ALL SCI-FI Forum Index ALL SCI-FI
The place to “find your people”.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

The Space Children (1958)
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies and Serials from 1950 to 1969
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17020
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 4:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Well, here we are . . . almost five months after I posted my carefully crafted summary of The Space Children on Wikipedia . . . and yet they've left it intact without chastising me for posting such a long and detailed description of the plot.

Bear in mind, guys, that I've submitted several other lengthy plot synopsis on Wikipedia for various movies. And yet I've frequently been soundly rebuked by them — after which my contributions were completely removed!

So, the fact that my The Space Children submission has survived this long is very gratifying! Very Happy

I'm proud of the fact that the entire web-surfing global community is now able to learn about the merits of this great movie from the very person who is the most devoted person to it!

Me. Cool

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


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Oct 16, 2022 6:05 pm; edited 3 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
alltare
Quantum Engineer


Joined: 17 Jul 2015
Posts: 351

PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2019 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In his Wikipedia article, Bud Brewster wrote:
Bud tells the adults that his group did what other groups of children have done in several other countries — they all sabotaged the rockets that would have carried dangerous nuclear devices into space, making it far too easy for mankind to destroy itself if such devices were ever used. The aliens were concerned about the welfare of mankind, so they relied upon teams loyal children all around the world to prevent mankind from making a terrible mistake.

A slight modification of only that final paragraph yields this alternate story ending:

Bud tells the adults that his group did what other groups of children have done in several other countries — they all sabotaged the rockets that would have carried dangerous nuclear devices into space, making them unavailable as weapons that the aliens could turn against Earth. The aliens wanted to eliminate us, so they relied upon teams of loyal children all around the world to prevent mankind from surviving by blowing up the rockets, spreading lethal nuclear dust over the planet. The children had been duped!

Bud- I enjoyed reading your version, too.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Eadie
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 1695

PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2019 6:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

How about the nuclear material was placed in safe storage until we could use the material (hopefully wisely) for peace and the children became the future leaders?
_________________
____________
Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
alltare
Quantum Engineer


Joined: 17 Jul 2015
Posts: 351

PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Eadie wrote:
How about the nuclear material was placed in safe storage until we could use the material (hopefully wisely) for peace and the children became the future leaders?

That doesn't sound like a very efficient way to conquer Earth.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17020
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Sun May 09, 2021 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

alltare wrote:
The aliens wanted to eliminate us, so they relied upon teams of loyal children all around the world to prevent mankind from surviving by blowing up the rockets, spreading lethal nuclear dust over the planet. The children had been duped!

Your comment made me wonder if the explosion of the rocket's warhead in The Space Children produced very much (it any) radiation at the launch site.

I don't think it would have, because the alien who mentally and physically guided the kids' sabotage operations would know how to create an explosion which would damage the rocket without exposing the bomb's nuclear fuel.

The explosion blew open the nose cone, and it might have caused some damage to the atomic warhead — but since the intention was just to prevent the launch, I think it's possible that no leakage of radiation took place.



__________


But this brings up the question of where the kids got an explosive device to plant in the rocket! Confused

We don't see the kids carrying anything when they snuck into the base and hid from the personnel as they made their way to the rocket.

Apparently the children simply served as the alien's "eyes" during the operation, while the alien performed the actual sabotage of the rocket by using the telekinetic powers it demonstrated in several earlier scenes — like opening a padlocked gate, sheering a truck's steering rod, and tossing Russel Johnson onto his back.






These acts demonstrated both strength and a delicate touch.

So, the most likely explanation for the explosion is that the alien skillfully tinkered with the rocket's mechanisms and caused the explosion of the nosecone when the firing button was pressed.
Cool
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Oct 16, 2022 6:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17020
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Fri Aug 05, 2022 8:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________________________

Here's a question: Will the aliens in this wonderful movie come back again to help mankind?

Here's a thought: After the alien (who looks like a 'solidified nebula) —






— much like the one shown during the title work and the one I found on line —






— and who helped mankind avoid making a terrible mistake before it rode a beam of light back to its mother ship —





— ever come back to follow up on our progress?

When the movie ends and Michel Ray's character answers this mother's question ("Will they ever come back?") he just says, "I don't know."

But if these benevolent and super-intelligent aliens sent an emissary to Earth to recruit our children to help it prevent mankind from destroying itself, they must believe we have the potential to someday join the other sentient species in the galaxy. Cool

So, the answer to the question which the mother of Michel Ray's asked him his obvious.

Yes . . . they will come back! Very Happy

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


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Oct 16, 2022 6:20 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17020
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Mon Sep 12, 2022 4:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

_______________________________

I found some very interesting info on the TCM website concerning this movie and the short story that inspired it.
_______________________________

According to modern sources, the name of Tom Filer's unpublished story was "The Egg" and it differed greatly from the Bernard Schoenfeld screenplay.

In Filer's story, Kathy, a young polio victim, finds an alien "egg" after a storm. Mysteriously told to protect the egg for ten hours, Kathy battles against her parents, neighbors and local authorities, who seek to destroy the ever-growing creature.

The egg then absorbs Kathy, only to suddenly vanish and leave the young girl cured of her lameness.

Modern sources state that the alien creature in The Space Children was built out of plastic by Ivyl Burks, the head of Paramount's prop department. In its largest state, the extraterrestrial prop weighed more than 1,000 pounds, measured five feet wide by ten feet long and contain over $3,000 worth of neon lights.

_______________________________

I've always wondered about that amazing prop. It's impressed me since the day I first say it in 1958! Very Happy








_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gord Green
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 06 Oct 2014
Posts: 2940
Location: Buffalo, NY

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2022 5:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

New one?


_________________
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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17020
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2022 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________________________

Hot damn, it is indeed! Very Happy

Here's the one at the top of this thread, which is the poster my friends gave me for my 40th Birthday — 24 years ago! Shocked






But obviously you've found a fine variation of the poster. In fact, it's much better artwork in some ways. Very Happy

Bravo!
Mr. Green



_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gord Green
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 06 Oct 2014
Posts: 2940
Location: Buffalo, NY

PostPosted: Sun Oct 16, 2022 10:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's a few more I found, including a couple of foreign ones.








_________________
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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Gord Green
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 06 Oct 2014
Posts: 2940
Location: Buffalo, NY

PostPosted: Thu Oct 20, 2022 12:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is a review that comes very close....

David-Puckett-17 June 2006

Last year I watched TCMs documentary WATCH THE SKIES. Seeing the clips from this movie, I vaguely remembered seeing it but wasn't quite sure. Since Steven Spielberg gushed about it I thought I would search for a copy.

I finally found a copy and watched it with my twin brother and a childhood friend of mine. Having seen it, I realize that I did see this movie. My brother and friend also remembered it and we agree that it was probably in the very early sixties. I was at most six years old at the time. When your six you don't concern yourself with the BIG MESSAGE.

What I really liked was monsters and aliens. This movie does not feature any exciting encounters with either. I guess the reason I liked it at the time was because kids were the main stars of the picture. They really don't do much, in fact nobody really does much in this picture, but that really doesn't matter.

Seeing it again as an adult, I am tempted to roast this movie for it's lack of production values, obvious low budget, lack of action and highly unrealistic storyline.

I agree with another reviewer, what is an unemployed drunk doing at a top secret missile facility. Why are children allowed to run all over the place? But why bother?

It doesn't really matter. There is a message here no matter how clumsily conveyed. The movie has good nostalgia value and that is probably the real reason I like it.

_________________
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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies and Serials from 1950 to 1969 All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3
Page 3 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group