The Most Important
Science Fiction Films
of
The 20th Century
Volume 1
Theresa M. Moore
www.antellus.com
The Most Important Science Fiction Films of
The 20th Century – Volume 1
eBook Edition ©2017 Theresa M. Moore, all rights reserved.
This is a revised edition from the original published in 2012. It has been reduced to two
volumes. No part of this edition may be copied or redistributed without the express
written permission of the author. For permissions please contact
[email protected].
Published by Antellus, Los Angeles, California. Catalog no. 1102909
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
1925 The Lost World
1927 Metropolis
1931 Frankenstein
1936 Things To Come
1950 Destination Moon
1951 When Worlds Collide
1951 The Day The Earth Stood Still
1953 The War of The Worlds
1955 Conquest of Space
1955 This Island Earth
1956 Invasion of The Body Snatchers
1956 Forbidden Planet
1958 The Fly
1959 The Angry Red Planet
1959 Battle Beyond the Sun
1960 The Time Machine
1963 Atragon
1964 Robinson Crusoe On Mars
1964 First Men In The Moon
1964 The Last Man On Earth
1965 Dr. Who and The Daleks
1966 Fahrenheit 451
1967 5 Million Years to Earth
(Quatermass and The Pit)
1968 The Power
1968 Charly
1968 Planet of The Apes
1968 2001: A Space Odyssey
PREFACE
I think I started writing about the films I have selected partly because the spark of memory
about them was revived with the remastered, uncut version of Metropolis (1926) I saw recently
on the Turner Classic Movies channel. Apart from various databases and TCM itself, many of
the films I came to love when I was younger seemed to disappear from the common American
meme, and a whole generation of children have since grown up without ever seeing them. Now,
thanks to web sites like YouTube, Dailymotion and Vimeo, as well as IMdb (International Movie
data base), we can see them all over again without commercial interruption and in their pure
state. Some have been lovingly restored.
I remember that when I was younger, I was personally affected by these films in various
ways. Some of the contemporary directors and creators of modern film, people like Steven
Spielberg, George Lucas, Ron Howard and James Cameron, all grew up seeing and appreciating
the same films I did. They were able to use the vast resources of the film industry to realize their
visions using the foundation of these earlier films as guides as to what to do (or what not to do)
with their own works. This speaks to the impact these films had on their ideas. The films I chose
for this book were all major blockbusters for their day, though some were underappreciated
and never won many awards. But they were the most influential for their time. True, the special
effects ranged from primitive though inventive to the best there was at the time, but I chose
them not only for their creative vision but for the scope and depth of their stories.
Some were based on major best selling science fiction novels, others were based on classical
works; but all were created with an appreciation for the human condition, science and the
consequences of littering the sandbox. Their underlying themes covered the gamut from hard
science gone wrong or right to questions about man’s inhumanity to man, or closer examination
of social problems; and to speculation about what might happen in future years to alter or
destroy human civilization.
Very often the special effects only underscored the starkness of contrast between
mankind’s technical prowess as compared to its ability to excercise compassion for one’s fellow
man, or the primitive imperative for survival against impossible odds.
In previous years, broadcast television stations savaged these films mercilessly in order to
keep them within a set broadcast time. It seemed that over time, key or important scenes were
left out, rendering the stories as simple and direct as possible while allowing time for
commercials. When I saw the newly restored Metropolis in full letterbox for the first time I
realized that the true meaning of the film was lost to my generation when and if the film was
shown at all. In the same month I was able to watch a film which was only seen at the wee hours
of the morning, also uncut, called Things To Come. Again, key scenes which would have
rendered it more meaningful and provocative were cut out over time by broadcast television.
There are many review books which list the films I have chosen to highlight as no more
than a couple of lines with a less than full rating; and with only a cursory summary to explain
their plots. I have compiled them with notations of my own so that you can understand why
they are so important. I have taken care to present each plot as completely as possible and
included features which struck me as particular to each film for their innovation or evocation;
it is up to you to determine how the film affects you on a personal and visceral level. I have also
added notes which point to technological innovations which have come to pass and were
inspired by what was seen.
I hope you will find this book useful to help you appreciate the level of quality these films
possess as well as their influence on films made in the 21st century; and that you will find them
to be entertaining, educational and thought provoking. Enjoy. – Theresa M. Moore
THE LOST WORLD (1925)
Directed by Harry Hoyt
Produced by Jamie White (executive), Earl Hudson (uncredited)
Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (novel); Marion Fairfax (screenplay)
Cinematography: Arthur Edeson
Distributed by First National Pictures; Release date February 2, 1925 (USA); June 22, 1925 (USA,
wide release); Running time in minutes: 106 (original); 55 (Kodascope 16 mm); 64 (1991); 100
(1998); 93 (2000)
Budget $700,000
Cast:
A herd of Triceratops from the film
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Himself (appears in a frontispiece to the film, missing from some
prints)
Bessie Love – Paula White
Lewis Stone – Sir John Roxton
Lloyd Hughes – Edward Malone
Wallace Beery – Professor Challenger
Arthur Hoyt – Professor Summerlee
Alma Bennett – Gladys Hungerford
Virginia Browne Faire – Marquette the half-caste girl (uncredited)
Bull Montana – Ape Man/Gomez
Francis Finch-Smiles (billed as "Finch Smiles") – Austin
Jules Cowes (in blackface) – Zambo
Margerette McWade – Mrs. Challenger
George Bunny – Colin McArdle
Charles Wellesley – Major Hibbard (uncredited)
Nelson MacDowell – Attorney (uncredited)
Chris-Pin Martin – Bearer/Cannibal (Scenes Deleted)
Jocko the Monkey – Himself
Mary the Chimpanzee – Herself (uncredited)
Note: All human cast members who are listed in the on-screen credits are billed as "Mr..."
or "Miss...."
In 1998, the film was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library
of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Plot: From a lost expedition to a plateau in Venezuela, Paula White brings the journal of her
father, explorer Maple White, to the eccentric and outspoken Professor Edward Challenger in
London. The journal features sketches of dinosaurs, which is enough proof for Challenger to
publicly announce that dinosaurs still walk the earth. Met with ridicule at an academic meeting
held at the Zoological Hall, Challenger reluctantly accepts a newspaper's offer to fund a mission
to rescue Maple White. Challenger, Paula White, sportsman and explorer Sir John Roxton, news
reporter Edward Malone, who is a friend of Roxton and wishes to go on the expedition to
impress his fiancée, a sceptical professor Summerlee, an Indian servant Zambo, and
Challenger's butler Austin, all pack for travel and leave England to go to the plateau.
They establish a campsite at the base of the plateau, where the explorers are menaced from
the top of an overhead ledge by a rock fall, started by what appears to be an ape man. When
they look up and see their assailant, Prof. Challenger sees a pteranodon flying overhead and
mistakenly calls it a pterodactyl. To him this is solid proof that the statements in Maple White's
diary are true. Leaving Zambo and Austin guarding the camp, the explorers cross a chasm onto
the plateau by cutting down a tree and using it as a bridge. It is knocked over by a brontosaurus,
leaving them trapped on the plateau.
The explorers become witnesses to various struggles between the prehistoric beasts of the
jungle plateau as they try to make their way back to the camp. An allosaurus attacks a trachodon
and knocks it into a bog. The allosaurus then attacks and is driven off by a triceratops.
Eventually, the allosaurus makes its way down to the campsite and attacks the exploration
party. It is finally driven off by Ed, who tosses a torch into its mouth. Convinced that the camp
is no longer safe, Ed climbs a tree to look for a new location, when he is attacked by the ape
man. Roxton shoots the ape man, but the creature is merely wounded, and escapes before he
can finish him off.
Meanwhile, an agathaumas is attacked by a tyrannosaurus, and gores it to death.
Suddenly, another tyrannosaurus attacks and kills the agathaumas, along with an unfortunate
pteranodon.
The explorers then make preparations to live on the plateau, possibly on a permanent basis
so that they can study the fauna in more depth. A catapult is constructed to deter the
tyrranosaurus and other large animals.
During a search around the common area, Roxton finally finds the remains of Maple
White, confirming his death. It is at this time that Ed confesses his love for Paula; and the two
are unofficially wed by Summerlee, who used to be a minister.
Shortly afterwards, as the paleontologists are observing a brontosaurus, an allosaurus
attacks it and the brontosaurus falls off the edge of the plateau, becoming trapped in a mud
bank at its base. Soon afterwards, a volcano erupts, causing a mass stampede among the giant
beasts of the lost world. The explorers are saved when Paula's pet monkey Jocko climbs up the
plateau, carrying a rope. The explorers use the rope to pull up a rope ladder constructed by
Zambo and Austin, and then climb the ladder down the escarpment.
As Ed makes his descent, he is again attacked by the ape man who pulls at the the rope
ladder to dislodge him. The ape man is finally killed by Roxton. They discover that the
brontosaurus had made a soft landing near the river, still alive but mired in the mud, and
Challenger decides to bring it back to London, as he wants to put it on display as proof of his
story. After a massive struggle to trap and cage the monster, they manage to put it on a raft to
float down river toward the port, where it is loaded aboard a ship bound for England.
However, while it is being unloaded from the ship in the London port it escapes and causes
havoc until it reaches Tower Bridge, where its massive weight causes it to collapse. Obeying
some instinctual homing signal, it swims down the River Thames toward the ocean.
Challenger is morose as the creature leaves, his hopes of corraling the brontosaurus for
study now dashed.
Ed discovers that the love he left in London has married in his absence, allowing him and
Paula to be together. Roxton gallantly hides his love for Paula as Paula and Ed make
arrangements to marry, while two passersby note: "That's Sir John Roxton--sportsman." END
Analysis and Additional Notes: Of course, I only caught a few minutes of it late at night
on what was then the public channel when I was 6 years old, and later a few minutes more on
a late night television horror show hosting films in syndication. I recall how jerky the images
were, sometimes faded and blurry. What captivated me, however, was the amazing stop action
animation of the dinosaurs inhabiting the primitive jungle plateau. It was the first attempt at
realistic special effects which would influence film makers later on. It was also the first movie I
saw about intrepid explorers boldly going where no one had gone before; a concept about the
human endeavor which has stayed with me all my life.
It is too bad that at the time I had no idea who the people were in the film. I also did not
know that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had written the book on which it was based. I had originally
thought it was someone like Jules Verne or HG Wells. But now that I have rediscovered the film
in all its cinematic glory, I am doubly glad that Doyle was of the same adventurous spirit and
daring as many other writers of that time. For more about his amazing life, read The Adventures
of Arthur Conan Doyle by Russell Miller, a biography based on Doyle’s own papers and journals.
Restorations of The Lost World: George Eastman House - Laserdisc preservation with
stills showing missing scenes - the restoration was done using materials from the Czech
National Film Archive. Some sequences are still missing and some were inadvertently left out.
In 2004 an incomplete, original tinted, toned and hand-colored nitrate 35 mm print of the
original version of The Lost World was discovered and purchased by Film Preservation
Associates.
Product placement: Recognizable brand name products on screen were uncommon prior
to the 1950s. However, an editorial in Harrison’s Reports criticized the collaboration between
Corona Typewriter company and First National Pictures when a Corona typewriter appeared
in this movie. In a bit of self promotion of a film within a film, First National promoted The Sea
Hawk, a big hit produced by First National the previous year. A theater showing a run of the
film is seen by the explorers when they return to civilization.
Background: Willis O'Brien combined animated dinosaurs with live action footage of
human beings, but at first he was able to do this only by separating the frame into two parts
(also known as split screen). As work went on, O'Brien's technique grew better and he could
combine live action and stop-motion footage in the same part of the screen.
In 1922, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle showed O'Brien's test reel to a meeting of the Society of
American Magicians, which included Harry Houdini. The astounded audience watched footage
of a Triceratops family, an attack by an allosaurus and some stegosaurus footage. Conan Doyle
refused to discuss the film's origins; possibly to conceal the project’s full scope. On the next day,
the New York Times ran a front page article about it, saying "…Conan Doyle’s monsters of the
ancient world, or of the new world which he has discovered in the ether, were extraordinarily
lifelike. If fakes, they were masterpieces".
The dinosaurs of this film were based on the artwork of Charles R. Knight. Some of the
dinosaur models used in the film came into the famous collection of fantasy fan Forrest J
Ackerman (no period on the J). The models were not specially preserved, and with time the
rubber dried out and fell to pieces, leaving only the metallic armatures.
I should note here that I spent the summer of 1987 working for Mr. Ackerman as a library
assistant and part time secretary. I saw a great many model pieces which sat on shelves
unpreserved and falling to pieces. I also got to see some of the dinosaur models made for the
film and lamented their condition, but there was no budget at the time for making copies or
restoring what was there. Besides, replicas do not count as the original artwork.
The Lost World became the first film to be shown to airline passengers in April of 1925 on a
London to Paris flight by Imperial Airways. As film stock of the era was made of nitrate and
highly flammable, this was a risky undertaking for a wood and fabric plane, which was a
converted WWI bomber and not capable of surviving a fire.
This was also the first feature length film made in the United States, possibly the world, to
feature model animation as the primary special effect or stop motion animation in general. This
is also the first dinosaur oriented film hit, and it led to other dinosaur movies, from King Kong
in 1933 to the Jurassic Park trilogy.
About the book: The Lost World was released in 1912 as a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
about an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America, where prehistoric
animals (dinosaurs and other extinct creatures) still survived. It was originally published as a
serial in the popular Strand magazine during the months of April to November of 1912. The
character of Prof. George Edward Challenger was introduced in this book. The novel also
describes a war between Native Americans and a vicious tribe of ape like creatures, presumably
to spice up the plot and render an escape for the protagonists.
Additional notes: In 1915, the Russian scientist Vladimir Obruchev produced his own
version of the "lost world" theme in the novel Plutonia, which places the dinosaurs and other
Cretaceous species in a fictional underground area of Russian Siberia. In 1916, Edgar Rice
Burroughs published The Land That Time Forgot, his version of The Lost World, where lost
submariners from a German U-Boat discover their own lost world of dinosaurs and ape men in
Antarctica. Two other books in the series followed. A 1994 release for the Forgotten Futures roleplaying game was based on and includes the full text of the Professor Challenger novels and
stories. Author Greg Bear set his 1998 novel Dinosaur Summer in Conan Doyle's The Lost World.
Conan Doyle's title was reused by Michael Crichton in his 1995 novel The Lost World, a
sequel to Jurassic Park. (Its film adaptation, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, followed suit.) At least
two similarly named TV shows, Land of the Lost and Lost, nod to this source material. At least
two of the characters in Michael Crichton's novel of The Lost World mention a palaeontologist
called John Roxton. However, Crichton's Roxton, who is never seen in the film, is something of
an idiot, wrongly identifying one dinosaur and publishing a report stating that the braincase of
tyrannosaurus rex is the same as that of a frog and thus possesses a visual system attuned
strictly to movement. As is rightly observed, T. rex’s braincase is about the size of a small cat
and it was clearly more dexterous than its limited forelimbs would indicate, making it one of
the cleverest and most cunning predators in the Cretaceous Era.
One of the Neopets plots, "Journey to The Lost Isle" is based on this book, with Roxton A.
Colchester III, Hugo & Lillian Fairweather, and Werther as the adventurers and with Captain
Rourke and Scrap as the guides.
It should be noted that the idea of prehistoric animals surviving into the present day was
not new, but had already been introduced by Jules Verne in Journey to the Center of the Earth. In
that book, published in 1864, the creatures live under the earth in and around a subterranean
sea, which is rumored to run directly through the planet. This is of course geologically
impossible. But the idea was better depicted in the film of the same title for its fantasy impact.
The reason I have not included Journey in my list of impactful films is that it is largely fantasy
and did not add very much to the narrative on film in general.
The Lost World was adapted in Czech comics by Vlastislav Toman/Jirí Veškrna (1970, 24
pages), followed by a sequel The Second Expedition (Vlastislav Toman/František Koblík, 26
pages), and reprinted together in Velká kniha Komiksu, ISBN 80-7257-658-5.
The 2002 animated adventure Dinosaur Island was an attempt to blend the original story
with the popular reality series format, and was written by John Loy, writer of similar
productions such as The Land Before Time.
Other scientific notes: The characters of Ed Malone and Lord John Roxton were modeled,
respectively, on the journalist E. D. Morel and the diplomat Roger Casement, leaders of the
Congo Free State reform campaign (later the Congo Reform Association), which Conan Doyle
actively supported. The setting for The Lost World is believed to have been inspired by reports
of Conan Doyle's good friend Percy Harrison Fawcett and his expedition to the Huanchaca
Plateau in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Bolivia. Fawcett organized several expeditions
to delimit the border between Bolivia and Brazil; an area of potential conflict between both
countries. Conan Doyle took part in Fawcett’s lecture at the Royal Geographic Society on
February 13, 1911, and was impressed by the tale about the remote province of Caupolican
(present day Huanchaca Plateau) in Bolivia, decribed by Fawcett as a dangerous area with
impenetrable forests, where Fawcett himself claimed to have seen "monstrous tracks of
unknown origin".
Fawcett wrote in his posthumously published memoirs: "monsters from the dawn of man's
existence might still roam these heights unchallenged, imprisoned and protected by unscalable cliffs. So
thought Conan Doyle when later in London I spoke of these hills and showed photographs of them. He
mentioned an idea for a novel on Central South America and asked for information, which I told him I
should be glad to supply. The fruit of it was his Lost world in 1912, appearing as a serial in the Strand
Magazine [sic], and subsequently in the form of a book that achieved widespread popularity."
The allosaurus that attacks the camp is described as being as large as a horse, whereas in
real life any allosaurus species was much bigger. However, the book allowed for the possibility
that the one which attacks the camp was a megalosaurus or a juvenile allosaurus, which would
be a much more ideal size. Both Summerlee and Challenger are undecided if the attacking beast
was a megalosaurus or allosaurus but they imply it is a megalosaur as "…any one of the larger
carnivorous dinosaurs would meet the case." Inaccurate size measurements are also given to
the iguanodon and phorusrhacos described in the book; probably to give the smaller humans a
better chance to fight back.
Following the stereotypes for the time in which the book was written, the dinosaurs are
described often as extremely stupid. This idea is generally omitted in the modern film versions.
For example, at some point an iguanodon pulls down the tree in which it is feeding and injures
itself in the process. Given what we know about survival adaptations among species in the
current century, it may have happened for a baby or juvenile, but not for an adult.
METROPOLIS (1926)
Director: Fritz Lang
Screenplay: Fritz Lang & Thea von Harbou
Producer: Erich Pommer
Original Music Score: Gottfried Huppertz
Cinematography: Karl Freund & Günther Rittau
Cast:
Gustav Fröhlich as Freder Fredersen
Brigitte Helm as Maria / The Robot
Rudolf Klein-Rogge as Rotwang
Theodor Loos as Josephat
Heinrich George as Grot (Foreman
Fritz Rasp as Slim
Heinrich Gotho as Master of Ceremonies
Erwin Biswanger as Georgi, 11811
Hans Leo Reich as Mafinus
Olaf Storm as Jan
Plot: Metropolis is revealed to be a towering city of the future where society is divided into two
classes: one of planners and management, who live high above the Earth in skyscrapers; and
one of workers, who live and toil in the lower levels. The workers appear to be slaves to the
whistle of Metropolis’s ten-hour clock, where the men hand adjust an enormous control
mechanism which regulates the master machines of industry.
Like the other children born into the privileged upper class, Freder Fredersen, the only son
of Metropolis’ mayor Joh Fredersen, lives a life of luxury. One day, as he and his friends play
games of the idle rich in the lush, private Eternal Gardens, they are interrupted by a beautiful
girl, accompanied by a group of workers’ children. The group is approached by the guard, who
tells them they cannot visit there. The group is quickly ejected, but Freder is transfixed by the
girl — and decides to follow her down to the machine rooms below.
When he arrives, a worker collapses at his station, leading to a chain of events as the
enormous machine violently explodes and kills dozens of workers. Caught in the smoke and
chaos, Freder has a vision of the giant machine as Moloch, the god of fire, gobbling up chained
slaves offered in sacrifice. Horrified by what he has seen, Freder returns to a massive skyscraper
owned by his father. (Allusions to the idea of Nimrod and his aspiration to reach heaven using
the Tower of Babel run rampant through this part of the story.)
Freder confronts his father and describes the deplorable conditions and horrific accident
in the machine room, but Fredersen is more focused on hearing about the accident from his
assistant Josephat and not from Freder himself; with a cold rationality that shocks Freder.
Freder leaves his office reeling with doubt and a newfound sense of inadequacy in the
foreground of the bigger picture.
Grot, foreman of the Heart Machine (which supplies the energy needs of Metrpolis)
informs Fredersen of papers resembling maps or plans that have been discovered in the dead
workers’ pockets. Sabotage is implied, and that there was a plan in the works long before the
event. Furious, Fredersen fires Josephat and tells his brooding henchman, Der Schmale, to start
following his son to make sure he is not going to disrupt the status quo. Outside the office,
Freder sees Josephat with a gun in his hand and keeps him from committing suicide. They
commiserate together about the situation, finally agreeing to meet later at Josephat’s dwelling.
Freder, now awash in remorse for leading an idle lifestyle, returns to the factory and takes
over for Worker No. 11811 (Georgy), who works a machine that directs electrical power to the
enormous series of elevators in the great tower, and has collapsed at his station from exhaustion.
They exchange clothes while Freder tells Georgy to go to Josephat’s apartment and to wait for
him there. When he reaches Freder’s car, however, Georgy finds a large amount of money in
the pockets of Freder’s pants and decides instead to go to Yoshiwara, the city’s red-light district,
there to drown his sorrows in drink and good times. We don’t know why this is Georgy’s
decision. There is no rational explanation to this sudden loss of focus except to advance the
script’s direction.
Der Schmale follows and records Georgy’s movements, mistaking him for Freder because
of the clothes; and reports his observations to Fredersen. Fredersen decides to consult with the
scientist Rotwang, an old collaborator of his rise to power, who lives in a house contained in
the lower levels of the city.
At Rotwang’s house Fredersen discovers a monument dedicated to Hel, his late wife.
Though Rotwang loved Hel, she abandoned him for the wealthy, powerful Fredersen, and died
giving birth to their son Freder. Rotwang has never been able to get over the loss, and is furious
when he sees that Fredersen has discovered the hidden shrine. After railing against his past
rival, Rotwang presents his latest invention: a machine woman who is to replace his lost Hel.
He tells Fredersen that he is tweaking the design, and that soon the machine woman will be
indistinguishable from his dead beloved. Fredersen is outraged, yet he is also intrigued by the
idea.
Meanwhile, Freder works at Georgy’s machine until he becomes delirious with exhaustion,
and has visions of being crucified to the factory clock. He is quickly replaced by another worker
before the clock loses its rhythm. When Fredersen asks Rotwang to help him decipher the
papers, Rotwang identifies them as maps to the ancient catacombs that lie deep under the lower
levels of the city. Back in the factory, the shifts change, and a few workers take Freder down
into the catacombs for their secret meeting. Fredersen and Rotwang follow their map to the
catacombs at the same time.
There, the beautiful missionary Maria appears and begins preaching to the workers about
the Tower of Babel, destroyed by the slaves who built it because no common language could be
found between them and their rulers. She predicts the arrival of a mediator who will ease the
unspeakable hardships that the workers of Metropolis endure. Fredersen is there in disguise
with Rotwang. As he listens to Maria’s sermon, Fredersen realizes that Maria could pose a threat
to his authority over the workers.
Rotwang notices Freder in the crowd, but does not mention this to Fredersen. Freder is too
overcome with his passion for Maria and for her cause to notice his father. As the crowd
adjourns, Maria identifies Freder as the awaited mediator she spoke of, and she and Freder
exchange kind words to each other. Then Freder and Maria kiss, and agree to meet the next day
at the cathedral in the Upper City.
Fredersen instructs Rotwang to give his machine woman the appearance of Maria, thus
enabling him to mislead the workers and destroy their bid for independence. Rotwang agrees,
but has ulterior motives and intends to use the android to ruin Fredersen’s life instead.
When the workers leave the chapel, Rotwang pursues Maria through the catacombs,
terrorizing her with the beam of his flashlight before abducting her. A weak method of
intimidation, to be sure, but Maria is young and not a prime example of the independent
woman of today. Maria is overcome by fear and faints. He scoops her up and carries her off into
the shadows.
The next day, Freder enters a cathedral and listens to the sermon of a monk who declares
that the apocalypse is drawing near and will announce itself in the form of a sinful woman. (I’m
sure that the monk must have heard Maria’s sermon and judged it sinful, but that is in the
background of the story.) Freder is both shocked and angered at the allusion to his beautious
Maria as the whore of Babylon. As Freder wanders through the cathedral, he finds a group of
figures representing Death and the Seven Deadly Sins and reflects on his past life, which has
been free of trouble up to now. We don’t know what he is thinking, but his reaction to the
sculptures demonstrates his sense of guilt for taking his life of luxury for granted. But Maria
never arrives at the appointed time. He searches briefly for her but soon gives up.
Back at work in his laboratory, Rotwang instructs his new female android “Maria” to
destroy Fredersen’s city and murder his son. A tall order for an untested prototype. “Maria”
neither likes nor dislikes the idea, but proceeds with machine precision to obey his commands.
Meanwhile, a bleary eyed Georgy emerges from Yoshiwara after a long night of pleasure.
As he gets into Freder’s car, he is apprehended by Der Schmale and forced to reveal details of
the planned meeting at Josephat’s house. Freder goes to Josephat’s place so that Georgy can
take him to the lower levels of the city for the meeting. He is surprised to learn from Josephat
that Georgy never showed up. Freder leaves to continue his search for Maria, but moments later
Der Schmale arrives and discovers Georgy’s cap, further evidence of the link between Freder,
Josephat and Georgy. He tries to get Josephat to betray Freder, first through bribery, then
through threats and intimidation, and finally by force. The two men struggle, but Der Schmale
is too strong for Josephat. After defeating him, Der Schmale tells Josephat that he will return for
him in three hours.
Freder walks through the streets and soon hears Maria’s cries as she is struggling with
Rotwang, who is taking a peculiar delight in her torture. Freder follows the sounds to the door
of Rotwang’s house, where a further series of doors open for him, trapping him inside. When
Freder demands to know where Maria is, Rotwang tells him that she is with Joh Fredersen.
Freder is hard pressed to know what business Maria has with his father, but he leaves
Rotwang’s house in a state of confusion.
In a letter to Fredersen, Rotwang invites him to a demonstration of “Maria” and her
functions: a dance performance before the male elite of Metropolis that will prove that no one
will be able to tell that she is a machine. Later, Fredersen ogles at “Maria” in her glory and
instructs her on what to do to sabotage the workers’ aims. Freder is shocked and dismayed yet
again, thinking that his Maria has betrayed him with his father, and he collapses from the shock.
As Freder languishes in bed, “Maria” entertains the male elite with an erotic dance which has
them spellbound; Jan and Marinus, sons of upper class citizens, are entranced; and not only
willing but eager to commit “all seven deadly sins” for her sake.
Der Schmale keeps watch over Freder who is now in complete delirium. Freder sees him
transformed into the monk who preached about the apocalypse in the cathedral. When he
awakes, he finds the invitation to “Maria”‘s unveiling on his nightstand, where a doctor has
carelessly left it. (Or not. This is also probably another deus ex machina.) As his nurse tends to
him, Freder has another vision of the cathedral statues of Death and the Seven Deadly Sins
coming toward him, with Death’s scythe sweeping through the sickroom. He is wracked with
terror and a looming sense of doom in his dreams, but can tell no one what he is seeing.
Josephat escapes his confinement and goes to meet with Freder. Der Schmale reports to
Fredersen about the increasing unrest in the lower levels, warning that “the only thing keeping
the workers in check is their expectation of getting the mediator promised to them.”
Jan is killed in a duel with Marinus over “Maria”, and the Eternal Gardens are deserted as
the scions of Metropolis gather in Yoshiwara to vie for the alluring android’s favors, and even
more of them die in confrontations with each other for her attentions. Freder escapes from his
bed, eludes Der Schmale, and goes down to meet Josephat. Josephat then tells Freder that “this
woman, at whose feet all sins are heaped, is also named Maria,” and that it is the same Maria
who gives sermons to the workers in the catacombs. At first Freder grows angry at his
intimation, then suddenly it dawns on him what is going on. There are two Marias.
The shift whistle sounds, signaling the workers to go down the catacombs. Freder tells
Josephat that it is time for the mediator to appear at last. He and Josephat descend into Lower
Metropolis together.
Fredersen instructs Der Schmale that the workers should not be stopped, no matter what
they decide to do. He sets off to meet Rotwang, who is still holding the real Maria prisoner.
Rotwang explains to Maria that the android Maria only seems to follow Fredersen’s orders,
when in fact she obeys Rotwang’s will alone. Bewildered, Maria is helpless to stop him from
carrying out his plan against Fredersen.
At the secret meeting in the catacombs, the android “Maria” urges the workers to rebel
and destroy the machines. When Freder and Josephat arrive, Freder cries out that this agitator
cannot be the real Maria. A worker under the android’s spell identifies Freder as Joh Fredersen’s
son, and the mob attacks both Freder and Josephat. Georgy is stabbed as he shields Freder with
his own body.
The workers, led by the android Maria, rush off to destroy the machines en masse, leaving
Georgy to die in Freder and Josephat’s arms. Freder shouts after the workers that there is danger
if they destroy the machines but his entreaties fall on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, Fredersen has now heard what Rotwang has revealed to the real Maria, and
he attacks Rotwang. While the two fight to the death, Maria escapes into the city alone.
Wave after wave of enraged workers mass at the gates and elevators leading to the
machine rooms, and the real Maria follows them. The android Maria and the rioters attack the
Great Machine, convincing the workers there to join them; but when they attempt to move on
to the Heart Machine, Grot closes the giant gates to the factory to shut them out.
Fredersen returns to his office and receives a desperate report from Grot over a videophone
about the rioting. He orders Grot to open the gate and to let things take their course. Grot
reluctantly obeys, but holds the surge of workers and their wives at bay armed only with a
wrench. He is violently thrown aside and nearly trampled in the melee’. As the real Maria draws
close, the android Maria damages the Heart Machine and escapes to the upper levels of
Metropolis. We then see the true purpose of the machines the workers have worked so hard to
operate.
The lower levels of the city have been protected from flooding by the river, which has been
held in check by these machines. As the deeper levels begin to flood, Maria sees that most of
the children of the workers have been abandoned by their mothers, who stand with their
husbands during the riot. Maria sounds the alarm and gathers the workers’ children together
to escape, but their exit is blocked by an avalanche of wreckage from above. As the water rushes
in from all sides and quickly rises around them they become trapped and increasingly
desperate.
We see a long scene of screaming, panicking children trying to climb as high as they can
to escape the water, cutting back and forth to their mothers, who are assisting their husbands
and dismantling the machines which have kept them safe for so long, unaware of the
consequences. Josephat and Freder finally reach Maria and the children to help them escape,
but their attempts to reach safety through the stairwell of a towering airshaft is blocked by a
locked steel grille. As countless children continue to climb into the stairwell, Freder and
Josephat are able to break through the grille and guide the children to safety as the level they
were on is engulfed by the surging water.
Fredersen learns where Freder is and fears for his safety, realizing that his bid for power
over the workers has overreached him. Grot crawls from the Heart Machine wreckage and stops
the workers’ victory dance, telling them that their children must have all drowned in the
flooding. The workers then blame Maria for inciting them to riot, declaring her a witch.
Meanwhile, in the Yoshiwara district, the android Maria urges the dancing crowd out onto the
street, crying, “let’s watch the world go to hell!” The men leave the district and go down into
the lower levels, following the machine woman like automatons out of control.
Rotwang has survived Fredersen’s attack, regains consciousness and drags himself to Hel’s
monument shrine. With the words, “now I am going to take you home, my Hel!,” he sets out to
recapture his machine woman and claim her for himself.
Freder, Josephat and Maria find refuge for the children at the Club of the Sons, but an
exhausted Maria is separated from the group when she pauses to rest. At the same time, Grot
leads the riotous workers through the streets, and when they come upon Maria outside the club,
Grot calls her a witch and declares that she must be burned at the stake. Terrified, she runs from
the menacing workers into the city streets, unaware that the Yoshiwara revelers are coming
toward her from the other way.
As the angry mob of workers and revelers meet, Grot seizes the android Maria, mistaking
her for the real one. The workers tie the machine woman to a stake in front of the cathedral and
prepare to burn her. Freder’s frantic search for the real Maria brings him to the cathedral, where
he sees the android Maria, who is tied to a stake and about to be burned.
Meanwhile, the real Maria is chased into the cathedral by Rotwang, who mistakes her for
his android woman and wants to give her the likeness of his lost Hel. She flees into the bell
tower, where she hangs desperately from the cathedral bell’s massive rope. As the bell rings,
the laughing android Maria is unmasked by the rising flames of the bonfire. The crowd is at
once terrified and confused. Josephat brings Fredersen to the cathedral square, where he
reassures the assembled workers that their children were rescued and are safe.
When Freder and the workers realize that they have been tricked, they look up and see
Rotwang chasing Maria across the cathedral roof. Freder races into the cathedral to rescue
Maria. Rotwang carries Maria farther up the steep roof to escape, but Freder frees her in a fierce
fight with Rotwang, who falls to his death.
Later, the workers gather before the cathedral’s portal. Maria and Freder declare an
alliance between the rulers and the ruled. Freder places Fredersen’s hand in Grot’s and declares
that “the mediator between brain and hands must be the heart.” END
Analysis and Additional Notes: Aside from the concluding excitement of the final scenes, like
Freder’s battle with Rotwang and the flooding of Lower Metropolis, there is little more than a
cursory nod to the technical accuracy of building an android and controlling it, and the industry
at work in the advanced “futuristic” city of Metropolis. We are not shown how the entire system
works. We are only shown that workers manipulate the controls of the machine to exhaustion,
with little explanation why. In retrospect, one could say that these scenes were but the
foreground for the larger work as we peel back the layers and begin to see the whole machine
for what it is.
But the social impact of the division between the upper class and the lower class (note that
there is no “middle” class save among the managers reporting to Fredersen) is telling in that it
takes the entire population to keep the city going. The upper class cannot live without the labor
of the workers, who up to now toiled under the illusion that the machines granted them
prosperity, while actually performing a vital and underappreciated function: keeping the city
from flooding.
I am reminded of the levees collapsing when hurricane Katrina flooded the lower Ninth
Ward of New Orleans, and the attending lack of attention to restoring the city until years later.
Had Metropolis fully flooded and the children been killed without the intervention of Freder
and Maria, it would have seen total ruin in the collapse of its industry; not to mention the blame
being heaped on Joh Fredersen and his misguided approach to leadership, the lack of resources
to rebuild, and the lack of incentive for the workers to rebuild if the city is built in the wrong
place. The social contract having been breached, the populace likely would have preferred to
move and build somewhere else, and that would have been the end of it.
The comparison to the Tower of Babel is lost somewhat in the translation when we see the
dominance of the “ziggurat” of Fredersen’s tower looming in the distance against the
foreground of equally massive buildings. Like most of the greatest skyscrapers of the world,
they are impressive for their design and their impact on a city skyline; but nothing else. The
idea of communication using a common language is better demonstrated in the end, when
Freder and Fredersen are reunited and the workers understand their place in the grand scheme;
that their hard work is vital to the survival of the city. Their grumblings against the upper
classes are seen as meaningless when compared with the worth of their work to keep the city
from flooding. But then they should have known that already, though the film clearly shows
that they don’t and were never informed in a practical manner.
I am reminded of a Japanese anime film called Memories, and its third segment called
“Cannon Fodder”. We see an entire society living and prospering around the industry, rituals,
and procedures of arming and firing a giant cannon like a gun of Navaronne. Each worker has
a specific function, and the chance to be “promoted” to do a greater part. The star of the show
has the sole function of firing the weapon. All he has to do is to press the button.
We see a child of that society learning his engineering lessons and going to sleep under a
poster of the firing officer. He says he wants to be him one day. The firing officer is his true hero,
and the man he wants to emulate. It’s too bad it is not a real goal. There is no discussion of how
much the man earns and if he ever worked to get there.
We never see the enemy, though they are probably living in a similar society. Neither side
even knows why the war was started, or which side started it. War as a means to keep the
economy going has turned into a way of life, and the machines of war are the only way people
retain their standard of living. I can see that there are many in this country alone who see war
as a way to maintain the status quo, but is it the best way to live? Only time will tell.
Additional notes: Produced in Germany during a stable period of the Weimar Republic,
Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and makes use of this context to explore the social
crisis between workers and owners which is an inherent flaw of capitalism. The film was
produced in the Babelsberg Studios by Universum Film A.G. (UFA). The most expensive silent
film ever made, it cost approximately 5 million Royal Marks, or approximately $15 million
when adjusted for inflation.
Metropolis was cut substantially after its German premiere and much footage was lost over
the passage of successive decades. There had been several efforts to restore it, as well as
discoveries of previously lost footage. A 2001 reconstruction of Metropolis was shown at the
Berlin Film Festival. In 2008, a copy 30 minutes longer than any other known to survive was
located in Argentina. After a long period of restoration in Germany, the film was shown
publicly for the first time simultaneously in Berlin and Frankfurt on February 12, 2010. This
version was also shown in New York at the Ziegfeld Theater in the last two weeks of October
of 2010, and is the version I saw on TCM (Turner Classic Movies).
Original score: Like many big budget films of the time, the original release of Metropolis
had an original musical score meant to be performed by large orchestras accompanying the film
in major theaters. The music was composed by Gottfried Huppertz, who had composed the
original scores for Lang’s Die Nibelungen films in 1924. For Metropolis, Huppertz composed an
orchestral score which included many elements from the music of Richard Wagner and Richard
Strauss, using mild modernism for the city of the workers and the popular Dies Irae for an
apocalyptic subtheme. His music played a prominent role during the shooting of the film.
During principal photography, many scenes being shot were accompanied by him, playing the
piano to get certain emotive effects from the actors. Lang approved, saying that the actors’ facial
expressions should be enough to convey the convictions expressed in the film without the
benefit of sound.
The score was rerecorded for the 2001 DVD release of the film with Berndt Heller
conducting the Rundfunksinfonieorchester Saarbrücken. It was the first release of a reasonably
reconstructed movie, accompanied by the music originally intended for it. The original film
score was played live by the VCS Radio Symphony which accompanied the restored version at
Brenden Theatres in Vacaville, California in August of 2007. The score was also produced in a
salon orchestration, and performed for the first time in the United States in August of 2007 by
The Bijou Orchestra under the direction of Leo Najar, as part of a German Expressionist film
festival in Bay City, Michigan. The work was also performed live at the Traverse City Film
Festival in Michigan in August of 2009. For the 2010 reconstruction of Metropolis the score was
performed and recorded for the DVD release by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra,
conducted by Frank Strobel, who also conducted the premiere of the reconstructed version at
Berlin Friedrichstadtpalast.
Sidebar: I have seen Osamu Tezuka’s wondrous anime film Metropolis which was a
masterpiece of visual perfection. The focus for the story centers on Maria, who is shown as an
adroid with no memory but who imprints on a boy named Kenichi for her socialization. Kenichi
already has a special affinity for the droids working in the lower levels of the city, and his ability
to communicate with them makes him special to her. We see much of the plot through the eyes
of his uncle, a police detective from another prefecture who has come to look in on his nephew
and take in the sights.
Marduk is the man at the center of the city. There are special allusions to the god-king
Marduk and the god Enki, whose daughter Inanna was the guardian of the laws of order and
chaos. The great tower is in fact a ziggurat surrounded by lush gardens, plazas and magnificent
edifices. (the gloriously painted animation backgrounds alone are worth the viewing).
Marduk’s son is a rake, jaded and cynical about the power his father already has, and Marduk’s
quest for more power only aggravates the delicate peace they share. In point of fact, Marduk
frequently ignores his son entirely while pursuing his own goals, a fact which proves to be
telling as the film progresses.
This story is more about the abuse of the machines than of living workers. The machines
are treated as especially vile and not worthy of respect. There is also a faction of living citizens
who delight in destroying the machines for “taking our jobs” even as the machines only do jobs
they won’t do themselves. There are a couple of incidents which point to sabotage of the
machines in the form of a controlling circuit going bad in one of them. Left unreplaced, the
droid goes out of control and must be “put down” to restore the peace. An investigation begins
but it is assigned to a humanoid android, who is both helpful and somewhat empathetic. He is
tortured and then destroyed by an angry mob of citizens.
Maria is caught in the middle of the power struggle between Marduk and his son, who
sees her as an impediment to his father’s attentions, even thinking that she is out to steal them.
By now he is insane. He forms a rebel faction whose goal is to destroy Metropolis from within,
and his particular target is Maria. He then organizes a brief rebellion of the dissatisfied which
is stopped by the Metro police. When he escapes he shoots her and tries to kill Kenichi. The
bullet damages Maria enough that she becomes disoriented and confused. Kenichi’s uncle
wounds Marduk’s son in a firefight and helps Maria and Kenichi to get away.
But Maria and Kenichi are caught by Marduk’s men. Marduk attaches her to the great
machine at the heart of the city’s substructure, and in a spectacular build up of mechanical
interconnection, the machine takes over her small android body and turns her into a mindless
superweapon which proceeds to destroy everything. The great machine is “angry” at Marduk
and his people’s treatment of the droids (possibly a result of the damage to Maria’s positronic
brain). It targets Marduk in particular and he flees in a panic.
Only Kenichi’s voice restores Maria to herself, but by then most of the city is in ruins.
Marduk and his son die in the destruction, and the great city is left to the mercy of the machines.
Kenichi finds to his delight that the machines have been restored to their peaceful identities. He
decides that he will stay and become their caretaker. Perhaps I see it differently, but aside from
the super effects the story also touches on the difference between power and control. Maria was
innocent as any machine can be, but she was transformed into a pitiless goddess of war by the
ambitions of man.
Inanna, in all her mechanized glory.
FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
Directed by James Whale
Writing credits: based upon the composition by John L. Balderston from the novel by Mary
Shelley (as Mrs. Percy B. Shelley); adapted from the play by Peggy Webling; screenplay:
Garrett Fort and Francis Edward Faragoh, construction by John Russell
Scenario editor: Richard Schayer; treatment by Robert Florey
Producer: E.M. Asher, associate producer
Carl Laemmle Jr., producer
Original Music: Bernhard Kaun
Cinematography: Arthur Edeson and Paul Ivano
Cast:
Colin Clive as Dr. Henry Frankenstein
Mae Clarke as Elizabeth
John Boles as Victor Moritz
Boris Karloff as The Monster
Edward Van Sloan as Dr. Waldman
Frederick Kerr as Baron Frankenstein
Dwight Frye as Fritz
Lionel Belmore as The Burgomaster
Marilyn Harris as Little Maria
Plot: Dr. Henry Frankenstein wants to build a man from parts of others, thinking that death
could be put off if he could revive the dead. At the same time, he is under pressure by his father,
Baron Frankenstein, to marry his fiancee’ Elizabeth. Apparently he has put off the wedding date
far too often. In fact, he is far too focused on the reanimation of dead tissue to deal with the
living. He keeps his experiments secret even though he loves Elizabeth, who has been patient
with him for so long. Frankenstein meets with failure after failure, but will not give up his quest
for eternal life through chemistry.
He and his assistant Fritz dig up a freshly buried coffin and steal the body. When they
discover that the head and the brains of the body are severely damaged, they decide to steal a
brain from Dr. Frankenstein’s former teacher, Dr. Waldman. Fritz accidentally drops the glass
jar with the label “good brain” on it, on the floor. Unwilling to disappoint his employer, he
decides to take the glass jar with the label “bad brain” on it, and delivers it to the scientist, who
has created a body ready to receive it.
Using the power of electricity, Dr. Frankenstein has developed a mechanism to carry out
his aims. The mechanism is so complex that the reconstructed body must be levered up to the
roof, where transformers and other equipment infuses the body with much needed energy
generated by the power of a thunderstorm. (Science has shown that too much voltage, however,
would have cooked the body. All he would have been left with was barbeque.) In a spectacular
sequence involving arcing electrical bolts and other interesting mechanical effects, we are
treated to a body glowing with energy as it is lowered back to the ground floor.
Excited to the point of madness, the doctor trembles with joy as he slowly unveils the
creature on the table, but the audience is not able to see it yet. He examines his treasure, exhorts
Fritz to bring him instruments to help him work. At first, he is disappointed. The body is
unresponsive, unmovable. Then, a hand twitches. Dr. Frankenstein backs up slowly as his
words come out. “It’s alive. It’s alive! IT’S ALIVE!!”
He removes the cover and reveals a tall man with crude stitches all over his body. But the
creature is weak and disoriented. Dr. Frankenstein and Fritz help him to stand up. His head is
misshapen, with bolts sticking out of his neck. He is wearing what looks like a hospital gown
and bandages wrapped around parts which have not healed. Slowly, Frankenstein and his
assistant dress him in a crude farmer’s outfit, with strange platform boots. Frankenstein then
proceeds to help him learn to walk, but the creature cannot speak with more than a
monosyllabic grunt. He is also very much like an infant or toddler in that he has to learn
everything over again.
Dr. Frankenstein locks him away in a cell, where he plans to educate the creature before
unveiling him to the world. The creature imprints on Frankenstein as a friend and father figure,
but for some reason Fritz thinks him a convenient object of torture. While Dr. Frankenstein is
away socializing with Elizabeth and her brother, Fritz teaches the creature the danger of fire by
poking at it with a torch. The monster responds with pain and anguish (at this point one cannot
help but have sympathy for him) and kills Fritz in a fit of rage. Then he escapes from the castle
into the woods.
The monster wanders about for a bit until he meets a little girl playing near the water. His
childlike sensibilities sees her as a playmate. The monster and the girl throw flowers in the
water until they run out. Delighted with their game, the monster thinks her another flower,
picks up the girl and throws her in the water. He hears a noise and hurries off to hide.
Later, we learn that the little girl was drowned when her father carries her through the
village. The police officer in the city, a man named Inspector Moritz, discusses the situation
with Baron Frankenstein, the doctor’s father, and asks about the mysterious lights seen in the
castle windows at night. The baron assures him that he does not know what he is talking about,
but that he will get to the bottom of things.
The monster is chased by hunters who shoot at him. He finds his way to a cottage, where
a blind hermit admits him and gives him shelter. The hermit is an amiable sort who helps the
creature learn how to talk and to read, and over time, cultivates a sense of self-worth in the
creature. But when the hermit hears who and what he has been sheltering, he tries to escape.
Now angered by the injustice of his fugitive status, the monster accidentally kills the hermit
and, blaming Frankenstein for it, heads to Frankenstein’s lab in the castle.
There, he confronts his “father” and tells him that he has made a mistake in trying to defy
the will of God. As retribution, he says that Frankenstein will pay for his crime, and dearly. The
doctor attacks him, thinking to dismantle his creation before more damage is done, but the
creature easily overpowers him. Frankenstein recalls the monster’s fear of fire, seizes a torch
and drives him off, saying that he will kill him if he ever sees him again.
We switch to a scene later on, where Elizabeth is dressed in her wedding gown, trading
jibes with her maids while they help her make up and fit the gown. She asks to be left alone for
a bit. When they have gone, she looks into the mirror and appears to be thinking about what
life would be like with her doctor of miracles. Thus, she is unaware when the creature carefully
slides the window open and climbs in. It is too late when she sees his reflection, turns and
screams as he pounces. He strangles her easily, then hears a noise outside the door and slips
back out.
Her fiance’ has revived too late, and together with the baron and her brother, cannot open
the door. When they finally break it down, Elizabeth is found sprawled across her bed, far
beyond saving. Frankenstein knows at once who is responsible for her death and reveals the
whole terrible truth to his father, who must make the sad announcement to the wedding party.
Meanwhile, Frankenstein returns to the lab to arm himself.
When the villagers learn of the murder, they propel themselves into a violent uproar,
demanding the death of the monster. They gather whatever weapon comes to hand and embark
on a manhunt. The doctor is at the head of the mob with his family and friends. We see villagers
marching among the trees, dogs baying and nosing around, shouts of “not here”. Somehow,
Frankenstein gets separated from his friends and finds that he is close to the castle. The monster
intercepts him and they struggle, but again the monster is the stronger of the two. The monster
carries him off, thinking to hold him hostage in exchange for amnesty, but the mob sees him
and chases him to a nearby windmill.
There, the monster threatens to kill Frankenstein if he does not go along with his plan.
They struggle yet again, and the doctor seizes a torch to keep the monster at bay. The hunters
down below shoot at them and Frankenstein is hit, while others set fire to the mill. The monster
is trapped by the flames as Dr. Frankenstein falls to his death. The mill burns like a bonfire and
collapses in a pile of flaming timbers, a brilliant sight in the darkness of the night, as the music
score signals the end.
About the book: Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, is a novel written by Mary
Wallstonecraft Shelley. She started writing the story when she was 18 and as yet unmarried.
The novel was published when she was 21. The first edition was published anonymously in
London in 1818. Shelley’s name appears on the second edition, published in France in 1823.
The author had travelled the region in which the story takes place, and the topics of
galvanism and other similar occult ideas were favorites of conversation among her companions,
particularly her future husband, Lord Percy Bysshe Shelley. The actual storyline was taken from
a dream. Mary and two other writer colleagues, Lord Byron and Dr. John Polidori, decided they
would have a competition to see who could write the best horror story. After thinking for weeks
about what her possible storyline could be, Mary dreamed about a scientist who created life
and was horrified and punished by the results.
Frankenstein is infused with some elements of the Gothic and the Romantic movements and
is also considered to be one of the earliest examples of true science fiction. Brian Aldiss argued
that it should be considered the first true science fiction story, because unlike previous stories,
with fantastical elements resembling those of later science fiction, the central character makes a
deliberate hypothesis and turns to modern experiments in the laboratory to achieve his results.
The story is partially based on Giovanni Aldini’s electrical experiments on dead as well as living
animals; and was also a warning against the expansion of human science in the Industrial
Revolution, alluded to in its subtitle, The Modern Prometheus. It has had a considerable influence
across literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories and films.
The name “Frankenstein”, actually the name of the novel’s human protagonist, is often
incorrectly used to refer to the monster itself. In the novel, the monster is identified via words
such as “monster”, “fiend”, “wretch”, “vile insect”, “daemon”, and “it”; The monster refers to
himself speaking to Dr. Frankenstein as “the Adam of your labors”, and elsewhere as someone
who “would have been your Adam”, but is instead “your fallen angel.”
“How I, then a young girl, came to think of, and to dilate upon, so very hideous an idea?”
During the rainy summer of 1816, called the “Year Without a Summer”, the world was locked
in a long cold volcanic winter; caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815. Mary
Wallstonecraft and her lover (and later husband) Percy Bysshe Shelley, visited Lord Byron at
the Villa Diodati, by Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The weather was consistently too cold and
dreary that summer to enjoy the outdoor holiday activities they had planned, so the group
retired indoors. Among other subjects, their active conversations turned to galvanism and the
feasibility of returning a corpse or assembled body parts to life, and to the experiments of the
18th century natural philosopher and poet Erasmus Darwin; who was said to have animated
dead animals. While sitting around a log fire, the group also amused themselves by reading
German ghost stories, prompting Byron to suggest they each write their own supernatural tale.
It would certainly consume some of their confinement indoors. Shortly afterward, in a
daydream, Mary conceived the idea for Frankenstein:
“I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the
hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs
of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for SUPREMELY frightful would
be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world.”
She began writing what she assumed would be a short story. With Percy Shelley’s
encouragement, she expanded this tale into a full fledged novel. She later described that
summer in Switzerland as the moment “when I first stepped out from childhood into life”.
Shelley wrote the first four chapters in the weeks following the suicide of her half sister Fanny,
who had been a manic depressive.
Byron himself had managed to write just a fragment based on the vampire legends he
heard while traveling the Balkans, and from this John Polidori created The Vampyre (1819), the
progenitor of the romantic vampire literary genre. Thus, two legendary horror tales originated
from this one circumstance.
Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s manuscripts for the first 3 volume edition in 1818 (written
from 1816–1817), as well as Mary Shelley’s fair copy for her publisher, are now housed in the
Bodleian Library in Oxford. The Bodleian acquired the papers in 2004. They belong now to the
Abinger Collection. In October of 2008, the Bodleian published a new edition of Frankenstein
which contains comparisons of Mary Shelley’s original text with Percy Shelley’s additions and
interventions alongside.
THINGS TO COME (1936)
Produced by United Artists
Director: William Cameron Menzies
Producter: Alexander Korda
Writer: H G Wells; novel: “The Shape of Things to Come”; screenplay
Music: Arthur Bliss
Restored by Legend Films
Cast:
Raymond Massey as John/Oswald Cabal
Edward Chapman as Pippa/Raymond Passworthy
Ralph Richardson as The Boss
Margaretta Scott as Roxanna/Rowena
Cedric Hardwicke as Theotocopulos
Maurice Braddell as Dr. Harding
Sophie Stewart as Mrs. Cabal
and a cast of many more...
Preface: September 18, 2011 marks the first time I had seen the film in its entirety and fully
restored. Before then I had seen it in edited form; chopped up and truncated by long and boring
commercial messages; usually in the wee hours of the morning while half asleep and too bleary
eyed to pay attention. Much of what made the film and its prophetic message so important to
viewers was lost to the editor’s blade as the need to get from beginning to end made dialogue
and action more important than the background, so I was particularly happy to see it the way
it was supposed to be shown.
Plot: It is Christmas of 1940. Looming in the background of the happiness and celebration of
Everytown is the clear warning of war. The crowds shopping for gifts seem to blatantly ignore
the placards and corner declarations, but the signs are there. Clearly there is a sense of
complacancy and doubt that any kind of war will even occur, or that somehow it will not
happen that day.
We center on the home of John Cabal and his friends, who are discussing the possibility of
war, but reason that somehow a peace can be achieved as soon as the unknown enemy is
identified.
The hour grows late. As Cabal’s friends begin to leave they notice searchlights aimed
upward into the night sky beyond a wall. They then hear the drone of airplanes as they wonder
who has sent them. (Here, I must take note that the situation in Germany was dire but not yet
a threat. The first attacks on London proper did not take place until 1939, but Wells’s prediction
still holds.) They go back inside in time to hear a radio warning that war is imminent. As the
evening draws closed, the real threat has yet to materialize.
It is not until Christmas day that a giant flight of airplanes approach the coastline and head
straight toward Everytown. The citizens are caught virtually unprepared, and a mad scramble
ensues to place guns in the square and evacuate them into underground shelters. The battle is
waged even as the civilians take flight. The city is bombed to an unsalvageable ruin; even the
children are not spared if they are caught outside. Rich and poor alike are crammed into the
shelters as their fortunes and homes are systematically destroyed.
Over the course of the next few minutes we are shown that the war does not take a mere 5
years or so but decades. Wave after wave of the unidentified enemy comes, and thousands of
men and materials are sacrificed to turn them back. We are shown the development in arms as
the shape of the tank changes; but more men are sacrificed on the battlefield with rifle and
bayonet. (Memories of what happened in World War I still haunted Britons who lived in 1936.)
There seems to be no end to the conflict. The introduction of poisonous gas kills in a few seconds
what no tanks can do in an hour.
The situation appears completely hopeless. Amid all this, the conflict in the air is shown as
a dogfight between a biplane and a new model of airplane resembling a P-51. We see that the
enemy is capable of innovation in making war, while Everytown’s country is not.
Even then, the futility of war is made especially poignant when the biplane gets off a lucky
shot or two. The new plane goes down, and the pilot manages to escape the burning wreckage.
The biplane’s pilot reaches him and tries to help. (Somewhere in the war, humanity still has a
conscience.) The enemy asks why he is helping, and the pilot says, “we are not enemies, our
countries are,”or words to that effect. Poisonous gas begins to complicate things. A little girl
comes running away from the battlefield, and for a few seconds there is a struggle to make a
gas mask available to her. We see that children are still valuable; and both pilots die in the
attempt to save her life.
But this is shown as an isolated moment in the war while the conflict continues to rage on,
exacting its terrible murder. Over the years, however, the war is starting to show signs it is
winding down. Eventually people forget why they are fighting, but continue to fight because
they have nothing else to do. The war has become a daily and ritual occurrence as people go
one about their lives with a blase’ attitude toward the possibility of death.
In 1966, we see a virulent plague sweep through the land which wipes out all but the
hardiest survivors.
Then, in 1970, we are shown that civilization has slipped back to the middle ages in
Everytown. A man called “The Boss” has established himself as chief and warlord. He has
managed to achieve a modicum of civility there while wielding his power through bullying the
townspeople and his underlings. Even his mistress, the intelligent and worldwise Roxanna,
knows that his power is not effective enough to make progress in the war. His attitude is one of
“we’ll win no matter what” and “if only I had enough planes, I’d give the enemy his whatfors.”
She knows it is an unwinnable campaign, but has long ago given up trying to convince him of
that. She represents the women of war, who hate war in the first place, but once placed in that
situation learn to make the best of it.
The Boss is also a loud and ignorant lout, deaf to any counsel but his own. Quick to jump
to conclusions and used to getting his way, he represents the worst kind of politician. A strange
“plague” of a disease called “The Wandering” has hit many people in Everytown. The afflicted
acquire the sudden need to leave town or reach for succor, and are shown staggering blindly
down the street with their hands outstretched. The Boss’s solution to the problem is to shoot to
death anyone so afflicted. Men, women, children, it does not matter; no one is immune to his
“cure”. After a time, it seems that the plague of wandering is halted. We don’t know how many
afflicted were simply tied down so they would not be shot, but I would like to think this was
the case.
(As has been recently pointed out in the last few years, there have been instances described
of soldiers abandoning their posts and heading straight for the wilderness. When questioned
later, most said that they did not know why they did it. Various psychologists have called it a
symptom of post traumatic stress disorder and prescribed that the soldier be sent home for a
break. The military does not like to talk about it. They brand it “cowardice”, but clearly there is
a limit to how much stress the human body and mind can take.)
While he is executing this deadly brand of treatment, he constantly exhorts the only
medical man in town, a Doctor Harding, to find a cure for the Wandering and at the same time
find a new formula for poison gas. Dr. Harding, being the proper medical doctor, states that he
will not. On the one hand, the Wandering is probably a condition of the hopeless life they are
leading, and on the other, the development of another weapon goes against his Hippocratic
Oath. As a reward for his efforts to prevent more war The Boss takes him hostage so he can beat
the secrets out of him. (A doomed scenario if ever there was one.)
At the same time, the only aeronautic engineer in town is trying to repair an antiquated
fleet of biplanes. He knows that without parts, oil and petrol, they will not get off the ground
anytime soon. While he is agonizing about what to tell The Boss these facts without getting
executed, he notices a different kind of plane emerging from the clouds. It appears to be heading
straight for Everytown. It looks sleek and modern, of a far better design than he has ever seen
before. He and about half the town head to where it makes a smooth landing. Naturally, The
Boss orders his constables to go and arrest the pilot on the spot.
The pilot emerges wearing what looks like kevlar armor, and a helmet which to my
designer’s eye looks totally impractical. He is an old but physically vigorous man who turns
out to be John Cabal. He introduces himself to the constables and says he is there to assess the
situation. He declares that he is from “Wings Over The World”, and that the war is long over.
He says that all the other warring parties have been policed and a new peace has been forged.
(I should point out that WOTW was based in Basra. In the 11th century, it was Arab scientists
who developed mathematics, physics, astronomy, alchemy, and medical science; while the
Europeans were still warring over boundaries and territory in complete squalor and the
freezing cold.)
Of course, The Boss has something to say about that, ignoring the modern appearance of
the plane and its pilot entirely. He immediately demands that Cabal give over the secrets of his
technology so that he can continue to wage war on the enemy. Cabal replies that it will not
happen. He then calls The Boss a dinosaur; his kind is extinct. The Boss exercises rare restraint
when he takes Cabal prisoner. John Cabal declares that it won’t matter what happens to him.
The WOTW people know he is in Everytown and they are coming anyway.
During a brief interlude we see Roxanna visiting Cabal and discussing the situation on the
ground. She is cognizant that Cabal represents a rescue from the pointless and violent life the
town has been living in for so long. Cabal assures her that all will be rectified, and the town
made whole again, as soon as The Boss gives in to the march of progress. She says that The Boss
will never capitulate, and makes it plain that she is done with The Boss and his brand of
leadership. She is ready to make the change to modern times.
The next day, we see that WOTW is loading one of its larger planes, a gigantic twin
fuselage cargo plane. We see the kind of weaponry they are loading, which are canisters of a
“gas of peace”. We see that they are also loaded with men with parachute packs, and before
long a whole squadron of these gigantic planes soar through the clouds toward Everytown.
As the townspeople see them in the sky they scramble for shelter, even as The Boss marches
out his prisoners Dr. Harding and and his nurse, and has them tied to stakes. His lopsided
reasoning is that if the planes see them they will not bomb the town. But things being as they
were, that would never have helped. Roxanna assures the terrified nurse that either way it will
be all over soon. The bombing begins. As the canisters burst open, people fall over and simply
go to sleep. This is the gas of Peace. Even as the gas begins to affect him, The Boss is resistant.
He refuses to go peacefully. He draws his gun and begins shooting, even as he rings the alarm
bell. Then he too falls into a slumber.
A few minutes later the parachute troops enter the town and take over. John Cabal is freed,
and he asks about The Boss. One of the men examines The Boss’s body and declares, “this man
is not asleep. He is dead.” Cabal declares with a touch of chagrin that the gas of peace does not
always affect everyone the way it should, but the time for war is mercifully over. Then he says,
“it’s time we started our work.”
In a long passage of amazing images, we are treated to the march of progress as the town
is rebuilt from materials mined by enormous machines. Over time, we see that the innovation
of the machines progresses to robotic mining, with machines remotely operated by technical
engineers. The products of the mining produces new and better ways of living as well as other
technologies. We see the engineers rolling around on Segways, and workmen hovering over
machines in self-elevated work buckets. We see that every single scrap of rock is not wasted as
it is turned into usable materials for every sort of industry.
The year is now 2036. Over the past few decades, the town has moved underground,
leaving the surface free of habitation so that it can return to its natural state. The town has
become a metropolis lit by artificial suns, and the population has grown to quite a large size.
We are treated to the sight of vast apartment blocks, with external elevators which go up and
down. (Anyone living in Los Angeles would recognize them as the elevators of the downtown
hotel Bonaventure, which was not built until 1980.) We see a new apartment block being
constructed by machines, showing a plate of translucent material built from scratch in one of
the machines, then installed in a wall by yet another. We see aircars, travel tubes, moving
walkways, and hanging gardens; all contributing to the image of a prosperous and advanced
society.
After this, we are shown a scene of the Everytown biplane engineer, now grown old, telling
his great grandaughter about the way life was before the Great War. He does this with the aid
of a widescreen plasma or other electromodular glass pane like a flatscreen television set. It
displays what looks like films and videotape of people in Old Everytown, both before the war
and after. (I can only conclude that the concept of computer control was known to science even
in 1936. The technology, however, lagged behind the vision.)
We then see men in what appear to be priestly robes discussing the issue of the day, which
is the idea that the spiritual welfare of man is in doubt among them. There is discontent being
spread by a luddite named Theotocopulos, who does not want the space program to go
forward. His argument is that the Earth ought to be enough for everybody. It appears that over
the long years of prosperity there are still holdouts against human progress, which begs the
question, “you are enjoying the benefits of that prosperity. So, what’s the big deal?” The man
wants his cake and to eat it, too.
In the next scene, we see a new Cabal, a descendent named Oswald, who sits on the
governing council. He and other scientists have been working on a space gun to launch
astronauts to the moon. (I know; we started work to go to the moon in 1953, but that is the only
deviance from the prophetic scope of this film.) Cabal’s friend Passworthy has taken the stance
“we’ve done everything else, but why this? What benefit is there from it?” He appears weary
of all the rush and excitement of the space gun’s development, as if the whole affair is just not
worth the effort. We don’t know why he feels this way and there is no rational exposition to
justify his view.
There is also the issue of who to send. Cabal says that there are many volunteers, but that
he is sending his daughter because she asked him, and this is the first instance of women shown
as equal partners in the new society. Passworthy’s son has also declared he wants to go.
Apparently the two are joined at the hip and share in their vision to visit the stars. Passworthy
is concerned as a father would be about the situation and tries to talk him out of it. The son
declares, “I am going for my happiness. It is what I want to do because it is important that I do,
for the progress of the human race. I would not pass the risk to anyone else.” Passworthy is still
doubtful but his son is adamant.
While this is going on, Theotocopulos has taken control over the public broadcast system
and makes a speech to the populace about how the march of progress should be stopped. He
does this on what appears to be a giant widescreen glass pane which descends when needed.
(Note that he does not mind using that technology to make the speech.) We are also treated to
the appearance of a smart phone with a screen resting on Cabal’s desk while he listens to the
speech, and when he contacts the engineers at the rocket site he uses a wrist communicator.
(These are things which did not enjoy popular interest until the television series Star Trek made
its debut in 1966. I have no doubt that Gene Roddenberry had seen Things To Come when he
was younger and borrowed some ideas from it. This is one of the reasons why this film is so
important.)
Theotocopulos stirs up a mob of his followers to destroy the moon gun, which is a giant
barrel aimed straight up and resting on hydraulic moorings, much like the space gun which
launched Jules Verne’s Victor Barbicane to the moon. They want to stop the lunar expedition
before it succeeds. It is now critical that the launch go as planned or the last century of
innovation would go to waste. Cabal and Passworthy must rush their children/astronauts to
the gun to match the correct perigee with the moon and launch the capsule before the mob
reaches it. They go to the gun site in a helicopter (!) to save time.
The travelers enter the space capsule, which is shaped like a blunt missile. The missile is
hoisted up on a gantry and lowered into the barrel. Then, giant hydraulic struts lower the gun
to the optimum position to launch.
The mob reaches the site and stream toward the gun in their hundreds. Cabal shouts to
them “mind the concussion! Mind the concussion!” but they do not hear him. When the zero
point is reached, the giant gun recoils upward in a gigantic blast and the missile heads up into
the stratosphere. It is too late; the luddites have not won. The march of progress continues into
the stars. It is not shown but I can imagine the medicos of Everytown had their hands full with
damaged eardrums after that.
In the final scene, Cabal and Passworthy stand together at a picture window, looking up
at the stars. They look for the missile by telescope and see it orbiting the moon. It appears the
mission is a success. But Passworthy is still doubtful, and says, “but what good is all that? What
will it mean to future generations? Have we forgotten that we are only human, no better than
all the animals on the earth?” Cabal replies, “if we are nothing more than animals, if there is no
hope of progress for the human race, then I am a fool. But what is our fate, progress or
nothingness? Our fate is what we make of it. We must go on because it is all we can do. We
must conquer the moon, and then visit the stars and learn all we can of them. And once we have
conquered space, we must still go on. It is this, or that. Which shall it be? Which shall it be?”
The print I saw ended with a panorama of the stars. Gradually, the stars resolved from
black and white to color. I have no doubt that the reality of space travel was important to the
restoration people at Legend Films. Seeing the stars in color was a nice touch to the ending of a
film all people should see at least once.
About the book: The complete title was The Shape of Things to Come. As a frame story, H. G. Wells
claimed that the book was his edited version of notes written by a diplomat, Dr. Philip Raven,
who had been having dream visions of a history textbook published in 2106, and wrote down
what he could remember of it. It is split into five separate sections or “books”:
Today And Tomorrow: The Age of Frustration Dawns - The history of the world up to 1933.
The Days After Tomorrow: The Age of Frustration - 1933-1960.
The World Renascence: The Birth of the Modern State - 1960-1978.
The Modern State Militant - 1978-2059.
The Modern State in Control of Life - 2059 to New Year’s Day 2106.
Wells predicted a second World War, breaking out with a European conflagration from
the flashpoint of a violent clash between Germans and Poles. Wells set the date for this as
roughly in January of 1940. Poland proves the military match of Nazi Germany and engages in
an inconclusive war lasting ten years. More countries are eventually dragged into the fighting,
France and the Soviet Union are only marginally involved, Britain remains neutral, the US fights
inconclusively with Japan.
The actual beginning of the war is two years earlier, but Wells was not far off the mark.
The war drags on until 1950 and ends with no victor; but total exhaustion, collapse and
disintegration of all fighting states (and also of the neutral countries, equally affected by the
deepening economic crisis). Europe and the whole world descend into chaos; and a devastating
plague in 1956-57 kills a large part of humanity and almost destroys civilization. (As we have
seen with the eruption of plague in past history, the populations become scattered and isolated,
only to emerge later transformed into new cultures by their isolation.)
Wells then visualized a benevolent dictatorship—”The Dictatorship of the Air”, a term
likely modeled on concepts similar to Kipling’s “Aerial Board of Control”, arising from the
controllers of the world’s surviving transportation systems. This dictatorship promotes science,
enforces basic English as a global lingua franca, and eradicates all religion, setting the world on
its course toward a peaceful utopia. When the dictatorship chooses to execute a criminal subject,
the condemned person is given a chance to take a poison tablet rather than commit sepuku.
Thus, “Wings Over The World” takes on a double meaning not completely revealed in the film.
Eventually, after a century of reshaping humanity, this dictatorship is overthrown in a
completely bloodless coup, the former rulers are sent into a very honorable retirement, and the
world state “withers away” into a form of self-controlled anarchy. The last part of the book is a
detailed description of the utopian world which emerges. The ultimate aim is to produce a new
world society composed entirely of geniuses with ordered rationality and a clear conscience.
While The Shape of Things to Come was written as a future history, it can also be considered
an alternate history; diverging from ours in late 1933 or early 1934 with the points of divergence
being President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s failure to implement the New Deal and revive the US
economy; and Adolf Hitler’s failure to revive the German economy and realize his ambitions of
world domination. Instead, the worldwide economic crisis continues for three decades
concurrently with the war. There follows the complete collapse of capitalism and the emergence
of the new order. There is no implied state of communism, however, but enlightened and selfinterested sharing of resources without declaring sovereignty.
About the Author: Herbert George “H.G.” Wells (September 21, 1866 – August 13, 1946)
was an English author now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a
prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social
commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games. Together with Jules Verne and
Hugo Gernsback, Wells has been referred to as “A Father of Science Fiction”.
Wells’s earliest specialized training was in biology, and his thinking on ethical matters took
place in a specifically and fundamentally Darwinian context. He was also from an early date an
outspoken socialist, often sympathizing with pacifist views. His later works became
increasingly political and didactic and he sometimes indicated on official documents that his
profession was that of “Journalist.” Many of his novels, particularly those of his middle period
(1900–1920), had nothing to do with science fiction. They described and discussed lower middle
class life. His work sometimes led Wells to be touted as a worthy successor to Charles Dickens.
Wells also wrote abundantly about the “New Woman” and the Suffragettes, and was the first
feminist of the male gender, flying his prose in the face of an antiquated view of woman’s role
in the burgeoning new society emerging after the first World War.
Additional Notes: I decided to review this film in this way because I felt it was important
to discuss the progress of the human race. We are at a crossroads, at war with economic
uncertainty and enemies we cannot identify or cannot forestall from their campaign of hate. We
see that political power is granted to the least imaginative of us, while our science and technical
innovation is frequently ignored. If more people had seen the film; if it had not been
marginalized as mere science fantasy, we would have enjoyed the fruits of innovation sooner.
We would have not had to go through five fruitless wars to get there.
The spiritual progress of mankind is best realized when the material comforts of life are
treated as a right to everyone: shelter, food, good health, safety and security. The technological
progress of mankind is not important without those. Innovation is not important without those.
Exploitation of the natural world is not important without those. A well fed and educated
community is the only way to ensure the future of mankind. So as we become more and more
discontent with the way things are, we can know that sooner or later the Bosses of this world
will vanish from the future. I care not for utopia, which implies that a world of the future is
unattainable under the present circumstances. What I do expect is a system of government
which provides for its people all those things which are possible under the constitution which
allows it to.
The current two party system in the United States has already demonstrated the
incompetence of government when it is allowed to abuse the purpose for its formation. One
party wants to preserve the status quo and possibly improve on its progress with some sense
of altruism; the other wants to break it down completely and even reverse what time and
cultural progress has wrought. It does not take a war to destroy centuries of human progress;
all it takes is a refusal to debate rationally and arrive at a mutually satisfactory compromise,
and to keep the people out of mind when making decisions. Even worse, the agenda of one of
these parties is at odds with its own mission, which is to render anew a republic which allows
free and unfettered business for the prosperity of all. Instead, it seeks legislation to run
roughshod through the fortunes of the whole country in order to serve its consumer base, the
already enriched few. This new madness which has infected that party will eventually lead to
a disaster of proportions no one can predict or even guess at if they are allowed free reign.
Fortunately, like H. G. Wells I can craft a vision of how the next few years will progress.
Come November of 2020 a new order will take over the U.S. as those politicians engaged in
disruption and obstructionist legislation are replaced with others with more sensible goals, and
laws which make no sense are ultimately repealed or die in committee. In time, the two party
system will be replaced by 3, or possibly 4 parties, making the dominance of any one party in
the houses of Congress impossible for the future.
The art of compromise and altruism will be restored to debate as the old men of the old
order die off or are replaced with new blood with more forward thinking passions. More
women will be added to the houses, too; and legislation designed to curtail or limit their
capacity to be equal partners in society will be pigeonholed. It is less a prediction and more a
certainty that the chaos we have seen in the last decade will be cleared away and we can get
back to the business of creating a lasting and more prosperous future. All it takes is your vote.
A search of the decade 1940 to 1949 revealed no significant finds. I can give a cursory nod to
Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe only, as it was not a real influence and fell victim to
serialization. Since the plot centered around the personalities and no actual science, there was
no contribution to film making in the future beyond nostalgia. The other was King of The Rocket
Men, which was also a serial movie. But that one devolved into one fist fight after the other, and
the science aspect was glossed over.
DESTINATION MOON (1950)
Director: Irving Pichel
Producer: George Pal
Screenplay: James O’Hanlon, Robert A. Heinlein and Rip Van Ronkel;
based on “Rocketship Galileo” by Robert A. Heinlein
Music: Leith Stevens
Cinematography: Lionel Lindon
Studio: George Pal Productions
Distributed by Eagle-Lion Classics Inc.
Release date June 27, 1950 (New York) running time 91 minutes
Cast:
John Archer as Jim Barnes
Warner Anderson as Dr. Charles Cargraves
Tom Powers as General Thayer
Dick Wesson as Joe Sweeney
Erin O’Brien-Moore as Emily Cargraves
Franklyn Farnum as Factory Worker (uncredited)
Everett Glass as Mr. La Porte (uncredited)
Knox Manning as Knox Manning (uncredited)
Plot: The story is about a successful first flight to the moon, made by four adventurous men
who travel in a spacecraft built by a private company. The 4 man team learn of a court order
and decide to take off early before government officials can stop their departure, due to public
opinion, which is fearful of the possible consequences of any such effort. There are supposed
issues with the idea of a nuclear powered rocket taking off, the potential for a nuclear accident,
and also the response by other governments. (The problem with a rocket’s spaceworthiness was
made real by the tragic explosion of Shuttle Challenger in 1986 after a decade of successful
launches.)
The astronauts are 3 highly educated men: retired Army general Thayer (Tom Powers); a
famous scientist named Dr. Charles Cargraves (Warner Anderson); a technical executive, Jim
Barnes (John Archer). The fourth: “Joe Sweeney of Brooklyn, New York, USA” (played by by
comedian Dick Wesson), will operate the communications equipment. Sweeney is a wisecracking, cowardly “everyman” who does not believe the space ship will ever fly but needs the
job for the money. (He is comedy relief for the entire story. Sweeny’s character also provides a
foil for the other three men’s more serious interactions, but later becomes a hero as well.)
On the way to the moon, a problem develops which requires that crew members must go
outside of the ship in space suits and make repairs, the first instance of an EVA space walk ever
filmed. One of the team members accidentally loses his grip and drifts off into space, but is
rescued by another crew member who uses an oxygen tank to propel himself toward him. The
rescue scene is all done dramatically and believably, and this is true of additional dramatic
moments in the movie. The astronauts are faced with all the same problems the Apollo crews
experienced during the 1960s and treat them with the same deliberate caution. The only
difference is they are having to learn in situ instead of weeks of simulation.
The space ship lands on the moon safely, and the commander claims the moon for the USA
on behalf of all mankind; in a statement quite similar to the statement the first NASA moon
landing astronauts made famous in July of 1969, when astronaut Neil Armstrong declared,
“that’s one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.”
But after making a cursory exploration of the moon, the explorers discover that they
expended too much fuel to make a safe return trip to Earth; and the spaceship is now too heavily
loaded for a safe departure. They will need to unload large quantities of equipment and
supplies to lighten the ship and make departure possible. (I wonder if the tons of moon rocks
the Apollo astronauts gathered would have had to be left behind. That would have been a
terrible turn of events!) They pitch out unnecessary items including used oxygen tanks and
other large and unidentified metal objects; but an extra 110 pounds still remain to be shed!
Each traveler separately volunteers to remain behind, but Joe Sweeney actually suits up
and leaves the ship. When they find out what he has done they beg him to come back inside but
he says he is redundant, that he will stay behind so his remaining three comrades can leave
safely. There is to be no debate about it. The other three men declare that he is just as valuable
as they are; refuse to launch without him and begin to look for alternatives. Finally, the ship’s
commander decides to ditch the radio equipment, which weighs about that much; and there is
no one on Earth to receive their transmissions anyway. Plus one of the suits. Sweeny reluctantly
climbs back aboard and is relieved to find that his personal sacrifice is not needed.
The ship returns to the Earth with all four travellers, now good friends, safely aboard. The
final end credit appears over the ship as it returns. (A somewhat inadequate close to what has
been a great adventure so far.) The credit reads “This is THE END... Of The Beginning.”
Analysis and Additional Notes: Destination Moon was the first major science fiction film
produced in the United States which deals realistically with the prospect of space travel. Science
fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein contributed significantly to the script and served as a technical
advisor. Heinlein also published a novella, Destination Moon, based on the screenplay after the
film’s premiere.
The film advances the premise that private industry will finance and manufacture the first
spacecraft to reach the moon, given the Soviet threat at the time, and that the US government
will bring itself to buy or lease the technology. Visionary industrialists are shown cooperating
to support the venture; to presage a great era of innovation and industrial progress in which
they can exploit the moon’s resources to raise mankind’s prosperity to new heights.
We now see that we are fulfilling this premonitory vision as the US space program has
been forced to rely on private enterprise in order to advance its goals in the 21 st century; while
visionaries like Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Galactic), Paul Allen and Elon Musk (Space-X) are
working frantically to innovate new ways to get off the planet. That such projects will serve to
enrich them even more is secondary.
The film was promoted through an unprecedented onslaught of publicity in the print
media. 7 years before Sputnik, and 19 years before the actual moon landing, the film clearly
spells out a rationale for the space race: unnamed enemies (clearly understood at the time to be
the Soviet Union) are sabotaging the American space program, and unless the U.S. beats them
to the moon they will establish forward bases with which to conquer the world. I am sure that
President Eisenhower had this film clearly in mind when he wanted to create a space program
in order to beat the Soviets into space. It took a few years to find men with “the right stuff” to
take on the task, but he succeeded. (The book The Right Stuff by Tom Wolffe is a recommended
historical read. The film will be reviewed later in this book.)
It was not until President John F. Kennedy made his inaugural speech in 1960 that the
effort redoubled with a vengeance. The U.S. would make its mark on history by landing men
on the moon, never mind the Soviet threat; and clearly succeeded in July of 1969.
Destination Moon includes an animated segment of Woody Woodpecker illustrating the
basics of space flight. The segment serves to educate not only certain characters in the story but
the audience as well. As a narrative device, this technique has been employed in subsequent
films of that decade. Walt Disney employed Donald Duck in a similar capacity for other science
fiction films.
The film shows the rocket being constructed in the desert, and the Lockheed aircraft plant
in Southern California is shown with workers examining a model of the nuclear spacecraft,
called a Constellation Class rocket. Additional sequences show several Lockheed rockets being
assembled. The fictional rocket uses thermonuclear propulsion, a method that has never been
employed in actual rocket launches to date. (The idea of a class of ship was repeated later in
Star Trek. The Enterprise is a Constitution Class starship; carried over from Navy parlance as the
starships are clearly treated as space submarines in the show.)
The sets and costumes were reused in later films, and even appear in the second episode
of The Time Tunnel.
Both Destination Moon and a competing film called Rocketship X-M contain a polemical
element, but with almost diametrically opposed messages: where Rocketship X-M contains a
seriously intended anti-nuclear message, Destination Moon promotes a nuclear powered
spacecraft. Once on the moon, the crew find evidence that the moon is a rich source of uranium,
one of the main components of nuclear power. The idea is that resources are limited and that
any subsequent missions would involve recovering more.
In Heinlein’s novel Rocketship Galileo, the astronauts are high school boys led by an older
scientist, and the enemies are the Nazis rather than the Soviets. In the film the sabotage is only
vaguely hinted at. The concept of a space race is introduced; the voyage is a massive industrial
rather than scientific undertaking, and the plot revolves around the practical dangers of the
voyage. A common element in both stories is that the rocket takes off in defiance of a court
order.
Destination Moon is in fact more similar to Heinlein’s novella The Man Who Sold the Moon,
which according to its copyright date was written in 1949, although it was not published until
1951, the year after Destination Moon premiered.
The matte and scene paintings for Destination Moon were created by astronomical artist
Chesley Bonestell, now world famous for his accurate and imaginative depictions of spacecraft
and their launch facilities, as well as space and planetary imagery. George Pal also employed
Bonestell for work on When Worlds Collide (1951); The Conquest of Space (1951), which in turn was
based on the book by Willy Ley and Bonestell; and The War of the Worlds (1953), most notable
for the opening sequence featuring cleverly animated astronomical paintings of the planets by
Bonestell as placed behind the narrator’s introduction.
The music, composed by Leith Stevens, is noteworthy for its atmospheric themes and
motifs, which added to the overall dramatic moments of the film. Its crisp and no-nonsense
libretto formed the basis for further compositions by film composers in future years. Its vinyl
album cover featured the rocket as designed by Willy Ley and was a key image from the film,
and was in popular circulation for several years after the film’s decline as a blockbuster.
Episode 12 of the Dimension X radio series was called Destination Moon and was based on
Heinlein’s input to the script of the film. During the broadcast, the program was interrupted for
a news bulletin announcing that North Korea had declared war on South Korea. The war itself
was short, nasty and brutish; and is best forgotten about.
A highly condensed version of the story was released on a 78 rpm disk by Capitol Records
in 1950 as part of the “Bozo Approved” series under the title Destination Moon, and adapted
From The George Pal production by Charles Palmer. The narrator was Tom Reddy, while Billy
May composed the incidental and background music. The story took considerable liberties with
the film’s plot and characters, though the general shape of the story remains. It was also the
world’s first “audiobook”.
The Academy Award for Visual Effects was given to Destination Moon’s effects director Lee
Zavitz. The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction. At the 1st
Berlin International Film Festival, it won the Bronze Berlin Bear (Thrillers and Adventure Films)
award. The film was also nominated for AFI’s Top 10 Science Fiction Films list.
WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (1951)
Directed by Rudolph Maté
Writing credits: Edwin Balmer ( novel); Sydney Boehm, Philip Wylie ( novel)
Produced by George Pal; Cecil B. DeMille exec. producer (uncredited)
Original Music: Leith Stevens
Cinematography: W. Howard Greene and John F. Seitz
Cast:
Richard Derr as David Randall
Barbara Rush as Joyce Hendron
Peter Hansen as Dr. Tony Drake
John Hoyt as Sydney Stanton
Larry Keating as Dr. Cole Hendron
Rachel Ames as Julie Cummings (as Judith Ames)
Stephen Chase as Dr. George Frye
Frank Cady as Harold Ferris
Hayden Rorke as Dr. Emery Bronson
Sandro Giglio as Dr. Ottinger
More cast listed alphabetically:
Kirk Alyn as Rioter Bringing Guns (uncredited)
[Kirk Alyn starred in the Superman series of short films]
Gertrude Astor as Traveler (uncredited)
Paul Frees as Narrator / U.S. President (voice) (uncredited)
Gay Nelson as Leda (uncredited)
Keith Richards as Stanley - Dr. Bronson’s Assistant (uncredited)
Harry Stanton as Dr. Zenta, Astronomer (uncredited)
Plot: David Randall (Richard Derr) is a skilled pilot who is paid to deliver photographs from
one eminent astronomer to another. The recipient, Dr. Cole Hendron (Larry Keating), tears open
the packet and confirms the awful findings: a star is tearing through the solar system and will
pass by Earth fairly soon. Its only planet, called Zyra, will collide with Earth and destroy it.
