ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Today we present one very grim science fiction movie, one very light-weight sci-fi film, and one rather unusual 1934 movie that's a mystery with a small sci-fi element.

But all three are very enjoyable,
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The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)



By sheer coincidence, both the U.S and the U.S.S.R each test a new and powerful atomic bomb on the same day, at the same moment. The double blast knocks the Earth from its orbit and pushes it closer to the sun. Global heating begins to fry mankind.

(Note: the concept relies on a serious over-estimation of the effect which an A-bomb would have on the mass of the Earth.)

Never mind the scientific boo-boos, the story is mostly a character study anyway, and the cast turns in great performances. Edward Judd (First Men in the Moon) and Janet Munro (Darby O'Gill and the Little People, The Crawling Eye) create characters well-worth watching.

Miss Munro is the hottest thing in the movie, despite the serious competition from an approaching sun. And yes, she wears both these outfits in the movie.



The first few minutes and last few minutes of the film are tinted red to portray the extreme heat that envelopes the Earth.



The rest of the movie is in black-and-white while the story relates the events that lead to the catastrophe that threatens mankind. Much of the story takes place in the newsroom of a London paper as the reporters pursue the tragic truth about Earth's wayward orbit, something the government is covering up.

It's an enjoyable film if you're prepared for the high concentration of melodrama. Directed skillfully by Val Guest. The DVD and the Blu-ray are highly recommended.
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Island of Lost Women (1959)

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This is apparently a very obscure, low-budget film released by WB in 1959 and shown on TCM on December 11, 2014 — and I'm not sure it's ever been on TV before. I'd never even heard of it until TCM showed it!

It's not really a bad movie, but it certainly doesn't have anything very noteworthy — except the three pretty girls who have grown up in Altaira-like isolation on an uncharted Pacific island with their Morbius-like father (Alan Napier, aka Alfred of Batman TV fame).

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The daughters are named after three planets — Venus, Mercuria, and (oh my goodness), Urana. I'm happy to report that they dress like that pretty girl from Altair 4, too. What was her name? Oh, right . . . Altaira. (Hmmm. I'm sensing a pattern here.)

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Two handsome pilots crash land on the island, and Alan won't let them leave because he thinks the civilized world is chock-full of evil, and he doesn't want his gorgeous young daughters or his super-duper power source to fall into the wrong hands.

The island is just a set, similar to a certain 1960s sitcom with seven castaways whose three-hour cruise turned into 98 episodes that will rerun forever. But the girls are just as cute as Ginger and Mary Ann. Lucky for them, the boys are noble souls who want to take two of them back to civilization and marry them.

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Mystery Liner (1934)

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Raise your hand if you like a mystery set aboard a ship at sea which is testing an amazing new vacuum tube that can steer the ship by remote control, while spies attempt to sabotage the test.

Right — that was a rhetorical question, because absolutely everybody loves stories like that! What's not to love?

Unfortunately Jimbo Berkey's website, Free Classic Movies has closed down and the movie is no longer available there.

However, read his personal connection to this wild and wonderful tale, which is called Mystery Liner. (<— link to YouTube version).

* The video of this rare 1934 science fiction mystery has and excellent picture and audio, from a very fine print.
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One day in the mid 1960's while my family was living in Meadville, Pennsylvania our television set went on the blink. It was broken, and dad would try to fix it himself.

He unplugged it and removed the back cover and peered inside. He carefully unplugged all of the various sized vacuum tubes and marked which tube came from which spot. Then he carefully placed them in a small cardboard box and asked if I would like to go to the drug store with him.

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Of course I wanted to tag along . . . I was fascinated by the mysteries of television. Inside the drug store there was a large machine with a panel that contained many different plug configurations that vacuum tubes could be plugged into.

One by one dad plugged each tube into the machine, and it would tell us if the tube was good or burned out. When he discovered which tube was burned out he went to the counter and purchased a replacement tube of the same kind.



Returning home with the replacement vacuum tube he carefully plugged in all of the tubes in their proper spot, replaced the back cover and plugged in the television set. I held my breath as he turned on the set and we watched it come back to life.

Wow! Dad was just about the smartest man alive in that moment . . . he could fix a television set!

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This 1934 ship-board murder mystery revolves around a secret vacuum tube named the 'S505' . . . this vacuum tube was so special that when plugged into a wall of electrical machinery it could navigate a large steamship by remote control from the shore many miles away.

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Now, to make this adventure more exciting, they will test it on a regular voyage with a ship full of unknowing passengers. Of course we need some bad guys, so evil enemy spies are trying to mess up the test, and we discover that the foreign spies have planted two spies among the people on board the ship.

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Add in a wonderful old granny who loves to flirt with old men almost as much as she loves her scotch whiskey and we have a deliciously complicated but fun spy adventure. Soon the murders pile up and we start to suspect everyone, even a phantom insane ship's captain who may have secretly come aboard.

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Pop a big bowl of white kernel popcorn with plenty of warm melted butter drizzled on top and enjoy the show!

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