Robert Shayne. It came about during the same period that he got the role that would finally make him famous, Inspector Henderson on "The Adventures of Superman" (1952) television series.

Note from me: Yes, indeed, we all shout the same thing whenever we see Mr. Shayne in any movie or series. "Hey, it's Inspector Henderson!"

~ Robert Shayne finally got top billing in a film but, his name was misspelled as "Robert Shane" in the credits. His name was spelled properly on the poster and other promotional material.

Note from me: Oops! Sorry about that, Inspector!

~ In the first bar scene when the hunter pours beer from the bottle to the glass, the beer is totally flat, no foam appears in the glass.

Note from me: Man oh man, that is definitely the sign of low budget movie. They could only afford flat beer!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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I wish the image was sharper on this YouTube copy, but if you're in the mood for this movie, it might suffice.

________________ The Neanderthal Man 1953


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)