When he presents his conclusions at a meeting of the World Science Council, the situation
is viewed with skepticism and even denial by other scientists. But Dr. Hendron is adamant that
preparations should be made to evacuate Earth. He proposes that rocket ships could be built to
transport a good sample of the human population, animals and other foodstuffs, and
equipment, to Zyra. He discusses the difficulties of transporting everyone. He also points out
that Zyra may not be habitable, but that it is the only hope there is of preserving the human race
in the face of this terrible and unavoidable catastrophe, or the human race will become extinct.
A huge argument erupts. Heckling and accusations ensue. One of the scientists suggests
that this is similar to a eugenics project, and who is Hendron to decide who lives and who dies?
Hendron replies that a worldwide lottery must be established, and that each nation must select
by that system alone and build their own ships, and also that no nation should declare Zyra its
sovereign territory. He says that he will submit his own name to the pot if it will hasten the
council’s decision. He argues desperately that there is no time to waste in debate over this. The
need is to act now.
When the council meeting is over, two notable philanthropists give Dr. Hendron some of
the money he needs to build the rocket ship for the United States, and a colleague, Dr. George
Frye, offers his help as ship designer and project manager. The rest of the money will come from
Sydney Stanton, a wheelchair-bound industrialist with a personal stake. He insists that he must
be allowed to come along on the ship in return for his money, no matter what the results of the
lottery will be. Hendron tells Stanton that he cannot place himself above the rules, and that his
money will be well spent but that Stanton must be willing to do it for the preservation of
humanity alone, not for personal gain. Stanton reluctantly goes along. For once he is not able to
call all the shots or have things his way. Fuming with exasperation, he orders his assistant to
give Hendron everything he needs.
Randall has been by Hendron’s side all along as a new friend and now colleague, and his
support so far has been of tremendous value already. He tells Dr. Hendron that he does not
know how he fits in to all of this. He’s a pilot, nothing more, and he feels he will not have a
place in the new world. Hendron assures him that he is more valuable than ever when he
reminds Randall that every little bit he has done so far has already earned him a place on the
ship.
Randall takes Hendron’s advice to heart and volunteers to help out wherever he can on
the American project (At this point, all focus is on this particular project with the international
effort falling into the background). Soon he sheds his carefree attitude in the face of this
monumental threat to existence and finds himself busier than he has ever been before. While he
is flying in supplies and working with the transportation side of things, Joyce Hendron, Dr.
Hendron’s daughter, is in charge of organizing and cataloging, solving problems, and in other
ways helping to hurry things along. Soon, Randall’s admiration for her turns to love.
We see the ship being built, slowly, one beam and part at a time, but with a distinct sense
of haste. Dr. Frye has conceived of a ramp launching system, where the ship (a Willy Ley
rocket!) launches like a jet but uses the elevated ramp to boost it upward. From there, he claims
the ship will fire its rockets and exit to space. His design calls for Zyra being close by but they
must go into space until the collision debris has cleared. Then they could land safely on the
alien planet. (On a planetary scale this is practically impossible, but since no physicist was
consulted about this we can suspend our disbelief in favor of the plotline. The actual effects are
too complex to go into here.)
While this is going on, those not busy on the assembly line are lined up at the pot and
pulling lottery slips. Some smile at the results; others look distinctly crestfallen but resume their
work nevertheless. There is a side romance introduced where two young grad students in love
are caught in a terrible twist of fate. The young man has won his place on the ship in the lottery,
whereas his girlfriend has not. The two are devastated and will not leave each other. Sometime
later, the young man delivers his ticket to Hendron and declares that he would rather stay
behind and die with his lover than live without her. Stanton, who was not selected after all,
immediately demands the ticket and says that in this way he is still assured a seat on that ship.
Hendron reluctantly hands the ticket over. Stanton’s assistant remains silent but his face speaks
volumes of his hatred for Stanton.
Meanwhile, Randall and Joyce’s fiance’ (Dr. Tony Drake) find common ground over
Joyce’s future. Randall declares that he loves Joyce but will not do anything to jeopardize her
happiness. Drake, feeling as if he has the upper hand, says that if there was anyone he could
trust with Joyce it would be Randall. They come to the mutual agreement that Joyce is their girl,
and that each would be prepared to support her should something happen to the other. Joyce
comes upon them and says that she is pleased with their acceptance of each other as friends
instead of enemies, but now it’s time to get back to work. (She does not talk about it, but
something in her body language hints that she has known about Randall’s affection for her for
some time. There just has been no time for her to dwell on it.) Interspersed with these touching
scenes is a brief montage of other projects going on over the world, their successes and failures,
and even small wars breaking out. In this way we are shown the way humankind deals with
total extinction, whether for good or bad.
As the time draws near to collision the scientists are studying the rogue star’s effect on
Earth. They discover that it will be close but that the star is far enough away to pass without
more than a minor disruption to Earth’s orbit. Everyone hunkers down close as earthquakes
caused by the star’s passing rock the planet. Buildings fall, cracks open in the surface, fires and
burst dams devastate the landscape. Millions of people die. This time, however, resources are
turned to restoring the evacuation ships to flight condition. But some ships will never fly.
As luck would have it, the American ship has managed to escape destruction, but the
launching ramp must be repaired. The project team redoubles their efforts, as Zyra is now closer
than ever and there is no time to rest. Everything is, “hurry! Hurry!” But there is dissatisfaction
among those who were denied a seat on the ship. Sooner or later, this grumbling will lead to
violence. Hendron and the other project scientists know this but cannot do anything about it.
At last, the day is at hand. Zyra is now so close to Earth it is visibly larger than the moon.
Earth begins to rock with earthquakes again as the final preparations are made to launch the
ship.
As the last of the animals are loaded aboard, a boy who was selected finds a stray puppy
and smuggles him aboard. Before long he is caught. Flightload is now critical, but the boy says
the pup only weighs a few extra pounds. At the last second, Dr. Frye makes a decision and
allows the puppy to stay. Then he climbs into the cockpit and straps himself in next to Randall,
who was convinced by Dr. Hendron earlier that he must take over if something should happen
to Frye. The countdown begins.
Those who were abandoned are now thoroughly angry and arm theselves, meaning to
break through the gates of the compound and take over the ship. A shootout ensues between
the guards and the rioters, even as it is far too late. Dr. Hendron and his colleague Dr. Bronson
are standing on the launch pier with Stanton and his assistant. The winds are whipping up into
a frenzy as Zyra draws ever closer. Hendron and Dr. Bronson had discovered that Bronson is
critically ill and will not survive the journey. Hendron says goodbye to Bronson and boards the
ship.
At the last second, Bronson hands his ticket over to Stanton’s assistant and says, “I’ll take
care of things here.” The assistant shakes his hand with a smile and leaves Stanton behind,
running for the ship. Stanton finds that Bronson has not started pushing his chair forward. He
asks, “well, what are you waiting for?”
Bronson says, “you and I are going to stay here. The future has no need for us.”
Shocked, Stanton yells something incomprehensible into the furious wind as the ship
powers up. Then slowly he rises from the chair and takes a few steps forward. But it is too late.
The ship launches, destroying the pier as it does so. We see it push upward into a sky already
dark with Zyra’s huge bulk. Randall and the passengers are pressed into their seats by gravity
until they pass out.
We are treated to a great scene of the two planets colliding. Whole chunks of Earth are
sheared off and break into fragments while Zyra plows on like a juggernaut through it.
Randall revives and finds himself still strapped in, a calm and quite healthy Dr. Frye sitting
next to him and working at the controls. Feeling somewhat cheated, he says, “Doctor Hendron
lied to me.”
Frye replies, “that’s all right. It might have happened anyway.”
The ship finally lands. At first, the passengers are uncertain of the situation. Dr. Frye
reports that the atmosphere seems to be similar to Earth’s, but now there was only one way to
find out. He opens the hatch and sniffs. Nothing happens. Slowly, the new colonists emerge
from the ship and stand on the outer hatch. A panorama of a flat plain dotted with what look
like ancient buildings and a sky bright with the sun rising greets them. Whatever happens now,
mankind has survived against the odds. END
Analysis and additional notes: When I first saw this movie years ago it was shown on a black
and white television, and I had no idea it was in color. I also was not cognizant of its social
importance until I was well into my teens, as at the time it was marketed as a “B” movie. Despite
its somewhat primitive special effects for the time, it was still a very exciting film. As I have
noted before, the actual physics of a pair of planets in collision were overlooked in favor of the
relevence of the plot. And what a plot it is: how mankind can preserve itself and survive the
total destruction of its homeworld.
Much of it is fairly self-explanatory. We know that the fight to survive, the quest for
resources, the basic need for air, food, water, companionship, and the imperative to reproduce
as a species are all there. We see a brief brush with politics and capitalism; and even the
pushback against the selfish motivations of those who crave power in order to create a new
progressive order where greed and power mean nothing. The science is kind of injected as an
afterthought but forms a powerful background for a film about the human condition.
The end of the film, however, is what bothers me; like a chord played off key in an almost
perfect etude. It was short and punctual. It was almost as if the money to make the film had run
out at the last minute, and what we are left with is a stark future with a dark and unsatisfying
outcome. It seems that there should have been more room for discussion, but the story ended
there.
I mean, what is Zyra’s condition now that it has collided with another planet? What were
those buildings? What people are already there, and did any of their civilization survive?
Would they welcome the colonists or reject them? How many other ships landed? What kind
of world would humankind make of it? And as Zyra is captured by the sun, will it also simply
spiral in and be destroyed? These questions were not answered nor even hinted at.
There was a potential for making a sequel, or even a series of films, about the new world
on Zyra. What we know about human history is that, no matter what we do the same old habits
go with us. I hope that the film taught viewers more than that. And as of this writing, we have
seen the development of a new series about post apocalyptic evolution, the need to survive,
both alien and human together, in the SyFy original television series Defiance.
This film was one of of George Pal’s raft of amazing and highly intelligent science fiction
films. His next one would make history.
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951)
Director: Robert Wise
Producer: Julian Blaustein
Original Music: Bernard Herrmann
Cinematography: Leo Tover (director of photography)
Music Dept: Bernard Herrmann, orchestrator (uncredited)
Samuel Hoffman and Paul Shure, musicia, theremin (uncredited)
Cast:
Michael Rennie as Klaatu
Patricia Neal as Helen Benson
Billy Gray as Bobby Benson
Hugh Marlowe as Tom Stevens
Sam Jaffe as Professor Jacob Barnhardt
Frances Bavier as Mrs. Barley
Lock Martin as Gort
Frank Conroy as Mr. Harley
Tyler McVey as Brady (uncredited)
Well-known broadcast journalists of their time, H. V. Kaltenborn, Elmer Davis, Drew Pearson
and Gabriel Heatter, appeared and/or were heard as themselves.
Plot: A flying saucer is tracked flying through the atmosphere at what is computed to be 4,000
miles an hour until it lands on the President’s Park Ellipse in Washington, D.C., scattering park
patrons and ball players alike. The local national guard quickly establishes a perimeter around
the saucer, from which no sound or light, nor person, has emerged. Everyone is on pins and
needles waiting.
Then the saucer opens, and a man clad in a silver space suit and a helmet emerges,
announcing that he has come on a goodwill mission. When he takes out and opens a small
device, a nervous soldier jumps the gun and shoots him. He goes down as the guard
commander tells his men to stand down. The commander goes to help the strange astronaut,
who is struggling to stay conscious and upright.
Before anyone can move a silver giant emerges from the craft, sizes up the situation
quickly, and opens a dark slit in its featureless face. From that slit it produces a ray which
overheats the soldiers’ weaponry and disarms them quickly, then promptly melts a tank parked
nearby. Before it can fire again, the astronaut orders the robot, called Gort, to stop its attack in
a strange language which sounds like Latin (at that time, linguists were developing Esperanto.
This may have been an example.). Gort’s eye closes and it assumes a guard post next to the
saucer.
The strange visitor then explains to the guard commander that the device was a gift for his
President; that it would enable him to study the stars. But of course; now it is broken.
He is taken to Walter Reede Army Hospital, where he is found to be physically human,
but stuns the doctors with the quickness of his healing and his age. He appears to be in his
thirties but is way older than he looks. That probably his science is more advanced than theirs
and he may even be immortal. While they are smoking cigarettes together, one of the doctors
remarks that he feels like a third grade witch doctor.
Meanwhile the military attempts to enter the space ship, finding it impregnable. Nothing
can penetrate its hull. Gort stands by: mute, unmoved and unmoving. Frustrated, the military
men decide to encase the robot in a new kind of plastic which it could not possibly break
through [or so they think].
A man from the White House arrives to interview Earth’s new visitor. He is the President’s
secretary, named Harley (Frank Conroy). The alien introduces himself as “Klaatu” and says that
he bears a message so momentous and urgent that it must be revealed to all the world’s leaders
simultaneously. Harley informs him of the world situation and that politics prevent the
possibility of getting all of the world leaders to meet; that some are at war with each other.
Klaatu insists that he must try, and Harley reluctantly agrees.
Later, Harley comes to Klaatu and reads him some of the responses to the attempt to create
such an assembly. It does not sound encouraging. Each government wants to either host the
meeting or refuses to attend as long as their enemy would attend. Klaatu thinks about that, then
says that perhaps if he gets to know the ordinary people on the street he might understand the
source of their suspicions. Harley gently forbids this, citing military concerns, and leaves Klaatu
locked up under guard.
Of course, Klaatu is intelligent and resourceful, and easily manages his escape. By now the
wound has healed. He steals some luggage labeled “Maj. Carpenter” and, thus disguised,
wanders down the avenue. He listens to the radio through open apartment windows. Some
broadcasts sound encouraging, some filled with hubris. (In fact, none of them were nearly as
hysterical as some of the radio pundits we hear today.) Able to read and speak English, no
doubt learned from following Earth’s radio and television signals, he stops at a window with a
sign saying there is a room for rent. Acting on a hunch, he goes to the door and knocks on it.
The hostess is a bit fearful at first, but when he says he saw the sign, seems desperate to
rent the extra room right away. (Maybe a mortgage default was looming.) He introduces
himself, assuming the alias “Mr. Carpenter”. She leads him on a tour of the house, describes the
amenities, and introduces him to her other guests. Among them are Helen Benson (Patricia
Neal), a widow, and her son Bobby (Billy Gray).
At breakfast the next morning, while listening to some more alarming radio reports, Klaatu
takes in his fellow boarders’ suspicions and speculations about the alien visit and finds them
amusing. Bobby is especially excitable and imaginative, making all kinds of speculations about
the “space man”. His mother is more sensible and tries to reign in his excitement by reminding
him that he has to finish his homework and to remember to brush his teeth. Otherwise, she
appears to tolerate his bouncy and inquisitive behavior.
While Helen and her boyfriend Tom Stephens (Hugh Marlowe) plan to go on a day trip
together, Klaatu offers to babysit with Bobby and suggests that a tour of the city is in order. The
boy eagerly shows him the sights, including a visit to his father’s grave in Arlington National
Cemetery, where Klaatu is dismayed to learn that most of those buried there were killed in
wars. He explains to Bobby that where he comes from there are no wars; no povery or strife.
Bobby takes that with some surprise: he has never lived in a time when there was no war.
Later, Klaatu and Bobby share some ice cream, then go to see the heavily guarded
spaceship, where Klaatu realizes he can do nothing for now without attracting attention. A
special fence has been set up so spectators can see the ship from a safe distance. A radio reporter
is gayly asking what the tourists think of the great ship. He comes upon Klaatu and Bobby and
asks Klaatu what he thinks it all means. Klaatu (as Carpenter) calmly states that he sees how
much panic has been stirred up by wild speculation, and begins to outline his views when the
reporter cuts him off, clearly not willing to engage in a long winded discussion.
The two then visit the Lincoln Memorial. Klaatu, impressed by the Gettysburg Address
inscribed at the statue’s base, gets an idea and asks Bobby who is the smartest person living in
the world. Bobby suggests a leading American scientist, Professor Jacob Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe),
who lives in the city. Bobby goes with Klaatu to Barnhardt’s home but they find that the
professor is absent. Klaatu looks through a window and spots a chalkboard covered with
mathematical frustration, with the result a resounding “0! 00!! 000!!!” (Oddly enough, string
theory appears to yield the same result.)
Klaatu enters through the side door and checks Barnhardt’s work, then adds a key
mathematical equation to the problem. The housekeeper comes in on him in mid stroke and
asks what he is doing there. Klaatu then leaves his contact information with her. She begins to
erase what he wrote but Klaatu warns her not to; that the professor might need it.
Then Klaatu takes Bobby to see a movie, giving him a pair of flawless diamonds in
exchange for Bobby’s two dollars to pay for the tickets. The boy is a budding opportunist who
asks Klaatu not to tell his mother about the exchange; he does not want to be caught stealing.
Later, a government agent arrive at the boarding house and escort Klaatu to see Prof.
Barnhardt. He had not seen the arrival of Klaatu’s ship but sees the event as monumentally
historic. He asks about the equation. Apparently Klaatu has given him the solution to a problem
he has been working on for years. Barnhardt asks him about its relative importance to the other
terms. Klaatu tells him that it has enabled him to fly from one planet to another. Klaatu
introduces himself and the scientist is completely amazed.
Klaatu then warns the professor that the people of “the other planets” have become
concerned for their own safety after human beings had developed atomic power; and they are
concerned that humankind will extend its aggression to the rest of the galaxy. Klaatu declares
that if his message goes unheeded, “planet Earth will be eliminated.” Barnhardt responds to
this with some apprehension. Klaatu then adds his frustration with the political response to his
efforts to warn the planet. Barnhardt suggests that he could arrange a meeting of scientists to
converge at Klaatu’s ship, and also suggests that Klaatu should arrange a demonstration of his
power. Nothing big or destructive, but something which would attract everyone’s attention to
the seriousness of the matter.
That evening, Klaatu borrows a flashlight from Bobby, then returns to his spaceship to
transmit a report to his authority and implement the idea, unaware that Bobby has followed
him. When Bobby sees Klaatu speaking to his robot and entering the ship, he runs back to the
lodging house.
When Helen and Tom have returned from their date, Bobby tells them what has happened,
but Helen claims he is just letting his overactive imagination get the run of him again and sends
him to bed. He retorts, “I never call you a liar.” Helen then looks down and spots the mud on
his sneakers. He says, “yeh. The grass was wet.” Then he runs upstairs to his room. By now
Tom is deeply suspicious of Klaatu; he cautions Helen that Bobby has been hanging around
with the strange man too much and it’s giving him strange ideas.
A practical woman, Helen challenges him to discuss this with Mr. Carpenter.
Tom then sneaks up to Klaatu’s room and enters to have a look around. At first nothing
seems out of place, but when he turns to leave he spots something glistening on the floor. It is
one of the diamonds Klaatu has been using for money. He becomes excited about it as he shows
her what he has found, but Helen is a little perturbed about Tom invading Carpenter’s room;
while Bobby switches his outlook to think that Carpenter is a also diamond smuggler.
Helen works as a secretary at the State Dept. and has frequent conversations with the
switchboard operator, who declares she is completely spooked by the situation. The idea that
there is an alien running freely around on Earth makes her feel terribly insecure.
Tom is apparently an insurance agent with big political ambitions. When Tom takes the
diamond to be appraised, the jeweler informs him it is unlike any other diamond on Earth, and
asks if Tom wants to sell it. Toms says no and returns to his office. He calls Helen to find out if
she is free for lunch and arranges to meet her. When lunchtime comes, Helen takes her purse
with her and goes to an elevator.
Klaatu intercepts her there and says he must talk to her about what happened the day
before; that he wants to explain things about Bobby and what he might have seen. Helen says
they can take another elevator which is less crowded. While they are riding down, the elevator
comes to a complete halt between floors. She looks down at her watch and sees that it is frozen
exactly at noon. Klaatu then reveals his true identity and explains why he is there. At first Helen
is skeptical but comes to the conclusion that Bobby was right and everything pointed to Klaatu.
We see a montage sequence showing that Klaatu has neutralized all electric power
everywhere around the planet except in situations that would compromise human safety, such
as hospitals and airplanes in flight. Cars will not start, blenders won’t spin, laundry units
contain wet wash, and so on. The whole world has stood still. Panic ensues as the world blames
the space man for it.
Helen asks him why she was chosen to be approached. Klaatu says he needed a friend to
help him, and that she is the most rational person he knows; that he was sure she would
understand. Then Helen remembers what Tom had told her earlier about “writing his own
ticket” and says that there would be nothing to stop him warning the military. She agrees to
help Klaatu now that she understands the big picture.
After the blackout ends, the manhunt for Klaatu intensifies and Tom talks to her about his
decision. Helen tries to convince him otherwise; doesn’t he care about the rest of the world? He
retorts that he doesn’t, and that makes her very upset. She breaks off their relationship
immediately. He has chosen poorly.
Later, Helen and Klaatu take a taxi to Barnhardt’s home; there to join Barnhardt and go to
the meeting of scientists. While they are en route, Klaatu instructs Helen that, should anything
happen to him, she must tell Gort these words: “Klaatu barada nikto”.
We see a citywide search by the military for Klaatu. Some people have seen the two in the
taxi and sends them in that direction. When they are spotted, Klaatu leaves the taxi and tries to
get away but is shot by military personnel. In the ensuing mob to see the body, Helen is
overlooked, slips away and heads to the spaceship on her own, while Klaatu’s dead body is
placed on a cot in a jail with a guard posted over it.
On some invisible cue, Gort awakens. It burns down the acrylic cage surrounding it and
kills the guards before Helen arrives. Soon aftward, Helen enters the compound carefully but
is confronted by the giant robot. Gort marches toward her, its terrible eye opening and
powering up. At first Helen is terrified and loses her nerve. She backs up and collides with some
chairs stacked up in a corner, screaming her terror. Gort advances and looks down at her,
preparing to fire.
Helen finally finds her courage, looks up and utters the words once, then twice. Gort closes
its ray eye, then picks Helen up in its arms and takes her into the ship. The robot deposits her
gently on the deck and seals her in. While she watches, Gort waves on a communication device
Klaatu had used early to get instructions. Once it receives its marching orders, Gort ignores
Helen as it leaves the ship. Helen tries to get out but does not know how.
Gort goes to the jail, burns a hole in the wall and retrieves Klaatu’s body, then carries it
back to the ship. It lays the body down on a table. It ignores Helen again as it activates a control.
As Helen watches, the machine powers up and resonates. Klaatu’s body glows with energy
until the process is complete. Klaatu revives intact and healthy; rises and sees Helen. She is
amazed, and asks if Gort has the power of life and death. Klaatu replies that that power is
reserved for the “almighty spirit.” He does not know how much longer he will live, but he is
alive and must still carry out his mission.
Sometime later, the world assembly of scientists is gathered near the chairs set up for them,
and they have been waiting for quite a while for the meeting to start. A commander of the
military arrives, approaches Professor Barnhardt and advises him that Gort is still at large and
that the group should disband for their own safety. Barnhardt is visibly disappointed with
Klaatu’s lateness, and tells the group that given the circumstances the meeting must be
canceled.
A moment later, the ship opens. Helen disembarks and walks down the ramp to join the
group, while Gort emerges and stands aside on guard. Then, Klaatu steps out of the spaceship
dressed for flight and addresses the assembled scientists, explaining that humanity’s penchant
for violence and first steps into space have caused concern among other inhabitants of the
galaxy, who have agreed to live together in peace. To enforce that peace, they created and
empowered a race of robots like Gort to act immediately should such aggression occur. He adds
that it’s not the best way to police the galaxy but it works. He then warns that if the people of
Earth threaten to extend their violence into space, the Earth would be “reduced to a burned-out
cinder”, adding, “the decision rests with you.” (At this point, Klaatu is looking right at the
camera and the audience. It is a telling moment.) Then, waving a friendly thanks and goodbye
to Helen, Klaatu enters the spaceship and departs to a flourish of alien music. END
Additional Notes: In a 1995 interview, producer Julian Blaustein explained that Joseph Breen,
the film’s censor installed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) at Twentieth
Century Fox studios, balked at Klaatu’s resurrection scene as it was originally written. At his
insistence a line was inserted into the film: when Helen asks Klaatu whether Gort has unlimited
power over life and death, Klaatu explains that he has only been revived temporarily and “that
power is reserved to the Almighty Spirit.” Apparently the original form of the script never calls
for it. Technically (and actually) it is the machine Gort activates which has the power of life or
death. That everyone seems to forget that is thanks to that misdirecting line inserted into the
script. Gort itself appears to have no power but its eye ray and its phenomenal strength, and a
divine being of limitless power would have no need to send its servants to kill in the first place.
Of the “Christian” elements that he added to Klaatu’s character, screenwriter Edmund
North said, “It was my private little joke. I never discussed this angle with Blaustein or Wise because I
didn’t want it expressed. I had originally hoped that the Christ comparison would be subliminal.”
The fact that the question even came up in an interview is proof enough that such
comparisons did not remain subliminal, but they are subtle enough that it is not immediately
obvious to all viewers which elements were intended to compare Klaatu to Christ. For example,
when Klaatu escapes from the hospital, he steals the clothing belonging to a “Maj. Carpenter;”
carpentry being the profession Jesus (Joshua) bar Joseph learned from his father. These features
are left to the audience to sort out once the whole film has been presented to them.
Blaustein set out to make a film that illustrated the fear and suspicion that characterized
the early Cold War and Atomic Age. He reviewed over 200 science fiction short stories and
novels in search of a storyline that could be used, since this film genre was well suited for a
metaphorical discussion of such grave issues. Given the enormous success of other biblical
stories, studio head Darryl F. Zanuck gave the go-ahead for this project, and Blaustein hired
Edmund North to write the screenplay based on elements from Harry Bates’s short story
“Farewell to the Master”. The revised final screenplay was completed on February 21, 1951.
The interior set of the ship was designed by Thomas Little and Claude Carpenter. They
collaborated with the noted architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the design of the whole spacecraft.
Paul Laffoley has suggested that the futuristic interior was inspired by Wright’s Johnson Wax
Headquarters, completed in 1936. Laffoley quotes Wright and his attempt in designing the
exterior: “... to imitate an experimental substance that I have heard about which acts like living tissue.
If cut, the rift would appear to heal like a wound, leaving a continuous surface with no scar.” The main
hatch fully integrates with the hull without seam. However, during a scene showing an attempt
to cut into the hull of the ship, a welding torch applied to its surface fails to burn it.
Principal outdoor photography for The Day the Earth Stood Still was shot on the 20th
Century Fox sound stages and on its studio back lot (Century City, California), with a second
unit shooting background plates and other scenes in Washington, D.C.. The primary actors
never traveled to Washington for the making of the film.
The robot Gort was played by Lock Martin, who at the time worked as an usher at
Graumann’s Chinese Theater and stood about 7 feet tall. He worked carefully with the metallic
suit as it had very little range of motion. The costume also had wires to operate the robot’s eye
ray. Director Wise decided that Gort’s segments would be filmed at half hour intervals so
Martin would not asphyxiate in the suit. The segments were edited into the film’s final print.
Martin also needed help to carry Ms. Neal to the ship. This part is cut so we do not see Gort
actually picking her up, but moving behind a blind and then carrying her there with her already
in his arms.
The music score was composed by Bernard Herrmann in August 1951, and was the first
score he composed after he moved from New York to Hollywood. Herrmann chose unusual
instrumentation for the film: violin, cello, and bass (all three electric), two theremin (electronic
instruments played by Dr. Samuel Hoffman and Paul Shure), two Hammond organs, a large
studio electric organ, a piano, woodwinds and brass. Unusual overdubbing and tape-reversal
techniques were used as well to enhance the alien effects.
The Day the Earth Stood Still was well received by critics and is widely regarded as one of
the best films of 1951. The film was moderately successful when released, accruing $1,850,000
in distributors’ domestic (U.S. and Canada) rentals, making it the year’s 52nd biggest earner.
The movie was ranked 7th on Arthur C. Clarke’s list of the best science fiction films of all time,
just above Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, (a later addition in this book) which Clarke
himself co-wrote. It holds a 94% “Certified Fresh” rating on the Rotten Tomatoes review website.
In 1995, The Day the Earth Stood Still was selected for preservation in the United States National
Film Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Since the release of the movie, the phrase “Klaatu barada nikto” has become popular in
fiction and in popular culture. The Robot Hall of Fame described it as “one of the most famous
commands in science fiction”, while Frederick S. Clarke of Cinefantastique called it “the most
famous phrase ever spoken by an extraterrestrial.” No translation for it was given in the film.
Philosophy professor Aeon J. Skoble speculates that the famous phrase is a “safe-word”; that is,
part of a fail-safe feature used during diplomatic missions such as the one Klaatu and Gort make
to Earth. With the use of the safe-word, Gort’s deadly force can be reprogrammed into a passive
mode. Skoble observes that the theme has evolved into a “staple of science fiction that the machines
charged with protecting us from ourselves will misuse or abuse their power.” In this interpretation, the
phrase apparently tells Gort that Klaatu considers escalation unnecessary.
I have a different take on the translation. It may mean literally that “Klaatu needs help.” This
may be the reason that Gort reacts the way it does. It knows that it must retrieve Klaatu in
whatever his condition is or the mission will fail. It discards its defensive posture and goes
proactive. The power of its ability to excercise stealth and quiet reserve despite its huge bulk is
demonstrated when it manages to get Klaatu’s body and carry it back to the ship with little to
no opposition; helped by a citywide curfew announced when the military conducts its search
for him. Therefore, it has no need to go into hostile mode.
General Colin Powell believed the film inspired President Ronald Reagan to discuss
uniting against an alien invasion when meeting Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. Two years later,
Reagan told the United Nations, “I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would
vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world.” Being an actor before he was
president, Reagan was clearly a fan of this film.
In retrospect, the film had a tremendous impact on my own political education and
appeared to be the first film to promote real pacifism in a world recovering from a world war.
Robert Wise’s attention to detail and the special effects of both the robot and the spaceship,
along with the other amazing instrumentality in the ship, was clear and plausible. Any serious
student of film should see it for the complete story as well as the effects. It was by far the most
up to date and modern film of its time, with a message that rings clear to this day.
Lastly, the character of Professor Barnhardt may have been developed to bring the
opinions of a similar physicist, Dr. Albert Einstein, into focus. In 1921, his work on general and
quantum relativity earned him a Nobel Prize. At that time he lived in Germany, but while on a
visit to a university in the U.S. found himself exiled in 1933. Einstein’s work got him a
permanent position and a new home in the United States. In 1939 Einstein wrote an
impassioned plea to the government along with other scientists, warning that the Nazis were
creating a weapon which could advance their ambitions of world domination and destroy
millions. Though he was an avowed pacifist his suggestions actually galvanized the
government to work toward achieving an atom bomb to act as a nuclear deterrent. But when
the two atomic bombs leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Einstein became entirely
antinuclear, and joined with Bertrand Russell in issuing a manifesto toward nuclear
disarmament a few months before his death in 1955.
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953)
Director: Byron Haskin
Producer: George Pal
Screenplay: Barré Lyndon; based on The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
Music: Leith Stevens
Cinematography: George Barnes
Distributed by Paramount Pictures; Release date August 26, 1953; Running time 85 minutes
Cast: Gene Barry and Ann Robinson along with several others [uncredited]; narrated by Sir
Cedric Hardwicke
Plot: Following the opening credits, with lush and exotic music supplied by Leith Stevens, the
film begins with a preamble of illustrations by space artist Chesley Bonestell showing the
planets of our solar system, over which the film’s narrator (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) reads the
introduction to the original novel by Wells. The visuals of a dark and barren Mars reveals the
stark landscape of a race gone stagnant. Mars is no longer the verdant world it had been millions
of years ago, and the Martians are envious of the green and blue world they see through their
telescopes. The narrator explains why the Martians find Earth the only world worthy of
invasion: all the other worlds are either too hot or too cold. Earth is just right.
Wells’s novel is updated to the early 1950s and the setting moved from the environs of
London to southern California; in point of fact centering on the area around the San Gabriel
valley, Altadena and Pasadena (conveniently close to CalTech and the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory).
Dr. Clayton Forrester, a scientist and veteran of the Manhattan Project, is fishing with
colleagues in the mountains when they spot a large meteor streaking across the sky. It comes
crashing to earth near the town of Linda Rosa (actually Corona). Soon afterward, a deputy in
the Forestry Dept. arrives and informs Forrester that he is needed to examine the meteor; begs
a cigarette or two and helps himself to a sandwich and a cup of coffee. Intrigued, Forrester tells
his colleagues that he had better go see what the excitement is all about.
At the impact site, he meets a woman reporter who seems to know everything about him.
His illustrious career has been well documented in major magazines and newspapers, but
somehow she does not know what he looks like. Finally he points himself out. She blushes and
says that she had no idea of his good looks; naturally, she had thought he was older. She
introduces herself as Sylvia Van Buren, a reporter for a major newspaper; and then her uncle,
Pastor Matthew Collins, who runs the Presbyterian church in Linda Rosa. They discuss the area
and the local charm while the meteor is seen to be emitting vapor. A man approaches it and
gives it a whack with a shovel. A piece of earth falls off the surface and the hot steam drives
him back. It looks too hot to approach safely. Forrester says everyone should stay clear until it
cools down.
Another man suggests that the place could be turned into a park. The pastor agrees and
suggests that if picnic tables were to be installed it might boost tourism. The man disagrees,
saying that if that happened people would bring their own lunches; he has the idea to put up a
food kiosk to generate revenue. But Forrester disagrees as well, pointing out that no one knows
what kind of material the meteor is made of. It could even be radioactive.
A deputy sheriff has looked into his car and points to a gadget lying in the back seat. He
thinks it is a bomb because it is ticking. Forrester says it is a geiger counter, pulls it out and
points the wand around the area. The most activity seems to register in the direction of the
meteor crash site, bearing out his initial guess about the rock. He suggests that the area be
cleared of civilians for now and a guard posted to prevent visitations for safety’s sake.
The meteor appears to have slid in at a shallow angle and seems curiously lighter than
normal for its large size. Forrester ponders these anomalies and decides to wait in town
overnight for it to cool down before making a more thorough examination. Pastor Collins
invites him to stay at his house where he can have a shave and a good meal, and mentions that
the annual square dance festival would be a good way to get to know the community. Sylvia
agrees.
Later, the square dance is in full swing as everyone in the small town attends. Forrester
and Sylvia share food and jokes.
Meanwhile, the meteor crash site is dark and quiet as three men from the town stand
guard. They discuss the idea of partnering up and building a food stand with all kinds of food:
hamburgers, hot dogs, even tacos and frijoles. While they are talking, a round hatch on top of
the meteor slowly begins to unscrew. The men hear the noise and snatch up sticks to defend
themselves, not sure at first what to do. Then they see the top of the meteor moving. Suddenly,
the idea that the meteor is some kind of alien ship comes to them.
Do the aliens look like us? Could they be friendly? The latino man suggests waving a white
flag, because “everyone knows a white flag means we come in peace.” The other men discuss
this, and when they ask what to tell the aliens, one of them says, “welcome to California.” These
simple minded and innocent thoughts are shared among them as they move closer to the
meteor.
A mechanical cobra-like head emerges, supported by a long telescoping neck. It appears
to be something like a camera and a probe at the same time. It emits a peculiar pulsing and
shimmering sound as it looks around, describing a circle in the dark. It has not seen the men
yet. It appears to be curious about the sky and the trees.
The men see the probe and approach carefully. The latino man waves his white flag, and
the machine appears to focus on them. What follows is terrible destruction as a flash of heat
emerges from its eye and envelops the men, turning them into ash instantly. The heat destroys
the surrounding vegetation and sets the forest on fire. Then it lashes out again and destroys a
transmission tower nearby.
The power suddenly goes out at the square dance. Candles are lit as the people mill about
in the dark. Dr. Forrester consults his watch to note the time and discovers that his and other
people’s wrist watches have stopped running at the same time. His compass also points away
from magnetic north and toward the location of the fallen meteor.
Forrester and the sheriff go with a deputy to investigate and are attacked by the machine’s
ray. The deputy gets into the squad car and drives away (possibly to warn the town) but does
not get far before he and the car are incinerated. Both Forrester and the sheriff manage to
survive and call in the military. (Nice that one can simply make a phone call to the Joint Chiefs
and get almost immediate action. This would never happen in real life!)
Soon, a military outpost has been established near the crash site, where Sylvia and
Forrester have been consulting with a general, called Mansley, about the invasion. Forrester has
tried to keep his observations about the alien craft low-key, trying to avoid provoking the
general into unwarranted action; but Mansley appears to know what he is doing. He has placed
a forward observation post between the base and the crash site with instructions to call if
anything moves.
At first, it is a case of sit and wait. More meteors are seen to crash to earth nearby. It is no
longer an incidental shower. The enemy is arriving in droves.
The first machine has laid waste to the surrounding area but has not tried to leave the
gully. In the first gray mist of dawn, however, that shimmering sound fills the valley, and the
first machine finally emerges from the meteor and stands up. It looks like a manta ray
suspended tens of feet above the ground by means of invisible legs. And it is not alone, as two
more appear. The observors report that the machines are moving, and there is a hurried fluster
at the ground base as lights are doused and Forrester and Mansley look at what they’ve got
through binoculars.
At first Forrester is amazed as he discusses what propulsive force the invaders may be
using, decides on electromagnetism, and that they may use it for all sorts of purposes. He tells
Mansley more about the ray and its effects. Mansley, however, is keen to attack the machines
now. Forrester warns him to move with caution, as his own experience with the machines is
that they shoot first and ask questions later. The machines advance slowly along the valley floor
sweeping it for any sign of life. No one dares to move.
Meanwhile, Sylvia and Pastor Collins talk softly about the alien beings while she is pouring
coffee. The Pastor seems to think that if the aliens are that advanced they should be closer to
God for that reason alone. Sylvia begins to think her uncle is acting strange; very much out of
character. She warns him not to think like that. The aliens have already sinned by killing. But
then Matthew asks her if she likes Dr. Forrester. She says yes. He does, too. Then he sends her
to get some more water for coffee.
While she is doing that, someone calls out, “who is that?” She drops the cup in her hand
and runs to the window, then screams out her panic as Pastor Collins walks toward the
machines, his bible raised in the air with the cross pointed toward them. He is reciting from
Psalm 23, looking as if he alone and his message of peace can stop the machines. The lead
machine spots him and fires, disintegrating him instantly with its ray. Sylvia screams again.
Mansley calls out to open fire, and his men attack with everything in their arsenal, but each
war machine is protected by an impenetrable force field. The Martians then use their
disintegrator rays to send the rest of the military force into full retreat. The tanks are incinerated
with men inside, men catch fire and fall. Finally, Mansley declares, “let’s fall back to safer
ground. The Air Force will take care of these babies now.”
The force moves to the floor of the San Gabriel Valley. The machines are so far invincible.
From their shelter, Forrester and Sylvia discuss more findings with the general, and Forrester
thinks that there is no weapon on Earth capable of destroying the invaders. Mansley, however,
thinks that the Bomb can still do it. Forrester is still skeptical, saying that the scope of the alien
science is too advanced. Mansley insists that they’ve got to try, or there will be nothing to stop
the machines from destroying their way to the coast. Sylvia is still rattled by the experience of
seeing her uncle die. She asks, “is there nothing we can do?” Forrester reassures her; everything
that can be done will be.
Soon afterward we see jet fighters engaging with the machines. None survive the battle.
Then the machines attack the compound. There are scenes of open battle again. Outgunned and
outmanned, Mansley and his group desert the compound before they are caught in the open.
While Forrester and Sylvia flee, Mansley exhorts everyone to be gone. He is caught by a ray and
disintegrated before our very eyes.
Forrester and Sylvia manage to find a small plane and climb into it. Apparently Forrester
knows how to fly, and soon they are soaring over the valley trying to escape the machines.
Sylvia wants to go higher, but another squadron of planes is on their way and they cannot. They
narrowly avoid another pod of machines and crash land on a farm, ditch the plane and dive
into a small trench to endure the terrible risk of being caught in the open. They huddle together
while the plane is destroyed.
Soon afterward, it is quiet just then. There is a tender moment as Forrester looks at a
sleeping Sylvia. She comes to and panics as she finds they are still in danger. They find their
way to an abandoned farmhouse, but are not there long before another meteor crash lands and
barrels its way into the house. Timbers fall.
Sometime later, Forrester comes to. Sylvia has wet a cloth and is dabbing at his forehead.
He sits up slowly as she explains that she has been terrified witless. The machines are now all
around them. Forrester’s reading glasses have been smashed but he can still see. He gets up and
looks around. The farmhouse proves to be a good place to hide for the moment, but he knows
it can’t last.
Sylvia has found enough food to make breakfast. While she cooks, they talk about their
families. Forrester has been an orphan and raised himself to be self-reliant, while Sylvia is a
member of a big family but has been living in California to be near Pastor Collins. She tells a
story about when she was very small and got lost. Scared to be anywhere else, she goes into a
church to find sanctuary. She claims that her uncle found her. Then she declares that she could
bawl her head off. But Forrester says she’s not the type. She has proved she is tougher than that
several times already, and looks like it has not affected her at all.
A sound outside attracts their attention. Breakfast is abandoned as Sylvia spots something
moving outside. Together, they move into another room to hide, just as another meteor lands
nearby and ploughs its way through the kitchen. Forrester and Sylvia are now trapped with no
way to get out.
A long machine umbilical extrudes from one of the machines and snakes its way down
toward the house. A strange device like a mobile camera pokes into a hole in the wall and begins
to probe around, looking for the source of light and sound in the house. It moves about slowly.
On a gamble, Forrester picks something up and pitches it into the dark. The probe turns
its head looking for the source. “Maybe they don’t know we’re here,” Sylvia suggests softly.
“We’re not going to let them,” he says. He looks around carefully and finds an axe for chopping
firewood. Armed with it, he leads Sylvia away. But something alerts the probe and it turns.
Forrester attacks by throwing something, and before it can react chops off the probe’s head.
The umbilical withdraws quickly and retracts into the tripod. Now robbed of their hiding place,
they look for another way out but the earth has covered most of the doors and windows. They
finally find an open window and begin tearing away at obstructions to get out.
While they are working, we see shadows moving about outside, then while Sylvia is busy
throwing away detritus, a strange hand lands on her shoulder. Frozen with horror, she slowly
turns and sees a Martian looking right at her. It is a grotesque creature with what looks like a
big eye divided into three segments.
