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[Bud Brewster]

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

The “good” is The Space Children (1958), a movie that changed my life when I was ten years old!

The “bad” is From the Earth to the Moon (1958), and if I’d seen this one at the drive-in when I was ten, I’d probably have ended up being a sports fan!

The “ugly” is The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), a movie that would have left me hiding on the floor in the backseat of the family car at Roosevel Drive-in.

Fortunately, I had very enjoyable evenings which left memories similar to the modified images below.





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The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

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This second Hammer Frankenstein film, a sequel to The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), has Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) escaping the guillotine with the help of a confederate, a hunchback (referred to as "the Dwarf" in the credits) who also has paralysis on his right side.

Frankenstein has promised him a new body. Normally, such a promise would be ridiculous, but this is Frankenstein — he determines that the way to improve on his previous efforts is to transplant a living brain into a newly-prepared body (Michael Gwynne), as opposed to inserting the brain of someone deceased.

Frankenstein also acquires a new assistant, Hans (Francis Matthews), a young doctor who wants to learn from the master.

Frankenstein has transplanted himself to a new locale and uses the name Dr. Stein. There is a local medical council which regards the new doctor with some hostility, but overall things are going well for the doc.

The problems begin soon after the key brain transplant surgery. The surgery itself went fine — but then, enter the female character (Eunice Gayson), a young woman from a rich family who donates her time as a nurse. She unfastens the new man's restraints and, for whatever reason, he decides to go off the deep end. His body also starts to deteriorate into a version of his old body.

Evidently, Frankenstein's techniques still need to be perfected.



This film, as would all subsequent films in the series, plays up Dr. Frankenstein's arrogance, building on the character template established by both the writers and the actor, Cushing in the first film.

He obviously feels that he is the smartest man in the room in any situation, even when it involves other professionals. This ultimately proves to be his undoing in the coda: he considers himself invulnerable to a large extent and ignores the possibility that others are capable of doing him harm.

However, since he is Frankenstein, the ending reveals that he is capable of bouncing back from an otherwise fatal situation. The film also presented the supposed creature of the story as more of an ideal man, an Adam — which then degenerates. This premise was also used in the TV Frankenstein: The True Story in 1973.

BoG's Score: 7 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus
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From the Earth to the Moon (1958)

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One of several films trying to cash in on the Jules Verne name, in the wake of the very successful 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (54).

This one might be the biggest failure. It takes place just after the American Civil War and concerns two protagonists, played by Joseph Cotten and George Sanders. They are rivals but end up together on a spaceship to the moon due to their respective inventions — Cotten invented a new explosive dubbed "Power X" while Sanders has manufactured a new metal. Also along for the ride are a younger couple, played by Debra Paget and Don Dubbins.

Science is not a friend to this film — shooting people to the moon with a big cannon — and it's also deadly dull.

It takes a while for the new ship to get going to the moon and after a short but still very dull trip in space, there's a pretty grim conclusion: the ship splits in two — the two older gentlemen do end up on the moon (though we do not see this, it's only suggested), while the young couple end up in Earth's orbit where they are stuck until their portion of the ship burns up in re-entry.

The strangely fatalistic tone is made more odd by the cheerful mention of how the two older guys have landed safely with several days supplies, failing to follow-up with the fact that they will die of starvation after the supplies run out.

BoG's Score: 3 out of 10

From the Earth to Trivia: Over a decade later, actor Joseph Cotten guest-starred on an episode of The Virginian, A Time of Terror (broadcast in Feb. 1970), as a judge named Will McMasters. At one point, the regular character of Clay Grainger (John McIntire) states that Will McMasters couldn't take a bribe anymore than he could fly to the moon.

Maybe the judge did take a bribe . . .

_____ From the Earth to the Moon Original Trailer


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BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus
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The Space Children (1958)

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This is another low budget sci-fi film from the fifties whose reputation has been sullied by Mystery Science Theater 3000. It's not a great film or some landmark, but has an intense fan base, usually those who first watched it as kids in the late fifties (I'm not one of these — not quite that age).

In the plot, the alien invader is a glowing, large brain-shaped creature which influences a group of kids, using them in a plan involving a nearby rocket test site. Directed by Jack Arnold, who did some good ones way back then.

BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10

Perhaps the biggest fan of this film is a web personality named Bud Brewster — yes, the name of the lead child here.

He and others point out that the alien creature does not really control the kids, as most viewers believe. Here's one explanation of it all (click)


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Review by Bruce Cook (posted on 20-Jun-2005)

Director Jack Arnold's least-known movie is his best piece of work — and his own personal favorite, a labor of love. Paramount execs told Arnold to make a second feature for The Colossus of New York, and they didn't care what the story was about, as long as it was science fiction.

So, Arnold did something from the heart, a moving and highly intelligent story whose message is based on Matthew 18:3 (look it up if you're interested). Most reviewers botch the synopsis of the story, so beware of everything you read about it. For example, the alien does not "control" the children. They help the alien voluntarily. It's an important point. Unfortunately, younger viewers between the ages of 15 and 25 often miss the whole point of the film.

Strangely enough, kids and mature adults have less trouble seeing the merits of this little gem. Lose your cynicism and try to see "The Space Children" as a unique attempt to carry an important concept from Jack Arnold's mind to yours. If your mind is open (not to mention your heart), you'll get the message.
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A recent issue of SCARY MONSTERS MAGAZINE #73 features this film as its main article, titled "THE SPACE CHILDREN reunion"

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Interviews by Paul and Donna Parla; written & edited by Anthony Di Salvo

The article mentions how this film has its fans but it has dropped off the radar and is rated only 2.1 (out of 10) at IMDb (it's 3.7 now, so 'someone' must have given it a great rating recently).

MST3K is the probable culprit for this low rating — this can start a separate discussion on how film viewers are easily influenced by such shows, i.e. MST3K says the film is bad, so it must be bad is as far the thinking goes for many people.



The article in SCARY MONSTERS #73, however, calls the film "an unsung gem of the genre" — high praise indeed.

It's intended for kids, so if you were a kid when you first saw this . . . well. It has also been thought of as a 'junior league' THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (51). The article summarizes the plot and then analyzes its effectiveness & that of the kid actors — who weren't really actors.



The article also points out that Michel Ray plays the lead "Space Child" — Bud Brewster. By strange coincidence, I just watched most of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA recently (I've seen it many times, a long film). It was only during this latest screening that I realized that it was the same Michel Ray playing one of the Arab boys befriended by Lawrence.

Anyway, there's an interview in the article with Ray, who left acting to become an Olympic skier for England and then married into the Heineken company.

There's then an interview with Johnny Crawford, the 2nd lead "Space Child" — Ken Brewster. He really liked the message of the film. Then a short interview with Peggy Webber, who played the mom of Ray's character. For fans of this film, this issue is a must.

I will mention that Ray remembered more about LAWRENCE OF ARABIA than THE SPACE CHILDREN (he was older for the '62 film, surrounded by great actors).

But he was provided with a TV version DVD of the film to reacquaint himself with it and went into a short time warp — he liked it more than E.T.


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