Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

[Kepler]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

Two words:

Tana Leaves

LOL. Well done, sir.

"Now remember. Whatever you do, don't use more than nine."

[joecct]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

For some reason this plot description immediately conjured up images of dozens of unrelated horror flicks from the same era. I am sure I'm overestimating its usage but...

Two words:

Tana Leaves

[Slap Shot]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

Saw this one in a TCM Catalog:
From Hell It Came (1957)
This is the notorious tree monster movie! A dead man cursed by a witch doctor and a tribal chief on a Pacific Island

For some reason this plot description immediately conjured up images of dozens of unrelated horror flicks from the same era. I am sure I'm overestimating its usage but...

[Kepler]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

Saw this one in a TCM Catalog:
From Hell It Came (1957)
This is the notorious tree monster movie! A dead man cursed by a witch doctor and a tribal chief on a Pacific Island gets a dose of radiation and turns into TOBANGA!!, a flora nightmare that proves its bite is as bad as its bark as it wreaks vengeance on the non- New York Islanders. With Tod Andrews and Tina Carver. 71 mins B&W/NR.

Who writes this copy? Who came up with this script?

Nice:

*****http://www.monstershack.net/reviews/full/gfx/fhic/throw.jpg******

I'd like to see it race the monster from It Conquered the World:

*****http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-09-bqYDtmjI/TfrE_lSVreI/AAAAAAAAAT4/cGcaKFVbdMY/s1600/thingconquered.jpg******

[joecct]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

Saw this one in a TCM Catalog:
From Hell It Came (1957)
This is the notorious tree monster movie! A dead man cursed by a witch doctor and a tribal chief on a Pacific Island gets a dose of radiation and turns into TOBANGA!!, a flora nightmare that proves its bite is as bad as its bark as it wreaks vengeance on the non- New York Islanders. With Tod Andrews and Tina Carver. 71 mins B&W/NR.

Who writes this copy? Who came up with this script?

[Kepler]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

Nice call on the Rocky Horror Theme, Kep.

And my nominee for "Misunderstood Teen who First Sees the Monster" has got to be Steve McQueen in "The Blob."

Yep, I think that McQueen role is definitive.

BTW, the line in the Rocky Horror song about "runes" is a reference to "Night of the Demon," maybe the best Brit horror movie of all time.

[Hopkinja]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

Nice call on the Rocky Horror Theme, Kep.

And my nominee for "Misunderstood Teen who First Sees the Monster" has got to be Steve McQueen in "The Blob."

[Kepler]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

The Gulf Monsters

Scientist -- Gene Barry (Dr. Clayton Forrester from "War of the Worlds")
Scientist's assistant (opposite sex of Scientist) -- Margaret Sheridan (Nicki from "The Thing from Another World")
Law Enforcement / Government Official -- Alan Hale Jr. (Sheriff Townsend from "The Crawling Hand")
Evil Person -- John Hoyt (Mr. Stanton from "When World's Collide")

Miss anyone?

There is also:

Rival for Assistant's Love (sacrifices himself in final reel)
Town Drunk or Misunderstood Teen (first sees the monster but is ignored)
Wise Old Man (offers calm in time of crisis; usually clergy)
Child In Danger (often niece of Scientist to get Assistant's maternal juices flowing)

[DrDemento]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

As immortalized in the first song of Rocky Horror.

Michael Rennie was ill the day the earth stood still
But he told us where we stand
And Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear
Claude Raines was the invisible man
Then something went wrong for Fay Wray and King Kong
They got caught in a celluloid jam
Then at a deadly pace it came from outer space
And this is how the message ran:

Science Fiction - Double Feature
Dr. X will build a creature
See androids fighting Brad and Janet
Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet
Oh-oh at the late night, double feature, picture show.

I knew Leo G. Carroll was over a barrel
When Tarantula took to the hills
And I really got hot when I saw Janet Scott
Fight a Triffid that spits poison and kills
Dana Andrews said prunes gave him the runes
And passing them used lots of skills
But when worlds collide, said George Pal to his bride
I'm gonna give you some terrible thrills, like a:

Science Fiction - Double Feature
Dr. X will build a creature
See androids fighting Brad and Janet
Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet
Oh-oh at the late night,
double feature,
picture
show

Annotation.

Says it all right there, doesn't it? For those of us who saw most if not all of those movies-Great posting!!

[joecct]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

Script written --
The Gulf Monsters
Plot: Following the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, toxic chemicals seeped into the ocean floor resulting in "The Gulf Monsters"

Pick your cast from the 1950's:

Hero
Scientist
Scientist's assistant (opposite sex of Scientist)
Law Enforcement / Government Official
Innocent victims #1, #2, #3
Evil Person(s)
Cameo

Miss anyone?

[Kepler]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

Thanks for bringing up tarantula. That one shook me up a bit also. Can you believe Leo G Carroll in that one?

As immortalized in the first song of Rocky Horror.

Michael Rennie was ill the day the earth stood still
But he told us where we stand
And Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear
Claude Raines was the invisible man
Then something went wrong for Fay Wray and King Kong
They got caught in a celluloid jam
Then at a deadly pace it came from outer space
And this is how the message ran:

Science Fiction - Double Feature
Dr. X will build a creature
See androids fighting Brad and Janet
Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet
Oh-oh at the late night, double feature, picture show.

I knew Leo G. Carroll was over a barrel
When Tarantula took to the hills
And I really got hot when I saw Janet Scott
Fight a Triffid that spits poison and kills
Dana Andrews said prunes gave him the runes
And passing them used lots of skills
But when worlds collide, said George Pal to his bride
I'm gonna give you some terrible thrills, like a:

Science Fiction - Double Feature
Dr. X will build a creature
See androids fighting Brad and Janet
Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet
Oh-oh at the late night,
double feature,
picture
show

Annotation.

[DrDemento]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

Maybe it was TCM. It was the one without the commercials.

Great station-although they can be a bit repetitive showing some things a bit often-they show so many of the great movies from the past.

[Slap Shot]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

I remember this crapfest from a time when they would air this type of film late on Saturday nights:
*****http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FKxj7S66vU4/Sct6OtAUEYI/AAAAAAAADsg/7n5lIc0lk6k/s400/mole+people******

[Hopkinja]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

Thanks for bringing up tarantula. That one shook me up a bit also. Can you believe Leo G Carroll in that one? AMC used to be a great staion-showing movies uncut and commercial free. Now with all their advertising and coming attractions on top of the movies, and their editing-I just cannot watch the channel. When TCM shows 'The Thing'-it still scares the heck out of me.

Maybe it was TCM. It was the one without the commercials.

[DrDemento]

Re: Favorite 1950's SciFi movies

No question the best 50's sci-fi movie was "The Day the Earth Stood Still."

AMC had "The Thing" on this past weekend. I hadn't seen it in a long time. Good stuff. And one of the local channels had "The Mole People" on. I never realized Alfred from the Batman TV show was the high priest.

Some movies that scared the crap out of me as a kid:

"Tarantula"
"Earth Vs. The Spider"
"War of the Colossal Beast"
"Monster on the Campus"

Thanks for bringing up tarantula. That one shook me up a bit also. Can you believe Leo G Carroll in that one? AMC used to be a great staion-showing movies uncut and commercial free. Now with all their advertising and coming attractions on top of the movies, and their editing-I just cannot watch the channel. When TCM shows 'The Thing'-it still scares the heck out of me.