Forrester sees it, pulls her to him and throws the axe he has been working with at it. The
creature recoils, makes a terrible keening sound and flees. He seizes a scarf and wraps the
probe’s head up in it. While he is working, Sylvia points out that there is blood on the scarf.
Forrester examines it closely and says that he must get it to the lab at Pacific Tech (Caltech,
which is in Pasadena). He says his biologist friend Marchemont will know what to do with it.
By now Sylvia is thoroughly shocked by everything which has happened and becomes
hysterical. Forrester shakes her and yells until she stops. He becomes tender as he tells her there
is no time to fall apart now; they must escape. Together, they manage to get out of the house as
the machines destroy it completely.
Sometime later, they manage to make it to Pacific Tech, where Forrester shows the
souvenirs he has gathered to his friends Marchemont and Bildebeck. When Marchemont
examines the blood on the scarf, she remarks that she has never seen such weak and anemic
blood cells, and that by human physical standards the Martians must be very primitive indeed.
She does not elaborate.
One of the other scientists has erected a light stand and mounted the camera head on it.
He says that by examining the optics of the camera they can learn how the Martians see.
Somehow, the three lenses coalesce three images into one. The color is very weak; almost black
and white. The scientist guides Sylvia to the camera saying they would see why the Martians
were so interested in her.
There is along protracted moment of Sylvia’s face filling the screen. She is not happy with
the alien machine. (We’re not sure why this is relevent but perhaps it was to give Ms. Robinson
something to do.)
There is a desperate meeting in Washington, D.C. about the situation as the military grants
a grim press conference to the newspeople. According to reports, the machines are landing in
threes. They sweep the area, secure outposts at certain points; then sweep again. The Martians
are thorough in wiping out anything that moves. Cities are going dark and silent across Europe;
nothing has been heard from Asia or the Pacific Rim for days. Canada has gone dark. There is
a brief note of chagrin as they see a radio picture of the Eiffel Tower going down in pieces. Radio
communication is practically nonexistent; and messengers arrive to deliver notes between
offices.
Then a spokeman for the Joint Chiefs makes the announcement that there is little anyone
can do now but evacuate any surviving populations of the cities to the shelter of the hills. The
military has decided to use the Bomb.
Forrester, Sylvia, Marchemont and Bildebeck are consulted about what to do next. They
set up an observation outpost in the valley some miles away from a Martian advance group. At
zero hour, everyone must put on protective clothing and wear special sunglasses. The impact
point is close enough that the bright flash of detonation could blind one in an instant. From the
forward bunker comes the news that the machines are moving again. Forrester studies them
and says that there is some sort of protective energy blister covering the machines. (The first
use of a force field for protection, which was not used again until Star Trek) The general thinks
that still won’t stop the awesome power of an atomic blast.
Standing near the compound is a reporter who is recording the events of the day. He makes
a vocal note that he is recording everything on tape should anything happen to him for future
history, if there is any. Sylvia takes that with the calm tones of one who has seen everything she
wanted to and then some.
The countdown begins. The Flying Wing (an impressive monstrosity of air power) takes
off at Edwards AF Base and carries its deadly payload to the blast zone. At the end of the
countdown, everything is bathed in bright light. Then the thunder of the blast and the pressure
wave knocks things over, blows dust and sand over everyone and everything. As the
mushroom cloud rises over the desert, Forrester clambers back to the window and looks at the
roiling devastation through his binoculars.
The cloud is dense, hard to see through at first. Then, as if nothing had happened, the
machines emerge unscathed and stroll slowly through the radioactive cloud. The general turns
to Forrester and says, “this is impossible! Planes, tanks, guns, nothing affects them! The answer
must lie with whatever science can think up.” He then says that if things continue this way, the
Earth could be conquered in six days.
Marchemont mutters, “six days.”
Sylvia says, “the same number of days it took to create it.”
A panoramic montage follows of people on the move in Los Angeles, showing us whole
masses of them walking along bridges and down avenues, carrying whatever they are able to,
and walking into the low foothills of the mountains. While they are abandoning the city, the
Pacific Tech group loads equipment into trucks and scientists into a bus. Sylvia takes the wheel
of the bus and drives them away, while Forrester drives away one of the trucks filled with
instruments.
Forrester happens to be passing through the downtown garment district when he is caught
in a mob of men looting the stores and carrying away anything they can. They see the truck and
seize it. In the melee, Forrester tries to stop them, yelling, “you fools! You’ll cut your own
throats!” but is knocked out of the way. The mob drives the truck away after dumping the
instruments on the road and leaves him there, stunned and half conscious.
When he recovers, he wanders aimlessly and comes on a man trying to gather money up
from the street. The man remarks that “you can’t buy a ride for love or money.” Then it dawns
on Forrester that something must have happened to Sylvia as the bus had just gone through
there. He asks the man if he had seen the bus, and the man shakes his head.
Forrester runs on and comes on the vehicle lying on its side, abandoned. Now it is his turn
to panic. He calls out, “Bildebeck. Marchemont. Sylvia!!” The search for a solution is lost, and
the Martian war machines are laying the city to waste a block at a time. He runs farther and sits
down on a bus stop bench to rest. A jeep carrying two safety officers comes to a stop and they
tell him to come with them. He asks if they have seen anyone of the group. They say no; then
he waves them off and resumes his search.
What follows is a fruitless marathon on the abandoned streets. He is alone, desperate,
angry. Time after time he dodges the heat-rays and destruction raining down around him. At
some point, a war machine destroys Los Angeles City Hall (then the only tall building in the
city center at that time). He stops to gather his wits and then remembers what Sylvia had said
about going into a church for safety.
He finally finds his way to a Presbyterian church, where Rev. Billy Graham prays to God
to save them. There, he finds Marchemont and Bildebeck, who has been badly injured. He asks
the whereabouts of the other scientists. Marchemont replies that they were scattered after the
mob took the bus. Then he asks about Sylvia. They have not seen her. He says he must find her
and says goodbye.
He then manages to get to the cathedral of St. Juliana, where the priests are helping others
to pray for salvation. A war machine blasts at the cathedral. A salvo of alien fire destroys the
windows and sends the refugees into a panic. Forrester calls desperately for Sylvia, who hears
him and calls back. Somehow they meet and embrace as the building stones begin to fall.
Outside, we see a machine slow down and then fall. Others begin to fall, too. We see them
collide against buildings all over the world, their probe lights going out. Something is
happening to the Martians. When quiet finally descends, the refugees slowly emerge from the
cathedral.
Forrester sees one of the machines laying nearby. Curious, he approaches carefully as a
hatch in the machine opens. A small, bulbous arm and hand emerges, blood vessels are clearly
visible and pulsing. Then it grows still. Forrester looks at it closely, then peers up inside. The
creature is dead.
As bells ring a quiet victory knell, the narrator explains that the Martians had no resistance
against the Earthly diseases Man had grown immune to. Thus, a powerful conquering force
was stopped by “the littlest of things, which God in his wisdom had put upon the Earth.” END
Analysis and Additional Notes: This is one of my special favorites. Not only was it released in
the year of my birth, it was one of the landmark films which I thought could never be remade.
The special effects were superior for that time despite their budget constraints. George Pal did
his best to make everything perfect even if the plot of the screenplay was highly derivative of
the original novel by H. G. Wells. It had all the elements of excitement, terror and pathos of a
great film, to rival even Sir Lew Grade’s biblical potboilers.
At the time, only the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Cal Tech (California Technical
University) dominated the San Gabriel valley floor, with Pasadena and Altadena being the
biggest cities. Corona hosted a small airfield which is no longer there. Given the amount of
space needed to produce the film without attracting a large crowd, it was relatively easy to film
the external scenes there. Now, the San Gabriel valley is almost completely built over from the
mountains to the plain of Los Angeles. If it had all been real, millions would have died in the
first attack.
What is of particular note is the use of action and special effects to convey the terror of an
alien invasion without overloading the senses. Each scenario is a story in itself, dominated by
the human side of the equation. We don’t actually see any Martians until the middle third of
the picture, and certainly not clearly enough to frighten the audience overmuch. We see their
terrible war machines throughout; as if the machines are the Martians. Their pilots, like the Dr.
WHO Daleks, seem to be superfluous to the plot. How the war machines operate and move
about is beyond anything anyone had ever seen before.
The story is also a bit preachy but that was the way things were back then in the 1950s.
One could not make a science fiction film without bringing God into it. That is because the
people responsible for making the film were religious to begin with, so they could only work
through their particular idiom. I don’t think an aetheist could have made it better or worse, and
I like the overall plot even if the catchy ending was a religious one. It still displayed the human
condition in the face of certain doom at the hands of the other. There is no chance to propose an
alternative. The Martians were bad; so they must die. End of story.
I’m not sure it would go over so well now. Given the reaction to stories with similar
religious or anti-religious overtones nowadays it would probably have been a flop at the box
office. Later, a credible and more terrifying version of The War of The Worlds was produced and
directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Cruise. The war machines in that film were more in
line with Wells’s novel, and the scenarios far more destructive.
More notes: George Pal originally planned for the final third of the film to be shot in the
new 3-D process (with glasses) to visually enhance the Martians’ attack on Los Angeles. The
plan was dropped prior to actual production of the film, probably due to the expense of the
camera work. I saw The Creature From the Black Lagoon in 3-D and was impressed with the
underwater scenes. One could think one was really underwater, they were that good. But it was
in black and white so that sort of destroyed the effect overall. Later, there was a thrust to
produce more of such films in color. The Horror of The Wax Museum was one of the first.
World War II stock footage was used to produce a montage of destruction to show the
worldwide invasion, with armies of all nations joining together to fight off the invaders. Effects
were added to demonstrate the awesome power of the Martian machines.
Wells had used the second half of his novel to make a satirical commentary on civilization
and the British class system. Lyndon did not incorporate that satire into the film’s screenplay,
but he did add a not-too-subtle religious subtext (in contrast to Wells’s original novel), to the
point that the Martians only begin to die shortly after blasting the Los Angeles churches. (I am
sure it is meant to be coincidental after all, but many think it deliberate.)
Special Effects: Each disintegration effect took 144 separate matte paintings to create. The
sound sound effect of the snake-like probe was created by stirring a slushie, played back at a
higher pitch and speed, enhanced in remix and punctuated by a piano wire plucked in the lower
C octave. The resulting eerie rattlesnake-like sound was chilling indeed.
The machines also fired a green death-ray from their wingtips, generating a distinctive
sound and exposing the interior of its target before disintegrating it. This weapon was
substituted for the chemical black smoke weapon described in Wells’ novel. The sound effect,
created by striking a high tension cable with a hammer and remixed, was reused in Star Trek
for the launch of photon torpedos in battle.
The war machines’ rays were created by mixing the backward recorded sound of three
electric guitars. For many years, it was utilized as a standard “ray-gun” sound on children’s
television shows and the science fiction anthology series The Outer Limits; particularly in the
episode “The Children of Spider County”.
The Martian’s scream in the ruined farmhouse was created by a sound mix of a
microphone scraping along dry ice combined with a woman’s scream recorded backwards.
St. Brendan’s Catholic Church was the setting used in the final scene where the desperate
people of Los Angeles gathered to pray. St. Juliana’s was shown as the exterior.
A conscious effort was made to avoid the stereotypical “flying saucer” look of typical
UFOs. The Martian war machines, as designed by Al Nozaki, were shaped like manta rays
floating over the ground. Three Martian war machine props were made out of copper for the
film. The same blueprints were used a decade later to construct the alien spacecraft in the film
Robinson Crusoe on Mars (also directed by Byron Haskin) and was supposedly melted down
later for a copper drive. Fan collector Forrest J Ackerman owned a replica model made from the
Robinson Crusoe on Mars blueprints, and was constructed by Ackerman’s friends Paul and Larry
Brooks.
The walking tripods of Wells’s novel proved problematic for various reasons. It was
eventually decided to make the Martian machines “float” along on three invisible, electronic
legs. It was difficult to mark out the invisible legs when smoke and other effects had to be seen
with the machines. However, the three leg beams were shown to create small fires where they
touch the ground. More advanced and elegant than Wells’s original design, they brought more
of the terror of their sophistication compared to the primitive armaments of human kind into
sharp relief.
The War of the Worlds had its official premiere in Hollywood on February 20, 1953, although
it did not go into general theatrical release until autumn of that year. The film was both a critical
and box office success. It accrued $2,000,000 in distributors’ domestic (U.S. and Canada) rentals,
making it the year’s biggest science fiction film hit.
The New York Times noted the film was “an imaginatively conceived, professionally turned
adventure, which makes excellent use of Technicolor, special effects by a crew of experts and impressively
drawn backgrounds... Director Byron Haskin, working from a tight script by Barre Lyndon, has made
this excursion suspenseful, fast and, on occasion, properly chilling.”
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning in the category for Special
Effects in 1954.
In 2011, The War of the Worlds was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”
by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film
Registry. The Registry noted the film’s release during the early years of the Cold War and how
it used “the apocalyptic paranoia of the atomic age”. The Registry also cited the film’s special effects,
which at its release were called “soul-chilling, hackle-raising and not for the faint of heart.”
After viewing the 21 st century version of The War of The Worlds as directed and produced
by Steven Spielberg, and directed by Ridley and Tony Scott, the lasting impact of this original
classic still rings with me. Call me old fashioned, but in spite of the stark simplicity of the latest
incarnation, which followed the novel more closely, I found myself feeling thankful that this
film was not simply a remake of the old. In some ways it was even more frightening than the
original, but more closely followed H. G. Wells’s novel in terms of special effects.
CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955)
Directed by Byron Haskin
Produced by George Pal
Distributed by Paramount Pictures; Release date April 20, 1955 (U.S. release) ; running time 81
minutes.
Cast:
Walter Brooke
Eric Fleming
Mickey Shaughnessy
Plot: Sometime in the late 1950s, mankind has achieved the capability of manned space flight
and built a space station in orbit, commanded by Colonel Merritt, whose son, Captain Barney
Merritt, is feeling a little homesick, having left Earth three months after his wedding. (The
concept of a wheel shaped orbital space station is seen later in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey,
though their origins are unrelated.)
The space station's personnel have been at work constructing a giant spaceship to go to the
moon. A crew member becomes a victim of “space fatigue” after failing to connect a wire on
time. Apparently this malaise creeps into the progress of the ship’s building. It is discovered
that the men have been in working continuously in space for far too long. Their endurance is
limited, and this illness can be dangerous to their efficiency and psychological outlook on life.
Later on, Colonel Merritt has taken his men to the galley for dinner. While they are dining
the space station is lightly damaged by a meteor shower, but the damages are soon repaired.
The moonship has luckily sustained no damage.
An inspector comes up from Earth, and after fielding questions about the moonship's
design (with Willy Ley fins!), he gives Merritt fresh orders from the President: not only is Merritt
to be promoted to the rank of General, but the ship will be going to Mars instead. Merritt is
honored, but he has his personal doubts about the mission.
General Merritt selects three men and a fellow officer to go with him. His close friend Sgt.
Mahoney is turned down for being twenty years too old; his body would never survive the
journey. Merritt's son changes his mind about returning to Earth and volunteers for the mission.
Sgt. Imoto expresses his view on the Martian mission; explaining how, before World War II,
Japan served as an example for a world becoming overpopulated and about to run out of
valuable resources. He also wants to go.
The selected crew members watch a news broadcast wishing them farewell and good luck.
Soon afterward the ship launches and the Mars mission is now underway. Before long they
discover that the ship is too heavy. General Merritt discovers the cause: Sgt. Mahoney had
stowed away by hiding in one of the spacesuits.
En route, something goes wrong with the communication antenna, so two of the men go
EVA on a spacewalk to make repairs. They manage to get the antenna working just in time as
the monitor shows an asteroid coming at them from the stern. The ship manages to avoid a
collision, but detritus from the asteroid kills one of the astronauts. A rock has punctured an air
line, forcing the crew to abandon him in space. (A similar scenario is seen in Destination Moon.)
Eight months later, as the ship approaches Mars, General Merritt grows more and more
disturbed. Space fatigue is beginning to affect him, too; and as they come in for a landing and
the "space speed indicator" approaches zero, he suddenly declares "we haven't the right!" and
goes to full throttle up. His son struggles with him, wrenches his hand from the throttle, and
brings the ship in to a rough but safe landing.
As the crew takes their first steps on the Martian surface they spot water leaking from the
rocket. Barney climbs back aboard and discovers that the general has sabotaged the water
system. As he tries to repair the leak, the two men struggle and Captain Merritt fires his father's
gun, killing the General. Sgt. Mahoney threatens to have Captain Merritt confined for his
actions. Clearly, it was an accident but Mahoney must follow regulation.
To their surprise, the crew discovers that Mars is inhospitable and that that it is going to
be a severe struggle to survive with their limited water supply. They are trapped there until
Earth reaches the right orbital position for a successful return.
Despite the absence of water on Mars, Sgt. Imoto plants a seed in the Martian soil, hopeful
that something will cause it to germinate. The crew celebrates a mournful Christmas on Mars.
Wisecracking Brooklynite Sgt. Siegle plays Christmas carols on a harmonica while the other
crewmen chew up the scenery in their frustration with the situation. Siegle complains they are
on "a lousy, dried-up ball in the corner pocket of nowhere."
Sgt. Mahoney: "The General wasn't crazy, he was right! We asked for it! There's a curse on
this ship and everybody in it!"
Sgt. Siegle: "Baloney! You leave that stuff back on Earth. But it don't operate past the
thousand mile limit. 'Only God can make a tree.' Okay? Where is it? Where's the trees, and the
flowers, and the grass? Where's the water? You hear me? Where's the water?!"
Just then, Sgt. Imoto, who has been staring out the window yells "look!" It is snowing on
Mars, the crew is saved and they manage to replenish their water supply quickly. Imoto goes
out in his suit and waters the seed with a few precious drops.
As the launch date approaches, the seed sprouts a shoot and produces a tiny flower. But
the joy over and the discovery of the flower is short lived as rumbling sounds ensue and rocks
fall from the mountains. A Marsquake is shaking things up. Cavities open up in the ground to
reveal that Mars has a vast subterranean aquifer. It is only the surface which has dessicated, so
Mars may be habitable after all. But then, the ground sinks under the ship until it leans at an
angle too risky to make an emergency lift off. The crew then decides to try a more risky but
desperate attempt to straighten up the ship: using the ship's motors to open up a new cavity.
The ship lifts off as the ground collapses underneath it.
As the movie comes to a close, Sgt. Mahoney changes his mind about prosecuting Captain
Merritt and decides that it would be better to forget about it; let the world remember the general
not as a nutcase who tried to sabotage the flight but as a brave man "sacrificin' his life as he did,
to bring his ship and his crew safely to a landing on the rocky desert of a new planet! … Fittin'
end for a grand soldier."
The captain nods and adds, "For the man who conquered space."
The Irishman offers him "a cup o' tea", the captain says "thanks", the music rises to a climax,
and the rocket glides off into a starry firmament behind the words "THE END."
Analysis and Additional Notes: I picked this particular film to add not because it was the most
brilliant but because it was primitively prophetic. The issue of Mars as a viable planet for
mankind to explore and possibly colonize was ever on everyone’s mind then as it is now.
Despite its simple plotline and its heavily religious overtones, the prescience of finding water
on Mars and the issue of “space sickness” is presented as very real concerns and have long been
a source of study for medical science and anthropology alike. This film addresses these ideas
with the same verve as Destination Moon, but it is not as scientifically based. There appears to
be no preamble; we are presented with a fully functional orbital station and a moonship under
construction. Nothing prepares the viewer by presenting any speculation about what the early
years of space exploration were like.
There is also no exposition about the human condition beyond what is discussed in the
dialogue. Clearly, the attitudes of men appear to remain within the confines of Christian
philosophy; even Imoto is not Buddhist or Shintoist. But it is the first time we have seen a man
from a different country or ethnic origin as a functional part of the crew. Again, we see a distinct
preference for one religion over another but I am sure that was never on the viewers’ minds.
They wanted to see space opera and were rewarded in spades.
The special effects were impressive in so far as they were minimal, but again I ascribe that
to an extremely low budget which was steered primarily toward getting the best actors possible.
The sets and props were recycled from other films produced by George Pal; and the wonderful
ship designs by the art director was an added bonus.
About The Book: Conquest of Space was based on The Conquest of Space, a nonfiction book
illustrated by Chesley Bonestell and written by Willy Ley, published in 1949. Bonestell is noted
for his photorealistic paintings of views from outer space, and worked on the space background
art for the movie and other George Pal productions. The film also incorporated material from
Wernher von Braun's 1952 book The Mars Project. The two books are straight popular science,
nonfiction with no story line. Rather than launch into a long winded discussion of the books
used to prepare this entry I refer you the essential titles and let you do some exploring on your
own:
Bonestell, Chesley and Willy Ley, The Conquest of Space, New York: Viking, 1949. No ISBN
ascribed.
Clarke, Arthur C., and Lewis, C. S. From Narnia to a Space Odyssey: The War of Letters Between
Arthur C. Clarke and C.S. Lewis, 2003. ISBN 0-7434-7518-6.
Had George Pal followed either book, he would have produced a documentary, much like
some of the Disneyland television episodes produced on the Tomorrowland set. These episodes
featured Werner von Braun (a notable real life rocket scientist) as the host: Man in Space, Man
and the Moon, and Mars and Beyond.
Tomorrowland was a “modern” vision of the future which included a trip through the
Monsanto labs, where a popular exhibit was a tabletop model of Los Angeles of the 21st century:
a central hub radiating out from downtown, with elevated roadways interconnecting the
buildings, and with monorail lines going out toward different important suburban centers.
Along with this, the vision of the hoped for future included a functioning monorail line which
traversed the boundaries of the park and interconnected the park’s segments. The monorail line
was built in the park that year and was powered by diesel fuel; something which was not
adopted until the major auto makers decided to adapt their sports models to something less
polluting than gas.
The problem was that diesel was actually more expensive to refine and far more polluting
than gasoline. The push to switch to electric motors did not actually occur to the auto industry
until only recently; and only under public pressure. It’s a pity that the development of monorail
systems were not even discussed until light rail became a popular mode of transportation; and
light rail was not funded until early in the 1990s. It would have made Walt Disney proud.
Instead, urban and suburban communities have joined together into a metropolitan sprawl
linked together by bus and light rail lines, with only a few subway lines. The desire was there,
but the political will to push for more and better public transportation was notably absent.
Instead of turning to the documentary style, writers Philip Yordan, Barré Lyndon and
George Worthing Yates created a story out of whole cloth. The science being somewhat
derivative and unresearched, the whole story would have been scrapped as pseudoscientific
drivel if it was produced today. We see a similar premise in the 2012 film Prometheus, which
was meant to be a derivative “prequel” to the movie Alien. Only this time it is not a government
but a corporation which sponsors the effort. The film is most notable in its treatment of
machines as racial minorities; but the thrust of the film’s message is lost in the gory destruction
of the human explorers as an exercise in blood and special effects. Clearly it comes across as
more of a popcorn thriller rather than a preachy science film.
Critical reception: After the release of the film, The New York Times said: "There is very
little doubt who should receive a generous amount of credit and praise… They are the special effects
artists, John P. Fulton, Irmin Roberts, Paul Lerpae, Ivyle Burks, and Jan Domela… They created topflight effects such as 'the wheel', a self-contained station orbiting around earth, rocket flights in space
and a horrendous near-collision with an asteroid. These facets of the Paramount production—and
fortunately they are many and frequent—are much to marvel at. But then, it says ominously, ‘there is a
story’."
Judgements about the quality of the special effects vary. As noted above, contemporary
reviewers were thrilled. Today's audiences are apt to notice the presence of visible matte lines.
Reviewer Glenn Erickson said that "the ambitious special effects were some of the first to garner jeers
for their lack of realism." Paul Brenner said, "Pal pulls out all stops in the special effects department,
creating 'The Wheel', rocket launches into space, and a breathtaking near collision with an asteroid." The
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction said "The special effects are quite ambitious but clumsily executed, in
particular the matte work." Paul Corupe said that "the overall image on screen that inspires awe: the
Martian landscape, the general's high-tech office and the vastness of the cosmos. The film's budget is
certainly up on screen for your entertainment, but it's just spectacle for spectacle's sake." He too
complained of matte lines but acknowledged that "the composites are convincing enough for the
time the film was made in."
But as The Times said, "there is a story", and one that has come to universal disparagement.
The best The Times reviewer could say is that "as plots go… it is not offensive." He went on to say
that he was relieved that there is "nothing on Mars but red dirt and rock. There are no things, thank
heavens." But "To have the water-less spacemen saved on Mars by a heavy snowfall on Christmas day
was stepping on the toes of incredulity [sic]." The "spatial excursion should not bore anyone," he said.
The public was even less kind. Erickson called the movie "a flop that seriously hindered George
Pal's career as a producer." Corupe described it as the "first big flop in Pal's career. It was a major
setback that saw him abandon science fiction filmmaking for five years, including a planned sequel to
When Worlds Collide." The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction further remarked that Conquest of
Space was "A truly awful film, The Conquest of Space is probably George Pal's worst production."
Space conquest as blasphemy The central theme of Conquest of Space probably reflects a
biblical controversy of the early 1940s. By the time the film was produced, however, this debate
was so utterly outdated that audiences were baffled by the film’s preachy approach to space.
The British Interplanetary Society, founded in 1933, was perhaps the earliest space advocacy
group and promoted the notion that space flight via rockets was technically feasible. Their
proposals found opposition from a number of intellectual British Christians, notably C. S. Lewis
(author of The Chronicles of Narnia). He wrote three books in the science-fiction/fantasy genre,
The Space Trilogy; intended to counter the views of the scientific establishment.
In the 1940s and 1950s it was common to justify spaceflight as a parallel to the great sea
voyages that led to colonization: a means of finding fresh territory, literal "new worlds", more
living space, and a source of valuable raw materials (a frequent mention is the "asteroid mines"
of science fiction books like Perry Rhodan). Lewis was outraged by the idea that mankind had
overexploited the Earth and would proceed to colonize and overexploit the rest of the universe
if it had half the chance.
We can see his concerns reflected in the current day issue of China’s overreaching quest
for raw materials in order to shore up its economy and satisfy the needs of its enormously huge
population. China will rapidly overtake the United States as Earth’s greatest polluter in a few
years. It will add to the strain on Earth’s ecosphere even more as third world countries sue to
catch up with their overdeveloped cousins. But what Lewis’s arguments did was to fuel a thrust
toward a more scientific approach to exploration, and the principles of ecology were born as a
result.
It is also interesting to note that the debate over Global Warming has largely been won in
the scientific community as more and more detractors fall silent. The facts on the ground have
borne out in the end. One cannot deny that the droughts have been more harsh, and the changes
in weather have been more frequent and gone from one extreme to the other; and all in the last
decade. This signals a period of ecological decline which, try as we might, may cause our
extinction some time in the distant future. For this reason alone, in order to surive as a species
we may have to leave our Garden of Eden.
George Pal's screenplay presents a scene that closely parallels the Clarke-Lewis debate.
The overarching story turns on the question of whether God has given humankind no more
than the Earth, or also Mars and the rest of the universe. The scenario: en route to Mars, Captain
Merritt finds the general reading a Bible:
Gen. Sam Merritt: "Man's every move, his every thought, his every action is in there
somewhere, recorded or predicted. Every move except… this one. According to the Bible, Man
was created on the Earth. Nothing is ever mentioned of his going to other planets. Not one
blessed word."
Capt. Barney Merritt: "Well, at the time the Bible was written, it wouldn't have made much
sense, would it?"
Sam: "Does it now? The biblical limitations of Man's wanderings are set down as being the
four corners of the Earth. Not Mars, or Jupiter, or infinity. The question is, Barney, what are we?
Explorers? Or invaders?"
Barney: "Invaders? Of what, sir?”
Sam: “The sacred domain of God. His heavens. To Man, God gave the Earth — nothing
else. This taking of… of other planets… it's almost like an act of blasphemy. But why? They
belong to no one else.”
Barney: "Huh. We don't know that. But look, sir. It couldn't be just an accident that at the
very time when Man's resources on Earth are reaching an end, Man develops the ability to leave
his own world and seek replenishment on other planets. The timing is what fascinates me. It's
too perfect to be accidental."
Sam: "Those other planets might already be tenanted."
Barney: "Oh, I don't think so. The universe was put here for Man to conquer."
If the theological debate on the Man's right to explore space had ever made much
impression on the public, by 1955 it was long forgotten as not very important to the general
meme. General Merritt did not strike viewers as thoughtful about man’s place in the universe,
but as a nutcase with a bizarre obsession over biblical literalism. Barney Merritt was later seen
as a self-possessed young man with ambition and a somewhat arrogant view of the whole scope
of space exploration. Perhaps his optimism is based on a capitalist point of view. But even he
would balk at the brand of capitalism in practice today.
THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955)
Directed by Joseph M. Newman
Produced by William Alland
Writing credits : Raymond F. Jones (story “The Alien Machine”); Franklin Coen and Edward
G. O’Callaghan (screenplay)
Original Music (uncredited): Henry Mancini, Hans J. Salter, and Herman Stein
Cinematography: Clifford Stine, Film Editing: Virgil W. Vogel
Cast:
Rex Reason as Dr. Cal Meacham
Faith Domergue as Dr. Ruth Adams
Jeff Morrow as Exeter
Lance Fuller as Brack
Russell Johnson as Dr. Steve Carlson
Douglas Spencer as The Monitor of Metaluna
Robert Nichols as Joe Wilson
Karl L. Lindt as Dr. Adolph Engelborg
Plot: Electronics specialist and physicist Dr. Cal Meacham (Rex Reason) is approached by
reporters while preparing to fly from a conference he has attended to his base lab. There is some
exposition about his work on connecting electricity to reactors to better control nuclear power
but he won’t say more about it for national security reasons. Then he climbs into the cockpit of
a jet and flies to Los Angeles where his labratory is housed. He buzzes the control tower where
the manager and his partner Joe Wilson (Robert Nicholls) are watching him come in.
A few seconds afterward he encounters engine trouble and is unable to recover control.
The engine burns out. Trapped at too low an altitude to eject, he is helpless; when a strange
green glow surrounds the craft and guides it safely back to earth. Wilson jumps into a jeep and
drives over to make sure Meacham is safe, and is relieved at the “miracle” which saved him but
does not know what to make of it. He cautions that there has been a lot of talk about flying
saucers lately and it’s not wise to jump to conclusions. Meacham wisely decides that everyone
who has seen it should stay blind.
Then Wilson says that some of the parts for their project have arrived and they are not
what he expected. He talks about an “x-c condensor” he ordered having arrived and it is no
bigger than a bead. Meacham is now eager to see what has been happening while he was gone.
When they arrive, we see that the laboratory is outfitted with all sorts of electrical and
engineering equipment.
Wilson shows him the envelope the condensor arrived in. There is no return address. Then
the letter which came with it. The outfit which shipped it calls itself “Electronic Service, Unit
16.” Again, no return address anywhere.
For the moment Meacham and Wilson must abandon their curiosity and return to their
experiment, which involves what looks like a small reactor. Meacham lowers a large metal plate
into the device and measures the voltage needed to melt the thing. Soon afterward the reactor
overloads and catches fire. Daunted by this, Meacham decides to test the new condensor bead.
Wilson has already set one up. As they watch, the bead can take as much as 33,000 volts before
it finally vaporizes in a puff of smoke.
While they are puzzling about the results, the postman arrives and delivers a small
package. On opening it, Meacham and Wilson discover that it is a catalog of parts from Unit 16,
the pages of which are made of some kind of flexible metal. It contains the design specifics for
various machines, including something called an “interositor” with several different design
functions. It appears to be an adaptible machine capable of doing practically anything.
Meacham is intrigued and decides to order the parts in order to build one. Wilson points
out that there is no address or phone number to call. Meacham calls their regular parts supplier
and discovers that no order was ever received. Wilson shows him the work order he had sent
by teletype. Meacham reasons that whoever sent them the beads must have intercepted their
transmission. Therefore they should send this new order the same way.
When all the parts finally arrive, Wilson and Meacham are surrounded by boxes of them.
There are about 2,486 parts. They puzzle about where to start. Meacham consults the instruction
manual and says to start “here”. There follows a montage of assembly shots, with Wilson and
Meacham building various parts. When they finish the device and activate it, the viewscreen
reveals an individual calling himself Exeter (Jeff Morrow); a man with a larger head than normal
but a warm and friendly voice. Exeter invites Cal to join a group of scientists on a secret research
project which may be of benefit to all mankind. At first Meacham is rationally skeptical as he
has been invited to work on similar projects and met with some disappointment. Exeter tells
him to think about it, but not to take too long. The window of opportunity may be closed soon.
Of course, Meacham finally accepts and Exeter is delighted. He says he will send a plane
to collect Meacham. Wilson is skeptical, too, and a natural apelike shiver goes up his spine as
he expresses his doubts. Meacham assures him that all scientific discovery goes with a risk, but
his curiosity will not be satisfied until he learns the truth.
The plane arrives at the appointed time outfitted with an external device. When the
sideport opens, Meacham climbs in and discovers that it is empty, there are no windows, and
the cockpit controls appear to be remote controlled. Wilson is even more cautious now but
Meacham is commited; says goodbye and to mind the fort until he returns. When the sideport
is closed, Exeter’s voice comes on the P.A. system and advises Meacham to strap himself into
the only passenger seat in the plane; he will guide the plane from there. Meacham does so and
immediately a fog permeates the cabin; probably sleep gas. Meacham promptly falls
unconscious while the plane takes off.
Sometime later the plane lands, and Meacham comes awake. He does not know where he
is or when. As he exits the plane, a station wagon approaches the runway and a woman gets
out to greet him. It turns out to be an old flame and colleague named Dr. Ruth Adams (Faith
Domergue), whom he had spent time with at a scientific conference. But she is a bit coy about
the matter. She explains that Exeter has gathered other scientists already and given them
complete lab facilities to work in, though she does not specify what the project is. Meacham
asks where he fits in and she replies that Exeter will explain things over dinner.
Later, dinner is a free-wheeling and lively affair as Exeter holds court, assisted by his
taciturn and quietly disapproving assistant Brack (Lance Fuller). Exeter explains that his group
is working on development of a new energy source with which to replace the need for fossil
fuels and other polluting byproducts of industry. He also stresses that time is of the essence.
Meacham appears to agree and says he is glad that someone is concerned about Earth’s well
being and would be willing to join in. Exeter is delighted, and leads Meacham, Ruth and her
colleague Steve Carlson (Russell Johnson) on a tour of the facility. Finally, he shows Meacham
where he will work.
The room sports a thick lead plate suspended from chains, and at the other end is an
interositor. Exeter says the difficulty is with finding a way to increase the output of a laser drill
so that it will pierce the lead; citing that it is needed to create building parts more quickly.
Meacham begins to discuss his theories in more detail but Exeter puts him off, saying that he
would be missed by his other guests. Before he leaves, Exeter demostrates as the interositor
punches a small hole in the lead plate, but not deeply enough to pierce it completely. It is a clear
message that the interositor itself has the power to kill.
Meacham is put on guard by that demonstration but acts like he understands and will
comply. Then when Exeter leaves, he and the other two scientists engage in a furtive conference
behind the plate. They have been working on a way to escape the compound but they, like
Meacham, don’t know where they are or how to get help. They begin to outline what has been
blocking their escape.
They are briefly interrupted as the compound’s cat jumps up on the lead plate and hisses.
Ruth picks up a dish of milk and places it where the cat can feed, explaining in soft tones that
“Neutron” can tell when the interositor is being used to monitor them. The conversation then
becomes trivial as they resume acting like nothing is wrong for the benefit of whoever is
listening in.
Meanwhile, Brack has been watching them and is not amused with Exeter’s approach to
managing the project. He and Exeter argue. Brack wants to leave Earth immediately and take
the whole raft of scientists with them; while Exeter thinks it is a bad idea, stressing that
kidnapping them would put them in a less than cooperative mood. He agrees that they will
have to leave anyway, but insists that he is in charge and Brack will just have to wait. Brack
then says Exeter has been infected by compassion for the humans. Trapped in a moral conflict,
Exeter then contacts his mission control for instructions and is told that time is critical. They
will have to leave Earth now.
Meacham, Ruth and Carlson try to talk the other scientists into escaping with them but are
rebuffed. Ruth thinks they have been brainwashed somehow, and Meacham and Carlson say
they will have to escape without them or no one will survive.
They manage to sneak out of the house and steal a car. They head toward the airfield where
Meacham’s plane landed. While they flee, a flying saucer emerges from behind the house and
pursues them. The house explodes, killing the other scientists. The three scientists find a small
plane parked nearby. Carlson suggests that he can lead the saucer away in the car to help
Meacham and Ruth, but then the car is incinerated by a death ray from the saucer. Meacham
and Ruth elude capture by going into the stream nearby and hiding among the reeds, while the
saucer leaves the area. They manage to make it back to the plane and take off, but the plane is
seized in a tractor beam and transported into the ship (again, borrowed by Star Trek).
There, Exeter confronts Ruth and Meacham and tries to assure them that they are safe.
They are standing on the bridge of the flying saucer, and Exeter is its captain. As Earth recedes
rapidly in the forward viewscreen, Exeter tries to elicit some enthusiasm from his hostages.
Ruth finally asks where they are going. Exeter explains that they are returning to his home
planet Metaluna, where she and Meacham will be treated with honor. Their work can continue
there. Meacham’s skepticism returns as Brack insists on destroying them both; his militant
attitude compared to Exeter’s rings alarm bells.
Exeter tells Brack to stand down, then leads Ruth and Meacham to booths where they must
stand to endure the ship’s passage through a “heat barrier” in space between the two planets
(the ship’s physics or motivational forces are never explained fully). It is a strange hypoelectrical
force which keeps them still, possibly to prevent their molecules being scattered all over the
place (remember Dr. McCoy’s objection to teleportation?). A transparent plastic sheath
descends and envelops them in some kind of paralytic gas.
The saucer passes through the barrier, and Meacham and Ruth are released. The ship is
now closer to the planet Metaluna. Exeter explains that their planet is at war with a neighboring
planet called Zagon. Once the planet’s defense shield is penetrated the ship will land. We see a
Zagon ship guiding something toward the energy barrier, which deflects it. Exeter says that
even though the Zagons’ technology is primitive they have learned to guide meteors toward
the planet’s surface; that the bombardment has been going on for years, slowly eroding the
energy barrier. Meacham asks what caused the war and Exeter replies that it has been going on
so long that no one even remembers what it was about. All he knows is that Metaluna and
Zagon are enemies.
A lens has been opened in the barrier and the ship comes to anchor at an elevated mooring
pylon. Once they go down the elevator, Exeter, Ruth and Meacham board a small transportation
pod, and as they travel Exeter points out what used to be features of the ruined city. The
Metalunan landscape has been reduced to no more than craters and destroyed edifices. Nothing
remains intact above ground.
Exeter then guides Cal and Ruth to the government center, where the official leader (no
political designation) informs Exeter that he took too long to find a solution to their problem.
Now the only alternative is to relocate the inhabitants of Metaluna to Earth; that the scientists
he brought were now irrelevent to the effort and will be killed or put to work in the mines. His
superior attitude puts Meacham and Ruth off at once.
Exeter then protests, saying that this was not what he signed on for. He scientist are now
his friends. Ruth adds that she would rather die than work under Metaluna’s rule, and
Meacham agrees. They start to leave. Brack tries to intervene, but Meacham punches him out.
While the struggle for freedom ensues, another Zagon meteor penetrates the barrier and
destroys part of the government center, killing the official.
Exeter leads Ruth and Meacham back to the ship, where they are confronted by an
insectoid creature which, according to Exeter, had been bred for service. This one is apparently
an escaped criminal. It lashes out, wounding Exeter, and Ruth and Meacham manage to escape
with Exeter in tow. They arrive at the bridge of the deserted ship and take off. While Exeter
struggles at the controls and evades another fleet of Zagon ships, Ruth and Meacham go to the
stasis booths. Exeter puts the ship on autopilot and joins them.
But when the ship is beyond the heat barrier and closer to Earth, The insectoid fugitive
manages to make it to the bridge. It menaces Ruth as she is freed from her booth. She gets to
the central console but trips and falls. Before it can reach her something happens to the creature.
It collapses and turns to smoking sludge.
Exeter is badly wounded and admits he does not have long to live. Meacham and Ruth
help him get to the center seat, where he says they must leave. He is now a valuable friend and
the two scientists won’t leave without him, but he says it is too late for him and their science
would not be able to help him. Reluctantly, Meacham and Ruth leave him behind and get to the
plane, and drop out at full power as the shuttle bay opens. Exeter dies as the flying saucer picks
up speed, crashes into the sea and disappears under the waves. END
Additional Notes: While This Island Earth has a rather simple plotline it still had some worthy
elements, among which were the special effects. The concept of an “interositor” as a
multifunctional device was quite revolutionary for its time. Nevertheless, shots of the saucer in
space shows us its powerful and superior technology. One can think that the “heat-barrier” is
in reality the boundary between normal space and hyperspace, writ small by writers with little
knowledge of physics. The film as a whole does not have a particular message to impart, but is
significant for its advancement of technical effects and props which were borrowed for other
films.
The actual science is thrust into the background in favor of the human action. What is
completely different this time is that we are introduced to beings which are similar to us and
who have similar survival goals. We see that an alien being like Exeter can have as much
compassion and moral conscience as we do; and that Exeter, as a foil for his planet’s goals, fell
victim to its greed and his own naivete’. Too many scientists have admitted in their time that
while their science projects were meant to be a benefit to mankind, they were quickly turned
into tools of military power. Examples come from the letters of Albert Einstein and the writings
of scientists like J. Robert Oppenheimer, who worked on the atom bomb but did not like his
creation; and Werner von Braun, who had defected to the U.S. and imported his work on
Hitler’s rocket projects.
We are not allowed to analyze the war on Metaluna and its reasons; it is only the reason
why Metaluna is in the dire straits it has been reduced to. The government official’s superior
attitude can be likened to that of the British Empire, which marched or sailed its way into distant
lands fully cognizant of its apparent technological superiority to the peoples it subjugated.
What the B.E. failed to recognize was the fervid sense of rebellion on the part of those inducted
subjects; as was demonstrated with Exeter’s shocked protests, Ruth’s declaration of
independence and Meacham’s revolution.
