ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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A sci-fi comedy from Lenny Bruce!

He co-authored the screenplay for this lighthearted satire, in which a small boy (George "Foghorn" Winslow, from "Mister Scoutmaster") is visited by a Klaatu-like alien who appears in the boy's room and gives him a gun that shoots truth rays. Anybody George zaps starts spouting the plain, unvarnished you-know-what.

In the hands of a child this proves devasting, naturally.

Starring a cast which, to tell the truth, just can't be beat: Spring Byington, Stanley Clements, Charles Coburn, and three notable science fiction alumni, John Agar, Anne Francis, and Beverly Garland (the female John Agar of 1950s sci-fi).

Now honestly, who could resist this movie? Not me, I swear! Directed by Oscar Rudolph.

Enjoy the trailer on Youtube.

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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]

I recently added this to the Day the Earth Stood Still thread, but it figured it might start a discussion here too.
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Classic Horror Film Board member skelton knaggs posted the photo below, along with this proud message.

Michael Rennie's suit from the DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) as it appeared in THE ROCKET MAN (1954)

Oh boy, this is the kind of thing I love doing, finding props from beloved movies and solving little mysteries connected with them.

The mystery this time is whether or not this is Klaatu's helmet and suit. The first part is easy. That is definitely Klaatu's helmet.

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And as for the suit, the rings on the collars match, but the sleeve rings on the "Rocket Man" suit are on the wrist, while the rings on Klaatu's suit are on the forearms. If it is Klaatu's suit, some alien seamstress has been hard at work making alterations. She probably had to take it in a little, because Michael Rennie was a tall, broad-shouldered fellow.

But you'd think the skilled non-human tailor with her nimble thimble would have told the poor alien guy how to wear the suit correctly!

His got it on backwards!



I guess this is about the only sci-fi movie from the 1950s I have never seen, and I can't find a download of it anywhere. But the trailer makes it look like a lot of fun!

And where else can you see John Agar playing Anne Francis' boyfriend?



But Fox Cinema Archives has it, and Amazon offers it for $20. I am SO tempted to get this one!


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

[orzel-w]

I got curious about that ray gun because of the muzzle's resemblance to that of an old toy ray gun made by Ideal, from the same era:



I eventually found a publicity photo with a good view of the prop:



It appears to be the Ideal Space Gun with a table or chair leg added.
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...or not...

WayneO
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[Krel]

Looks like they used the "Destination Moon" space suit control panel, maybe the tanks too. Can't tell, because there is no rear view.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

Great observation, Wayne! I love the way they fashioned a better "telescopic site", painted the gun a uniform color, and made the other enhancements you noticed.

[Pow]

I just watched this film for the very first time.

Kinda fun with a terrific cast even if the directing isn't always as smooth as it should be.

One of the first things that struck me with the opening title credits was the musical score. It is the same one used in the wonderful 1953 movie Mister Scoutmaster.

Panoramic Productions produced the movie and it was released through 20th Century Fox. Fox produced Mister Scoutmaster, so that could be the tie-in regarding the use of the same theme music.

The Rocket Man also utilizes other music from Mister Scoutmaster that served as background music for both movies.

And of course, the always entertaining George "Foghorn" Winslow starred in both Mister Scoutmaster & The Rocket Man.

The likable Spring Byington (December Bride) is the kind & goodhearted Justice of the Peace Amelia Brown.

The always fun to watch Charles Coburn as the small town mayor, courting Byington. He courted her before in the Universal movie Louisa from May 31, 1950.

Coburn had few sci~fi movies to his credit, but one was the Cary Grant-Ginger Rogers comedy Monkey Business that saw the discovery of a formula for youth.

The lovely Anne "Honey West" Francis who plays Spring's daughter is well remembered from the classic sci~fi film Forbidden Planet (1956).

Love interest John Agar amassed quite a few sci!fi movies, even if none can be considered superb.

Agar starred in: The Revenge of the Creature (1955), Tarantula (1955), The Mole People (1956), The Brain from Planet Arous (1957), Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957), Attack of the Puppet People (1958), Invisible Invaders (1959), Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962).

The fine character actor Paul Brinegar (Wishbone on Rawhide, 1959~1965), pops up in a small role.

Paul guest starred on an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, and Project UFO.

The familiar actor Stanley Clements shows up as a recently released from reform school felon. Clements appeared with Bing Crosby as a tough city kid in Going My Way. He later replaced Leo Gorcey as the leader in the final seven Bowery Boys movies.

Coincidentally, Gorcey & Clements appeared in the all time epic comedy movie It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World (1963), even though they didn't share any scenes together.

