ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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One of the great things about science fiction is the amazing variety of the stories. Today’s Featured Threads include an alien ship that crash lands, a dead millionaire’s brain that lives without his body, and an aquatic creature which lives in the Amazon and likes to skinny dip with sexy ladies.
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It Came from Outer Space (1953)

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__________ "It Came From Outer Space" Trailer

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An early alien-visitors-in-the-desert sf tale from which several later fifties sci-fi pics took their cue. It's based on a story (or rather, a treatment) by Ray Bradbury, screenplay by Harry Essex. The 1st sf film directed by Jack Arnold.

An alien ship crashlands in the desert; this is witnessed only by a couple, John Putnam (Richard Carlson) and Ellen (Barbara Rush), who are relaxing in the man's house on the outskirts of the local town. Putnam is an avid astronomer and is instantly fascinated by what all this may mean, but his 'head-in-the-clouds' reputation causes problems for him later. He's the only one who manages to catch a glimpse of the alien ship at the crater he investigates, before a landslide buries the evidence. Everyone else just figures it was a standard meteor and regard his comments as wild talk.


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Pretty soon, however, a couple of the local handymen are behaving strangely — because they're not the same handymen any longer. Complicating matters further is the local sheriff (Charles Drake), who has a thing for Ellen and is hostile towards Putnam.

It boils down to the question of whether the aliens are benign or might be fabricating claims about simply needing to make repairs to quickly depart. Putnam becomes the sole reasonable voice (though Ellen backs him up) as everyone else is prone to panic or distrust.

Putnam, however, has his own innate prejudices to overcome: near the final act, he demands to see the alien as it truly appears, in the belief that he can handle the alien appearance; but, it proves to be a bit much for him.


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This retains some of the ideas and even poetic tonality from Bradbury's story (it should, as Essex copied much of Bradbury's treatment, just adding some dialog) and is one of the more intelligent sf offerings of the fifties. The key elements are the mysterious quality of the desert (when something alien might be there) and the sense of paranoia (when someone may not be who he seems).

There's also a commentary on how mankind needs to evolve before contact and relations with such aliens can be attained without violence; this preconfigures many later sf properties, the big one being Star Trek. It lacks a true sense of excitement that informs the best sci-fi films — but it's a thoughtful, elegant approach to the subject matter.

BoG's Score: 7 out of 10



Trivia From Outer Space: one of the handymen is played by Russell Johnson, later the Professor on Gilligan's Island.




BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus
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Donovan's Brain (1953)

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_______ Donovan's Brain (1953) - Official Trailer


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Based on the novel by Curt Siodmak and preceded by an earlier version, The Lady and the Monster (1944), this remains the most famous "super evil brain" movie, still regarded as the first and the best in most quarters.

Donovan refers to a ruthless, corrupt millionaire but we never actually see him; he is seriously injured in a small airplane crash in a desolate area as the story begins and is brought to the local doctor (Lew Ayres), who happens to be conducting radical brain experiments.

Specifically, Dr. Cory has managed to keep a monkey's brain alive outside the body. He is assisted by his wife (Nancy Davis a.k.a. Mrs. Ronald Reagan) and an alcoholic doctor (Gene Evans). Donovan dies almost immediately, but we can guess what Dr. Cory decides to do to further his experiments.




The new experiment is a great success — but even more than anticipated. The disembodied brain of Donovan actually thrives and even starts to grow in mass. Very soon, it begins to subtly manipulate and control Cory. When Cory goes to a California to conduct business, and his behavior & mannerisms are very un-Cory-like.

He is obviously behaving like a certain recently-deceased millionaire.

Donovan, using Cory's body, has certain plans to get back at various business partners and relatives who were trying to sabotage him before he died. Cory's wife and doctor friend realize what is happening, but they aren't sure what to do.

All this is unsettling and disturbing up to this point, but things escalate further with the interference of a snoopy reporter who also blackmails Cory for a couple of grand. When the reporter attempts to get more money, Donovan's brain deals with him with finality, and now we're talking outright murder.

Donovan's brain will dispose of anyone who gets in its way, and that includes Cory's wife and his friend. This brain will not go quietly into the night.

Some fans of this film think that the evil being represented here is big business (not science), but this also is off the mark. Donovan is someone who perverted the ideals of the business world. He was an aberration which, unfortunately, was pulled into Cory's scientific research.

The ending is curiously benign and anti-climactic.

BoG's Score: 7 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus
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Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

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_______ Creature from the Black Lagoon (trailer)


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I've never been a great fan of this one, even though it's among the most popular and famous of the fifties creature features. I wasn't sure what it was since first watching it as a kid — eventually I realized that I didn't like the studio set feel of this film for the bulk of the central act.

It was supposed to take place in the Amazon somewhere, but most of the scenes just projected this 'smallness' to the locale. Besides that, I just found much of it to be dull. This may have something to do with the fact that much of it, by necessity, takes place underwater. There are a lot of underwater swimming scenes and it's all just quite slow — and these also have the feel of a Hollywood tank, not a wild river or lagoon.



The film begins, for some reason, with one of those preambles about how the Earth was formed, in the biblical sense. It doesn't really fit the plot of the film, even though the main lead (Richard Carlson) waxes poetic about how life in the Amazon remains the same as it was in ancient times, including mythical stuff about rats the size of sheep.

The plot is jump-started by the finding of a claw-like fossil. An expedition financed by Richard Denning heads out to the spot. Their short trip is juxtaposed with shots of a live claw-like arm coming out of the water, posing a sinister threat. Indeed, some creature then kills a couple of natives already at the location.

Though the members of the expedition (including Julia Adams as Carlson's girlfriend and Whit Bissell) are alarmed in finding their dead employees, they proceed further as if this happens all the time.



As already inferred, others have a much higher opinion of this effort than I do: