ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Three posts I think you folks will find interesting, with more jpegs than the fleas on Old Yeller!

The first one is about a lunar mission that beat both the Russians AND the Americans!

The second post is about a common insect that was much more than a mere pest . . .

The third one shows us what would happen if Great Brittan went up against a Biant Behemoth. The result ain't a pretty sit, guys . . .



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First Men in the Moon (1964)



This is movie number ten for the great Ray Harryhausen, who provides his usual stunning animation, although the plot is a bit cynical for some tastes, lacking the cheerful charm of such movies as Journey to the Center of the Earth. In this one we get animated Selenites, giant caterpillar-like "Moon Cows", and a big-brained Grand Lunar on his regal throne.





The special effects in the scenes of Professor Cavor's spherical spaceship en route to the Moon are beautiful, as well the scenes on the lunar surface and the Selenite Moon creatures.









The opening scene is clever: the "first" astronauts to land on the moon (an international group) are stunned by the discovery of a tiny British flag on the lunar surface.





A message attached to the flag identifies the real first Moon landers, and the authorities on Earth get in touch with one of them, an aging Edward Judd, who tells the strange tale of his turn-of-the century expedition with Professor Cavor (Jeffries) and Judd's fiance' (Hyer).

All that sounds jim-dandy, but the truth of the matter is, this movie doesn't hold a candle to Jason and the Argonauts — which is generally regarded as Harryhausen's crowning achievement. Tom Hanks proclaimed it to be greater than Citizan Kane when he presented Ray with his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

He wasn't entirely joking. Ray should have a shelf filled with FX Oscars for the work he's done, and Jason was indeed the Crown Jewel in his collection.

I don't mean to criticize the fine folks who have good feelings about First Men in the Moon, but I'm sure they'd agree that this movie doesn't quite measure up to some of Ray's other features.

One website I found pointed out that Ray's influence reaches places we're not always aware of.





Directed by Nathan Juran. Laurie Johnson wrote the fine music (available on soundtrack album). Starring Edward Judd (The Day the Earth Caught Fire), Lionel Jeffries (The Revenge of Frankenstein), and Martha Hyer (Abbott & Costello Go to Mars).
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The Fly (1958)




Simply say two words in a high squeaky voice — "Help me!" — and sci-fi fans will instantly recognize the quote from The Fly.







This macabre horror classic deals harshly with its main character, a humanitarian scientist (David Hedison) who develops a matter transporter which he hopes will end world hunger by making it possible to instantly teleport food across great distances. His incredible invention works to near-perfection . . . but near-perfection isn't quite good enough.





He ends up with the oversized head and arm of a fly that accidentally shared the teleportation booth with him during a test. The fly has miniature versions of the man's missing body parts — which doesn't make sense when you first think about it.









But if you consider the fact that the teleportation machine converts both the man and the insect into energy and beams them from one closed teleportation booth to another . . . and then literally recreates them out of thin air . . . well, it would hardly be reasonable to insist that the parts wouldn't fit together, right?

I mean . . . what parts? They were both built from scratch!

Patricia Owens plays Hedison's beautiful wife who remains courageous in the face of this horrible tragedy.





Vincent Price is the loyal brother of the unlucky scientist who wanted to feed the world but ended up just feeding a spider. Price repeated the role in the sequel, Return of the Fly.





Superior production values plus the use of Technicolor and CinemaScope greatly enhance the look of The Fly, which was released by 20th Century Fox. The script is by James Clavell. Director Kurt Neumann is noted for his ability to give a film its own strange and unique qualities, even when the script may contain some flaws. His other works include Kronos and Rocketship X-M.
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The Giant Behemoth (1959 England)

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Director Eugene Lourie (along with co-director Douglas Hickox) attempted to repeat the success of Lourie's earlier hit "Beast from 20,000 Fathoms".





And to some degree they succeeded with this English-made science fiction thriller about a brontosaurus-like dinosaur on the loose in London.





The model is superb in form and detail. Willis O'Brien (King Kong's famous creator) did much of the animation, although reports say he was rushed to get it finished. The results, however, are fine — although the low budget caused the film makers to recycle certain scenes repeatedly, and it gets damned annoying.





The basic similarities between "Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" and "The Giant Behemoth" are by no means a coincidence, since Eugene Lourie not only directed but wrote the screenplay for "Behemoth".

The cast includes Jack MacGowran, Leigh Madison, Gene Evans, Andre Morell, and John Tuner.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)