ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Dr. Xavier (Preston Foster) works at a scientific research lab run by Lionel Atwill on Long Island. The police suspect Atwill of committing a series of cannibalistic murders, but the killings are actually the work of the evil Dr. X.

Fay Wray is the lovely heroine being stalked by the killer who, with the use of synthetic flesh, can turn himself into a monster.

Although it hasn't aged well, this is a great horror/science fiction tale, originally filmed in the early two-color process.

Special makeup effects were created by Max Factor, and the sets are by Anton Grot. One year later the same stars and director (Michael Curtiz) made "Mystery of the Wax Museum".
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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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IMDB has seven trivia items for this movie, several of which are interesting.
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~ Contrary to Technicolor's edict, Warner Brothers also shot a black-and-white version of the film. The Technicolor version was shot by Ray Rennahan and the B&W version by Richard Towers. The camera angles of the the two versions are considerably different, with the Technicolor camera given priority for the best compositions. Two of these, for example, are Lee Tracy and Mae Busch in the house of prostitution scene and the sequence with Tracy in the skeleton room.

Note from me: I ran the CinemaScope and Todd-AO versions of Oklahoma simultaneously once, and there were often interesting differences in the composition.

~ For a time Warner Brothers did not have a print of the original Technicolor version and it was assumed to be lost. The Technicolor version was finally discovered and restored by the UCLA Archives.

Note from me: Film fans in mass can weep at all the "lost" films from days gone by.

~ Jeff Martin of the band Racer X wrote the song "Dr. X" about this movie. To provide a clue, a lyric goes, "A scream from Fay, a Wray of moon."

Note from me: I've often noticed that rock song lyrics take great liberties with the English language.

~ This is the film for which Michael Curtiz is quoted as saying, "This will make your blood curl!"

Note from me: Mr. Curtiz took a small liberty here, too. Blood curdles. Hair curls.
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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]

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]

[Phantom]

You won't find Curtiz listed among the great directors by film critics, but he was genuinely one of the greatest. Scan his output on the IMDb and you will be astonished at the number of award winning classics he made during the thirties and forties.

Besides Dr. X and Mystery of the Wax Museum, he was responsible for 20,000 Years in Sing Sing with Spencer Tracy, The Black Legion and Casablanca with Bogart, Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood with Flynn, Angels With Dirty Faces and Yankee Doodle Dandy with Cagney, The Sea Wolf with E.G. Robinson and his last picture, The Comancheros with Wayne. There is at least one movie for every genre in the book.

He made his first film in 1912 and his last in 1961, and even directed Presley in King Creole.

As for his malapropisms, they were genuine.

During the shooting of one of his films the director demanded "Bring me a poodle." No one ever questioned the mercurial Curtiz, so the next day someone brought a poodle to the set.

Curtiz exploded. He didn't want a poodle, he wanted a puddle of water.
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What Is Essential Is Invisible

[Bud Brewster]

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Hey, look! I found the trailer on YouTube! It's starts right off with a woman's scream, a lightning bolt, and clap of thunder — so it must be a good movie!

Actually, the trailer does make it look good, and the picture quality is great.


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