Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17637
Location: North Carolina
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 Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:51 am Post subject: FEATURED THREADS for 2-28-22 |
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If you're not a member of All Sci-Fi, registration is easy. Just use the registration password, which is —
gort
Attention members! If you've forgotten your password, just email me at brucecook1@yahoo.com.
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Well, what do we have here? 
~ An interview with a guy who makes inanimate object come to life.
~ An essay on the goal of fiction in movies and TV shows.
~ A list of trivia items about a weird body of land surrounded by water — with a big chicken.
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Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956)
After posting the message above, I found a nice interview with Ray Harryhausen which I decided to share.
___ Ray Harryhuasen - Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
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Dark Intruder (1965)
| Pow wrote: | I grew up with all those wonderful westerns series that always tried to make a point about morals, honesty, keeping your word and so forth.
Now, some of these shows are considered quaint, cornball and unrealistic regarding how the real world works. |
Great point, Mike! 
I've known since I was very young that movies and TV shows weren't always suppose to be showing us what people were really like, or how our society actually operated.
I knew that one of the functions of fiction was to illustrate what we should be — not what we really are.
When people scoff at older movies and television series because they think they're "unrealistic and corny" they're missing an important point.
The purpose of fiction which portrays heroic deeds, noble people, and admirable behavior is not to show us what the world is actually like — it's to show us how the world could be if we allow ourselves to be inspired by the examples we see on the screen.
The characters in fiction who portray the worst aspects of human nature aren't meant to show us that "we're all flawed, so don't blame yourself for making mistakes." Those characters are demonstrating the consequences of bad decisions and poor moral values. 
Conversely, the characters who portray the best aspects of human nature are meant to inspire us to be more like those "bigger than life" individuals.
Of course, I'm not saying that every movie has to have an upbeat ending, or that every good character will live happily ever after. Tragedies do happen, and people do make terrible mistakes. A good movie includes these elements of the real world — but the story should include lessons from which we can learn how to handle life's tragedies, as well as how to avoid the terrible mistakes which can ruin our lives.
In short, good fiction is NOT supposed to simply be a mirror which reflects reality.
It's supposed to give hope and provide inspiration. It's supposed to point the way to a better world — one with better people who aren't content to accept their limitations and excuse their failings because they believe that "everybody does it, and people are just that way."
That's what's wrong with our society today. We used to have big dreams for the future, and we used to believe that mankind was basically good! 
Now we're convinced that those dreams where "unrealistic and corny". We scoff at the fiction which portrays those high ideals, and we forgive ourselves for not believing we could be better.
Well, dammit, I don't believe those ideals are unrealistic, and I don't believe I can't be better tomorrow than I was yesterday! Furthermore, I do believe that the people who excuse their failings because they think "it's just human nature" are too lazy to hold themselves to a higher standard!
I guess that's why I'm proud of the members of All Sci-Fi, because I don't think any of you guys do that.
So, keep up the good work, folks! And remember, you're among friends.
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Mysterious Island (1961)
IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production.
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~Producer Charles H. Schneer claimed that he chose this story after reading an article stating that Jules Verne's "Mysterious Island" was the most-looked-at book at public libraries.
Note from me: I tried to read the novel in the early 1980s, but since it didn't hold a candle to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (which I love) or the movie version of Mysterious Island I don't think I even finished it. 
~ Columbia wanted James Mason to reprise his role as Captain Nemo from " 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ".
Note from me: As good as Mason was in the Disney classic, I don't regret the substitution of Herbert Lom as Nemo. He was excellent!
However, my personal choice for Nemo in 20K Leagues would be Tyrone Power.
~ Ray Harryhausen has related the story of watching a cut of the film with composer Bernard Herrmann. In a sequence involving a giant bird, Herrmann told Harryhausen that he was going to score it with "Turkey in the Straw" (he was only kidding).
Note from me: I've heard a version of Turkey in the Straw that would almost have worked (with editing) for the big bird, but of course Herrmann's piece is flawless.
But just for fun, here's a rousing version as well.
Turkey in the Straw Instrumental Folk Song Dance with United States Air Force Band and USAF Strings
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~ The film was green-lit partially because Swiss Family Robinson (1960) was a huge success.
Note from me: Wonderful movie, Swiss Family Robinson, and I've been meaning to order it — so I did, just a few minutes ago.
~ The scene with the giant bird was from the original draft of the script, which was to have had prehistoric monsters rather than giant oysters and crabs.
Note from me: I have theorized on this thread that the only way Nemo could produce the crab, the bird, and the bees would be with genetic engineering. That said, one thing he could have done was create a de-evolved version of the kind of bird that the phorusrhacos eventually became, thus producer a large, edible bird.
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~ The stone brook that the men discover on the island is the very same location (in Spain) that the crew in "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" drink from with red wine running through it.
Note from me: It would have been funny (but kinda pointless) if the film crew had tinted the stream red again so one of the characters could say, "Hmmm . . . I wonder why the water is red?"
Then later on, in the cave, Sgt. Pencroft could say, "I went back that stream. I found out (* hick! *) why it's red!"
~ Michael Craig greatly enjoyed making the film but not working with director Cy Endfield, whom he described as "useless"
Note from me: I wonder why Mr. Craig was so dissatisfied with Cy Endfield's direction.
~ At 41:37 Mr. Spilitt says "a man could write an inspired novel in a place like this" an obvious nod to Jules Verne.
Note from me: Ironically, it was an inspired novel which created the "place like this", rather than the other way around.
~ Using the sextant the survivors found, Captain Cyrus Harding establishes the Mysterious Island as 1,800 miles from New Zealand at 36 degrees South latitude and 153 degrees West longitude. That point is approximately 7,000 miles from Richmond, Virginia where the story starts in a Civil War prison. That means the first five traveled 7,000 miles in the hot air balloon.
Note from me: That's an interesting fact, assuming it's correct — but it wasn't a hot air balloon, it was a helium filled balloon. 
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
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