ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Three post from three threads about thread very different story premises.

~ Person of Interest - (CBS 2011—2016) is about a man armed with hi-tech tools which allow him to thwart acts of terrorism.

~ The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959) is low budget copy-cat of a

~ Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961) is . . . well, just read my post and find out why this one ain't so hot.
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Person of Interest - (CBS 2011—2016)



I've recently become a fan of this show, and it occur ed to me that one reason I enjoy it so much is that it reminds me of an old show I've loved for years -- Search.



In both series, a lone agent is connected electronically to a hi-tech support person(s) who feeds him info through hidden earpieces and calls for help when the agent gets in trouble. And look at the two posters above -- they reflect the premise of the two series using the same graphic composition!

Anybody else remember Search? Anybody else a fan of Person of Interest?

Best of all, anybody else a fan of both shows like me?
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The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)



Low-budget clone of the "Black Lagoon" creature, about a remote seacoast town whose citizens are terrorized by a monster. Some of the gory scenes are disturbing (the monster carries a severed head around by its hair).

The monster suit is pretty good — gruesome and toothy and tall enough to be imposing, with long claws on its huge catchers-mitt-sized hands. The suit was designed and worn by the film's producer, Jack Kevan, who also helped design the famous Black Lagoon creature.

Naturally there's a pretty girl (Jeanne Carmen) threatened by the monster, and a stalwart hero (Don Sullivan) who confronts the beast atop a lighthouse. In one romantic scene reminiscent of "From Here to Eternity", a young couple is shown in intimate embrace on a surf-washed beach.

The fact that the young man has his diving mask pushed up on top of his head sort of spoils the moment, but hey . . . love is never having to say, "Take the damn thing off, silly!"

Directed by Irwin Berwick. Also starring Les Tremayne ("War of the Worlds"), Forrest Lewis, and John Harmon.
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Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961)



Another story about a person who survives an atomic blast and then turns into something bizarre.

Thank God radiation doesn't really do crazy things like that to people — because if it did, Japan would have been overrun with mutated survivors of the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki!

That would have made a great idea for a movie — if it weren't so insensitive to the actual tragedy those poor people suffered.

Anyway, in this movie, Ron Randell (as a gangster on the run) does better than most A-bomb survivors; he becomes invulnerable (ala Superman). He uses this condition to get revenge on his underworld buddies who framed him and sent him to prison.

The cast is a strong plus. It includes the great Morris Ankrum, veteran of 15 sci-fi movies from the 1950s (the record holder for that honor) and the lovely Debra Paget ("Princess of the Nile", "From the Earth to the Moon").

Despite an interesting concept and a potentially good cast, director Alan Dwan demonstrates so little skill that most of the scenes look like clumsy screen tests. The script by James Leicester and Phillip Rock imposes a wealth of bad dialogue on actors who deserve better.

Illogical plot developments occur more often than commercial breaks during a late late show. The music by Louis Forbes is consistently limp and sleepy. The only special effect (a mediocre one) involves a scene in which Randell's enemies try to kill him by luring him onto an electrified metal plate.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)