ALL SCI-FI

[Gord Green]

[Bud Brewster]

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Check out some of the threads I found for this movie on other boards. This is a sample of what's included on All Sci-Fi's Multi-Board Alphabetical Index, which is designed to encourage and promote large message boards like CHFB and small ones like Pushing the Envelope.
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* The Deadly Mantis (1957)

The Deadly Mantis (1957) @ SFMB

The Deadly Mantis (1957) @ All Sci-Fi

The Deadly Mantis (1957) @ Pushing the Envelope

The Deadly Mantis (1957) @ CHFB
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Robert (Butch) Day]

[Bogmeister]

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_________________ The Deadly Mantis Trailer


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In this one, a giant preying mantis from prehistoric times is suddenly thawed out in the Arctic Circle.

This entry in the giant insect threat of fifties cinema is in many ways a generic, prototypical effort.

It copies quite a bit from earlier features, namely THEM! (54), TARANTULA (55) and IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (55) (this last is not a giant insect), but THE DEADLY MANTIS has a very similar beginning, featuring a long-winded explanation of our radar defense network, in documentary fashion.

The film it copies most, in fact, is IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955). It's got the same set-up with the 3 main characters of 2 guys and a lady — the military hero is played by Craig Stevens, while the scientist hero is William Hopper (from 20 MILLION LIES TO EARTH).

They form a familiar triangle, a benign 'let's get along' trinity. Then the plot copies elements from THEM!, as if it's a murder mystery in the icy north, when the hero (Craig Stevens) finds a wrecked base but no bodies of military personnel.

The difference is, in THEM! it really did come across like a mystery. In this one, the audience has already been shown the giant creature as it was thawing.



A later moment in the movie copies a famous scene from TARANTULA, when the female lead (Alix Talton) walks in front of a large window through which we can see the huge insect. She and the two guys in the room are oblivious to the creature's presence for several moments as the tension builds.

To the film's credit, the giant threat does come across as very tough and dangerous. At the midpoint, a couple of soldiers attack the monster with a flamethrower and a machine gun; this only annoys it.

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There's one innovative moment even later — a nice attempt at spooky doings: a lone woman exits a bus on a foggy evening and we think that she must be the next victim; but, the giant monster doesn't concern itself with such small morsels — it goes after the bus and all the other passengers.

But, such moments are very few in this film.

Most of the story drags; this is especially bad in the final act, when things should have picked up, but there are innumerable shots of the flying giant insect, emitting its annoying droning noise, as the military makes strategy.

Somehow, the giant mantis gets "mortally wounded" (in the words of the other hero William Hopper — the primary hero, Stevens, used the unorthodox method of crashing his jet into the creature. In the climax the monster seeks refuge in New York's Brooklyn Tunnel.

This final sequence again copies the final act of THEM. Finally, I've always found it extra hard to buy into the huge size of the insect (as large as the largest dinosaurs). I can understand a prehistoric insect the size of a car, but not much bigger than that.

BoG's Score: 6 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[Bud Brewster]

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I know I keep saying this (in different ways) but Bogmeister's ability to dissect a flawed move and describe its strengths and weaknesses is a joy to behold! If I made a determined effort to find something — anything at all — to disagree with in his post above, I'd fail miserably.

He pins this giant bug specimen squarely through the thorax and presents it for our examination without showing a trace of sympathy for it's shortcomings.

Bravo, BoG!
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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]

[Bud Brewster]

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Beginning at the 3:30 mark in this video you'll see three minutes of raw test footage and unedited versions of scenes made for this movie. It's interesting!
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_____THEM! (1954) Trailer and Behind the Scenes


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

[Maurice]

[Eadie]

[Bud Brewster]

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Either that or this is a scene from Attack of the 500 Foot Asian Girl Who Fights for the Starship Troopers!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Phantom]

Personally, I find the Praying Mantis fascinating. Always cognizant of its capacity to strike, I keep my distance, except for the time one landed on the glass of my office door at the historical society and I snapped off a great close up picture of the thing. Kept it for years with the caption "Everyone Is Interested In History."

Despite it's striking features, the insect is a poor choice for a movie monster unless it can be successfully articulated. A Mantis is simply too stiff and slow (at least in the movie) to raise your hair.

At best, it inhabits a middle ground between the exciting Them and Tarantula and the hilariously goofy Giant Claw.

[Bud Brewster]

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I totally agree, sir — both with your admiration for the beautiful but disturbingly cruel mantis, and the fact that it just wasn't a good choice for a Bug Monster.

The movie built a gorgeously accurate model of the mantis and moved it around fairly well. But as you said, a real mantis moves slowly, and a giant mantis would naturally move even more slowly . . . thus causing the problem you described.

And of course, the movie probably shouldn't have tried to do those painfully fake flying scenes. They just didn't work at all.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

You're right, Bud, the designers of the model of the Mantis can be proud of their creation even if the movie that featured it was dopey and derivative.

[ralfy]

TV Rip:

https://ok.ru/video/196039281372

(You can DL it using Jdownloader.)

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has 12 trivia items for this movie. Here’s a few of the ones I found the most interesting, in the blue text.
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~ During the movie, the Air Force sends out a message to members of the Ground Observer Corps asking for help in spotting the mantis. This was a real group that existed at least since World War Two. It was comprised of regular citizens who received basic training in spotting and identifying aircraft, but was discontinued in 1958.

Note from me: This is a nice element from the 1950s, illustrating the precautions America took against our mortal enemies, the Russia!

In recent years, Americans have deemed these feelings as "Cold War Paranoia".

But the recent successful Russian efforts to get an incompetent president elected for their own benefit has proven that there is no such thing as "Cold War Paranoia".

The Russians are our enemy. Period.

~ Alix Talton (who resembles Della Street in this movie) was reunited with William Hopper the following year on the Perry Mason (1957) TV series episode 'Perry Mason: The Case of the Long-Legged Models (1958)', in the role of Eva Elliot.

Note from me: I don't think Miss Tarlton resembles Barbara Hale, but it's certainly interesting that Miss Tarlton teamed up with William Hopper in the Perry Mason series.

I can't help wondering just how long the model's legs really were! I'll have to get out my Perry Mason box set and see for myself!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)