About the book: This Island Earth was a science fiction novel by Raymond F. Jones, first
published as a serial in Thrilling Wonder Stories magazine. The story revolves around a race of
aliens who, in recruiting humans for a group called "Peace Engineers", are actually using Earth
as a pawn in an intergalactic war. It was published in the US by Shasta Publishers in 1952. Little
is known about the novel itself. It has since been republished several times, the latest edition in
1991.
Anthony Boucher found the novel disappointing; after starting "with some fine
technological gadgetry," it "becomes ultimately incredible in its galactic wildness and offensive in its
extreme labor-baiting." This review may have been responsible for its remaining in the land of
obscurity. As placed against the colorful grandeur of the film I think that Boucher was simply
spouting sour grapes. The issue of exploitation of human resources was never in the forefront
of the film but became a sort of rallying cry for peaceful alien contact, which is echoed later on
in other films and television programs.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956)
Directed by Don Siegel
Produced by Walter Wanger
Screenplay by Daniel Mainwaring ; based on The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
Music by Carmen Dragon
Cinematography Ellsworth Fredericks
Distributed by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation; release date February 1956
Cast:
Kevin McCarthy as Dr. Miles Bennell
Dana Wynter as Becky Driscoll
Larry Gates as Dan Kauffman
King Donovan as Jack Belicec
Carolyn Jones as Theodora "Teddy" Belicec
Virginia Christine as Wilma Lentz
Kenneth Patterson as Stanley Driscoll
Jean Willes as Sally Withers
Whit Bissell (uncredited) as Dr. Hill
In 1994, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was selected for preservation in the United States National
Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically
significant".
Plot: Psychiatrist Dr. Hill is called to the emergency ward of a hospital, where a frantically
screaming and hysterical man is being held in custody under restraints. Dr. Hill agrees to listen
to the man's story, if only to calm him down. The man identifies himself as Dr. Miles Bennell
(Kevin McCarthy), and insists that he is not insane, but must warn everyone of the danger he
has discovered. Bennell recounts the events leading to his arrest as a flashback.
In the fictional town of Santa Mira, California, Dr. Miles Bennell is a local doctor who has
been inundated with a number of patients who accuse their loved ones of being impostors. One
of them is a former girlfriend of his, the divorcee’ Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter), who tells him
that her cousin Wilma has had the same paranoia about her Uncle Ira. There does not seem to
be a rational explanation for this strange situation.
When he consults with a psychiatrist in the town, he finds an opposite effect. Dr. Dan
Kauffman keeps assuring Bennell that the cases are nothing more than "an epidemic of mass
hysteria" and that the whole storm will calm down and go away in time. He seems far too
rational to the already rational Bennell, who cannot help but think that the hysteria seems to be
more than a coincidence. Kauffman’s answers merely evoke even more questions.
That same evening Bennell's friend Jack Belicec discovers a body in his greenhouse with
what appear to be his features, though it has not yet fully developed. The next body found is a
copy of Becky in the cellar of her house. When Bennell calls Kauffman to the scene, the bodies
have mysteriously disappeared and Kauffman acts as if Bennell has fallen for the same hysteria.
His lack of curiosity or empathy puts Bennell off almost at once.
The following night, Bennell, Becky, Jack and Jack's wife Teddy again find duplicates of
themselves, emerging from giant pods placed in various places around their houses and then
around the town. They conclude that somehow the townspeople are being replaced in their
sleep by perfect physical copies. But to what end? And who is doing this? They have nothing
factual to cling to for answers.
Miles tries to call long distance for help, but the phone operator claims that no longdistance calls are possible. Communication with the outside world is effectively shut off. Jack
and Teddy drive away to get help but it is too late. Bennell and Becky discover that most of the
inhabitants have already been replaced, and are now devoid of any humanity or sense of
feeling.
They witness a horrible accident when a car runs over a dog. The little girl who owned
him screams and cries, but no one moves to offer her any comfort. Becky wants deperately to
help but Bennell cautions her that they are right in the middle of trouble, tells her to act like
they do and manages to coax her away without making a scene. Bennell and Becky flee to
Bennell's office to hide for the night. Becky is beside herself with terror of what the next day
will bring. Bennell comforts her with the assurance that no matter what happens, they will be
together.
The next morning they peer our through the window blinds and see that whole truckloads
of pods are being sent to neighboring towns to replace even more humans. They see Kauffman
and Jack, both of whom are now pod people. When they confront them for the truth, Kauffman
and Jack reveal that an extraterrestrial life form is responsible for the invasion. After the
takeover, they explain, life will lose its frustrating complexity because all emotions and sense
of individuality have been banished among the pods. And soon, Bennell and Becky will feel the
same way, and belong to a wider community.
Bennell and Becky manage to escape and hide out in a mine outside of town. Bennell
knows they cannot stay there long. By now, he and Becky are exhausted; they have not found
any sleep for days. Bennell tells her he will scout around and find some kind of transportation
out of the area while she rests. He asks her to try to stay awake no matter what until he returns.
Bennell then goes out and inspects a nearby farm, where he discovers that more pods are being
loaded for transport. He spots an empty truck, and thinks that if he can steal that he and Becky
can escape. He does so quietly enough that he is not seen.
But when he returns to the mine, Becky is no longer hysterical. Her cold demeanor warns
him what had happened while he was gone. Becky had fallen asleep despite her efforts to stay
awake and was instantly taken over. Now repelled by horror, Bennell escapes her clutches and
runs.
Becky informs the other pod people where to find him. They chase him on foot out of the
town. Bennell runs for his life to the highway, where he frantically screams to the passing
motorists, "they're here already! You're next! You're next!"
Fade to: Bennell finishes his story. At first, Dr. Hill and the doctor on duty doubt his
account as the ravings of a lunatic. But at that very moment, a man is trucked in who had been
found under a load of giant pods in a truck accident. The men realise almost too late that
Bennell's story is fact and they finally alert the authorities. END
Analysis and Additional Notes: I know, the story sounds very simple, but it is lush with the
kind of terrors we have come to expect as part of the human condition. An alien race which
lacks human morals and compassion has come to replace everyone with imitations; ostensibly
in order to preserve its own species. It is a significant film for its underlying theme of conquest,
resistance and the elements which makes the human race worthy of survival.
The main reason I chose this film is that it dealt with the idea of invasion from within rather
than the usual space battles of conquest. The alien incursion is insidious, more like a virus rather
than an actual intelligence at work. The pods represent their means of replication on an organic
rather than a technical level. Those who are taken over lose all their humanity. Their lack of
emotion is akin to any plant which takes over the resources of another. Their raisson d’etre is
survival itself and nothing else.
That this situation could not stand in the face of the overwhelming numbers of humans
who could resist is beyond their primitive and rather mindless strategy. It proves to be nothing
more than another infestation which for a brief time kills several people and causes a local panic.
But it is that panic which brings the whole story into focus. Even a rational, well educated man
like Miles Bennell has been confronted with a horror he cannot explain, and cannot fight against
alone.
The other reason I chose it is that the two then unknown actors, Kevin McCarthy and Dana
Wynter, went on to become leading actors in other films; with the same range of emotion which
made them famous. Their work was chilling without so much as a single change in makeup; as
opposed to many of the other films which relied so heavily on it.
This film went on to influence the way horror and science fiction films were made after
that year, as film makers came to realize that the audience wanted more and more intellectual
fare executed with some clarity of vision. Thus, future films benefited from the cultural impact
of this small, low budget piece.
Novel and screenplay: Jack Finney's novel ends with the extraterrestrials leaving earth
after they find many humans offering too much resistance, despite having almost no reasonable
chance against the invaders. Also, the pod people have a life span of no more than about 5 years.
As a result, 5 years after taking over the last human being, the invaders would have to look for
a new planet with new life forms as hosts – leaving behind a depopulated earth. This was not
explored in depth in the film beyond a few lines of dialogue.
Budgeting and casting Invasion of the Body Snatchers was originally scheduled for a 24 day
shoot and a budget of $454,864. The studio later asked producer Wanger to cut the budget
significantly. The producer proposed a shooting schedule of 20 days and a budget of $350,000.
Principal photography Producer Wanger and Siegel wanted to shoot Invasion of the Body
Snatchers on location in the town Jack Finney described in his novel: Mill Valley, just north of
San Francisco.
In the first week of January 1955, Siegel, Wanger and screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring
visited Finney to talk about the film version and to take a look at Mill Valley. The location
proved to be too expensive for a shoot. Siegel and some Allied Artists executives then found
locations resembling Mill Valley in Sierra Madre, Chatsworth, Glendale, Los Feliz and in
Bronson and Beachwood Canyons; all of which were parts and suburbs of Los Angeles and
neighboring towns, which would make up the town of "Santa Mira" for the film. In addition to
these outdoor locations, much of the film was shot in the Allied Artists studio on the east side
of Hollywood, which is now ABC Studios.
The film was shot by cinematographer Ellsworth Fredericks in 23 days between March 23
and April 18, 1955. The cast and crew worked a 6 day week with only Sundays off. The
production went over schedule by three days because of the night shooting Siegel wanted to
enhance the terror in the film. Additional photography was done in September 1955, filming
the frame story which the studio insisted on. The final budget for the film was $382,190, only a
few thousand over estimates.
Post production: The project was originally called The Body Snatchers after the Finney
serial. However, Wanger wanted to avoid confusion with the 1945 Val Lewton film The Body
Snatcher. The producer was unable to come up with a title and accepted the studio's choice, They
Come from Another World, that was assigned in summer 1955. Then Siegel protested this title and
suggested two alternatives, Better Off Dead and Sleep No More, while Wanger offered Evil in the
Night and World in Danger. None of these were chosen, and the studio finally settled on Invasion
of the Body Snatchers in late 1955.
The studio scheduled three previews for the film on the last days of June and the first day
of July 1955. According to Wanger's memos at the time, the previews were highly successful.
However, later reports by Mainwaring and Siegel contradicted this, claiming that audiences
could not follow the film and laughed in all the wrong places. In response, the studio removed
much of the film's humor, "humanity" and "quality," according to Wanger. He scheduled
another preview in mid August which did not go over well. In later interviews, Siegel pointed
out that it was studio policy not to mix humor with horror. And rightly so, as many other films
have demonstrated. Once the audience is smitten with the sheer terror of the plot, a moment of
misplaced humor would have thoroughly ruined the whole thing.
Wanger saw the final cut in December 1955 and protested the use of the Superscope format.
Wanger felt that the film had lost its sharpness and detail. Siegel had shot Invasion of the Body
Snatchers in a different aspect ratio, accounting for its “fuzzy” quality later on. I am still waiting
for AFI to restore the film to its original ratio and sharpen it to Ansel Adams clarity; not that
the story will be any less horrorific. The story alone carried the film.
Original ending: Both Siegel and Mainwaring were satisfied with the film as was shot. It
was originally intended to end with Miles Bennell screaming hysterically on the road as
truckloads of pods pass him by. The studio, wary of such a pessimistic conclusion, insisted on
adding a prologue and epilogue to the movie that suggested a more hopeful outcome to the
story. Mainwaring scripted this framing story and Siegel shot it on September 16, 1955, at the
Allied Artists studio.
In a later interview Siegel complained, "The film was nearly ruined by those in charge at
Allied Artists, who added a preface and ending that I don't like." In his autobiography, Siegel
added that "Wanger was very much against this, as was I. However, he begged me to shoot it
to protect the film, and I reluctantly consented...". In retrospect, were it not for the framing story
the film would have been a lot shorter and made even less sense.
While the Internet Movie Database (IMdb) states that the film's original ending had been
reinstated for a reissue in 1979, Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique magazine claimed that the
film was still being released with its additional footage, including a screening at the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2005, honoring director Don Siegel. Such an event could
not be more ironic. Though it met with disapproval by most reviewers, George Turner of
American Cinematographer and Danny Peary in Cult Movies endorsed the framing story. Peary
emphasised that the additional scenes changed significantly what he saw as the film's original
intention without clarifying what he thought that intention was.
As for myself, I thought the character development and dialogue of the main story
conveyed the sense of invasion very well.
Theatrical release: When the film was released into domestic distribution in February of
1956, many theaters displayed several of the pods (made out of paper mache’) in theater lobbies
and entrances, along with large lifelike black and white cutouts of McCarthy and Wynter
running frantically away from a crowd. The movie made over $1 million in its first month. In
1956 alone, the movie made over $2.5 million in the US. When the British issue (which had cuts
imposed by the British censors) was released in late 1956, the film made over a half million
dollars in ticket sales.
Themes: Some reviewers found the film a comment on the dangers of America turning a
blind eye to McCarthyism, or of bland conformity in postwar Dwight D. Eisenhower era
America as a drifting away of artistic culture. Others have viewed it as an allegory for the loss
of personal autonomy in the Soviet Union or communist systems in general. For the BBC, David
Wood summarised the circulating popular interpretations of the film as follows: "The sense of
post-war, anti-communist paranoia is acute, as is the temptation to view the film as a metaphor
for the tyranny of the McCarthy era."
Peary in Cult Movies pointed out that the addition of the framing story had changed the
film's stance from anti-McCarthy to anti-communist. In W.S. Poole's Monsters in America, it was
argued that the film was to be an indictment of the damage to the human personality caused
by reductionist modern ideologies, both of the Right and the Left.
In An Illustrated History of the Horror Film, Carlos Clarens saw a trend manifesting itself in
science fiction films: dealing with dehumanization and fear of the loss of individual identity, as
well as being historically connected to the end of "the Korean War and the well publicized
reports coming out of it of brainwashing techniques".
Comparing Invasion of the Body Snatchers with Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly and Orson
Welles' Touch of Evil, Brian Neve found a sense of disillusionment, with all three films being
"less radical in any positive sense than reflective of the decline of the screenwriters' great liberal
hopes." Despite the general agreement among film critics regarding these political connotations
of the film, lead actor Kevin McCarthy said in an interview included on the 1998 DVD release
that he felt no political allegory was intended. The interviewer stated that he had spoken with
the author of the original novel, Jack Finney, who also professed to have intended no specific
political allegory in the work.
In his autobiography, I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History, Walter Mirisch writes:
"People began to read meanings into pictures that were never intended. The Invasion of the Body
Snatchers is an example of that. I remember reading a magazine article arguing that the picture was
intended as an allegory about the communist infiltration of America. From personal knowledge, neither
Walter Wanger nor Don Siegel, who directed it, nor Dan Mainwaring, who wrote the script, nor the
original author Jack Finney, nor myself saw it as anything other than a thriller, pure and simple."
Don Siegel spoke more openly of an existing allegorical subtext, but denied a strictly
political point of view: "… I felt that this was a very important story. I think that the world is populated
by pods and I wanted to show them. I think so many people have no feeling about cultural things, no
feeling of pain, of sorrow… The political reference to Senator McCarthy and totalitarianism was
inescapable but I tried not to emphasize it because I feel that motion pictures are primarily to entertain
and I did not want to preach."
All of this rings pale in the face of the idea that we could be invaded by an alien race with
no such political ambitions. I call it overanalysing the case. Enjoy the film for what it is and move
on, please.
Critical reception: Largely ignored by the critics on its initial run, Invasion of the Body
Snatchers received worldwide critical acclaim and is considered one of the best films of 1956.
The film holds a 97% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. In recent
years, critics have hailed the film as a "genuine Sci-Fi classic" (Dan Druker, Chicago Reader),
"influential, and still very scary" (Leonard Maltin) and one of the "most resonant" and "one of the
simplest" of the genre (Time Out).
Legacy: In 1993, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was selected for preservation in the United
States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or
aesthetically significant".
In June of 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten Top Ten"—the best ten films
in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative
community. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was acknowledged as the 9th best film in the science
fiction genre. The film was also placed on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills, a list of America's most
heart-pounding films. And, it was included in a multitude of other lists in other books on film.
DVD releases The film was released on DVD in 1998 by US label Republic (an identical rerelease by Artisan followed in 2002). It includes the Superscope version plus a version in the
Academy ratio. The latter is not the original full frame edition but a pan and scan-reworking of
the Superscope edition, losing even more visual information than the original. DVD editions
also exist on the British (including a computer colorised version), German (as Die Dämonischen)
and Spanish market (as La Invasión de los Ladrones de Cuerpos).
FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956)
Directed by Fred M. Wilcox
Writing credits: Cyril Hume (screenplay); based on a story by Irving Block and Allen Adler
and taken from William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” (uncredited)
Producer: Nicholas Nayfack
Cinematography: George J. Folsey
Music by Bebe and Louis Barron
Distributed by MGM; release date April 1, 1956; running time 98 minutes
Budget: $4.9 million; box office $23.5 million
Cast:
Walter Pidgeon as Dr. Edward Morbius
Anne Francis as Altaira ‘Alta’ Morbius
Leslie Nielsen as Commander J. J. Adams
Warren Stevens as Lt. ‘Doc’ Ostrow M.D.
Jack Kelly as Lt. Jerry Farman
Richard Anderson as Chief Quinn
Earl Holliman as Cookie (the ship’s cook)
Robby the Robot as Himself
George Wallace as Bosun
The crewmen of the C57D are redacted for brevity
Frankie Darro as Robby the Robot (uncredited)
Marvin Miller as Robby the Robot (voice) (uncredited)
Les Tremayne as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Plot: It is late in the 22nd Century. United Planet cruiser C57D is a year out from Earth base on
its way to the Altair system for a special mission. Commander J. J. Adams (Leslie Neilsen)
makes a log entry and then orders the crew to the deceleration booths as the ship drops from
light speed to normal space a good distance along the system’s orbital plane. Adams orders
pilot Jerry Farman (Jack Kelly) to lay in a course for the 4th planet.
When the deceleration process releases the crew from stasis, the captain informs them that
they are at their destination, and are there to look for survivors from the Bellerophon expedition
of 20 years before. There has been no contact for some time and Earth Central is worried.
As they orbit the planet looking for signs of life, the ship is scanned by radar. Dr. Morbius
(Walter Pidgeon) contacts the ship from the planet asking why the ship is there and its purpose.
Adams explains that they are there to deliver supplies and possibly give some relief to the
Bellerophon crew. Morbius replies that he requires nothing, no rescue is necessary; and he can’t
guarantee the safety of the ship or its crew if it lands.
Adams learns from computer records that Morbius was a member of the original crew, but
is puzzled by his cryptic warning. He warns Morbius that the ship is going to land regardless,
and Morbius reluctantly gives the pilot coordinates for a desert region nearby. The ship lands,
and a security detail deploys to secure the landing area.
Adams and his friend Doc Ostrow (Warren Stevens) make comments about the pristine
beauty of the planet and its exotic sky color, which is shown as a strange hazy shade of green.
While ruminating about settling down as colonists, they spot a dust cloud scudding along the
valley floor at a high rate of speed. Adams realizes it is a vehicle and remarks that it is probably
Morbius’s reception committee. As it arrives, the driver is revealed to be a robot; an intricate
mechanical contraption which introduces itself politely and says it is “monitored to respond to
the name ‘Robby’.” It welcomes the crew to Altair IV and invites Adams to climb aboard. It says
it will conduct him to the Morbius residence.
Adams, navigator Jerry Farman and Doc Ostrow arrive at the home and are greeted by
Morbius. They sit down to a meal prepared by Robby, and Morbius shows the visitors Robby’s
food synthesizer and other abilities. He explains that he tinkered Robby together during some
down time from work. Morbius then gives Robby a blaster with orders to shoot Adams. Farman
reacts, but Adams, acting on a hunch, says it is all right and tells him to stand down. Morbius
tells it to fire. Robby goes into a mechanical mind lock, the cross current of power disabling the
robot in a cascade of conflicting directives until Morbius tells it to cancel the order. (The robot
was clearly designed according to Asimov’s laws of robotics.)
Morbius then shows the men the defense system of the house, a series of carbonite steel
shutters 17 inches thick. Adams asks why he should need it if the planet is so safe. Morbius then
reluctantly admits that the Bellerophon crew is dead, Morbius and his wife being the only
survivors of a killing spree in which many of the crew were torn limb from limb by a strange
creature or force; which appeared and then disappeared mysteriously. Morbius’s wife has also
died, but months after the others and from natural causes.
Morbius goes on to explain that the Bellerophon herself was destroyed when the final three
surviving members tried to take off for Earth. He points to the cemetary behind his house where
he buried most of the crew and his wife.
Adams wonders why this force has remained dormant all these years and never attacked
Morbius. The scientist explains that he cannot reason why he and his wife were immune to the
creature’s attacks, but when the Bellerophon was destroyed the killing spree stopped and the
creature has not appeared since. But he fears the day when the force might return to wreak
havoc again.
As discussions continue, a young woman (Anne Francis) appears and asks her father why
she was not invited to take lunch. Morbius introduces her as his daughter, Altaira, who
expresses her interest in meeting them and compares them as “excellent specimens” of manly
beauty. Farman takes an immediate interest in Altaira and begins to flirt with her over coffee.
Adams naturally goes on guard and warns Farman not to take his usual womanizing liberties.
There follows an interesting though subtle analysis of Altaira’s welfare, with Morbius
explaining that she has been well educated and wants for nothing. Adams asks Altaira about
her relative social isolation and she responds happily that she is content to remain with her
father and Robby. She mentions that she has other friends. She goes out to the garden, where
she meets a pair of deer, a goat, and finally a tiger, who responds to her petting with some feline
affection.
During this display the ship checks in on the safety of the away party. Adams explains that
they are safe, but he will need to check in with Earth Base for further orders about the situation
they have found, and orders up preparations for sending a long range signal. Because of the
power needed the ship will be disabled for up to 10 days. Morbius is mortified by this extended
period and offers Robby’s services to build the communication facility if it will hasten the ship’s
departure.
The next day Robby arrives at the ship as the crew unloads the engine core to power the
transmitter. It is holding a stack of carbonite steel in one hand like it is foamboard. Farman asks
how it can do that, and the robot drily explains that it “hardly comes to more than ten tons.” (at
10 tons the robot and its cargo would have sunk into the ground, but we don’t quibble at this
for its attempt at humor.) Adams thanks it for the delivery and tells it to “stack them over there.”
To lighten the tense atmosphere the commander instructs the crane driver to pick up
Cookie (Earl Holliman) and move him out of the way; at which the other crew laughs. Engineer
Quinn interrupts the practical joke to report that the assembly is complete and they can transmit
their subspace message in the morning.
Meanwhile, Cookie goes looking for Robby, leads him aside behind some rocks; and
convinces the robot to synthesize a quantity of bourbon “for cooking purposes, mind you.”
Robby takes a sample and emits a pronounced burp; then tells Cookie it can have 60 gallons
ready to deliver the next morning. (Note that I never liked this scene. I realize that it was
intended to bring humor into the movie but it really detracted severely from the flow of the
plot; not to even mention that a cook that drunk would have been brigged on a mission of this
kind.)
Farman continues to court Altaira by teaching her the health benefits of hugging and
kissing. At first he almost succeeds, but Altaira is more focused on treating it as an experiment
than actual snogging. Farman is put off by her scientific approach. Adams interrupts and is
clearly annoyed at Farman’s behavior. He dismisses Farman, then in a direct way tells Altaira
that the clothes she wears are inappropriate for hanging around his crew, physically perfect
specimens of male pulchritude who have been locked up in space for over a year. Altaira
responds with “what’s wrong with my clothes? I designed them myself!”
Altaira then asks why Adams won’t kiss her like everyone else has. Adams loses patience
and orders her to go home. “It oughtta serve you right if he… I mean you…oh, go home before
I put you on guard. And then I’ll put more guards on the guards.”
Thoroughly offended and furious with Adams, she walks away in a huff. She returns home
and tells her father what occurred. Morbius panders to her humor by saying that they’ll be
leaving soon anyway; why should she care?
Altaira takes Adams’s advice to heart and orders Robby to run up a less revealing dress.
Robby, which had been giving itself an oil job, asks rather petulantly, “again?” To which she
says this design will be different. They have a discussion of what material, size of gemstones to
use, and Robby agrees the dress will be ready by morning. (Rather handy having a servant
which never sleeps!)
Meanwhile, back at the ship two security guards think they hear breathing in the darkness
but see nothing. The camera follows something invisible up the hatch stairs into the ship. Inside,
the inner hatch opens. A swing boom moves aside and some material left on it falls off. A
crewman turns over in sleep, smacks his lips, and goes back to dreamland.
The next morning the Captain holds court on the events of the night before. Something
apparently entered the ship and destroyed some critical equipment. Engineer Quinn advises
Adams that most of the missing and damaged things can be replaced except for a coil for the
“clystron monitor”, which is a critical part of the transmission array. A crewman is reprimanded
for having a “dream” about something entering the ship. Adams thinks the hatch was simply
left open by a clumsy crewman and declares angrily that he will have no more dreaming on his
ship.
But nothing adds up neatly. Adams and Doc Ostrow go back to visit Morbius and to
confront him about what has occurred. Robby admits them, but explains that Morbius cannot
be disturbed while he is beyond a certain closed door. Not to be put off, Adams insists on
waiting, and Ostrow settles back on the couch, not to be moved.
Then, Adams sees Altaira swimming and goes to speak to her. She invites him to join her
in the water. Naturally, he declines, adding that he did not bring a bathing suit. She asks,
“what’s a bathing suit?” To which Adams mutters, “oh, murder.” He retreats to the other side
of a tree as she emerges from the pool and begins dressing. Rueful about his behavior before,
he apologizes and then says he was a bit “bothered”. But Altaira assures him that he won’t have
to look at her ever again.
Then he turns and sees her. A goddess in a white dress cut Greek style down to the ground,
her wet hair piled up with a comb. Captivated, he gives in and plants one on her, and she
responds quite eagerly (something about opposites attracting one another, one would suppose).
The moment is short lived, as the tiger she had petted the day before arrives and prepares
to pounce. Adams is forced to draw his laser pistol and disintegrate it in midair as it leaps from
the top of the grotto. Altaira is troubled by the tiger’s sudden aggression; she had never seen it
do that before. She cannot understand why. Adams explains that her transition to full
womanhood has robbed her of the cub’s innocence the tiger recognized in her. Now it saw her
only as prey.
On returning to the house, Doc and Adams hold a short conference about the current
situation, and that they cannot wait forever for Morbius to open that door. Adams explains to
Ostrow that he has fallen for Altaira. Ostrow is not surprised. The two men venture closer to
the door and find that it has been left unlocked.
They enter what appears to be an office, where they find a series of strange drawings on
the desk but no sign of Morbius himself. While they pore curiously over the drawings he
appears through a secret door and is outraged at the intrusion, declaring that they can find the
silverware in the kitchen and his daughter’s jewelry in their customary place if the men want
to steal them.
Adams apologizes, explains the damage done to the ship the previous night and his
concern that Morbius’s mystery force is behind the attack. He must know what is going on.
Morbius finally declares it is time for explanations. He goes on to tell them about a race of
creatures that lived on the planet called the Krell. In the past the Krell had visited Earth, which
explains why there are Earth animals on the planet. Morbius believes the Krell civilization
collapsed in a single night, right at the pinnacle of their greatest project. 2,000 centuries later,
nothing of their cities exists above ground. He produces a cylindical flash drive (!) and inserts
it into a device. Music of a distinctly alien sort comes out as he explains more about what kind
of people the Krell were, their morphology, and so on.
Morbius then takes them on a tour of the Krell underground installation. Morbius shows
them into a small laboratory and energy regulation plant where he explains how he began to
piece together information about the Krell. As his specialty was philology it was difficult at first.
He found that mathematics was the basis of their language. Before long he had a fair
understanding of their culture through their symbolic literature.
Then he shows them a device that projects living, three dimensional images formed by
using the power of the mind. He creates a statuette of Altaira which moves and smiles as if she
is real. For him, the statue exists in real time from second to second as long as the machine is
on.
Finally, he shows them a device with an indicator which is meant to be raised using mind
power, probably to test a Krell’s intelligence and kinesthetic level, what the Krell were expected
to do at minimum, and how much lower human intelligence is in comparison. He sits down
and puts the arms of the device on his head. He sends a small ball up the tube about halfway.
Doc tries the intelligence tester but is confused when it does not register as high as Morbius,
while Adams never even gets that far.
Morbius then explains it can also boost intelligence, and that the captain of the Bellerophon
died while using it. Morbius himself was badly injured, lying unconscious for a day or so; but
when he recovered his IQ had doubled, and that the boost aided him in translating the Krell
texts.
He then shows them the voltage guages, which appear to be sequential in series of tens.
He says that the amount of power to detect a flight of geese or a herd of deer is negligable and
would light up no more than a fraction of the first guage. He says that the power registers in
powers of ten also; raised almost to infinity. Yet he could find no connective wiring or other
way they function. (One could imagine that a wireless technology was available to the Krell, it
was just not expained very well.)
Doc Ostrow asks why all the equipment looks so brand new. Morbius explains that all the
machines left on the planet are self motivating and self repairing. He then adds that a minor
upgrade had taken place some years ago throughout the entire facility. But he has yet to
discover how.
He then takes them on a tour of the rest of the installation, which is a mindblowing
monstrosity of mechanical wonder. He explains that the whole thing occupies a space of about
20 cubic miles, and that there are 7200 levels just like the one they are standing on. Relays,
capacitors, inductors, transfer links; all working constantly and waiting for the day they would
be put to use. It was meant to complete a planet sized project which was never finished. Morbius
does not know exactly what it was, but suspects that the Krell wanted to throw off their physical
forms and become beings of pure energy. This continuous process of maintenance has gone on
all this time, while what remains of the Krell culture on the surface: buildings of glass stone and
adamantine steel, have corroded over time and collapsed into the ground.
Adams asks what connection the machine may have had to the attacks on the Bellerophon
crew. Morbius does not think there is one, since the last Krell had died 2,000 centuries before.
He leads them on to inspect a thermal reactor portal that leads to the core of the planet, and
explains that there are 400 other such shafts in the area and 9200 geothermal reactors spread
throughout the facility; enough power to allow the machine to continue working indefinitely.
Ostrow remarks that it still leaves a lot to think about.
Later that night the ship’s crew has completed the security arrangements and tests a force
field fence erected at the perimeter of the ship’s landing area. They test fire a pair of pulse
cannons. So far, the area has remained quiet, with no sign of the mysterious assailant.
Cookie (Earl Holliman) asks permission to go outside the fence to collect vegetables to
“brighten up the mess.” Skeptical, the bos’n still lets him go. He sneaks off and meets Robby,
who gives him the 60 gallons of bourbon. He thanks Robby for being “an understanding soul”
and slaps Robby on the back, nearly breaking his hand. (Again, a wholly unnecessary scene.
There is no exposition how he will transport 60 gallons of bourbon which have been subdivided
into pints in glass bottles with labels, but there we are.)
Meanwhile, something hits the force fence and shorts it out. The security team checks the
breach but finds nothing. A series of foot like depressions begin forming on the ground leading
to the ship. Something unseen climbs up the steps and enters the ship. Soon afteward, a scream
of male terror echoes through the compound.
Back at the residence, Morbius argues with Ostrow and Adams that he alone should be
allowed to control the flow of Krell technology back to Earth, deciding when and if it should be
disemminated for the benefit of all. In the middle of the argument, Adams is paged and told
that Chief Quinn has been murdered. Adams breaks off from the discussion and he and Doc
head back to the ship. Morbius makes a last desperate bid to make Adams and the ship take off
or he cannot answer to the consequences. Adams is now determined to stay as long as the
mystery of his men’s deaths go unexplained.
Later that night, Doc Ostrow makes a cast of a footprint found inside the perimeter and
shows it to Adams. The foot he has produced makes no evolutionary sense. It appears have
elements of a four footed and bipedal creature at the same time; also a predator like a raptor.
Adams questions Cookie, who was with the robot during the test, and decides the robot was
not responsible for this; Ostrow vaguely attributes it to Morbius’s mystery monster, but would
rather not.
The next day, at the funeral for the chief engineer, Morbius and Altaira attend in a courtesy
call. Mobius again warns Adams of impending doom facing the ship and crew, thinking it
almost a premonition. Adams considers this a challenge and spends the day fortifying the
security around the ship. As darkness falls, and after testing the weapons and satisfied with
their soundness, the radar station suddenly reports something in the distance, moving slowly
towards the ship.
No one sees anything. The weapons are activated and fired. The radar controller confirms
a direct hit, but the object is still moving towards the ship. Suddenly something hits the force
field fence, and the cannons and men open fire. A huge monster appears outlined in the energy
flux: an angry, bellowing creature with no arms, a lion’s head and legs. It seems to be invincible.
A number of men move forward but are quickly killed as the creature picks them up with its
clawed feet and hurls them away. Farman, in a last ditch effort to shore up his flagging career,
bravely dies fighting.
Morbius wakes from what appears to be a nightmare as he hears Altaira screaming. In the
same instant the creature in the force field disappears. Altaira has had a dream about the attack:
“all sound and fury, with something awful moving in it.” Morbius tries to console her. “Father,
you will protect him, won’t you?” Morbius tells her that he is helpless to do so as long as Adams
defies his wishes.
In a discussion of the previous night’s events, Doc Ostrow theorizes that the creature is
made of some sort of energy, renewing itself second by second like Altaira’s hologram. Adams
takes Doc in the tractor to visit Morbius, intending to evacuate him and Altaira from the planet.
He leaves orders for the ship to be readied for lift off. If he and Doc don’t get back the ship is to
leave without them. They also want to break into the labotatory and take the brain booster test,
thinking that it will help them to learn how to destroy the invisible monster once and for all.
They are met at the front door by Robby, who will admit no one, not even Adams. Adams
draws his sidearm, but Robby simply emits a signal which disarms it. Altaira appears at the
door and countermands the orders given to Robby using a special code for emergencies. Altaira
argues with Adams about trying to make Morbius return to Earth. She ultimately declares her
love for him. Adams asks Doc to help him out, he is in over his head. But Ostrow is gone; he
has already seized his chance and sneaks into the Krell laboratory alone.
Later, Robby appears carrying a badly injured Ostrow in its arms. Struggling to speak and
in heavy pain, Doc explains tha Morbius was too close to the situation. The Krell had finally
succeeded in their great experiment. However, they forgot about the monsters they would
release to do their bidding. Monsters from the id. Then he dies of the overload to his brain.
Morbius arrives, sees Ostrow’s dead body, and makes a series of ugly comments about his
ambition to become as brilliant as the Krell. His daughter gently reminds him that Ostrow is
dead. Morbius’s lack of compassion convinces Altaira she is better off going to Earth with
Adams. Morbius tries to talk Altaira out of it, but her mind is made up. He says, “then I cannot
answer to the consequences.”
Adams demands an explanation of “monsters from the id”. Morbius explains that it is an
archaic term for primitive emotional reactions coming from the subconscious mind. Adams
instantly makes the connection between the Krell and the monster attacking his ship, and
launches into a comparison between them; saying that the Krell must have known what they
were creating: a tool to carry out their deepest, darkest desires, to destroy anyone who opposed
their selfish designs. In creating the machine, the only thing they did was to hasten their own
extinction.
Morbius is shocked, but the logic sinks in. He finally declares, “my poor Krell. They could
hardly have known what they had created.” He then reminds Adams that the last Krell died
2,000 centuries ago, whereas the monster is alive now. Adams resumes his verbal attack, saying
that when Morbius took the brain boost it reordered his brain so that the machine was able to
release his inner beast, the subconscious monster dwelling deep inside his ancestral ape’s mind.
That monster out there is Morbius, carrying out his murderous agenda through his dreams.
Morbius finally realizes that he is the source of the creature that killed the crew of the
Bellerophon, and for once is helpless to know what to do about it.
Robby interrupts to report that something is approaching the house. Morbius triggers the
defensive shields, which the creature promptly begins to destroy. Morbius then orders Robby
to destroy the creature, but Robby shorts out again. Adams explains that it is useless; Robby
knows it is Morbius himself.
Adams, Altaira and Morbius retreat into the Krell lab and seal themselves in; Adams spins
the lock, scrambling the combination to the door. Morbius asks why he does that. Adams replies
that whatever Morbius knows the monster knows, and he cannot actually control his
subconscious desires anymore. He points to the dials, which are all flashing full on, and says
that the subterranean machine will give the monster all the power it needs to complete its task.
As they watch, the door begins to grow hot, then molten. The monster is burning its way
through the door to get to them. Morbius says, “and now this? Kill my own daughter?” Adams
reminds him that Altaira has allied herself with him.
Panicking, Morbius implores Altaira to say it is not so, that she will not go with Adams.
Altaira is determined and shakes her head, declaring that she and Adams are joined together
forever. Suddenly the full horror of realization comes to him, and he understands everything
now. As the creature starts to break through, Morbius rushes forward and denies its existence.
Suddenly the creature disappears, but the strain is too much and Morbius collapses. With
his dying breath, he calls Adams “son,” and instructs him to trigger a self destruct mechanism
linked to the reactors at the planet’s core. The ship and crew now have 24 hours to get a million
miles away from the planet as quickly as possible.
Later, we see the ship deep in space. Adams and Altaira are on the deck together, watching
a small screen with a view of space. Robby is now the ship’s astronavigator and is quite happy
to take orders. Adams counts down, then the screen is brilliantly lit as planet Altair IV flares
into a bright star and is destroyed. Adams assures Altaira that her father’s memory will shine
like a beacon one day, to bring clarity and scientific understanding to the universe once more.
END
Analysis and Additional Notes: For its day, which was not that long ago, space opera was
considered to be substandard fare by many. Forbidden Planet broke the mold with its amazing
special effects, its scripting and its music, which set the right mood for its superior and deeply
weighty plot.
First of all, I must say that compared to Star Trek’s redoubtable starship Enterprise, the
United Planet cruiser C57D is far more sophisticated and streamlined. There are no external
parts. It is a saucer craft which is propelled, as far as I can tell, by means of a plasma fusion
source driving polar gravitational generators. It does have retrothrusters designed for landing,
and its exit pod is what the main plant rests on. This compared with the Enterprise, which must
ever remain in space except in extreme emergencies; where the crew must dump the reactor
core and secondary bridge module and float in on a wing and a prayer. There is no actual
explanation of the C57D’s propulsion, nor of its deceleration booths, which dematerialize the
crew and then rematerialize them afterward.
The crew has been in flight in and out of hyperspace for a year. Given that particular note,
I was a little puzzled about the timespace distance between Altair IV and Earth. They could
have gone there in a light month had they wanted to, but I’m not going to quibble about it
further. There is an old proverb: if you buy the bit, you’ll buy the premise. The total film, however,
is well worth your suspension of disbelief.
Anne Francis designed all of Altaira’s costumes and wore them. Altaira had no need for
shoes on a planet where she romped freely among her animal friends. She was also quite tall,
so no shoes means no pit to stand in for the lead actors’ sakes.
Again, I object strongly to the interjection of Earl Holliman’s character Cookie (the ship’s
cook). There was no need for him. I have nothing against Mr. Holliman himself as he was also
a regular character on a few of my favorite television shows. But I must stress that the idea of a
starship with the attributes of the C57D harboring an alcoholic cook stretches credulity beyond
any limit of reason.
The scripting and pacing of the film is beyond compare, as is its overall design. We are
treated to concepts which are intelligent as well, from Mobius himself to the machine he has
studied for years, his passion for science and his refusal to share the technology of an advanced
race of beings with his home planet. It meant that he was thoughtful in his scientific approach;
knew the risks associated with too much knowledge shared too soon, and possibly knew in the
back of his mind (there’s the rub) that mankind was not quite ready to receive it. He gave Capt.
Adams every opportunity to leave with ship and crew intact, he warned Adams of the
consequences of staying, even confessed to his hermitage openly; but he could not control his
daughter. She had her own mind and intellect, and was the apple of his eye. But she was old
enough now to make different choices for herself and he could not accept them.
The Krell machine in and of itself was almost incomprehensible in size and scope. We only
saw little snippets of its entire operation here and there, its power relays, its thermal reactor
ports. We are informed that every bit of the Krell technology, its architecture and art, has all
dissolved into dust on the surface, while the machine goes on. A sort of symbol for the idea that
if you strip away the veneer of civilization, what is left is raw, uncontrollable power; to create
or destroy on a whim. The Krell sought to extend their lives by deserting their corporeal bodies,
but forgot where they came from. The mindless primitive, a living machine without morals or
conscience, undid their godlike designs in a single night. This was Caliban, in Shakespeare’s
final play “The Tempest”, on which the screenplay was based. Caliban was the monster who
did Prospero’s bidding without question, but who also turned on him in the end. Prospero has
other powers at his command, but it appears Morbius did not understand his own.
The music was music. The “electonic tonalities” ascribed to Louis and Bebe Barron was
created by electronic means, but it was the music which perfectly set the tone for the film.
There were moments of weeping, of joy, of placid homemaking, of anger, and finally of
utter rage. It launched a whole new genre of music and composers were no longer afraid of
ditching their acoustic instruments for keyboards and synthesizers. The novelty went on for
decades before people wanted to listen to acoustic orchestras again. And their appreciation for
new and experimental music increased. I have yet to see MGM call it music, but I and millions
of others know it is.
It also trademarked itself such that no one can listen to it and deny that the soundtrack
music belongs to this film alone. The objection to its proper designation was made by the music
union, which wanted to control all music authorized for film at the time. The Barrons were
apparently nonunion newcomers. Later, this music was also used as sound effects for other
films and television shows. Chief of these was the series The Outer Limits, which included
dramatic episodes as thoughtful and intellectually stimulating as Forbidden Planet.
I imagine that the prologue would have shown the crew of the Bellerophon building their
prefab huts on top of piles of the dead without knowing that the drifting dust was probably
bone and adamantine steel; or that the native trees thrived on powdered blood and were
watered by liquified minerals rendered from their polluted aquifers. Had they found this out
sooner, perhaps the settlers would have changed their minds and wanted to go home. What if
Morbius had learned what he learned early, and then shared the discovery with the others
instead of keeping it to himself?
There is so much of the story unseen but alluded to that it makes you sit back and think
about it. It is that good. I don’t think I have done that much analysis of a backstory since I saw
the film for perhaps the 100th time. I always watch it when it is listed on television (now
preferring to see it on TCM in full letterbox), and I always find something new and unexpected
in each viewing. The only Oscars it received was for Walter Pidgeon’s remarkable performance,
the special effects and the music. Everything else was icing on the cake. Now it is a cult classic
and honored as one of the best science fiction films ever made. That is as it should be.
Here is another thing to consider: much of the underpinning for Gene Roddenberry’s
vision of Star Trek was gleaned from this film; from the idea of a patrol starship to the idea of
the captain taking a proactive role as head of a delegation. Were it not for the fact that this crew
was entirely human I would have expected to see a Vulcan or a Klingon (or similar humanoid
alien) as one of the crew.
The story itself is relatively simple: the ship visits a planet where someone or something
goes wrong. There is a little romance between the captain and a native girl; crewmen are
murdered or kidnapped; the bad guy is never who you think and declares the intention to do
bad early on. The plot of Forbidden Planet could have rested neatly inside of two Star Trek
episodes easily. The space battle becomes a battle of wits between a captain in love and a
scientist who can’t see the forest for the trees. This is a recurring theme of this kind in most of
the episodes anyway.
But don’t get me wrong. I LOVE Star Trek. I just wanted to get these salient points out of
the way. It’s the details and the anchor of a moral compass which enrich the plot and leave one
wanting more. The film could have formed the core for a series of such films starring Neilsen
as J. J. Adams and his intrepid crew, sailing from planet to planet discovering new civilisations
and righting wrongs; boldly going where no one has gone before.
Perhaps the reason Forbidden Planet was not “Oscar” material early on was because it had
already been labeled “space opera” by the critics. But what is space opera but Shakespeare
redux and heavily coated with future tech, scanty costumes for women, and space battles?
Woven into that fabric is some of the best stories ever presented to the general audience. Had
they not been “dumbed down” by film or network executives too focused on producing a sure
bet they would have been even better. But in those years, struggling studios one project away
from shutting down made the executives panic into only accepting projects with any staying
power. Forbidden Planet contained all the elements which made it epic. And I do know one thing
above all: it can never be remade.
THE FLY (1958)
Produced and Directed by Kurt Neumann
Screenplay by James Clavell; based on a short story by George Langelaan
Music by Paul Sawtell
Distributed by 20th Century Fox; release date August 29, 1958; running time 94 minutes;
budget $500,000
Cast:
David Hedison as Andre Delambre (calling himself “Al Hedison” at the time)
Patricia Owens as Helene Delambre
Vincent Price as Francois Delambre
Herbert Marshall as Inspector Charas
Kathleen Freeman as Emma
Betty Lou Gerson as Nurse Andersone
Charles Herbert as Philippe Delambre
Plot: Scientist André Delambre (David Hedison) is found dead in a factory with his head and
arm crushed in a hydraulic press. Although his wife Helene (Patricia Owens) confesses readily
to the crime, she refuses to provide a motive and exhibits a number of strange behaviors; among
which are her attempts to keep an eye on objects and the walls in the room. Finally, she appears
to be obsessed with trapping flies, a white headed fly in particular. André's brother, Francois
(Vincent Price), lies to her and says he caught the white headed fly in order to coax the truth
from her. Thinking that he knows what happened, Helene explains the circumstances
surrounding André's death.
In a flashback, we are shown that André, Helene and their son Philippe (Charles Herbert)
are a happy family. André is a physicist and has been working on a matter teleportation device,
wanting to develop something which enables people to travel farther and faster. His scheme
involves disintegrating a subject at the molecular to subatomic level and then reintegrating it
on the other side. He has been testing it on small inanimate objects, but eventually proceeds to
living creatures, including a guinea pig and finally the family's pet cat Dandelot, which to his
chagrin fails to reintegrate. There is a poignant moment when we hear the poor feline meowing
in distress through the walls like a ghost.
Andre’ is notably upset that he had left him in limbo. But as a scientist he is keen to
complete his experiments. After he is satisfied that these tests are succeeding, he builds a man
sized pair of chambers, now so thoroughly immersed in his work that he isolates himself. He
makes one last calculation, then, taking a deep breath, he enters one of the pods and closes the
door, little realizing that a fly has entered the chamber with him. The controls activate the
device. A glow fills the laboratory.
Fade to: Helene becomes worried when she finds he has locked the door to the lab. She
takes his lunch and then dinner down to him on a tray, but even that will not convince him to
take a break. He will not open the door or even speak to her. Or, so she thinks. Then one day,
she leaves the tray in front of the door and moves away.
The door unlocks and opens, and André emerges with his head covered in a black cloth.
Before she can speak to him, he picks up the tray and retreats inside, slamming the door and
locking it again. Later, she finds a note on the tray asking her to bring him sugar water. Puzzling,
she complies.
Finally, Helene has had enough and tells him through the door that she will not go away
until he comes out and explains himself. Reluctantly, André opens the door, but he will not
speak to her. He gestures toward the table, where she deposits the tray. Then he points to the
door, silently miming that she must leave. Helene begins to grow angry, confronts him with his
petulance and then whisks off the cloth.
To her horror, his head has been transformed into that of a common housefly. She screams,
and André is driven back, raising both arms to fend her off. She then sees that he has a fly’s
arm.
Sudden understanding sinks in that there was a terrible accident. Mastering her terror,
Helene tries to reason with him. André points to the typewriter nearby, where he sits and
explains in a typed note what had happened. He had tried to use the pods to transport himself,
only a fly had entered with him. The transporter had worked perfectly, but in a mix-up of
reintegration had merged the fly’s atoms with his. The fly now has a white head and arm, but
it has escaped from the lab and he cannot undo the damage. He needs Helene to capture the fly
so he can reverse the process.
Although she expends a great deal of effort in her search, Helene cannot find it. Every
attempt to seal the house to keep it in is destroyed by accident, and André's will begins to fade
as the fly's instincts take over his brain. Time is running out. While André can still think like a
human, he smashes the equipment, burns his notes, and leads Helene to the factory.
When they arrive, he sets the hydraulic press and motions for Helene to push the button.
Horrified by the choice she must make, she activates the press twice: once to crush his head and
once to crush his left arm.
The police, upon hearing this confession, deem Helene insane and guilty of murder. As
they are about to haul her away in handcuffs, André's son Philippe tells Francois he's seen the
fly trapped in a web in the back garden. Francois convinces the inspector (Herbert Marshall) to
come and see for himself. The two men see the fly trapped in the web, with both André's head
and arm, looking somewhat aged and terrified. It screams "Help me! Help me!" with a tiny
chilling voice as a large brown spider advances on the creature. Just as the fly is about to be
devoured by the spider, the inspector smashes them both with a rock.
The inspector and Francois conspire to lie about the facts of the case so that Helene is not
convicted of murder, but manslaughter due to temporary insanity. After a short imprisonment
in the mental ward of a hospital, Helene is eventually freed, and she, Francois and Philippe
resume their daily lives. Of Dandelot’s fate, we have no idea, but we still hear the poor cat’s
plaintive meowing echoing through the house in the end. END
Analysis and additional notes: I must say that while this film was intially treated as horror
instead of straight science fiction, it was far more scientific than horrific. The principles of
teleportation were bandied about freely as a dream rather than a possibility in the real world.
The physics involved were being discussed in the scientific community, but there was no access
to the technology or the funding to develop it and make it possible.
I tend to think that Dandelot was a symbol for the question of Schrödinger’s cat: if we don’t
see the cat in the box, is he alive or is he dead? This may have been one of the significant films
which led Gene Roddenberry to seize on the idea of using the transporter system to “beam”
people from one place to another, as the time to travel such great distances through space and
through various conditions would have slowed the pace of every episode of his Star Trek. It
came to be seen as far more practical, though eminently more dangerous, than loading everyone
aboard a shuttlecraft every time there was an expedition. Certainly, there were episodes which
showed that accidents can happen: once in “The Enemy Within” and again in “The Tholian
Web”. Yet the transporter was a chief piece of equipment on which our heroes relied almost
implicitly for a quick and convenient rescue.
In Star Trek: The Motion Picture there was shown an actual instance of the transporter
system going terribly wrong, perhaps to remind fans of science that use of such technology
carries a terrible risk. The screenplay called for a Vulcan officer to be killed to pave the way for
the character of Spock to replace him. There is a parenthetical note inserted in Captain Kirk’s
log entry about notifying his family of his passing, but it was cold and there was no further
discussion of the incident, as if this sort of thing happened every day.
Naturally, Dr. McCoy adopted an “I told you so” attitude throughout the rest of the film;
he who had frequently voiced his concern for “my atoms being transported all over creation”.
In The Fly, however, we are shown that André has compassion for other living creatures in
spite of his scientific method, and that his wife is also compassionate for him and his plight. The
tragedy of the incident is writ large by the inspector’s only solution to the problem: he must
destroy what is left of André in order to save him from a horrible death by the spider. I am not
sure but the possible theme of reincarnation may also have inserted itself into the narrative. We
may all have been flies once.
Reception: The film was well received by critics. It has received a fresh 93% on Rotten
Tomatoes, and has been nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The Fly
has also received four out of five stars on various online discussion lines.
Sequels and remake The film had two sequels, Return of the Fly in 1959 and Curse of the Fly
in 1965. There was also a terribly violent and horrible remake of the same name in 1986 as
directed by David Cronenberg and starring Jeff Goldbloom and Geena Davis, which itself had
a sequel, 1989's The Fly II. In all of them, the recurring theme of tampering with the natural order
of things invites viewers to watch the consequences play out.
THE ANGRY RED PLANET (1959)
Directed by Ib Melchior
Produced by Sidney W. Pink and Norman Maurer
Screenplay by Sidney W. Pink and Ib Melchior; story by Sidney W. Pink
Music by Paul Dunlap
Cinematography by Stanley Cortez
Distributed by American International Pictures; release date November 23, 1959; running time
83 minutes
Budget: $190,000
Cast:
Gerald Mohr as Col. Thomas O'Bannion
Naura Hayden as Dr. Iris 'Irish' Ryan
Les Tremayne as Prof. Theodore Gettell
Jack Kruschen as CWO Sam Jacobs
Paul Hahn as Maj. Gen. George Treegar
J. Edward McKinley as Prof. Paul Weiner
Tom Daly as Dr. Frank Gordon
Don Lamond as TV Newscaster/Martian Voice
Edward Innes as Brig. Gen. Alan Prescott
Gordon Barnes as Maj. Lyman Ross
Jack Haddock a Lt. Col. Davis
Brandy Bryan as Nurse Hayes
Joan Fitzpatrick as Nurse Dixon
Arline Hunter as Joan
Alean Hamilton as Joan's Friend
Plot: In the first manned flight to Mars, the rocketship MR-1 (for "Mars Rocket 1"), returns to
Earth orbit; it was presumed to have been lost. Attempts to raise the crew via radio fail, so a
decision is made to land the spacecraft by remote control. We see a large flight control room,
where technicians are at work bringing the craft in for a safe landing in Nevada. Once the ship
is sighted, the rocketship turns out to be a whole rocket booster, and it lands safely on an pad
close to the control room.
The first team dispatched to the rocket are technicians in charge of testing the area for
radiation. But when they arrive, the hatch to the rocket opens. The team radios this event back
to the control room, and the colonel in charge of the mission says, “damn the radiation,” boards
a jeep and races there, hellbent to discover who of the Mars mission has survived.
Two of the four man team are found on board, still alive: Dr. Iris Ryan (Naura Hayden,
billed as Nora Hayden) and Colonel Tom O'Bannion (Gerald Mohr). O’Bannion is carried out
on a stretcher, his arm covered with a strange green alien growth, while Dr. Ryan seems to be
exhausted but not injured. At first, there is a flurry of questions, but she is about to collapse and
the colonel gives her a ride back to mission control, where she is taken to the hospital with her
surviving companion.
The base doctor races against time to find a cure for his condition, but the alien growth has
not been properly identified and appears resistant to everything he has tried. He and the
mission officer then visit Dr. Ryan, who has been diagnosed as exhausted and in shock, but
otherwise physically fit. When they asked her what happened, they take note of the fact that all
the tapes of the mission had been found erased. She insists that she cannot remember details of
the mission. It is as if her mind is blocked. The doctor tries to avoid taxing her any further. The
colonel is adamant that they find some way to break the block. The doctor mentions a chemical
drug they can use, but is resistant about using it on her. He says it could lead to permanent
brain damage.
Dr. Ryan then asks about O’Bannion, willing to try the drug in order to remember, no
matter what may happen to her. Finally, the doctor relents and gives her the injection. Once
that is done, Dr. Ryan recalls the mission's fateful journey.
Fade to: a flashback of the mission. The astronauts are about an hour out in space from
launch and all is going well. The mission specialist, Colonel Tom O’Bannion, is a skeptic about
everything but has a special place in his heart for Dr. Ryan, whom he insists on calling “Irish”,
while Professer Gettell (Les Tremayne) is a geologist with a father’s heart for her. Their radio
specialist and “protection” is Corporal Sam Jacobs (Jack Kuschen), who is the comedy relief. He
has come packing what is misidentified at first as “firepower” but is actually a sonic pulse rifle,
capable of petrifying or disrupting anything using sound alone. He talks about the distance it
takes for radio waves to reach the ship, then laments the fact that while it has been a few seconds
between call and response, it will soon be hours. Then he develops a special affection for the
rifle and calls it “Cleopatra”.
For his part, Colonel O’Bannion is also a cynic, and does not believe that anything can live
on Mars. Prof. Gettell just takes it all in stride with his usual affable good humor. Dr. Ryan then
recalls that her task as biologist and zoologist also makes her in charge of the pantry, where one
can find cans of “prepackaged” food with very plain labels.
The days become weeks, until 47 days later the MR-1 comes to Mars orbit.
At first, we are treated to scenes of the red planet through the small portholes which serve
as windows. The crew strap themselves in and go through their landing checklist. We see the
ship landing from above, to a scene of desert with a crater or two. From the interior of the
command module, the astronauts come to a slight “bump” as they stop. Eager to see what is
“out there”, they crowd around one of the portholes. We don’t actually get to see what they are
looking at, but from their descriptions the surface of Mars is absolutely dead. There is
vegetation, but nothing moves.
Prof. Gettell takes a measurement of the atmosphere and reports that it is very thin; not
enough to support human life without artificial support; a bit like living underwater. (This is
corroborated by reports of real life probes from the surface of Mars.) While they are getting
ready to go EVA, Dr. Ryan sees something at the porthole, peering in: a strange insectoid
creature with three eyes. She screams. The men crowd around her and ask what is wrong. She
reports what she saw, but when they look they see nothing.
Prof. Gettrell then speculates that some life may be invisible or trying very hard to be. Sam
pats Cleo and declares that he’s scared, too, but he’ll protect the others. After that, they get into
their suits, which are little more than coveralls with protective helmets and tanks of oxygen to
give them an air supply.
The hatch to the ship soon opens close to the base of the rocket and O’Bannion emerges
into a hellish red world, where light and shadow intersect at very blurry lines. Mars is indeed
an alien world to the explorers. Then the others come out, and the four together take their first
steps onto the Martian surface together.
The vegetation is a peculiar blend of both tropical and evergreen plants. To make sure that
Cleo works, O’Bannion tells Sam to shoot one of the plants. We see the result. The “cactus” bulb
has been freeze-dried, and falls to shards when it is hit. Thus assured of protection, the team
forge on into the strange forest.
Dr. Ryan explains some of the strange biology of the plants while Prof. Gettrell gathers a
few rocks to take back to his lab for examination. Dr. Ryan would like to go on her own for a
small distance to trace a vine she has found back to its source. Naturally, O’Bannion starts to
get protective but she won’t have any of it. She walks a few yards and finds a giant plant in
front of her. While she is examining it, the plant extends one of its tendrils and wraps her up in
it, then tries to swallow her in one of its flowers. O’Bannion uses a machete to cut off the tendrils
and pulls her away. When she recovers, she calmly explains that it might be a carnivorous plant
like those on Earth. O’Bannion decides that perhaps they have had enough for the day and they
will start again tomorrow.
The next day, the team emerge from the rocket again and venture out a little farther. Their
wandering brings them to the edge of a lake. The surface is perfectly calm like glass, but when
Dr. Ryan goes closer and dips her hand into it, the water begins to ripple very slowly. She
observes that the water also seems oily. While she dips a small vial into it to collect a sample,
Prof. Gettrell reminds her that the water on Mars may carry a different set of minerals and so
may be heavier for that reason alone. When Ryan looks up from the water, she spies what looks
like enormous trees she has never seen before.
As they go closer, she climbs on one of the branches and examines one of the trees,
declaring that the bark does not seem like bark. O’Bannion volunteers to get her a sample,
reaches out and lobs off a piece. Suddenly, with a shrill cry of pain the trees move, and to their
horror they find that what was a stand of trees is actually the legs of an enormous rat with the
thighs of a bat, the spindly legs of a spider, and giant lobster claws. The team scatters to evade
the creature as it pursues them to an outcrop of frozen rock. Sam fires at it with Cleo and finds
that the rat-bat-spider seems impervious to its beam. Prof. Gettrell gets trapped between rocks
and cannot get free while the giant monster bears down on him.
Finally, O’Bannion tells Sam to aim for its eyes. The orbs go opaque and the creature
shrieks again and lumbers away in darkness. (Actually, I could not help but feel sorry for it.
Simply running away or finding another way to distract it would have been better.)
When the team returns to their ship, Prof. Gettrell says that they must break off the
expedition and return to Earth. Given the dangers they have found so far, it would be folly to
stay the whole 5 days and risk more danger from the native flora and fauna. Worse, there is the
potential for encountering more intelligent life, which so far has remained invisible. O’Bannion
suggests that they radio home for instructions. As far as they know, no transmission from Earth
has been received. But when Sam tries to get off a message, the sound file echoes throughout
the ship. The transmission has been blocked. Most likely, the controlling force Gettrell had
mentioned before is preventing them from getting help.
The team confer and decide to chance another expedition across the lake to see if there is
any intelligent life beyond the horizon. Using an inflatable raft, the crew rows slowly across the
still waters. The water is oily, opaque, not like a lake on Earth. Then they see it. A city of
amazingly tall skyscrapers. They hope to make contact and explain their plight, thinking that
the inhabitants might be civilized enough to be friendly.
But the lake beneath the raft starts to bubble, then more fiercely as an enormous creature
emerges from beneath the surface. Panicking, the astronauts frantically row back to shore and
ditch the raft as the beast engulfs it. They run for the ship and get inside the airlock, but Sam is
pulled back out and swallowed. Horrified, they watch as Sam is slowly digested inside the
creature until he disappears. O’Bannion fires at the monster but it lashes out and strikes his
arm. The stinging goo penetrates his spacesuit.
Gettrell and Ryan get him back into the control room and try to treat the wound. Now it is
critical that the survivors take off now instead of waiting. They strap themselves in and try to
take off. But they are being pinned down by the creature, which has enveloped the ship and is
trying to digest it the way it had digested Sam. O’Bannion and Gettrell conceive of a plan to
electrify the ship’s outer skin so that it will repell the monster and free it. The plan is successful,
and the ship lifts off easily.
Ryan then recalls that by the time she came to from the acceleration effect, she has found
that Prof. Gettrell is dying. The pressure has been too much for him, and he dies. Left alone,
and with O’Bannion the only other person left to help her control the flight home, she looks in
on him. He had been strapped to his bunk in the sleep chamber, and when she goes closer to
wake him, his arm falls out from under his blanket. The green goo has taken over his arm. She
screams.
Fade to: the present. Ryan screams with the horror of memory, and the doctor tries to calm
her. When she composes herself Ryan then explains that she could do nothing but wait until
the ship landed. Then she explains that the creature was something like an amoeba (an
omnivorous one celled animal on Earth). Nothing else seemed to phase it but the electricity.
Ryan then asks to perform a series of experiments to find out what can remove the
infestation, and while the doctor is not sure she is up to the task, he is told that there is no time
to waste, or O’Bannion will be eaten from the inside out. There follows a montage of scenes
where Ryan takes samples of the goo, performs analysis and tries out a few things. She thinks
she finally has the answer. Just as the electrostatic shock from the skin of the spaceship repelled
the creature on Mars, a combination of mild shocks with a culture of bacteria would make the
colony migrate to the dish and away from O’Bannion’s arm. She also thinks that there might be
a message on the last tape recording they made before taking off; though she does not explain
how she knows this.
Cut to: a few days later, and O’Bannion’s arm is heavily bandaged as he wakes. He finds
Dr. Ryan sitting next to his bed watching over him. She wants to collect her raincheck on the
date they had arranged while on their way to Mars. They are about to seal their bargain with a
kiss when the colonel and his assistant burst in bearing a tape recorder. Dr. Ryan was right,
there was a recording on the last tape. The colonel’s assistant plays it.
An alien voice tells the Earthmen that the only reason the MR-1 team was permitted to live
was to deliver a message that Martians have watched Earth's development and believe its
technology has outpaced its cultural advancement. That Earth is populated with children with
willful and destructive motives and abilities. The Martian voice warns the Earth people never
to return to Mars, or face the destruction of the Earth as a penalty for disregarding their
message. END
Analysis and Additional Notes: I chose this film despite its low budget and bad staging
precisely because of the producers’ attempts to make it relevent for the time. With as small a
budget as that allotted and a short shooting time, I think they performed an admirable job. For
one thing, they did a lot with what they had, and the only special effect being the color of the
Martian ecosphere, their animations were amazingly chilling. From a historical view, we get to
see how primitive many flight control rooms were, and while the interior of the ship was
terribly dull, it was the way the actors carried the scenes which made the story interesting.
I remember that the first time I saw the rat-bat-spider it was truly scary looking. Here was
an attempt to portray a real alien creature as realistically as possible, and it worked. The only
issue I had with it (and still do) was the way it was driven away. We only see one, whereas in
real life I suppose there could have been whole herds of the things.
The astronaut team was woefully small in comparison with the importance of the whole
mission. Any expeditionary team should have had at least 12 members of the crew, with maybe
another 6 to serve as a security team. That we are left with only 4 to fend for themselves speaks
to the film’s budget, which was shameful.
However, the introduction of a strong female character, shown as a scientist and not just a
hapless damsel in distress, is a testament to the way women had begun to demonstrate their
social power in the 20th century, and that men were willing to accept them as equal partners in
the quest to explore space.
The director was given only 10 days to shoot the movie and a budget of $200,000 with
which to make it. The movie was made with a CineMagic technique which was applied for all
of the scenes on the surface of Mars. This was an attempt to make the hand drawn animation
figures appear as real as the live action footage.
Critical response: When the film was released, Eugene Archer, film critic for The New York
Times, critiqued the film's special effects, writing, "... The Angry Red Planet, solemnly warns its
audiences not to go to Mars. Stubborn patrons who ignore the advice will discover that the planet looks
like a cardboard illustration from Flash Gordon and is inhabited by carnivorous plants, a giant amoeba
and a species resembling a three-eyed green ant."
Recently film critic Bruce Eder, with a lighter touch, praised the film, writing, "The effects
are a combination of costuming, model work, and puppets, with Bob Baker's giant (puppet) bat-rat-spider
moving off in the distance perhaps the best shot in the movie. Danish-born director/screenwriter Ib
Melchior brings a surprisingly light, deft touch to the proceedings, allowing the actors a chance to have
fun with their roles -- especially Gerald Mohr, still looking and sounding a bit like Humphrey Bogart, as
the stalwart mission commander, and Jack Kruschen as the good-humored technician in the crew -without losing sight of the adventure and the story line, and meshing it all seamlessly with the special
effects-driven sequences."
Critic Glenn Erickson recently echoed the New York Times review, writing, "Although
biographies on both Ib Melchior and Sid Pink would have you believe that The Angry Red Planet is an
outer-space classic, it simply isn't so. The direction is woefully flat, and the script is dull even by lowbudget standards. Too much of the Earthbound part of the show is comprised of stock footage material,
and the sets are cheap and flat-lit. A good music track has animated many a genre picture worse than this
one, but The Angry Red Planet gets shortchanged in that department too. A rough music edit at the end
makes it seem as if an upbeat cue for the credits was imposed after the final mix."
A short note about the music: although the music soundtrack for The Angry Red Planet was
shoved roughly into the background of all the other sound effects in the film, there is no denying
that the pioneering sound introduced by Louis and Bebe Barron in Forbidden Planet is echoed in
the use of a theremin for the strange alien signature in the music score. As I have noted before,
that music formed the basis for quite a few future soundtracks recorded for science fiction films
and has actually become a part of the symphonic meme. But here, there is something closer to
an acoustic theme accented with electronic motifs, which only added to the alien landscape the
astronauts encounter.
BATTLE BEYOND THE SUN (The Sky is Calling) (1959/1962)
Directed by Mikhail Karyukov, Aleksandr Kozyr, and Francis Ford Coppola (additional
sequences US version)
Produced by Roger Corman (US version)
Written by Mikhail Karyhukov, Yevgeni Pomeshchikov, Aleksei Sazonov
Starring: Aleksandr Shvorin and Ivan Pereverzhev
Music by Yuli Meitus; Carmine Coppola (US version)
Cinematography Nikolai Kulchitsky, Jack Hill (additional sequences US version)
Studio: Dovzhenko Film Studios, Soviet Union ; Distributed by Filmgroup (US), Language
Russian
Battle Beyond the Sun is a 1959 Soviet science fiction film directed by Mikhail Karyukov and
Aleksandr Kozyr. It tells of the "space race", with the USSR forced into competing with the USA
to become the first nation to land a spacecraft on the planet Mars.
Russian Version: A reporter interviews Dr. Kornev about his work in space travel. While
writing his story, the reporter daydreams about such a future; in which he and others board a
rocket that takes them to an orbiting space station. There, he learns that the space rocket Rodina
is docked at the station. A short while later, an American rocket, the Typhoon, arrives at the
space station. The soviet scientists hold a dinner for the visitors.
At the dinner, Dr. Kornev announces that the Rodina will travel to the planet Mars in a few
days. The American astronauts Clark and Verst are taken aback with surprise. The Typhoon was
secretly prepared to make the first Mars mission and this is quite a shock. The American
authorities, in their haste to be the first to land on Mars, order Clark to take the Typhoon to Mars
immediately in order to beat the Russians.
When they rush to blast off, they manage to injure Somov, the Rodina's pilot. Gordienko
steps in as the new pilot. He and Kornev take off in Rodina as planned and on schedule. Not
long after their departure, things go wrong aboard the Typhoon. They are off course and they
don't have enough fuel to correct it. Now the Typhoon is headed for an asteroid belt and if they
survive that, a collision course with the sun. Clark radios the bad news to Earth.
Dr. Kornev thinks that the Russians can help, and he and Gordienko fly Rodina to the
rescue. Doing so uses too much fuel, so Rodina must land on the asteroid Icarus, where they all
get at least a fine view of Mars from there. A pilotless refueling rocket is sent to Icarus but
crashes. The men on Icarus despair of ever leaving. Verst awakens to see a fifth man on Icarus.
It is Somov, who has flown another pilotless refueling rocket there, but since it was not built for
manned flight he has suffered lethal cosmic radiation and soon dies. But the four astronauts are
able to blast off and return to a hero's greeting in the Soviet Union.
US Version: Roger Corman acquired the film for US distribution and hired a young film
school student named Francis Ford Coppola to “westernize” it. In addition to preparing a
dubbing script free of anti-American propaganda and supervising the English dubbing,
Coppola filmed a few shots of two space monsters fighting and cut them into the Soviet
material. According to Jack Hill, who worked on the new version (it was his first paid job for
Roger Corman), Coppola's idea was that one monster would look like a penis and the other a
vagina. The new monster scenes were shot on a sound stage at hollywood. Hill and Coppola
also shot some footage of the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena.
The Overlook Film Guide: Science-Fiction, remarked: "One remains (more) impressed with
Corman's cheek and financial astuteness than with the finished film."
Analysis and Additional Notes: Personally, I like the first version better, even if I had never
seen it. I am not sure what Coppola’s thinking was about injecting monsters and such into the
film, but I don’t like the idea behind it. What started out as an honest though propaganda laden
space adventure was ruined. Clearly, the film was seriously bastardized by Coppola’s callous
disregard for film values in producing the US version. I am not sure why Corman let it slide,
but I would have slapped Coppola silly for his vandalism. I would have preferred that Mr.
Coppola had left things alone. It is not the finest work he has ever done.
When comparing the US version with the idea of Soviet astronauts rescuing Americans,
the Russian version was the finest form of perestroika presented long before the tearing down of
the Berlin wall. It is notable for this book because of that, not Coppola’s or Corman’s
contributions.
It should be noted that this very idea was brought up in the film 2010: The Year We Make
Contact, (Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, Helen Mirren) as a format for scientists accomplishing
together what neither side could do alone. This spirit of cooperation regardless of political
affiliation is preserved in spite of the posturing on the part of governments determined to see
the space program as a game to be won instead of a goal to advance the human race.
Beside that, the total strength of this film rests with the young Soviet astronauts who go
out of their way to rescue the trapped Americans. I find that to be more honorable than
whatever political ambitions were advanced with a mission to Mars. In the future I am certain
that there will be Russians working with us to reach Mars. And why not? By the time a manned
flight is put together the political ambitions of the few will be superceded by science. For that
reason alone, I included this small and almost lost film.
THE TIME MACHINE (1960)
Directed by George Pal
Writing credits: David Duncan (screenplay) and H.G. Wells (novel)
Original Music: Russell Garcia (music score)
Cinematography: Paul Vogel (director of photography)
George Pal, morlock designer (uncredited)
Cast:
Rod Taylor as H. George Wells
Alan Young as David Filby / James Filby/young Eloi man
Yvette Mimieux as Weena
Sebastian Cabot as Dr. Philip Hillyer
Tom Helmore as Anthony Bridewell
Whit Bissell as Walter Kemp
Doris Lloyd as Mrs. Watchett
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bob Barran as 2nd Eloi Man (uncredited)
Paul Frees as Talking Rings (voice) (uncredited)
Josephine Powell as Eloi Girl (uncredited)
James Skelly as Second Eloi Man (uncredited)
Plot: The movie opens with a man having just left a building in London. It is winter, and the
man pulls his coat closer against the cold as he hurries across the street. He knocks on the door
of a house, and a woman in late middle age lets him in.
The date is January 5, 1900. There he joins 3 other men who are sitting around the fire, all
looking like fairly prosperous businessmen. They have been invited to dinner by the house’s
owner, whom they call George. It is just now 8pm, but George himself has yet to arrive. The
men are clearly unhappy about being kept waiting; George has always been a stickler for
punctuality, as shown in the collection of clocks he keeps in the parlor. Only one of the men
seems satisfied to wait patiently, and that is David Filby (Alan Young), the man who had rushed
across the street.
A moment after 8, the housekeeper, whose name is Mrs. Watchett, enters the room and
gives Filby a note. She tells them that the master has been missing for several days. The note
says that George thought he might be late, and if he was, then she should serve dinner and they
could start without him.
They enter the dining room and sit down with their drinks, still complaining about
George’s absence. Filby makes a remark that they are not above drinking George’s wine. Then
Mrs. Watchett drops the tray on the floor, her face ashen with amazement.
George (Rod Taylor) is leaning against the door, looking very disheveled, with noticeable
cuts and bruises and torn clothes. He is only a few minutes late. Everyone is shocked and
concerned for his welfare, but he insists that he is all right, though he does collapse into a chair
at the table. After taking a long draught of water to quench his thirst, He begins to tell the story
of what happened to him.
The timeline of the film switches to a night five days before, on New Year’s Eve 1899.
While they are sitting in the parlor and smoking cigars, George tells them about his
experiments, how it is easy to move through the 3 spatial dimensions, but man has yet to find
a way to travel through the 4th dimension, Time. George has spent two years working on a
device to enable him to move through time. His friends remain skeptical of his claim. However,
George’s friend Filby (Alan Young) wisely says that all things are possible.
George then asks them to witness a demonstration of a small scale model. He opens a box
on the table and reveals a small machine which he can hold comfortably in his hands: an elegant
little thing consisting of a seat, a control panel with a switch in front, and a rotating disk in back,
surrounded by a brass railing and sled-like skids at its base. He says he has built its larger
counterpart already. He does not explain its technology or principles, but by now his friends
think he might be a little nutty when he tells them how it can move through time.
George borrows a cigar from one of his friends, bends it and puts it in the little model’s
seat to represent a time traveler; then, using one of his friends’ fingers, pushes the switch
forward. The disk on the back starts to rotate, and in a few seconds, there is an odd and furious
rush of wind as the machine fades away and vanishes from sight, leaving only a small spot of
light in its stead. It is gone into the future, never to return.
George’s friends look around for the machine, at first thinking that he had performed a
conjuring trick and the machine is simply somewhere else in the room, but George insists that
it has not moved in space, but forward in time. The machine is still in exactly the same space on
the table, but could now be far into the future when the table or even the entire house might not
exist any more. While George’s friends are discussing what they have seen, George expounds
on his theories and states his intention to take a time trip himself.
His friends are alarmed, wondering if George’s inventing skills might be better put to use
advancing the interests of his home country, Great Britain. One of them says the Boer War is
going badly and the War Office might need some help with something to give them an edge.
George is more pacifist than that and shakes his head, saying the machine is not for use in war.
He exhorts them to think of the amazing things one can learn by being an eyewitness to history
first hand. His more militant friend then says it’s all so silly that he will not be a party to it.
Still pondering what has been demonstrated, George’s friends leave the house, wishing
him a happy new century. George returns inside and discovers that his friend David Filby is
still there. Filby tells him that he is worried about George; he has been behaving oddly and has
changed a lot in the last year. George replies that he is preoccupied with time because he is
unhappy with the time he lives in, with its constant wars and strife.
Filby thinks that George intends to travel to the past and visit some major event in history,
but George says he prefers the future. Filby thinks of all that the machine could do, and implores
George to destroy it because the technology is so dangerous and invites disaster. He then invites
George to come and spend the holiday with him and his family, but George declines, saying
he’d rather spend it alone.
Filby then asks George to promise he won’t leave the house, and George declares that he
won’t even walk out the door. He invites Filby to come and bring the others over for dinner on
the following Friday.
Filby leaves, and George writes the note that would be unsealed five days later. It is close
on 6:30 pm. He wishes Mrs. Watchett a good night and then hurries off to his laboratory to
work.
When he enters it, the full sized time machine is revealed, and the camera pans around its
glorious steampunk design. George inspects it for a short time, and removes a crystal control
lever for a little tinkering; hones its contact point with a lathe and dusts it off before inserting it
into the control mechanism. He lights a candle in the corner, then returns to the machine and
climbs on.
After taking a deep breath and a short moment of hesitation, he turns on the power. The
control panel shows the date, December 31, 1899. He nudges the handle forward slightly, and
the disk behind him begins to rotate rapidly. After a few seconds, he pulls the handle back to
the neutral position and looks around. Nothing seems to have changed, until he notices the
clock in the corner.
It is now after 8 pm, and the candle he had lit is several inches shorter. Checking his watch
in his pocket, he sees that it still shows only a little after 6:30 pm. It had been in the time machine
with him, but time and relative dimensions in space were still in balance. The machine had
formed a sort of forcel field around it; a bubble of time within time.
Emboldened by this, George pushes the control handle forward a little further this time,
and watches time pass around him. The candle burns down quickly and goes out. The hands
on the clock spin around. The sun comes up and moves rapidly across the sky. A snail races
across the floor. Flowers open and close with the daylight. The sun goes down and comes up
again, all in only a few seconds.
He sees people moving rapidly at Filby’s department store across the way and sees the
female mannequin in the window being changed out of one outfit into another. George notes
that he is still traveling slowly and pushes the handle forward a little more, and the time outside
the machine accelerates. Days pass by rapidly while George improves his handling of the
machine. He slows the machine down in the summer of 1900, and as the alternating daylight
and darkness slows, he looks across the street toward the mannequin, which has again been
dressed differently. Bemused by the changing fashions of the seasons, George continues to
watch the clothes on the mannequin change as he continues his journey into the future.
George now sees whole seasons change outside his windows instead of just days and
nights. He is into the 1910s now. Suddenly, the windows board up. George brings the machine
to a stop at September of 1917 and gets out to investigate. His laboratory is now dark, dirty and
filled with cobwebs, and the rest of the house is in the same condition. It has been abandoned
for who knows how long. All the furniture is covered in drop cloths, and these are covered in a
thick layer of dust. All the clocks in the parlor are now silent. A mouse skitters across the floor.
George walks outside after kicking aside the boards covering his door, only to see the that
his front garden is abandoned and neglected, too. The sundial in the front yard has fallen over,
which he rights again. A wooden fence has been erected around the house. A sign on the gate
declares that there should be no trespassing. George goes through it and crosses the street
towards Filby’s store. He is almost run over by an early automobile passing him by, honking as
it goes.
A man wearing a soldier’s uniform emerges from the shop, and George recognizes his
friend Filby! Delighted, George begins to speak to him. When he mentions Filby’s lack of a
moustache, Filby realizes that George has confused him with his father, introducing himself as
James Filby. David Filby had been killed in the war (World War I) which George knows nothing
about. James Filby is an Army captain now and has inherited the store.
George asks James Filby about the house across the street. James tells him that the man
who owned it had disappeared around the turn of the century. As his father was executor of
his estate it was passed into his hands. James explains that his father refused to sell it, thinking
that his friend might return to claim it some day; that the house has acquired a reputation for
being haunted. George is dejected at his friend’s death and realizes he is now out of place. He
thanks James and makes his goodbyes, then returns to his house. He stops to pull some of the
boards off his laboratory window so that he can continue to watch the mannequin in the store
window. Women’s fashions were now his barometer for progress. He climbs back aboard his
machine and surges forward into the future. He watches the mannequin in Filby’s window as
he speeds through the 1920s and 1930s.
Then, in 1940, the room starts to shake and shiver and the laboratory windows break.
Strange sounds penetrate the thick atmosphere. Thinking that the machine might be at fault,
George brings it to a stop in June 1940, only to discover that the disturbance is coming from
outside. There are airplanes dropping bombs, anti-aircraft guns shooting at them and fires
burning in the distance. Barrage balloons occupy the sky. Suddenly he realizes that this is a new
war, and with some chagrin presses on into the future to see how it goes.
Shortly afterward, a bomb destroys his laboratory. It catches fire and disappears around
him, leaving him and his machine out in the open. He continues forward through the 1950s and
watches as construction workers build a new boxlike building, modern in design. The fashions
on the mannequin in the window continue to change. (At this point, we wonder how the shop
has somehow managed to survive two world wars relatively unscathed.) The skirtlines become
shorter, the fashions more streamlined. At one point the mannequin is even shown wearing a
pantsuit.
Then George hears a strange sound and brings the machine to a stop once more, this time
in August of 1966.
The sounds are air raid sirens but he does not know that. He gets out of the machine and
looks around. The ground that his house once stood on now looks like an urban park. Men and
women walk through it in a hurry, urged by men in uniforms to get into the air raid shelters.
He looks out at the street, seeing many skyscrapers in the distance, and Filby’s store has
expanded to fill a whole city block. Baffled by the commotion, George reads a plaque he finds
in the park: “This park is dedicated by James Filby to his father’s devotion for his friend George.” George
is naturally flattered at his old friend’s faith in him, and his son’s; and silently thanks Filby for
that.
The sirens stop. Just then, an aged James Filby wearing a silvery uniform walks out of the
store in a hurry, on his way to a shelter. George stops him to talk; he is extremely impressed by
the growth of the store and the whole city, while James just wants to get into the shelter as
quickly as possible “before the mushroom clouds appear”, another phrase George does not
understand. He tries to get George moving, and suddenly realizes that the man looks familiar.
George informs him that he talked to him in the same place, in front of the store, back in 1917 49 years earlier. James now recognizes him as the same man but how could he possibly have
not changed in such a long time?
Their talk is cut short when the air raid sirens go on again. James points to the sky and says
there is no more time to waste, then hurries off to the shelter.
George lingers outside, bewildered, starts to walk back to his time machine, and has just
managed to start it up again when the bomb goes off. George is now far enough away in time
to avoid instant incineration, but the buildings around him burst into flame and fall apart as he
watches. London town, built brick by brick over two thousand years, is obliterated in seconds.
The explosion is strong enough to cause a seismic disturbance, and a volcano erupts. Lava
flows down the street, enveloping anything in its path. George escapes into the future before
the lava can reach him and becomes encased in a bubble of molten rock. The lava cools around
the time machine rapidly (in relative time), forming a solid casing of stone and sealing him in.
George speeds into the future in the dark, waiting for erosion or other natural forces to
wear the rock away. He shivers with sudden cold, then gasps at the terrible heat, as the years
pass him by. Then, thousands of years into the future, the rock erodes and breaks down. George
is once more out in the open, but the bleak, desolate landscape offers no clue that a city had
ever stood there. He watches trees grow around him until he is surrounded by a verdant
garden. Then he sees new buildings going up, but they are far in the distance and appear more
advanced than the ones he had left behind. As he speeds forward in time he watches a dome
and a tower being built and then fall again into disrepair and ruin.
Curious to see more George stops the machine on October 12, 802,701. But he stops the
machine too fast, and the angular momentum from the braking causes the machine to spin
around and fall over. Shaken but unhurt, George gets out, rights it, then sets out to explore his
new future. Ever cautious, he removes the crystal control handle from his time machine and
takes it with him.
There is a large stone building behind him; what looks like the bronze base of a large statue
which looks like a woman’s face; stern and enigmatic like a sphinx. There are two metal doors
like garage panels set in it. George knocks on them (they sound like gongs) but no one answers,
and he cannot open them.
He wanders around in what looks like virgin forest. The trees are laden with large fruits
and berries as well as flowers of unknown origin, and he speculates to himself how the forest
came to be there in its sculptured state. But there is no one to greet him, friendly or hostile.
George wonders what has happened to everyone. Has humankind gone extinct, and what new
animals are there to stalk him in the dark? Then he begins to feel as if someone is watching him
but he does not know who or what.
After passing through the forest, he finds the dome he saw earlier. It is neglected and
almost in ruins. Curious, he enters and finds fresh, clean dishes on round low tables Morrocan
style, but there are no people there. He calls out several times before he gives up and returns to
the forest. George begins to despair of finding anyone alive, but then he hears voices in the
distance and heads toward them.
He comes across a group of young people in a clearing by a river. All of them are blonds,
dressed in plain and featureless short togas of pastel colors. They are laughing and playing
together like children, and George thinks at first that this is the future he had hoped for: a world
where war, work, and hardship have been left in the past.
Then he hears a scream and spots a woman struggling in the river. She is unable to fight
the swift current and appears to be in imminent danger of drowning, yet none of the other
people do anything to help. They just watch as she clutches desperately at the rocks to avoid
being swept downstream. George runs into the clearing and urges them to take action, but they
still do nothing. He then removes his coat and dives into the river to rescue the woman himself.
When he has drawn her from the water, he takes his coat and places it over her shoulders. At
first she is despondent. Then, as if nothing happened, she slowly stands up and strolls away.
Puzzled, George follows the young people as they enter the dome, then sits down on the
steps outside. The young woman enters the scene and silently hands him his smoking jacket.
Then she asks why he saved her from drowning. He finds that a curious question, and invites
her to sit down.
Through his questions and her answers, George finds out that her name is Weena and her
people are called the Eloi. Her people have no knowledge of reading and writing. He then asks
her if there is anyone older who might have the answers to his qustions. She replies, “there is
no one older.” Weena then looks up and tells him it is growing dark and to come inside the
dome. He insists that he must return to his machine, but she says it is dangerous to be out after
dark.
Reluctantly, he follows her into the dome, where he finds the Eloi eating and drinking
together. The tables now hold bowls filled with all sorts of food, with pitchers full of liquids.
He and Weena find their way to one table where they sit down. At first, he tries to communicate.
He starts to introduce himself to them, talks about how he has come a long way and would like
to know something about their culture. He remarks that a giant berry he holds in his hand
would be a marvel back in his time, and asks about its cultivation.
One of the men shrugs and replies that the fruit just grows. Taken aback by this, George
remarks that curiosity and courtesy may have died, but he insists that questions are a path to
learning and that he returns home there would be questions asked of him. He then asks if there
is someone in charge to talk to, and if there is any system of government, with laws or rules.
“Laws? There are no laws,” the young man replies. He appears to look like George’s old friend
Filby, and adds, “you ask many questions.”
George then has an idea, and asks if they have any books; that books will tell him what he
needs to know. One of the others says, “books? Yes, we have books.” George then insists on
being shown where they are. The young man shrugs and then leads him elsewhere.
When they arrive in what looks like a museum, the young man shows him what books
they have. They are few, printed and bound, hidden behind a curtain which falls off its rod too
easily, and one can tell they have been on the shelves for centuries. George picks one up and
opens it. The book crumbles apart in this hands and falls to dust. George then sweeps through
the collection with his hand and finds they are all in the same condition. In that instant he
realizes that this culture has lost all appreciation for learning.
He is now incensed and declares that centuries of mankind have died and fought so that
future generations can live and play forever. (An odd conclusion to reach since that is what he
has been looking for all along, but I digress.) Then he marches out.
When he gets back to the dome he angrily declares that he is returning to his own time and
that he will not bother to tell the world what he has learned. As he leaves, Weena tries to stop
him, insisting again that it is dangerous to go out after dark. More gently, George tells her that
he must return to his machine, then walks away. Weena lingers on the stairs, then goes back
inside and closes the door.
As George makes his way back to his machine, he gets the strange sensation of being
watched again. He hurries back to the sphinx where he left it and discovers to his horror that
the machine is gone! Dirt tracks and footprints lead up to the closed panels in the building.
Someone has taken the machine inside. George is now trapped in the future. He picks up a rock
and pounds on the doors with it, but the rock breaks apart and they do not budge.
Now he is desperate. Looking for another way in, George walks around the building and
sees something moving in the bushes. Something with glowing yellow eyes retreats when he
lights a match. Then he sees another shape moving around nearby, and when he grabs for it he
discovers that Weena has followed him. George asks Weena how to get inside the building
behind them, and she says no one can get inside except the Morlocks. She finally explains that
the Morlocks provide the Eloi with their food and clothing, and the Eloi must obey their
commands.
This casts new light on the strange situation George is in. He and Weena gather wood to
light a fire and keep the dark at arm’s length.
Weena asks him where he comes from, which means she is blessed with curiosity at least.
While George is busy explaining where his house and laboratory stood, she is grabbed by
something in the dark and dragged screaming into the brush. George reaches in and fights it
off. It lets go of her and disappears into the night. He asks if that is a Morlock and she nods yes.
Then she sits down as if all her strength has left her.
They have enough wood to start a good sized fire. George uses some dry brush for
kindling. While the flames come up and banish the night, Weena puts out her hand toward the
fire. George snatches her hand away before it is burned and asks her why she does that.
Apparently the Eloi have no knowledge of fire. Then he realizes that the Eloi are now like early
man, living the lives of hominids before the use of fire.
He apologizes to Weena for jumping to conclusions about her people. He asks if they ever
think about the past; she responds, “there is no past.” Then he asks the same about the future.
She replies, “there is no future.” Somehow in their ignorance the Eloi have achieved either
perfect Nirvanic bliss or a pronounced sense of fatalism.
But there now is a dark aspect to their lives. He asks if there is someone older he can talk
to about the Eloi, but she says, “there is no one older.” True, up to now all he had seen was a
crowd of very young people, from child to very young adult; but no one with any gray hair.
Weena tells him that all who are older are gathered to work for the Morlocks but never return.
He says he will do all he can to help her people get free of the Morlocks if they pose a danger,
but the best way he can is to get into that sphinx. He will try again in the morning.
In the light of day, George still cannot open the doors to the bronze building. He reasons
that there must be some other way in. While he and Weena are wandering he hears a faint noise
of machinery. Curious, he follows the sound and discovers a field of what looks like ventilation
ports covering the ground. He can hear machines pounding away in the darkness below. He
asks Weena about them. She says she only knows about them because the talking rings told her.
He echoes her and she replies “rings that talk.”
George asks her to show him the rings, and Weena leads him back to the museum. There
he finds a table with some metal rings laying on it and asks her for a demonstration. Weena
spins a ring on the tabletop, which glows as the ring spins on edge and a voice begins to speak
- apparently, this is one of man’s many later technologies that had been developed and then
forgotten. The voices which emerge are recorded journal entries.
The first ring speaks of the end of a war, which had ended after 326 years of conflict only
because so many people had died that there were not enough left to fight and nothing left worth
fighting for. Pollution was rapidly killing off the survivors. As the ring slows down it falls over
and the table stops glowing.
George spins another ring, and this recorded voice says he is one of the last people to
remember a past. The speaker says that some of the few stragglers left over from the war have
gone underground to survive, while others have remained on the surface to take their chances
in the sunlight. George guesses that those who moved underground became the Morlocks,
while the Eloi were the surface dwellers. George is now educated about his future dystopia and
knows that if he does not do something to help the Eloi they will eventually die out.
He decides to return to the field and try to climb down one of the ports. Weena trails after
him. As he approaches one of the ports he peers down into it and finds that it is blocked part
way. There is an old rusty ladder leading down into darkness. Weena suddenly becomes fearful
again and tells him not to go down, but George assures her it will be all right and climbs in.
Weena produces a small flower and gives it to him. George smile up at her, tucks it into his shirt
pocket and begins his descent.
As he makes his way down the wailing sound of the air raid sirens from past wars fills the
air. Weena suddenly turns and walks away from the port. George hears the sound, looks up
and sees that she is gone. He climbs back out only to see her wandering away toward the source
to disappear among the trees. Now he sees that others are being drawn toward the sphinx.
Hundreds of Eloi walk out of the dome. They are all in some kind of trance.
George realizes that they have all been conditioned to respond to the siren. He cannot get
their attention, and he cannot find Weena among the crowd. He sees a young woman and grabs
her, mistaking her for Weena by her pink dress, but she just looks blankly at him and continues
walking. He follows the crowd, calling for Weena all the way.
He sees that the metal doors to the bronze sphinx are wide open and the Eloi are walking
through them into the building, Weena among them. George runs forward toward it, clamping
his hands to his ears to shut out the sound. But as quickly as they started the sirens go silent,
the speaker rods drop back into the building, and the metal doors close just as he reaches them.
Weena is now inside and George is left out. The Eloi around him come out of their trance as if
by magic.
George tells them that they do not have to follow the sirens; they don’t have to go
underground. There are no more wars, no danger from bombs and planes. George’s Filby
lookalike says the rings have told them that story, but there is nothing to fear, it is “all clear.”
Apparently, the need to evacuate to air raid shelters has been turned into a convenient culling
device for the Morlocks, who would select a number of Eloi to work in their underground
complex and leave the rest to roam free like cattle.
The Eloi then start to wander away again, but George asks them about the Eloi who are
inside. The young man replies that “they won’t be back; no one ever comes back.” George insists
that they have to try and get them out but is met again with typical Eloi apathy.
Frustrated and determined to save Weena, George returns alone to the ventilation port and
climbs down it. Now stirred by primitive curiosity, the Eloi on the surface gather around it and
watch him as he descends into the darkness below.
George makes it down to the first underground level. The place looks like a steam powered
plant of some kind. It is dark and dank just the way the Morlocks apparently like it. He
remembers the way the ones outside had reacted. He looks around and finds some wood for a
torch, then explores a bit more before lighting it. The Morlocks apparently know he is there but
stay clear for the moment.
He then enters one of the chambers and finds the source of his worst fears. There are skulls
and bones everywhere; in the plates, in bowls, on the floor... of Eloi. The Morlocks have
descended into cannibalism, while the Eloi have become their food.
Repulsed, George retreats toward the main underground chamber and sees a Morlock
driving a group of entranced Eloi down a ramp toward the ground floor using a whip to lash
them forward. Weena is among them.He bounds forward and grabs her, waking her from her
trance. The other young man he had met awakens on his own and follows them.
As George reveals himself the Morlock tries to whip him and he responds with violence.
George wrestles the whip out of the Morlock’s hand and uses it to repell the Morlocks, while
other Morlocks attack and drive George and the hapless Eloi toward one of the dining rooms.
Then, recalling the Morlocks’ fear of fire, George lights a match and the Morlocks retreat, but
the match goes out soon and they advance again.
One of the Morlocks tackles him while he is fumbling with the matches. George fights him
off and goes over to where the unlit torch has landed. He tries to light it, but he’s running out
of matches and it won’t catch. Weena runs to him; he asks her for something to help him light
the torch. She gives him a piece of cloth torn from her dress. George puts it on the end of the
stick and lights it. Now he has some fire to keep the Morlocks at bay.
He tells the Eloi to start moving towards the ramp, but the torch is knocked away and he
is reduced to fighting hard with his fists. Weena picks up the torch, but she is grabbed by a
Morlock. George saves her once again, punching the Morlock repeatedly. Another Morlock
charges him and this time seems to get the upper hand.
The young male Eloi guide makes a fist for the first time in his life and imitates George,
pounds the Morlock on the back of his neck and knocks him out. The Morlock goes down hard.
George thanks the Eloi with a smile and a pat on the shoulder for his bravery.
George sees the torch guttering and there are still more Morlocks coming. He grabs it and
sends the remaining Eloi up the stairs. By now, the Eloi are fighting for their own survival.
George follows them, protecting their rear. The Morlocks try to pursue them but the fire drives
them back. On his way up the stairs, George passes a conduit filled with a flammable liquid and
lights it with the torch. The Eloi find more Morlocks blocking their path going up the stairs, but
they are able to knock them off the stairs into the fire. Soon the flames spread to the machines
on the floor.
The Eloi reach the bottom of the ladder and begin to climb out of the port. When George
gets out he tells them to gather up more dead branches and drop them down into all the portals,
adding fuel to the fire. There is a secondary explosion and one of the ports collapses. George
and the Eloi then run to the safety of the river as more explosions underground ensue and the
entire chamber and the ground on top collapses into the sinkhole.
The Morlock underworld has been destroyed, but so too has the idle lifestyle the Eloi led
as livestock. Yet George is still trapped in this time. He talks to Weena, and she asks him if he
is unhappy that he has to stay. He says he wants to return home and tell his own people what
he has learned, but realizes that he doesn’t fit in there, either. Then she asks him to tell her about
his time. She smiles at his descriptions, and when she asks about the women of his time George
tells her that there are many kinds of women there, but the one he knows best is his
housekeeper, who is old and wrinkled. She laughs. Then she asks him about the fashions. She
is the first Eloi to express any real interest in the past. This is encouraging to George, who by
now thinks Weena intelligent and personable. He talks about the clothes and hair, and that the
women used to put their hair up. She asks, “up? Up how?”
He shows her, and there follows a tender moment of romantic conversation. He says he
would like to show her the world of his time, because he certainly does not belong in the future.
Their chat is interrupted by other Eloi who race into the clearing. One points to draw their
attention toward the sphinx. It is in flames, and now the doors are standing wide open. The
time machine is parked just inside. George is overcome with joy, runs to the machine and calls
for Weena to join him, intending to take her with him into the past. But she hesitates and does
not follow him.
Once George is inside, the doors close again suddenly and he can’t open them. Worse, a
few surviving Morlocks have escaped the fire and want to stop him from using the machine.
George must beat off the remaining Morlocks and kills one even as he gets the machine started.
He goes forward into the future as the dead Morlock on the floor rots to a skeleton. Realizing
that he has gone too far, George reverses direction, sending the time machine hurtling back into
the past.
He is exhausted and leans back tiredly as his machine passes rapidly backwards through
thousands of years of history. He slows the machine down as it finally reaches the early
twentieth century, finally bringing it to a stop on January 5, 1900, the night he invited his friends
over to dinner.
Cut back to the present. He’s back when he started, only he and his machine are now
outside in the garden. He has to break into the house just as a distant clock tower chimes 8 pm.
Battered and bruised from his fight with the Morlocks, he stumbles into the house to meet his
guests, no longer concerned with appearance or convention.
After he has finished telling them his amazing story, his friends still don’t believe him. One
of them says it is a great story if it can be believed. George doesn’t know how to make them
understand that it is all true. Then he reaches into his pocket and finds the flower that Weena
gave him. Handing it to David Filby, he challenges him to match it to any species known in the
present day. A superior amateur botanist, Filby is stumped.
His friends get ready to leave, telling George to get some rest as he appears exhausted. As
before, Filby lingers to talk to him before he leaves. George says, “goodbye, David. Thank you
for being such a good friend.” The words sound so final. Puzzled, Filby follows the other men
to their carriage. Filby talks to them and says he almost believes the story himself. Still… he
holds up the flower. Then as the carriage drives off, Filby thinks to return to the house and
check on George.
Meanwhile, George is dragging the time machine through the snow back into the
laboratory.
As Filby enters the house and looks for George, he hears the time machine revving up. He
reaches the lab with Mrs. Watchett just in time to see George’s machine disappear, bound for
the future once more. Filby sees the open doors to the garden and the tracks made by the time
machine’s brass skids on the floor. He realizes with amazement that George’s story is true as
the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
Filby explains to Mrs. Watchett that when George had returned home, it appeared in the
garden, but this was only because the Morlocks had moved it into their building in the far
future. The patch of ground occupied by the laboratory would be just outside the sphinx.
George had dragged the machine back to its original location so that when he returned to the
future, he would be on the other side of the doors, and the last place where Weena would be
standing. (There has been a long standing joke about this but I won’t cheapen the scene with it.)
Filby and Mrs. Watchett return to the parlor. Filby says that George would probably have
taken something with him if he intended to help the Eloi rebuild human civilisation. Three
books are now missing from George’s library, but they cannot guess which ones. Mrs. Watchett
wonders if George will ever return, but Filby replies that George has, quite literally, all the time
in the world. He bids her goodnight and leaves, adjusting hs muffler against the cold, as Mrs.
Watchett turns out the lights in the house. END
Analysis and Additional Notes: This is another one of my favorites. Not only was it well crafted
as a screenplay, it contained all the expected elements of action and adventure with a little
dollop of romance. The pairing of Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieu was stellar and the chemistry
between them was wonderful. And the grand addition of Alan Young as George’s link between
the past and the future shows a rare range in a relatively young actor. As David/James/Eloi
Filby, Young’s presence remained an anchor to the whole plot throughout.
What has made this film especially memorable was the design of the Time Machine itself.
It was beautiful and exquisitely crafted, and while we know nothing about the quantum physics
behind its workings, like Dr. Who’s TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space), its
functioning is left entirely up to the suspension of disbelief as the audience is led on an amazing
journey through future history. And what a future is displayed before us.
We see that George’s vision of a highly advanced world where the people are happy and
carefree is undershadowed by a menacing descent into the basest parts of the most primitive of
societies. Even the idea of the bronze sphinx, which looms over a lush and verdant garden
setting, brings the truth into a sharp focus almost right away. The only law here is that which
man sees fit to follow, and the division between classes is sharply defined at the edge of night.
Following the odd clarity of the director’s vision there are no minorities among the Eloi.
One could reason that in the far flung future all races have now interbred to the extent that they
have factually erased the color barrier. But the idea that all the Eloi are blond and fair haired,
while the Morlocks are troglodytes with catlike glowing eyes, brings the idea of discrimination
on the basis of choice into the forefront. Others have seen another symbolism at work in the
screenplay: that those with the power to rule have seen fit to use a religious subtext in their
manipulation of it. The bronze sphinx is a reminder to all of the analogy to the garden of Eden,
where George is made into the cursed and hapless serpent who comes into the garden and
destroys the Eloi’s innocence. Luckily, he opens their eyes to the truth before they are
swallowed up in an orgy of blood sacrifice.
The only thing I could say about the pacing of the film is that I wished George could have
taken the machine to the farthest forward reaches in time like in the original novel, when a few
crustaceans are there to greet him against the panorama of a giant red sun and a calm dead sea,
but as the screenplay would have it he is already determined to go home to his own time.
And about those three books: I would have taken an Oxford English dictionary, a copy of
How Things Work and the Principia Mathematica. Everything else would have been superfluous.
George would certainly not have taken any religious texts, nor any history books. He has
already said goodbye to the past.
About the book: The Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in
1895 and later adapted into two feature films of the same name as well as two television
versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It directly and indirectly inspired
many more works of fiction. The story is generally credited with the popularisation of the
concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel safely through that
dimension. The term “time machine”, coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to any
such vehicle.
Wells had considered the notion of time travel before, in an earlier work titled The Chronic
Argonauts. This short story was published in his college’s newspaper and was the foundation
for The Time Machine. Wells frequently stated that The Chronic Argonauts highly reflects what
was written in the novella. He had thought of using some of this material in a series of articles
for the Pall Mall Gazette, until the publisher asked him if he could instead write a serial novel
on the same theme; Wells readily agreed, and was paid £100 (equal to about £9,000 today) on
its publication by Heinemann House in 1895.
The story was first published in serial form in the January to May issues of William Ernest
Henley’s New Review. The first book edition, possibly prepared from a different manuscript,
was published in New York by Henry Holt and Company on May 7, 1895. An English edition
was published by Heinemann on May 29. These two editions are different in textual context,
and are commonly referred to as the “Holt text” and “Heinemann text” respectively. Nearly all
modern reprints reproduce the Heinemann text.
The story reflects Wells’s own socialist political views, his view on life and abundance, and
the contemporary angst about industrial relations as they were interpreted by the military. It is
also influenced by Ray Lankester’s theories about social degeneration. Other science fiction
works of the period, including Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward and the later Metropolis,
dealt with similar themes. A section from the 7th chapter of the serial published in New Review
(May, 1895) was deleted from the book. It was drafted at the suggestion of Wells’s editor, who
wanted Wells to oblige him by lengthening the text with an illustration of “the ultimate
degeneracy” of man.
“There was a slight struggle,” Wells later recalled, “between the writer and W. E. Henley
who wanted to put a little ‘writing’ into the tale. But the writer was in reaction from that sort of
thing, the Henley interpolations were cut out again, and he had his own way with his text.”
This portion of the story was published elsewhere as “The Grey Man”. The deleted text was
also published by Forrest J Ackerman in an issue of the American edition of Perry Rhodan.
The deleted text recounts an incident immediately after the Traveler’s escape from the
Morlocks. He finds himself in the distant future of an unrecognisable Earth, populated with
furry, hopping herbivores. He stuns or kills one with a rock, and upon closer examination
realises they are probably the descendants of humans. A gigantic arthropod is all that is left of
any predator. It approaches the Traveler, who flees into the next day, finding later that the
creature has apparently eaten the tiny humanoid. The Easton Press edition of the novel restored
this deleted segment to the complete work.
Significant scholarly commentary on The Time Machine began from the early 1960s,
contained in various broad studies of Wells’s early novels and studies of utopias and dystopias
in science fiction. Much important critical and textual work was done in the 1970s, including
the tracing of the very complex publication history of the text, its drafts and unpublished
fragments. A further resurgence in scholarship came around the time of the novel’s centenary
in 1995. A major outcome of this was the 1995 conference and substantial anthology of academic
papers, which is collected in print as “H.G. Wells’s Perennial Time Machine: Selected Essays
from the Centenary Conference”, in The Time Machine: Past, Present, and Future (University of
Georgia Press, 2001). This publication then allowed for the development of a study guide meant
for advanced academics at Masters and PhD level, titled H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine: A
Reference Guide (Praeger, 2004).
The scholarly journal The Wellsian has also published around 20 articles on The Time
Machine, and the new US academic journal devoted to H.G. Wells, The Undying Fire, has
published three additional articles since its inception in 2002.
Although the Time Traveler’s real name is never given in the original novel. One popular
theory, encouraged by movies like Time After Time and certain episodes of the hit show Lois and
Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, is that the Time Traveler is meant to be none other than
H. G. Wells himself. Indeed, in the George Pal movie adaptation of The Time Machine, his name
is given as George, which was H. G. Wells’s middle name. Due to the clarity of the DVD image,
‘Created by H. George Wells’ can be seen as a plaque on the control panel of the device, allowing
the audience to know the character is Wells himself. Many other names have been attached to
the Time Traveler which apparently run far afield of the intentional character.
And now in 2005 the television series Warehouse 13 has identified Wells as really his half
sister, Helen, who wrote the novels herself and then published under her brother’s name;
thereby furthering H.G.’s vaunted reputation as a supporter of women’s rights even more. I
have no doubt that by now Wells is giggling happily in his grave about his name being spread
liberally like peanut butter across the bread of literate immortality.
Adaptations: The first visual adaptation of the book was a live teleplay broadcast by the
BBC from Alexandra Palace on January 25 of 1949; which starred Russell Napier as the Time
Traveler and Mary Donn as Weena. No recording of this live broadcast was made; the only
remains of the production is the script and a few black and white still photographs. A reading
of the script, however, suggests that this teleplay remained fairly faithful to the book.
The CBS radio anthology Escape adapted The Time Machine twice, in 1948 starring Jeff
Corey, and again in 1950 starring John Dehner. In both episodes a script adapted by Irving
Ravetch was used. The Time Traveler was named “Dudley” and was accompanied by his
sceptical friend Fowler as they travelled together to the year 100,080 AD.
Classics Illustrated was the first to adapt The Time Machine into a comic book format,
issuing an American edition in July 1956. This adapation faithfully abridges the original, but
adds one additional destination to the Time Traveler’s adventure. Before returning home to his
own time, the Time Traveler stops the machine 300 years in the future of 702,801. The Classics
Illustrated version was published in French by Classiques Illustres in Dec 1957, Classics
Illustrated Strato Publications (Australian) in 1957, and Kuvitettuja Klassikkoja (a Finnish
edition) in November 1957. There were also Classics Illustrated Greek editions in 1976, Swedish
in 1987, German in 1992 and 2001, and a Canadian reprint of the English edition in 2008.
Finally, in 1979 Marvel Comics published a new version of The Time Machine as No.2 in
their Marvel Classic Comics series, with art by Alex Niño. From April to June 1990 Eternity
Comics published a 3 issue miniseries adaptation of The Time Machine, written by Bill Spangler
and illustrated by John Ross - this later appeared as a collected trade paperback graphic novel
in 1991.
In conclusion, I would like to note that The Time Machine may indeed have played a role in
the development of the BBC series Dr. Who, whose first episode premiered in 1963; featuring an
irascible yet enigmatic scientist who travels in a blue police box which is way bigger on the
inside (or smaller on the outside), and has many adventures with a variety of young
companions, most of them female. That series continues to this day with the most fantastic and
thought provoking stories; and those episodes have led to a series of novels and other items,
along with several spin off series. Now in its 52nd year, it shows no signs of slowing down.
ATRAGON (1963); also Atoragon and Katei Gunkan
Directed by Ishirō Honda
Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by Shunrō Oshikawa (novel), Shigeru Komatsuzaki (story), Shinichi Sekizawa
Music by Akira Ifukube
Cinematography by Hajime Koizumi
Distributed by Toei Pictures, Toho AIP; release dates: Japan December 22, 1963, US March 11,
1965 (dubbed); Running time 96 min.
Cast:
Tadao Takashima as Susumu Hatanaka, Photographer
Yōko Fujiyama as Makoto Jinguji, daughter of Captain Jinguji
Yu Fujiki as Yoshito Nishibe, Assistant Photographer
Ken Uehara as Rear Admiral Kusumi (Ret.), Kokoku Shipping Company
Jun Tazaki as Captain Hachiro Jinguji, Imperial Japanese Navy
Kenji Sahara as Umino, Journalist/Mu Agent
Hiroshi Koizumi as Detective Ito, Tokyo Metropolitan Police
Yoshifumi Tajima as Seaman Saburo Amano
Hiroshi Hasegawa as Lieutenant Junior-grade Fuji
Akihiko Hirata as Mu Agent #23
Tetsuko Kobayashi as Empress of Mu
Hideyo Amamoto as the High Priest of Mu
and a cast of many more; the Japanese keep very thorough and meticulous records. Domo
arigato.
Plot: The legendary empire of the lost continent of Mu has reappeared to threaten the world
with its mandate for global domination, demonstrated with a broadcast message heard the
world over through the medium of radio and television. Naturally, the UN is concerned, and
the Japanese embassy assures them that whatever can be done to deter this menace will be. But
the first attack by the Mu empire is on Tokyo, where a massive earthquake is deliberately caused
by Mu engineers. The damages sustained by the great city are many, and the government is
stunned by the ease with which the enemy has dealt a great blow to its military forces without
firing a single shot.
Over time, we see that many other major cities of the world are also attacked using the
forces of nature. Eventually the world body must unite to resist this new conquering empire.
The Americans and the Japanes form a reluctant team and gather their forces and technologies
to find a way to neutralize the enemy before they are forced to surrender.
While discussing the problem, one of the Japanese generals reluctantly reveals that he
knows of a man who may have the answer: a hero of World War II and a submarine captain of
the Imperial Navy known as Captain Hachiro Jinguji; who is also a reknowned engineer and
scientist. Jinguji has been living and working in isolation developing the the greatest warship
ever seen, and possibly the surface world's only defense against the Mu Empire.
The Americans are excited; when might they meet with this famous captain? The general
replies that it will be difficult. Captain Jinguji has become something of a hermit who shies from
the limelight. He does not even know if the man is alive. It will take time to find him and arrange
a meeting. The congress then adjourns to await good news.
While on a magazine photo shoot one night, photographers Susumu and Yoshito see a car
drive straight into the ocean. They go to the beach but find nothing. The next day, while
speaking with a detective on the scene they spot Makoto Jinguji, daughter of the deceased
Imperial Captain Jinguji, who is also being followed by a suspicious character. Her father's
former superior, retired Rear Admiral Kusumi, is confronted by a peculiar reporter and
paparazzo who claims contrarily that Captain Jinguji is not only alive, he is hard at work on a
new submarine project. Kusumi puts him off by saying that he knows nothing of the affair and
that if he reveals anything else he will be arrested.
The threads meet when a mysterious taxi driver almost abducts Makoto and the Admiral,
claiming to be an agent of the long drowned Mu Empire. Foiled by the pursuing photographers,
he flees into the ocean. This explains the car entering the ocean in the previous night. By now,
the reporters are attached at the hip to the Admiral and the Captain’s daughter, hoping to get
the big story.
When they visit the detective to follow up on their report, a packaged inscribed "MU"
arrives for the Admiral. Contained within it is a film depicting the thriving undersea continent,
lit by its own geothermal "sun" and other wonders of advanced technologies at its command.
The message demands that the surface world should capitulate and become a subject of the Mu
Empire; and orders him to prevent Jinguji from completing his submarine Atragon or be
subjugated by a terrible force. It further states that if the rest of the world does not surrender,
the Mu Empire will destroy it utterly and rebuild on its ashes.
The UN realizes that Atragon may be the world's only defense against this new threat and
formally requests that Admiral Kosumi appeal to Jinguji’s sense of fairness and loyalty to his
country. Concurrently, Makoto's stalker is arrested and discovered to be a naval officer serving
under Jinguji. He agrees to lead the party to Jinguji's base but refuses to disclose its location.
After several days of travel by sea, the party find themselves approaching a tropical island
inhabited only by Jinguji's forces and enclosing a vast underground dock.
They are treated to a cold and formal reception by Jinguji’s lieutenant and are told they
must wait. Eventually, Captain Jinguji greets the visitors with a grim face. He is cold toward his
daughter’s involvement and infuriated by Kusumi's appeal to use his masterpiece of
engineering to save the world. He built Atragon, he explains, as a means to restore the Japanese
Empire to its former glory after its defeat in World War II, and insists that it be used for no other
purpose. Makoto talks back to him and runs off in anger, later to be consoled by Susumu.
Through this, Susumu declares that his interest in her runs to more than just the story.
Despite the news that the situation is dire, Jinguji remains stubbornly determined to test
out Atragon for his own purposes, and invites the delegation to watch from the safety of a
viewing balcony. They are amazed as the heavily armored submarine not only sails effortlessly
from its dock into the ocean depths, it also elevates itself like a flying machine and soars upward
to fly about the island like a dirigible. Jinguji proudly declares the test to be a success as his
guests are amazed with his accomplishment.
Later that evening, Makoto and Susumu go to her father and exchange harsh words with
him. Susumu tries to appeal with Jinguji for aid; reproaching him for selfishly ignoring an order
from his government. Admiral Kusumi adds his own input to the conversation. He has never
seen a man so driven by his own selfishness. The world is in danger, and yet Jinguji dreams of
recreating an empire which is long dead, just as the Mu Empire has declared it will do. This last
statement seems to turn Jinguji on a dime as he considers what will happen if the Mu Empire
attains its goal. Reluctant to discuss it further, he says he alone will consider what to do next.
Then, during a quiet and mysteriously silent night, the reporter with them turns out to be
a disguised agent of the Mu Empire, who kidnaps Makoto and Shindo and takes them to his
leaders, while the undersea base is rocked by explosions, damaging most of it and burying
Atragon beneath a shower of heavy debris. The devastation is terrible to Jinguji, made even more
terrible by the discovery that his daughter has been kidnapped. Again with great reluctance,
Jinguji finally consents to Admiral Kusumi's request and prepares Atragon for war.
After the engineers clear some of the lighter debris from the entrance to the undersea base,
they declare that there is no way to escape. Jinjuji is not deterred. Atragon powers up, revealing
that its nose is a fitted mining probe. As the probe begins to rotate, Atragon tears itself loose
from the wreckage, tosses aside the debris on its hull and drills its way through the bay doors;
elevates itself from the sea once again, and wings its way toward the shores of Japan.
Submarines sent by the Mu Empire surface and try to shoot the warbird down, but are frozen
by the Atragon’s secret weapon: its “Absolute Zero Cannon”, which can freeze anything.
As a response to this new threat to their aims, the Mu Empire executes a devastating attack
on Tokyo, and threatens to sacrifice its prisoners to the monstrous deity Manda if Atragon
appears to defend Japan. The Mu Empress’s vizier, a priest of the temple of Manda, begins a
ritual to carry out his aims.
Atragon appears like a ghost beneath the surface of the ocean and pursues a Mu submarine
to the Empire's entrance. We see her torpedoes make short work of the both the submarine and
the gates to the undersea city.
Meanwhile, Susumu and the other prisoners captured by the Mu escape their cell and
kidnap the Empress of Mu, who is a hard woman to reason with. They force her to go with them
as they fight their way out of the dungeon but their egress is impeded by Manda, Mu’s resident
god and a giant sea dragon, but are soon rescued by Atragon, which freezes it using the
"Absolute Zero Cannon”.
Once aboard, the Empress is introduced to Jinguji, who offers to hear her terms of
surrender, but the proud Empress refuses him. Jinguji orders Atragon into the heart of the
Empire’s power plant and freezes its geothermal machinery. This results in a cataclysmic
explosion, visible even to those on deck of the surfaced submarine, which destroys the Empire
and collapses it into an enormous undersea cavern.
The Mu Empress sees that the situation is hopeless, breaks away from her captors, jumps
from Atragon’s top deck and swims into the conflagration. Susumu wonders why they don’t
stop her, but Jinguji declares that she has made her choice: to die with the rest of her people.
END
Analysis and Additional Notes: The first time I saw this film it was at a science fiction
convention in 1969 or 1970. I was amazed at the sophisticated treatment of the film. Though it
was in straight Japanese and subtitled in English, I was mesmerized. It was also in brilliant
color, reminding me of the power of color to tell a story. I had seen Godzilla (1954) in black and
white; it was terrifying but could also have been more influential if it was made in color. But
this was something new, proving once again the Japanese could embrace new ideas and
technologies as if they were made for it.
The idea of a submarine which could fly was not new, having been “invented” in Great
Britain through other science fiction books; but the idea that an atomic powered submarine
which had so many amazing technologies at its command was something I did not think was
possible until I saw this film. This was superior science fantasy. I had been used to watching
monster films like Godzilla, Mothra and Gamera; and many other entertainment films involving
mysterious substances and the use of electomagnetic power by a modern military, space
invasions by strange and ridiculous aliens, and so on. But this was drama, science fiction and
serious Japanese theater at the same time.
This film also had a great subplot at its base: the idea of imperial dominance and the fight
for freedom; that nations should ally themselves to a common cause to defeat what appears at
first to be an undefeatable foe. (This theme is repeated in Star Wars.)
The Japanese retain predominence in the film because it’s their city being destroyed first
after all. They are somewhat culture centric when it comes to preserving traditions long lost
during the war, but this is tempered by the idea that cooperation to achieve a goal is not
impossible, even among nations who had once been enemies. Besides, we do it to us. I give it
an A even with special effects which were the best to be achieved for its time, and I am sure
American film makers were studying every inch with a view to making similar productions. I
would not be surprised if Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea was inspired by this film.
Production: Atragon, released in Japan as Undersea Warship, is a 1963 Toho tokusatsu
(fantasy) film based on a series of juvenile adventure novels under the title Kaitei Gunkan by
Shunrō Oshikawa (these were heavily influenced by Jules Verne); and the illustrated story Kaitei
Okoku ("The Undersea Kingdom") by illustrator Shigeru Komatsuzaki, serialized in a monthly
magazine for boys. Komatsuzaki also served as an uncredited visual designer, as he had on The
Mysterians (1957) and Battle in Outer Space (1959). These were egregiously B-A-D films which
almost do not deserve mention anywhere, but here we are. Kamatsuzaki visualized the titular
super weapon among others of their ilk. The film was one of several tokusatsu collaborations of
director Ishirō Honda, screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa, and special effects director Eiji
Tsuburaya.
It features Jun Tazaki, an authority figure regular to tokusatsu, in his largest genre role as
the conflicted Captain Jinguji of the super submarine, Gotengō (Roaring Heaven). While the
name of the ship is recited as "Gotengō" in Japanese, it should be rendered as "Goten" in English;
as the suffix, (gō), simply denotes the object as a ship.
For the English-language U.S. version, released in 1965 by American International Pictures
(AIP), the supersub itself was dubbed Atragon, which had been shortened from Toho's own
foreign sales title, Atoragon. Confusion over the actual Japanese title of the film by foreign
speakers has led many to assume the original title, Kaitei Gunkan, to be "Undersea Battleship";
unfortunately, the Japanese term for "Battleship", (Senkan), is nowhere to be found in the title.
Since Gunkan should be correctly rendered as "Warship", therefore, the film should be correctly
transliterated as Undersea Warship.
As was the case in several other 1960s tokusatsu eiga (visual effects films), producer
Tomoyuki Tanaka insisted that a daikaiju (divine messenger) be incorporated into the storyline
for marketing purposes, and to symbolize the upcoming Year of the Snake, Tsuburaya's Art
Director Akira Watanabe designed Manda, a Japanese sea serpent (read: dragon) that would
later appear in several films of the Godzilla series. Atragon itself would appear in later fantasy
films where needed. There is also an anime version, a two episode series named Super Atragon
based on the same novels made in 1995 by Phoenix Entertainment. A dub of the series was
made by ADV Films.
A final draft of Sekizawa's screenplay was approved on Sept. 5, 1963, merely three months
before Toho demanded the film be theatrically released concurrent with the fruitful Winter
holiday season. On this unusually tight schedule, production was divided into one more than
the usual two teams (drama and special effects) of tokusatsu production—Unit A for dramatic
filming and Units B and C for special effects.
Visual Effects Director Tsuburaya and Assistant Visual Effects Director Teruyoshi Nakano
began work in October and concluded within 4 weeks, a third of the usual time granted to
effects work. While the effects of Atragon are generally praised, minor stock footage of buildings
collapsing from Mothra (1961) were used as inserts during the scene where new footage of
Tokyo's Marunouchi business district collapses; as well as shots of emergency vehicles
responding before the collapse. Stock footage was also used in transitional montages of
"surveillance satellites" taken from The Mysterians and Battle in Outer Space; while another
montage, establishing shots of the world's major capitals, were taken from Shūe Matsubayashi's
The Last War (1961).
Kaitei Gunkan became Toho's top box office earner during its month-long run in Japanese
theaters and was a popular feature on TV and at film festivals. In fact, it was so popular that it
was re-released in 1968 as the support feature for Inoshiro Honda's Destroy All Monsters. It was
also the Japanese entry at the Trieste Science Fiction Film Festival of 1964. AIP afforded the film
a successful U.S. theatrical release in 1965 with minimal changes and quality dubbing by Titra
Studios. The shortening of the title from 4 to 3 syllables was the choice of AIP, since several
European markets released the film as Atoragon (Italy) and Ataragon (France).
Atragon was not released on home video in the United States until Media Blasters' DVD in
2005; even though the film was in constant television syndication in the U.S. until the early
1980s. Media Blasters had intended to use the original Titra Studios dubbing, but Toho
Company forced the company to use its international version. This alternate dubbed version
syncs up perfectly with the Japanese video, but fans generally consider these international dubs
to be inferior. Its enduring popularity in Japan is evident in the number of plastic model kits,
garage kits, and adult-targeted toys still sold in the market.
Nationalism: The predominant themes of Atragon are nationalism, patriotism, and
personal pride. Unchecked affirmation of these principles manifests in the central character of
Captain Jinguji, who built Atragon for the sole purpose of reviving the old Empire of Japan; and
in the Empress of Mu, whose motive to reestablish her nation's global dominance on the surface
parallels Jinguji's.
Much as the aggressive policies of Japan secured the nation's defeat in World War II, the
former Empire of Mu continues its siege on the surface world even after Atragon rises to
challenge it. Both leaders vehemently reject the notion of a peaceful surrender, even
international cooperation. But while Jinguji is ultimately persuaded to suppress his 20 year
vendetta, the young Empress sees her defeated nation through to its annihilation. Whereas
Jinguji revolts in order to prepare a counterattack, the Empress acts differently on her
nationalistic resolve by escaping Atragon to die with her people.
Cultural references: Space ships resembling those seen in the movie appeared in the video
game Godzilla: Monster of Monsters. The game's cut scenes suggest that these ships are piloted
by evil aliens from Planet X, who declare war on Earth in the year 2069.
ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS (1964)
Directed by Byron Haskin
Produced by Aubrey Schenck
Written by Daniel Defoe (novel, Robinson Crusoe), John C. Higgins
and Ib Melchior
Cinematography: Winton C. Hoch
Distributed by Paramount Pictures Release date June, 1964 (U.S. release) Running time 110
minutes.
Cast:
Paul Mantee as Commander Christopher Draper
Victor Lundin as Friday
Adam West as Colonel Dan McReady. (West would later become famous as the star of the
television series Batman.)
Barney the Woolly Monkey as Mona
Plot: Commander Christopher “Kit” Draper and Colonel Dan McReady are the crew of Mars
Gravity Probe 1 along with a woolly monkey called Mona. When they reach orbit at Mars, they
are forced to use up their fuel to avoid an imminent collision with a meteor. They are now in a
low orbit which will decay soon, so they have no choice but to eject to the surface. Draper’s pod
lands first but is destroyed. He barely escapes with his life.
When he climbs out of the wreckage, he finds himself in the middle of a dry volcanic
eruption. Mars is a planet on fire. He gathers what supplies he can and ditches the vehicle just
as a fire wisp (that’s about all I can call it) passes through the gully and sets it on fire. Draper
looks for the reserve oxygen tanks and discovers that most of them have burned. He manages
to retrieve two of the tanks and, carrying only the most essential pieces of equipment, proceeds
to wander what looks like a forbidding desert landscape; looking for somewhere to camp while
he puzzles how to survive. He must find four things of critical importance to survival: air,
shelter, water and food.
Finally he finds a good sized cave nearby. It is large enough to shelter several men, and he
sets up his camp there. At first he is kept boyant by the thought that once he rejoins McReady
they can signal for help. Then he realizes that there is not enough oxygen in the tanks to keep
him alive long enough to get to the other pod. He spends some time examining the rocks around
the vicinity of his cave. They appear to be burning on their own. Carefully, he picks one up and
splits it apart. The rock is yellow on the inside, perhaps suggesting it is made of sulphur. He
thinks that by gathering the rocks he can build a small fire with which to cook and banish the
deep cold of Mars.
He spends the night watching the strange colors of light filling the black sky, and
intermittently logging his impressions on a flight recorder. Later when he tries to sleep he
almost succumbs to hypoxia and passes out. By now his tanks are almost completely empty.
But something happens while he is lying on the floor. He comes to, revived by little puffs of
oxygen coming from the burning rocks in the fire. He crawls to the fire and inhales as much as
he can. In time we see he has managed to build a small pressure still in order to harvest precious
oxygen from the rocks, and uses it to refill his tanks. After that he sets out in the direction of the
other pod.
Of course as luck would have it, the pod has crashlanded also. Draper comes on it in pieces.
His astronaut teammate McReady is nowhere in sight. At first he calls out, thinking that his
buddy is nearby and safe. As he examines the debris on the desert floor he sees an outstretched
human arm half buried under the wreckage. He sees McReady’s class ring on the body’s ring
finger. Now, Draper is stranded alone on Mars.
After he buries McReady, Draper is thoroughly discouraged. Resigned to his fate, he takes
only what is needed and starts his long trek back to his cave. But then he sees something moving
and a sound. He sees a long black tail moving among the rocks nearby. He sets one of the boxes
down and from it removes what looks like a six shooter and aims it at whatever it is.
Mona the monkey emerges from the shelter of the rock pile, still dressed in her suit.
Relieved that she has survived, Draper scoops her up and removes her helmet, freeing her from
bondage. Mona appears to be in relatively good health. Draper inhales some oxygen from his
tank and breathes it into her mouth.
When they return to his cave, Draper constructs a crude sand clock to sound an alarm and
awaken him for a needed dose of oxygen. Mona is hungry, so he feeds her from a tube of paste
and gives her a dose of precious water.
Later, Draper notices that Mona keeps disappearing periodically and that she is no longer
interested in the dwindling supply of food and water. He gives her a salty biscuit, but no water;
and when Mona gets very thirsty, he lets her out and follows her to an underground spring she
has found. As a bonus, there are also edible plant “sausages” growing in the water. Mona sits
busily munching away at them. Draper finds that they taste like sausage, too, except they could
use a little spice. Thus fortified, he now has an ample source of food and water, and also a place
to bathe periodically. He moves his things there and takes up residence in the grotto.
One day he tries to cook the “sausage” as a stew and learns the price for experimentation.
Mona watches as if he has grown a third eye. When he finishes the bowl, and certain he has
made himself sick, Draper lies down and tries to get some sleep. While he sleeps the night shifts
with light and color from solar particles bombarding the planet.
As the days grow into months, Draper slowly begins to crack from his prolonged isolation.
He watches helplessly as his ship crosses the sky above at breakneck speed. Now without fuel,
the ship does nothing when he orders it by radio to land. At times, he has nightmares about a
shadowy figure who stands in the entrance to the cave, but when he wakes up he is alone.
One day, while walking about with Mona, Draper notices a rock standing in an unnatural
position, as if it was deliberately planted there. It looks too much like a gravestone, very like
the one he had erected for McReady. He examines the ground around it and sees bones. He
brushes away at the soil to expose the skeletal remains of a hand and arm wearing a black
bracelet. It looks human and the bracelet appears to be made of iron. He digs up the rest of the
skeleton and determines that the creature was murdered, as the skull was clearly pierced by
something and then charred. Now cautious that he is not alone on the planet, he signals his ship
to self destruct in order to remove all signs of his presence there.
He takes other precautions like removing the flag from his door landing and also the
plaque declaring who lives there. He erects camouflage around the cave to disguise it. He then
sets up his detector to signal anything approaching from the sky, hoping that it will be help and
soon; and finally covers himself in a blanket woven from strands of sausage fiber (when you
have time, there is no end to what you can do with it) so that he cannot be seen against the
rocks.
Then Draper sees a flying saucer descend and land just over the next ridge. At first, he
believes it to be a rescue ship from Earth. In the morning, he heads towards the landing site. He
approaches the top of the ridge cautiously and uses his camera gun (a nifty invention) to take a
video of whatever is there.
Suddenly, a strange ship appears and begins blasting at the basin, punching holes in the
rocks around Draper. Trapped where he is, he watches as three of them now fire their rays at
the basin. Then to his amazement, he sees a man clamber through a hole in the rock and
approach him. The man (Victor Lundin) is dressed like a Moche slave, and around his wrists
are two bracelets like the one Draper had found on the bones. They meet just as another ship
blasts at the rock above them. In the ensuing shower of rock the man goes down and Draper
lingers long enough to tell him “come with me if you want to live.”
The man is unhurt and gets up shortly afterward. They make their way to Draper’s cave,
where the man appears to be observant but silent. Draper attempts to communicate with both
sign and vocal language and almost gives up in frustration. The rest of the story is learned from
the recording Draper had made earlier. They show him a mining facility where humanoid
slaves are put to work moving the rock. Their overseers also appear to be human, dressed in
space suits. He sees the saucer parked nearby. This was what the strange ships were blasting
at.
Draper names his new acquaintance Friday, after the character in Robinson Crusoe, and
starts teaching him English. At first “Friday” refuses every attempt and acts suspicious of
Draper. At length they are both tired, so Draper gives Friday one of his blankets and they settle
down for the night. By now, the astronaut is paranoid enough that he shows the man he has a
knife and puts it under his pillow. Sometime later, the escaped slave creeps over to his alarm
clock and tries to lengthen the time between doses of oxygen, but Draper catches him in the act.
The man draws back, then reaches into a bag tied at his waist and withdraws something.
He opens his hand. Resting in his palm are three pills. He offers them to Draper, then points to
the still. They are apparently oxygen pills, designed to prolong the supply in order for the slaves
to do their work. Draper then accepts one and tells him to put the others away.
Suddenly, the alien ships return and Friday’s bracelets deal him a shock. He cowers in
pain. They were probably designed like GPS chips so that a slave can be recaptured. The slave
slaps them together and says, “enemy”. Draper then says he’d better find a way to get them off
him or they’re both doomed. They gradually grow to trust and like each other. At one point,
“Friday” shows Draper which planet he is from: somewhere in the constellation Orion. Then
Draper points toward the constellation Draco, where Earth is supposed to be. Draper then says
that Friday will be welcomed as a friend once they are rescued and return to Earth.
That night, Draper is busy filing his way through one of the bracelets when the alien ships
return. They watch the ships blasting at the mine area once more, and then depart as the saucer
leaves Mars. When they go to investigate, they find the dead bodies of the other slaves, killed
to ensure they cannot escape or attract the enemy ships. Friday is overcome with sadness but
there is no time to mourn. A meteor passes overhead and suddenly explodes into a shower of
black ash, which overwhelms both of them.
A few minutes later Friday revives. He digs himself out, then sees that Draper has been
completely buried. He then digs the unconscious astronaut out and must feed him an oxygen
pill to bring him back. While he does so, he returns his own pill to his pouch. Apparently he
has been doing this all along to extend the supply, risking hypoxia, but there is no choice in the
matter.
Now more desperate to free Friday from his bracelets, Draper manages to saw through
one of them, just in time for the alien ships to reappear and begin bombarding the area around
the cave. Friday is again shocked, just as one of the salvos destroys the entrance to the cave.
When the ships leave again, Friday gets down and uses the sand to show Draper that the canals
of Mars are everywhere around them, only underground. Draper, Friday and Mona flee taking
only what they can and head into the Martian canalworks.
It is a long arduous trip. They come upon the end of the tunnel at the head of a volcanic
lava flow and are driven back by the intense heat. Reluctantly, they must escape to the surface.
They end up at the polar icecap, where there is water in abundance. Exhausted, freezing and
nearly out of air pills, they build a snow shelter to escape the cold.
Draper finally succeeds in cutting Friday’s other bracelet off. Friday rubs at his wrist in
wonder, and the astronaut asks him how long he had them on. Friday says, “38 years.” Then he
admits that he is 78 years old. Apparently his people have a long and vigorous lifespan. But the
two of them are unable to share this when a meteor comes through the sky and crashes into the
ice cap, creating a firestorm and melting their snow shelter. The heat dissolves the ice and causes
an avalanche which buries it.
When they finally dig themselves out, Draper desperately sets up his detector unit. Just
then, it tracks an approaching spaceship. At first Draper believes it to be the enemy again, but
then their radio broadcasts a human voice. Draper identifies himself, and a lander comes down
to pick up Draper and his new friend. The credits then roll as Mars recedes into the background.
END
Analysis and Additional Notes: While the plot of this film was woefully bereft of a budget for
special effects they tried very hard to justify what they had to work with. For example, there
are repeated shots of the orbiter passing overhead, meteors, and also the trio of alien ships to
convey the drama of the piece. We do not see the eject pods actually strike the surface of Mars
but are seen already there in pieces. And the amazing treks through the desert are matted
against alternating red and black skies. At first the appearance of the six shot revolver threw
me off until I later recognized its significance as a direct reference to the novel which gave rise
to the title.
Overall, the designs of the orbiter’s interior and the landing pods were as primitive as
could be, and the astronauts’ suits are little more than pilot overalls. I puzzled over McReady’s
boredom with the food tubes and there were snippets of dialogue suggesting that either he and
Draper had grown together as children or there was something else going on. But we are not
given any time to bond fully with McReady’s character. There is also a vague suggestion that
they had spent months in space together.
However, the film as a whole tells a compelling story of the search for life on Mars and
asks the question in a rather unique way. We are expected to accept that whatever happens,
mankind is not alone in the universe and in fact alien life behaves no differently than we do.
This is illustrated in the apparent conflict between the alien ships and the saucer parked on the
surface, the use of slaves, and so on.
While pirates figured heavily in the original novel on which the movie was based, the term
“claimjumper” more readily comes to mind; and the poor Orion slaves caught in the middle are
expendable dross to be used and then disposed of like so many others in Earth history. “Friday”,
however, is both clever and intelligent, so we can say that his people may have been enslaved
centuries before and were educated by the fortunes of war and the constant fight over Mars.
The savage red planet must contain many resources worth fighting for; though I prefer to think
that more advanced civilisations would not have to fight over them.
Draper’s own human arrogance is shown as a barrier to communication instead of a help.
Desperation, however, breaks down that barrier and turns it into a vehicle for finding common
ground between species. Even Mona is treated as valuable for her natural survival skills as well
as a barometer of human behavior. Her facial reactions tell volumes about her intelligence and
simian wisdom.
Many of the Mars scenes were filmed in Death Valley National Park, California, at
Zabriskie Point, Ubehebe Crater, and the Devil’s Golf Course. Death Valley has been a popular
place to film exteriors for alien planets, as it always contains formations open to film
exploitation.
The alien mining ships are very similar in design to the Martian war machines in The War
of the Worlds. It is unclear whether they were recycled props or new models. Byron Haskin also
directed the earlier film. But they are animated by means of film editing instead of stop motion
animation, so they can be safely dismissed as derivative and not actual imitations.
In Ib Melchior’s original screenplay, Friday was from a planet called Yargor in the Alpha
Centauri star system. Much of Friday’s Yargorian dialogue was fully scripted in his “native
tongue” for the screenplay. However, Victor Lundin, who played Friday, altered his lines to
reflect a dialect similar to Mayan. For example, Friday says that Mars is called
“Huehuetenango” in his language. Huehuetenango is a city in Guatemala. We don’t really
know how much Lundin empathized with South American cultures but it is an interesting
switch and made Friday that much more believable as a member of an oppressed culture. The
history of the Spanish and Portuguese conquest of South America is well documented, and
Robinson Crusoe’s time on the South American island where he was stranded is also reflected
in Draper’s approach to socializing with Friday.
When the aliens are seen directing the mining operations from which Friday escapes, they
are wearing spacesuits similar to those worn by the astronauts in George Pal’s 1950 film
Destination Moon. Director Haskin and Pal had already collaborated on a number of science
fiction ‘films throughout the 1950’s and 60’s. Ib Melchior worked on a prior science fiction film,
the similarly low budgeted Journey to the Seventh Planet. I believe that Draper’s line, “Come with
me if you want to live,” must have resonated through the years and led the writers of The
Terminator to coin it in the first film of that series.
Two songs were inspired by and named after the movie. One was sung by Johnny Cymbal,
the other by Victor Lundin. Lundin was a character actor and songwriter who was born in
Chicago. Lundin also wrote the song “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” to perform during his highly
popular science fiction convention appearances. It became so beloved by fans that he recorded
it for his 2000 album “Little Owl”. A music video for Lundin’s song was created by the Criterion
Collection in 2007 for the DVD release of the film.
About the book: Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe and was first published in 1719.
The plot is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on
a remote tropical island near Trinidad, and who encountered cannibals, captives, and mutineers
before being rescued. Although commonly referred to as simply Robinson Crusoe, the book’s
complete, original title as it appears on the title page of the first edition is The Life and Strange
Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty
Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great
River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but
himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver’d by Pirates. Quite a
mouthful indeed. It may have prompted a singular movement toward shorter titles.
The book was published on April 25, 1719. Before the end of the year, this first volume had
run through four editions. By the end of the 19th century, no book in the history of Western
literature had more editions, spin-offs and translations than Robinson Crusoe; with more than
700 such alternative versions, including children’s illustrated versions with no text. The term
“Robinsonade” was coined to describe the genre of stories similar to Robinson Crusoe. Despite
its simple narrative style, it was well received in the literary world. It has continued to be
popular since the day it was published.
The name “Crusoe” may have been taken from Timothy Cruso, a classmate of Defoe’s who
had written similar guide books, including God the Guide of Youth (1695), before dying at an
early age – just eight years before Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe. It has even been speculated that
Cruso’s works inspired Robinson Crusoe because of a number of passages in that work which
are closely tied to the novel.
Derivative Works: Jacques Offenbach wrote a comic opera called Robinson Crusoé which
was first performed at the Opéra-Comique, Salle Favart on November 23, 1867. This was based
on the British pantomime version rather than the novel itself. The libretto was by Eugène
Cormon and Hector-Jonathan Crémieux. The opera includes a duet by Robinson Crusoe and
Friday.
There is a 1927 silent film titled Robinson Crusoe. A Soviet 3D film titled Robinzon Kruzo was
produced in 1946. Luis Buñuel directed Adventures of Robinson Crusoe starring Dan O’Herlihy,
released in 1954. Peter O’Toole and Richard Roundtree co-starred in a 1975 film called Man
Friday which satirically portrayed Crusoe as incapable of seeing his dark-skinned companion
as anything but an inferior creature, while Friday is more refined, enlightened and empathetic
than he is. In 1988, Aidan Quinn portrayed Robinson Crusoe in the film Crusoe.
A 1997 movie entitled Robinson Crusoe starred Pierce Brosnan. Walt Disney later
modernized the novel with Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., featuring Dick Van Dyke. Variations on the
theme include the 1954 Miss Robin Crusoe with a female castaway played by Amanda Blake, and
a female Friday, and then the 1964 film Robinson Crusoe on Mars. In 1964 a French film
production crew made a 13 part serial of “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” starring Robert
Hoffman. The black and white series was dubbed into English and German. In the UK, the BBC
aired it on numerous occasions between 1965 and 1977.
In the mid-1990s a humorous French cartoon appeared called Robinson Sucroe. In the
cartoon, Robinson was a failed journalist for the New York Herald. Seeking a life of adventure,
he wanted to settle on an island and write his weekly journal. After getting an okay from his
boss, he sets sail and is dropped off on what he thinks is an uninhabited island. Robinson soon
discovers that the island is crowded by French and British pirates, as well as the survivor of a
shipwreck, who called themselves “Touléjours” (the Everydays). Robinson befriends one of
them, a fellow called Mercredi (Wednesday). Robinson then tries to write a colorful journal of
his adventures on the island but somehow he is incapable of doing so. Instead Mercredi writes
his fictitious stories for him. These stories achieve much success and few suspect their
authenticity.
FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (1964)
Directed by Nathan H. Juran
Produced by Charles H. Schneer
Screenplay by Nigel Kneale; based on “The First Men in the Moon” by H.G. Wells
Music by Laurie Johnson
Cinematography by Wilkie Cooper
Distributed by Columbia Pictures; Release date November 20, 1964; Running time 103
minutes
Ray Harryhausen also provided stop-motion effects, animated Selenites, giant caterpillar-like
"Moon Cows", and a big-brained Lunar Prime.
Cast:
Edward Judd as Bedford
Martha Hyer as Kate
Lionel Jeffries as Cavor
Miles Malleson as Dymchurch registrar
Norman Bird as Stuart, Moon landing crew
Gladys Henson as Mental hospital matron
Hugh McDermott as Richard Challis, UN Space Agency
Betty McDowall as Margaret Hoy, UN Space Agency
Hugh Thomas (uncredited) as Announcer
Erik Chitty(uncredited) as Gibbs
Peter Finch(uncredited) as Bailiff's man
Plot: In 1964, the United Nations (UN) has launched a rocket flight to the Moon. A
multinational group of astronauts in the spacecraft land there, believing themselves to be the
first lunar explorers. They soon discover a British flag planted on the surface and a note signed
by Katherine Callender claiming the Moon for Queen Victoria.
On tracing her down to confirm this find, the UN authorities learn she has died. But they
locate her husband, Arnold Bedford; who is now an old man living in a retirement home. The
nursing home staff do not let him watch the television reports of the expedition because,
according to the matron, it "excites him"; dismissing his claims to have been on the Moon as an
insane delusion. The UN representatives then question him about the Moon and the artifacts
they found there.
Bedford, shrugging off his nurse’s attempts to quiet him down, tells them his story from
beginning to end. The rest of the film is a flashback, and shows what Bedford and his friend
Professor Joseph Cavor did to travel to the Moon on their own.
In 1899, Arnold Bedford and his fiancée Katherine Callender (known as Kate) are trying to
figure out how they will live together. Bedford is something of a writer, inventor, and gadabout
who realizes that his meager earnings will never enable them to marry and maintain a good
home. While he is searching for a place to live for the both of them, he happens across a cottage
in a remote village, which he has just rented. As it happens, it is across the lane from the small
country home of an inventor, Joseph Cavor, who is tinkering with something. Bedford sees and
hears strange lights and noises coming from Cavor’s house at all hours, prompting him to
wonder how and when he will find the solitude he needs to write.
Bedford and Cavor run into each other by accident when Cavor has to put out a fire and
Bedford goes to his house to help. At first, Cavor puts him off, saying that he is in the middle
of a critical phase in his experiments. He claims he has invented Cavorite, a substance that will
let anything it is applied to or made of deflect the force of gravity. (This gave rise to the element
Upsidaisium, an antigravity ore which was featured in the cartoon series “Rocky and
Bullwinkle”) He plans to use it to travel to the Moon. Cavor has already built a spherical
spaceship for this purpose. Naturally, Bedford is skeptical of his claims, but when Cavor
demonstrates the substance’s power to elevate a chair, he becomes excited about the potential
of the formula for all sorts of other applications.
Cavor then shows Bedford the capsule, which is an odd sphere of metal parts joined
together with rivets and bolts, and sporting large shutters in its window panels; all very
primitive and Victorian. He says he plans to land on the moon using shutters which are coated
with Cavorite, and to roll to a stop using the large studs as braces. It all looks practical to a
certain point. He then points out that the moon will be in the right perigee to launch soon, and
that is why he is in a hurry. He also points to the spacesuit he will need to wear, similar to
underwater pressure suits worn during that time.
Bedford convinces Dr. Cavor that he cannot keep all this to himself and that he needs an
able assistant. The fire has pointed out Cavor’s isolation, and what would happen if the house
burned down while he is away? Cavor reluctantly sees the problem, but has had little time to
dwell on it. His current assistant is a lazy, shiftless countryman who does not see the importance
of his role, and frequently sneaks off to tipple whenever the opportunity presents itself. The
man was absent when the pot boiled over and started the fire. Cavor fires his old assistant, then
hires Bedford. Bedford finally remembers Kate and rushes home to tell her about his discovery
and new job.
Kate is flummoxed when he tells her what he intends to do. She points out that they agreed
he would try to save some money to meet their bills, but Bedford argues that Cavor has already
gathered the funds to get everything they need. All he has to do now is go with Cavor to the
Moon and come back again. Then when the world hears the news he will be famous and they
will have all the money they want. Kate becomes fearful; he has never done something this
reckless and risky before. Bedford then challenges her: if she won’t agree to this they are done.
At this Kate says she has to see what is going on herself before she agrees to anything.
Apparently his strategem has worked because she is soon drawn into doing small chores
for the two men. Together, Bedford and Kate load the capsule with supplies, from food (live
chickens were added; refrigeration was impossible) to rope and other needed things. But when
it comes time to leave, Kate decides to stow away and go to the moon with them, hardly
comprehending how much danger she is in.
The time comes for Arnold and Dr. Cavor to make their final preparations for launch.
Arnold looks for Kate and concludes that she went home to her family, and Cavor tells him
there is no time to look for her. They climb aboard. Here, we get to see the interior of the capsule.
It is small, cramped, fitted with boxes and equipment. The men must climb into cages made out
of rope attached top and bottom to the cabin floor and ceiling, where they will safely ride out
the launch and subsequent landing. Once they are inside, Cavor rolls down the shutters coated
with Cavorite and exposes them to the air.
The Cavorite coating activates and the capsule shoots upward through the skylight of the
laboratory, headed upward straight through the stratosphere. We are treated to a view of the
earth receding rapidly to be replaced with space. Then, something goes wrong. A passing
meteor strikes the capsule and sends it tumbling. In the process, Kate falls out of a locker and
finds herself floating freely. She is out of her element. Bedford is horrified at her discovery, but
bravely brings her down to him and places her in his roll cage.
Cavor proceeds to give her a very Victorian lecture about women’s curiosity and about
how it will be the death of them. Kate calmly points out that it is too late to argue about it. She
is there now and will share in their discovery or in their death, for all the good it will do. Cavor
points out that there are only two suits. She says that when they leave the capsule she could
hide in the same locker she had just come out of, and that she eats very little in the first place.
We are not shown how they have survived without killing each other for three days, but
soon the Moon is much closer and things have calmed down, especially thanks to Kate’s
cooking. (In those days, a bathroom was nonexistent in film.) When it comes time to land,
everything is secured away and they climb into the roll cages. Cavor then opens the blinds.
We are shown the round capsule coming in at an angle. It bounces and rolls until it fetches
up against a large rock and finally comes to a rest. Inside, things are a bit tumbled but the new
astronauts are safe. They take a look at their new world, which is a stark, airless landscape.
Bedford and Cavor dress in the suits, take a last life support check, then wait until Kate
goes into the locker before they open the hatch. They climb out onto the surface of the Moon.
Bedford turns and closes the hatch, then knocks on the capsule door, a signal that Kate can come
out. The two are now surrounded by miles and miles of lifeless grey rock in a black sky filled
with stars. They climb around here and there, using hand signals to point to things and to
communicate. They have no radio and must touch their helmets together to talk.
The two men have walked a few dozen yards beyond the line of sight of the capsule when
Bedford’s foot suddenly sinks into the dust. A hole opens up and reveals a vertical shaft as
Bedford falls down it, where he lands on a ledge far from the surface. The gravity being so light,
he only bounces instead of breaking his legs on impact. When Cavor climbs down and reaches
Bedford, they see light far below. Air is forcing dust from the cavein upwards. Cavor takes a
chance, removes his helmet and sniffs. He signals Bedford to do the same.
When they are able to speak, Bedford asks what it all means. Cavor says that perhaps the
Moon is not so lifeless after all. Then he sneezes, and declares that he has been fighting a cold.
He hopes it does not get worse. He and Bedford then climb down the rest of the way and find
themselves in a central air shaft.
But before they can say any more, the two men are confronted by a group of insectoid
creatures armed with pikes. They are no more than about five feet tall but look like formidable
warriors. They use a quibbling speech pattern which is totally alien to human ears. They
surround the two men and chatter away; Cavor and Bedford reluctantly surrender, and are
herded into the deeper levels of the subterranean world.
As they walk, Cavor names the creatures Selenites, after the Greek moon goddess Selene.
He becomes excited that he has found another race of beings perhaps as intelligent and
technologically advanced as human beings. Perhaps even more advanced. He wonders if they
will be friends. Bedford, on the other hand, is of a far more skeptical opinion. They pass what
appears to be a reactor, a giant rotating machine which uses a shaft of light from the sun to drive
its engine. Cavor delights in the fact that the sun can power many things, if only mankind can
figure out how a mechanism like it works. Bedford is only focused on escaping and does not
find it at all interesting.
They are led to a large laboratory where they are met by a different insectoid, one with a
larger head and eyes. Cavor guesses that it is of the scientist class. The insectoid examines both
men with the same curiosity as they have of it. While it is doing this the sun is eclipsed by a
mountain on the surface. (In real life it would take at least a month for this to occur.) The
insectoid Selenites all freeze in place and go to “sleep” as the reactor powers down and all goes
dark. Apparently, the entire civilization runs on the power of the sun. The darkness and cold
envelope the city almost immediately.
Bedford wants to use the intervening time to escape and return to the surface, but Cavor
lingers to examine everything as is. While he is nattering on about the amazing characteristics
of the Selenites, the sun emerges from behind the mountain, the reactor powers up, and the
Selenites return to life. Whereupon Cavor sneezes again and wipes his nose using a large
handkerchief he keeps in his suit pocket.
The two men are then escorted to another chamber, where an even more different Selenite
confronts them and speaks to them in halting English. Encouraged by this, Cavor tries to teach
it English by pointing to objects, then points to himself and says, “man.” The insect is not
impressed by this, and explains that “man” is a primitive, self destructive species. It has no
logic, no purpose. There is nothing to be gained from congress with Man. But now that the men
have seen the underground city they can never leave the moon.
Cavor tries to argue with it to no avail. The Selenite allows that Cavor may be different
from other men and a fellow scientist, but that makes no difference. He has seen too much.
This is Bedford’s signal to launch into some of that aggression the Selenite mentioned,
which allows them to escape. They find their way to yet another chamber, where to their horror,
the explorers see that the Selenites had dragged their iron capsule underground. Kate has been
extricated by the guards and is being examined by the scientists. Naturally, Bedford argues that
the Selenites fear that more men will come to the moon, and have no desire to be contaminated
by war and aggression. Instead, they will use the Cavorite to conquer Earth.
Cavor tries to bargain with the Selenite leader. If he stays, Bedford and Kate should be
allowed to return to Earth and never mention what they had seen. Cavor is adamant that he
remain so that the secret of Cavorite will not be used on Earth again. He says he knows what
he is doing.
He helps Bedford and Kate to repair the damaged panes on the capsule, then watches as
they board it. Bedford takes one last look at his friend standing there, then closes the shutters.
The capsule shoots upward, crashes through a glass dome at the top of the shaft, then continues
on its journey back to the Earth.
Fade to: the older Bedford explaining that the capsule splashed down in the sea
somewhere near Zanzibar, where he and Kate managed to ditch it and swim to shore. They
remained silent about the whole affair as they promised the Selenites throughout the rest of
their lives, for fear that the aliens might come to the Earth and conquer it.
Then one of the men in the room calls attention to the astronauts on television, who reveal
to everyone’s surprise that everything Bedford had told them is the truth. They find the entrance
to the Selenite city and enter it, unsealing the door. Air and dust escape into space. They enter
and explore the underground city only to find it dark and deserted, devoid of life. Moments
after they enter the reactor chamber, the city’s structure begins to collapse, crumbling into a
devastated ruin. The astronauts manage to escape just in time to have the entire city buried in
an avalanche of stone.
Bedford then realizes that the Selenites must have been killed off by Cavor's common cold
germs, to which they had no immunity. When the astronauts radio for instructions, they
mention that all they found of the man was his handkerchief. Of the Selenites and their
Earthling captive, no other sign was ever found. END
Analysis and Additional Notes: The first time that I saw this film, it was simply escapist fantasy
to me. I must have been about 10 or 11 years old when I saw it on the big screen. As I grew
older, I began to appreciate some of the subtext of the plot even more, as I began to read history
and science and gained a better understanding of the underlying theme. The question is: should
man attempt to go into space and brave the dangers of exposure to an alien civilization, or bring
danger to it?
I was especially impressed with the similarity between the infection of the Selenites with
Cavor’s cold germs and the entrance of the Spaniards, Portuguese and also Italians into the
New World, as is most impactfully described in Bernal Diaz’s The Conquest of New Spain. In that
book, Diaz was a member of a group of clerics attached to the expedition of Hernan Cortes, who
entered Mexico at the Yucatan Peninsula and invaded the land searching for gold. Diaz’s
descriptions of the native Aztecs living there included the beginnings of disease appearing
among the natives.
History later records that, ultimately, most of the ancient American cultures were
decimated by microbes transported by European sailors, soldiers, livestock, and also rats
stowing away aboard the ships. I believe that while Jules Verne himself never mentions these
concepts, the screenplay by Nigel Kneale reflects an intrinsic knowledge of these events as well
as having probably seen The War of The Worlds and capitalized on the idea.
On considering the idea of the British having beat us to many heroic events in history, it is
a much older civilization than ours and the Brits have the advantage of having done everything
at least once except going to the moon; yet the idea of them going to the moon first would not
have been surprising. However, since First Men In The Moon does not exactly match the novel
to a T we can forgive some of the liberties taken. I give the film makers a C+ for the match and
about an A- just for the Selenites and the wonders of their city alone.
Two types of spacesuits are featured during the events of the story: the spacesuits worn by
the modern astronauts and the diving suits worn by the 19 th century explorers. In the latter
instance, the diving suits were each fitted with a 1960s type aqualung cylinder and worn as a
backpack with no external connections to the suit. No provision is made to heat the suit, prevent
the suit from ballooning in a vacuum, and no gloves to protect their hands from the absolute
zero temperature of space. They would have been exposed to solar radiation, and volatile
organics in the diving suits’ rubber fittings and gaskets would have boiled away rapidly. Yet
we are required to suspend our disbelief to support the story.
Cavor’s cold would have escalated rapidly to full on pneumonia and the two men would
have been looking for any source of heat for comfort. Also, the suits were not pressurized, so
that the lack of pressure would have made their internal organs rupture.
Cavor and Bedford also had no radio and must make their helmets touch each other to talk
in the vacuum. Marconi was only just starting to experiment with it when the events of the film
were set in the 1890s. Wireless communication from Cavor appears only in the novel by H.G.
Wells, and it is not clear whether the Selenites have radio communications or telepathy beside
their quibbling speech.
About the book: The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells, labeled as a “scientific romance”;
publisher George Newnes; publication date 1901; print (Hardcover) Pages 342 pp ISBN N/A;
OCLC Number 655463.
Influence on C.S. Lewis: C.S. Lewis explicitly stated that his science fiction books were both
inspired by and written as an antithesis to those of H.G. Wells. Specifically, he acknowledged
The First Men in The Moon to be "the best of the sort [of science fiction] I have read...." (From a
letter to Roger Lancelyn Green).
The influence of Wells's novel is especially visible in Out of The Silent Planet, the first book
in Lewis' Space Trilogy. There, too, a central role in the story line is played by a partnership
between a worldly businessman interested in the material gains from space travel (and
specifically, in importing extraterrestrial gold to Earth) and a scientist with wider cosmic
theories. He may also have borrowed somewhat from Jules Verne and the partnership between
the munitions tycoon and the armorer. In either case, it appears that the marriage between
science and technology are clearly deliniated, but that somehow human moral conscience gets
in the way. He is fervent in pointing this out in many of his novels.
Other influences, references and adaptations Brian Stableford argues this is the first alien
dystopia. The book could also be considered to have launched the science fiction sub-genre
depicting intelligent social insects, in some cases a nonhuman species such as the spacetraveling Shaara "bees" in the future universe of A. Bertram Chandler; and in others (such as
Frank Herbert's Hellstrom's Hive) humans who evolved or consciously engineered their society
in this direction.
Nigel Kneale co-adapted the screenplay with Jan Read for the 1964 film version. It is
reasonable to assume that Kneale's familiarity with the work may have inspired the idea of the
Martian hives which feature so significantly in Quatermass and The Pit, one of Kneale's mostadmired creations. (This was the screenplay for 5,000,000 Years to Earth.)
Cavorite was featured as a major plot device in the first volume of The League of
Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Cavor (given the first name of Selwyn) also appears in the volume
and is mentioned in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier. Cavorite also is used as
a minor plot device in Warehouse 13, with its gravity blocking properties used by Helen Wells
to make a trap for the warehouse agents. Cavorite and Cavor also play a major role in the end
of Scarlet Traces: The Great Game, with the Selenites also briefly depicted.
Cavorite, Cavor, and the Selenites are a large factor in The Martian War, where Cavor's ship
takes H.G. Wells, his wife, and T.H. Huxley first to the Moon, then to Mars. In this story, the
Selenites have been enslaved by the Martians, used as food creatures and slaves to build the
canals and invasion fleet. (Sound familiar? Probably inspired by or concurrent with Robinson
Crusoe On Mars.)
In the short story "Moon Ants" by Zinaida Gippius, the narrator attempts to understand
the reason for a sharp increase of local suicides and for the suicide mindset in general. At one
point he recollects Wells's novel and eventually decides that mankind, or just Russia in general,
has become much like the Selenites. That mankind is seemingly tough on the outside but easily
knocked aside by the rigors of life, to crumple up and die. Actually, this is not a prevaling theme
of Well’s novel. The Selenites do not have any desires other than their purpose in life as
determined by the hive collective. They show no propensity to “curl up and die” any more than
humans do, and see no reason to rock the boat.
Film adaptations: The First Men in the Moon has been adapted to film at least five times: A
Trip to the Moon was jointly adapted from Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon. The second
adaptation was made in 1919. The third adaptation was made in 1964 and introduces many
elements absent from the novel: a female character, moon monsters, spacesuits, etc.; as shown
above. The fourth adaptation was made for TV in 2010; this is the version most faithful to the
novel.
And now for something completely different.
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)
Directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow
Produced by Robert L. Lippert, Samuel Z. Arkoff and Harold E. Knox
Screenplay by Furio M. Monetti, Ubaldo Ragona, William Leicester and Richard Matheson (as
Logan Swanson), from the novel by Richard Matheson
Music by Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter
Cinematography by Franco Delli Colli
Distributed by American International Pictures (AIP US), 20th Century Fox (international);
Release date March 8, 1964; running time 86 minutes.
Cast:
Vincent Price as Dr. Robert Morgan
Franca Bettoia as Ruth Collins
Emma Danieli as Virginia Morgan
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart as Ben Cortman
Umberto Raho as Dr. Mercer
Christi Courtland as Kathy Morgan Antonio Corevi as the Governor
Ettore Ribotta as the TV Reporter
Rolando De Rossi
Carolyn De Fonseca dubbed for Ruth Collins' voice in the English release of the film.
(uncredited)
Giuseppe Mattei as the leader of the survivors (uncredited)
Plot: In the year 1968, every day is the same for Dr. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price): he wakes
up, gathers his weapons and then goes hunting for vampires. Morgan lives in a world where
everyone else has been infected by a plague that has turned them into undead, vampiric
creatures that cannot stand sunlight, fear mirrors, and are repelled by garlic. His narrative is
compelling as he relates the circumstances of the situation he is in.
The vampires would kill Morgan if they could, but fortunately they are weak and stupid.
At night, Morgan locks himself inside his house and endures the moans and lashing of objects
against his house. During the day, he kills as many vampires as he can wherever he finds them,
burning the bodies to make sure they are truly dead and to prevent the infection from
spreading.
A flashback sequence explains that, three years before, Morgan's wife and daughter had
succumbed to the plague before he learned that the dead would return to life. Instead of taking
his wife to the same public burn pit used to dispose of his daughter's corpse, Morgan buried
her without the knowledge of the authorities. When his wife returned to his home and attacked
him, Morgan became more aware of the need to kill the plague victims with a wooden stake.
Morgan hypothesizes that he is immune to the bacteria because he was bitten by an infected
vampire bat when he was stationed in Panama, which introduced a diluted form of the plague
into his blood and in essence formed a vaccine. Now that he was immune, he took it on himself
to find a cure and to “relieve the suffering” of the victims.
One day, a dog appears in the neighborhood. Desperate for companionship, Morgan
chases after the dog but does not catch it. Some time later the dog appears, wounded, at
Morgan's doorstep. He takes the dog into his home and treats its wounds, looking forward to
having company for the first time in three years. But he quickly discovers that it too has become
infected with the plague when he tests the animal’s blood. Morgan is later seen burying the dog
in his makeshift cemetary; the poor mutt has been impaled with a wooden stake.
That evening his house is surrounded again. We see a man in particular who calls
Morgan’s name as he strikes the door with a piece of wood. One could guess that he was once
a friend of Morgan’s, now undead and seeking some kind of revenge. Morgan can do nothing
but cower in his laboratory hoping they don’t break in.
The next day, while out on his daily rounds, Morgan spots a woman walking in the
distance. He calls out to her and approaches, trying to make friends. She is the first living being
he has seen since the dog. The woman is terrified of Morgan at first sight, and runs away from
him. Morgan manages to catch up with her as she nearly collapses in a fit of coughing, and
convinces her to return to his home. He claims that he only wants to talk to her, but he is
suspicious of her true nature.
Reluctantly, she follows him. When they reach his home, Morgan offers her food, which
she eats readily enough. In their conversation she calls herself Ruth. She reacts badly when
Morgan waves garlic in her face, but claims only that she has a weak stomach. Morgan sees that
she is different from the others. Somehow, she has escaped the full onset of the disease. A
glimmer of hope leads him to ask her to donate a little blood so that he can test it, and despite
her suspicions of him, she reluctantly agrees.
Morgan's suspicion that Ruth is infected is only confirmed when he discovers her
attempting to inject herself with a combination of blood and a vaccine that holds the disease at
bay. He accosts her to learn the truth. Ruth draws a gun on Morgan, but surrenders it to him
with he convinces her of his true aims: to stamp out the disease once and for all. Ruth then tells
him that she is part of a group of people like her, infected but under treatment, and was sent to
spy on Morgan. The vaccine allows the people to function normally during the day; but once it
wears off, the infection takes over the body again. Ruth explains that her people are planning
to rebuild society as they destroy the remaining vampires, and that many of the vampires
Morgan had killed were technically still alive.
Morgan is mortified but hopeful again. He demands to meet with her group’s leader as
soon as she is able to take him to their stronghold. Ruth in turn demonstrates some compassion
for his plight and agrees to stay with him and help him. But now she is exhausted, and he allows
her to rest.
While Ruth is fast asleep, Morgan takes a desperate chance and transfuses his own blood
into her. She is immediately cured, and Morgan sees hope that, together, they can cure the rest
of her people. Moments later, however, Ruth's people attack the house and begin killing the
undead vampires. Morgan takes the gun and flees his home with Ruth in tow. Ruth's people
spot Morgan among the ruins and chase him. He exchanges gunfire with them, and picks up
tear gas grenades from a police station armory along the way to help him deter their pursuit.
While the tear gas delays them, Morgan is wounded by gunfire and retreats into a church with
Ruth.
He learns from their leader that Morgan is the monster here; that he had murdered many
in his quest to survive. Morgan retorts that his blood contains the cure; if they kill him they will
be the murderers. Ruth adds her voice to the exchange, exhorting the leader to consider the
alternatives. Morgan is the cure. They must spare Morgan because he did not know what he
was doing. The leader ignores her pleas and impales Morgan to the altar with a spear. Morgan
dies, declaring that they are all half human freaks, while he is the last true man on Earth. Ruth
turns and walks out of the church. END
Analysis and Additional Notes: For its extremely small budget, this film may not have been the
most influential, but it was the first time I had seen Vincent Price demonstrate his grasp of
nuance in presenting a scientist deep in the midst of a post apocalyptic horror as a normal
human being with flaws and the deep abiding need for companionship. The fact that it is
presented as a modern piece instead of Price’s usual historical fare, like period pieces from Poe
and Stevenson, was refreshing.
The first time I saw it I was more used to seeing vampires in capes with teeth, and this was
a radical departure from that. I was drawn into Morgan’s plight, sympathized with his selftorture and sense of guilt over the deaths of the people he dispatched. The scene with the dog
was especially poignant. But he also presented a man who did things because they had to be
done, if only to validate his own existence. By the time he is threatened by Ruth he has about
given up. He does not care anymore what happens to him. But Ruth’s compassion and the fact
that she is a survivor gives him some hope.
This screenplay is also instructive in that it says there is more to life than just living. I found
it to be an important guide to portraying human nature in my own books. No one is perfect.
There are no absolutes, no certainties, no rescue around the corner. We survive on our own wits
even in a crowd of others, who may or may not have our back. Though it may have been more
to save money on film stock, the use of black and white film to put the elements in stark contrast
with each other gave more of a sense of bleakness to the background and the foreground
atmosphere. In my opinion it remains one of the finest examples of film noir of that time.
Production: Rights to Matheson's 1954 novel had been bought by producer Anthony Hinds
for Hammer Productions. Matheson had written a screenplay but the British censors would not
allow its production, so Hinds sold it to Robert Lippert. Lippert originally told Matheson that
Fritz Lang was to direct but eventually Sidney Salkow was chosen. To save money the film was
shot in Italy with a predominantly Italian cast and crew.
Critical reaction and legacy: Although The Last Man On Earth was not considered a success
after its release, the film gained a more favorable reputation as a classic of the genre. As of
November 2011, The Last Man On Earth holds a 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Phil Hall of Film
Threat called The Last Man On Earth "the best Vincent Price movie ever made." Awarding the
film 3.5 stars out of 4, Danél Griffin of Film as Art said, "Directors Sidney Salkow and Ubaldo
Ragona and star Vincent Price (giving a poignant, straightforward performance) are able to conjure up
some genuine chills here, mainly in the use of stark, black-and-white images and the underlining mood
of the piece."
Among the less favorable reviews, Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique felt the film was
"hampered by an obviously low budget and some poorly recorded post-production dubbing that creates
an amateurish feel, undermining the power of its story", while Jonathan Rosenbaum of The Chicago
Reader remarked, "some would consider this version better than the 1971 remake with Charlton Heston,
The Omega Man, but that isn't much of an achievement."
Among the film's creators, Price "had a certain fondness for the film" and felt it was better
than The Omega Man. Richard Matheson co-wrote the film's screenplay but was unhappy with
the results. In order to keep receiving residual income from the film, though, he had to be
credited, and so used the name "Logan Swanson" - a combination of his mother-in-law’s maiden
name and his mother's maiden name. Matheson remarked, "I was disappointed in The Last Man
on Earth, even though they more or less followed my story. I think Vincent Price, whom I love in every
one of his pictures that I wrote, was miscast. I also felt the direction was kind of poor. I just didn’t care
for it."
George A. Romero has acknowledged the source material of The Last Man On Earth as an
influence on his film Night of the Living Dead, remarking that he basically had ripped it off from
the Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend.
Differences from the novel: The protagonist of the novel I Am Legend is named Robert
Neville, not Robert Morgan. The movie also changed the protagonist's profession from plant
worker to scientist. The film's vampires are almost zombie-like, whereas in the book, they are
faster, capable of running and climbing. The dog that shows up on Neville's doorstep is timid
in the novel, and comes and goes as it pleases. The relationship with Ruth also slightly differs
from the novel, and no transfusion takes place; a cure seems implausible, even as Neville hopes
he will find one. Ruth escapes after Neville discovers that she is infected. He is not captured
until many months later, and even then he barely fights. The book ends shortly before Neville
is to be executed: Ruth returns to give him suicide pills, and finds it ironic that he has become
as much of a legend to the new society as vampires once were to his (hence the title). The novel
implies that the vampire plague resulted from a biological disease. The origin of the disease is
not explained in The Last Man On Earth, and is altered in the subsequent adaptations.
About the book: I Am Legend ; author: Richard Matheson - Genres: Science fiction, horror,
zombie fiction, vampire fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction. Publisher: Gold Medal; