ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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I'll probably regret saying this, but . . . I like that gif.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[Maurice]

[Bud Brewster]

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I wondered if that dopey robot could be improved a bit with some imaginative alterations.





By gum, I think I really did it!




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Perhaps the vertical edges would look better if they were rounded.




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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]

Yeah, now he (it) looks more buff.

Those arms reminded me of modern free-form camera table-top tripod legs.
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...or not...

WayneO
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[Gord Green]

Great alteration!

One of the best anthropomorphic robot images ever!

Not as good as Robby of course, but it was very effective in the film!

[orzel-w]

One problem, though... It may be difficult to find anybody fitting the new proportions to operate the suit.
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...or not...

WayneO
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[Bud Brewster]

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Oh, goodie! I was hoping you'd bring that up, Wayne!

Notice the shape of the robot's legs. They resemble bell-bottom pants because of the way the lower leg gets wider from the knee all the down to the feet. So, in my version of the suit which has much longer legs, the feet of the operator could stand on "platforms" in the sole of the robot's foot, adding 10-to-12 inches to his height.

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The platform could even be slanted, like high heeled shoes, adding another six inches to his height.

This additional 18" would, of course, position the operator's knees in about the right spot inside the robot's legs, because the lower leg is so much longer than a human's — even a very tall one.

But even if the operator's knees were somewhat higher than the robot's, this wouldn't prevent the robot from walking, because it never has to bend it's knees more than a very small amount.

My father made me a pair of stilts when I was a kid. They were comprised of two 1X2" sticks which were about five feet long, with wooden "wedges" attached to the 1X2's (as the footrests I stood on), about two feet off the floor.

The upper ends of the sticks lined up with my hands, just below my hips. I gripped the ends and pulled up on the stilts to keep the wooden wedges pressed tightly against my feet.

Walking on the stilts was easy, because I could bend my knees slightly while pulling up on the stilts, raising each stilt a few inches from the floor when I stepped forward.

The Devil Girl robot's legs were wide enough to allow the operator to bend his knees slightly, even if his knees were up inside the thighs, above the robot's actual knee joints. This would permit him to raise the feet alternately as he took the small steps we see the robot make in the movie.

The lower legs and feet look like horse hooves, but there's no ankle joint the man inside could use to push with his toes whenever he felt himself titling forward (like we all do when we're standing up).

Fortunately, there was SO much room inside the legs, the operator didn't need ankle joints to allow his feet to tilt upward when each foot is behind the other, because the knees actually bend backwards, preventing the feet from having to roll forward sooner than they should.



Therefore, we know there's plenty of "bending room" inside the legs, because if there weren't enough for the operator's legs to remain straight when the robot's legs bent slightly backwards, we wouldn't see the odd position shown above.

Concerning the need for the operator to balance himself inside my long-legged version while walking on "stilts" (the thick soles of the feet), frankly I don't know how the man did it in the actual suit!

Gee, do we know anybody who could make a CAD drawing of the suit and put a human figure inside to illustrate the operators placement? Hmmm?

Meanwhile, watch the robot scene in the movie at the 3:10 mark and you'll see what I mean about the way it walks.

Patricia Laffan | Devil Girl from Mars (1954, Sci-Fi) Colorized Movie | Classic Sci-Fi

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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]

There's also this type of hands-free stilts available in various designs from several suppliers, commonly used in construction work for working on ceilings or anything high up from the floor.

[Bud Brewster]

[Bogmeister]

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As with a good number of British sci-fi pics about alien invasion, this takes place in an isolated location, centered around an inn — this time in the Scottish countryside.

A group of disparate characters happen to coalesce around this inn at the point where an alien spacecraft lands nearby. This flying saucer is from Mars, and it's operated by a Martian female (hence, the film's title).

The characters include an escaped convict/convicted murderer (Peter Reynolds), his sometime girlfriend (Adrienne Corri) who works for the inn's owners (an older couple), a scientist (Joseph Tomelty), and reporter (Hugh McDermott) sent to investigate a fallen meteorite (a piece of the ship) and an actress (Hazel Court).

A limping, mentally-challenged handyman, but he's quickly disposed of by the Martian female (Patricia Laffan, best known as Nero's creepy wife in Quo Vadis).



The Martian keeps the others alive, possibly just to torment them with a display of her various weapons and powers.

She throws up a force field around the area and shows off her robot, which shoots a beam from its head that disintegrates various large objects (similar to Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still, but with astrong resemblance to large upright freezer).

But she may not even need the robot — she herself is shown to be invulnerable to bullets and electricity. She's part of an advanced guard, and her goals are simple — her planet needs men, since the matriarchy on Mars went a bit out of control.

This plot is a reversal on the usual sci-fi trope of aliens seeking our women.

Her original mission had been to London, but our atmosphere damaged her ship, forcing her to land in this isolated spot. Eventually, she decides to make do with one man — the heroic reporter. However, his attempts to trick her alters her plan and it looks like all of the group are doomed.



Since she is just a sort of "vanguard" for an larger invasion force, it's made clear that eventually the Martians will cometo conquer the Earth. This is a somewhat offbeat-yet-suspenseful depiction of alien invasion, with an entertaining antagonist in the form of this alien female. She is at once emotionless and arrogant, looking down at what she regards as lower lifeforms.

But we can't escape the evidence that Earthlings seem completely powerless against her abilities — it does look like a no-win scenario as the story draws near its conclusion. The climax veers close to a deus ex machina-style ending, but it's a good ride.

BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10

Trivia From Mars: Based on a play, which explains the theatrical style of having the Martian woman repeatedly entering the inn from stage left, making her pronouncements, leaving, and then returning in the same way.


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[Bud Brewster]

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Thinking Outside the "Plot"!
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~ A Question for the Members: What happens when an alien woman from an advanced Martian civilization composed of smug, superior women who desperately need men to rejuvenate their female-dominated race comes to Earth to round up a herd of weak-willed males as breeding stock?

~ My Theory: Well, the answer is that one of our own guys manages to outwit the snotty Martian bitch and blow the hell out of both her, along with her ship and her silly-looking Westinghouse refrigerator robot!

I'd suggest that this much-needed lesson in humility would teach those bossy females from the Red Planet a thing or two about Earthmen and how we deal with women who get too big for their britches!

But we know that Martian women are probably even more stubborn than Earth girls — so mankind would quickly shift into high gear and get "ready to rumble" when faced with an invasion by a bunch of overconfident Martian dominatrix!

All that said, what would this Interplanetary Battle of the Sexes look like!? I'm bettin' that at least one Romeo and Juliet romance would be part of the plot!

(I just tossed this out to encourage a discussion. I hope we get one.)
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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]

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I've been hoping for six months that somebody would suggest a few ideas for a version of War of the Worlds in which the people of Earth must battle the race of humanoid Martians whose females have dispensed with most of their male counterparts . . . and who now want to conquer Earth so they can commandeer our males to replenish the male population on the Red Planet.

Here's how Wikipedia describes the situation.
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She is part of the advance alien team looking for Earth men to replace the declining male population on her world, the result of a "devastating war between the sexes"
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It's important to note that the male Martians did not die off because of a disease or a natural disaster. They lost a war with the women folk, and for some reason the number of males babies being born has been less than the female babies!

That's a puzzling thought all by itself . . .

Equally troubling is the fact that the young boy, Tommy, is taken into the ship by the Martian lady as a possible male prisoner to impregnate Martian women!

That sounds impractical . . . until we consider the fact that young boys start producing viable sperm by age 12!

(I looked it up.)

When you consider that fact, Tommy's abduction makes more sense. They could keep the little guy busy contributing to the Martian population much long than an older person!

However, then the Martian gal does a flip-flog in logic when she agrees to swap Tommy for the elderly Professor Hennessy after he volunteers to go with her! Obviously Miss Red Planet 1954 has an unusual criteria for the males she selects!





Perhaps the professor's obvious intelligence made him a better candidate for Martian fatherhood than a kid who doesn't impress anybody who watches this movie when it comes to his smarts . . .

Furthermore, I seriously doubt that the Martian gals are going to have much luck inducing the human males they take back Mars to contribute genetic material if this is the best they've got!


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I doubt if an extra-strength Viagra the size of a ping pong ball could put a guy in the mood to sing "Some Enchanted Evening" to this frightening female!

Thinking Outside the "Plot", we can speculate just how this strange War of the Girls might unfold if Mars attacks the Earth.

Obviously the Martians would be aware of the fact that Earth would recruit its most able young men to defend the planet. And since these are actually the guys the ladies are here to collect, they wouldn't want slaughter the very treasure that they've come to rob us of!

So, how does an invading army prevent the destruction of the valuable resource they intend to steal?

I submit that the Martians would place powerful warships in low orbit and then announce to the world leaders that they will refrain from destroying major cities if we hand over a sufficient number of male volunteers to serve the Martians' procreation needs.

Hmmm . . . make love or make war? Golly, tough choice!

But the Martian ladies might do well to bring along the wives and boyfriends of the volunteers — or at least a few hundred gals who possess the charm and beauty of Miss Hazel Court.





If they employ that strategy to achieve "world conquest", then the only thing the Martian ladies would need to do is supply the Earth couples with plenty of condoms . . . and then harvest the fruits of their labor each time they finish "doing what comes naturally"!

As an alternative to a war that might devastate Earth, I think this makes a lot of sense! And it certainly puts a new spin on the idea of "improving interplanetary relations!
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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]

Somehow the thought of a movie about Martian Maidens kidnapping 12 year old boys to strap into their Martian Orgasmatrons is a bit disturbing.....and reminds me of a dream I had when I was twelve!
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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]