Beverly Garland plays Clements girlfriend/wife. Beverly was the star in her own TV series from the 1950s as a policewoman long before Angie Dickenson did the same thing decades later, and much earlier than Cagney & Lacey came along.

Garland's sci~fi credits: Science Fiction Theater "The Negative Man," It Conquered the World (1956), Not of this Earth (1957), The Twilight Zone episode "The Four of Us are Dying, and The Wild, Wild West.

The prolific actress is best remembered as the woman who married Steve Douglas (Fred MacMurray) on My Three Sons.

Charles Coburn & young George Winslow would both appear in the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

So yeah, TRM has a splendid cast even though this is strictly a "B" movie. It offers few visual effects with George's futuristic space rifle even though it performs some amazing & different functions.

Questions certainly abound for this picture.

Who exactly is the mysterious alien and where is he from and why is here on Earth? The alien appears human. Is he really or is this a disguise of some kind? Why does he give Timmy (George Winslow) this amazing device?

He pops up in a cloud of smoke several times. Is this some form of transporter? We never do see any space craft of any kind.

As part of the plot we see John Agar mistaken for the Stanley Clements character by Byington & her daughter. Spring is expecting the Clements character & knows his name.

Later on we see Spring in her role of Justice of the Peace marry Clements to Garland.

He had to use his name for the vows. Sign documents.

How come Byington did not pick up on the fact that, during the wedding ceremony, Clements was who he was and Agar was pretending to be Clements?

Plot holes aside this is still a fun, innocent movie that manages to entertain in its lighthearted manner.

Just don't take it too seriously.

[Pow]

A sequel could have been fun for this little movie.

At the conclusion of the movie we see the smiling alien pop up once again in a cloud of smoke to Timmy.

The alien doesn't take back this incredible ray gun from Timmy.

Timmy could have used it again in a sequel. The ray gun could perform the same functions as seen in this film, or perhaps Timmy discovers it has other capabilities.

The sequel could also address the questions we have from the first movie.

Who this smiling alien is exactly? Why does he appear as a human? Where's he from and what's his mission? How did Timmy get selected to possess the ray gun? Will Timmy be able to keep the ray gun as he grows up?

With a bigger special effects budget, the sequel could have looked spiffier than the first film.

[Bud Brewster]

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Mike, you've done it again — inspired me to run with your wonderful suggestion, just to see what I could do with it.

So, here's what I came up with.

Since the prop used as the alien device is actually a modified toy which some of us owned as kids, what if the alien is a representative of a toy company on a another planet, and he gives the strange gizmo to George Winslow so the boy can test the "user friendliness" and durability of the product in the hands of an actual child!

George turns out to be such an effective product tester that the alien comes back in the sequel, collects the toy from George, and gives him several other technologically advanced toys to test — which of course results in new and hysterically comic predicaments!

The alien also provides George with a hi-tech little robot who protects him from accidentally misusing the toys and harming himself in some unforeseen manner. The clever robot is designed to pass as a common toy sold here on Earth.

~ Click the image belolw to see a larger, sharper image of Bobby the Robot and his beautiful details!


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The robot is capable of transmitting reports concerning the results of George's tests and his efforts to master the devices' functions.

In addition to this, the robot provides George with helpful hints about what the toys are capable of — without making it too easy for the boy to figure out things for himself, since George is testing the devices for their user friendliness.

Naturally every good story must have some kind of conflict and drama. For that reason, this story includes a threat to our noble young hero.

Two unscrupulous men (Russian spies, perhaps) realize that these "toys" incorporate advanced technology, so they plot to steal them . . . and they aren't overly concerned about the safety of this innocent child!

Ah, but little do these villains realize that George is an exceptionally intelligent kid, and that he's armed with devices which can do strange and unpredictable things — although they are not intended to be harmful.

In the hands of our brilliant little space cadet, these advanced mechanisms can be used in amazing ways to thwart the evil efforts of George's greedy but foolish foes!

And don't forget that George has a powerful little ally, Robert the Robot (by Marx™) — an advanced robot in disguise who was specifically sent here with instructions to protect George from harm! So, when the thieves do something that threatens the little guy, Robert the Robot goes into action, an advanced machine who will do whatever is necessary to protect his young ward!

Finally, there's the fact that the robot will transmit a message to the aliens as soon as George is in a dangerous situation — a situation directly caused by his possession of the alien technology!

The climax would involve the timely arrival of alien representatives from the interstellar toy company (not to mention their lawyers.)

These kindly extraterrestrials would take a dim view of adult humans who threatened to harm a child, and they would race through interstellar space to save the brave little boy!





What I'm suggesting is that these aliens have been involved in secret activities on Earth for quite some time. In fact, we can state that the spaceman who gives George the toys is actually an Earthling employed by these aliens to select kids who can test the hi-tech devices!

That way we don't have to explain why he doesn't look like the aliens he's been employed by for several years.

Just for the record, this story takes place prior the alien planet's involvement in a terrible interplanetary war which wrecks their civilization and renders them incapable of the numerous interstellar commercial activities which has greatly enriched their economy.





However, at the time Rocket Man 2 takes places the home planet of these benevolent aliens has many successful companies which provide wonderful products for their customers on other worlds — even Earth!

Isn't that ironic? We never suspected that many of the toys we played with as kids were actually manufactured by an alien company whose corporate logo features a clever adaptation of the name of their own home world!



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

[Gord Green]

Bud, another reason you may like this movie is the way this film was advertised. A touring rocket was used to promote the film.

Look familiar???


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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

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Holy crap! Another one? Wow!

Oops, I almost forgot that you posted that picture on page 1 of the thread called The Amazing "Touring Rockets" of the 1950s!.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Bud, your ideas for a sequel are all excellent!

Your plot of having the alien return to have Timmy try out multiple toys would give the audience a variety of nifty looking futuristic props to see.

I'm a fan of robots, so having one tag along with Timmy would also be cool. The reasons that the alien place the robot with Timmy are all very sound & logical.

The Soviet agents introduces a foreign espionage flavor to it all.

I'm wondering if, in addition to the USSR agents, there could also be a plot where Timmy is able to do something beneficial on a national or even planetary scale? He'd remain anonymous but he would have helped out in some manner his nation, or world in the process?

[Bud Brewster]

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I totally agree!

In fact, Timmy's relationship with the alien representatives of the interstellar corporation which provides (among other things) hi-tech educational toys for children on Earth and other planets would naturally lead to an interplanetary coalition between Earth and Metaluna!

By the way, I had fun creating the modified Mattel™ logo. I didn't plan for it to look like two colliding red giants, it just came out that way.

I've always thought that Metaluna must have had several colony worlds which survived after the home world was destroyed.

So, despite the tragic conclusion of This Island Earth, a sequel to both it and this whimsical "prequel" would be entirely possible.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

From Bill Warren's book.

The Rocket Man has a standard small town plot supposedly enlivened by the addition of science fiction material.

If this film had been made five years previously, the gimmick would have been fantasy without any SF elements at all.
But because it was made in 1954, and there was considerable interest in space travel, aliens, ray guns and the like, a totally unexplained man from outer space appears (in Klaatu's space suit) at the beginning and the end, and gives the title to the film.

His motivation for helping the little boy is never given (could he be the father?), and the ray gun's ability to tell the truth has no scientific rationalization. It's simply that a gun from outer space could be expected to do almost anything; this one doesn't disintegrate people, it makes them truthful.

This kind of unpretentious but lackluster family fare soon vanished from movie screens. By the late 1950s, the only studio still turning out juvenile-oriented films supposedly for the whole family was Disney Studios.

It's a film that aims low and doesn't even hit the mark.

The movie is a minor item, made for a specialized market, a typical film of its kind with some science fiction trappings.

Notes from me: Warren doesn't think too much of this film as you can tell.

The movie clearly had a modest budget which did hurt it in some scenes. With more $$$ they could have constructed a space ship and done some nifty flying effects with it similar to The Day the Earth Stood Still & Earth Versus the Flying Saucers.

Sets could have been built so that we see Timmy receive the ray gun from the alien inside the alien vessel.

Makeup could have been created for the alien to truly appear alien and not simply a human wearing Micheal Rennie's space suit. All of this could have resulted in explanations from the alien about their purpose here and why they gifted their ray gun to Timmy.

The ray gun emitted a truth beam at people. Not sure what such a beam would look like. Since it was supposed to be invisible so that individuals wouldn't realize they were hit with it, as well as any nearby observers being able to see it, it would be senseless to create an animated effect for it.

Unless it was a situation where only Timmy could see the beam somehow.

However, I find this a fun film with all its faults. Stronger script, better pacing, better budget & more visuals would have all been doable if this had been a Walt Disney film. It could have been something along the lines of The Absent-Minded Professor in that respect.

However, it had to work within the restrictions it had. It remains fun family fare even though it could have been better than it is.

[Gord Green]

Pow, just another "Thank you!!!" for your research!
I'm constantly astounded and fascinated by your amazing posts!
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

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Gord is right, you da man, Mike!

Your analysis of The Rocket Man is very well written, and when I finally get to see the movie (either on TCM or when I break down and buy it), I'll be ready to accept its flaws and appreciate its virtues, thanks to you.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)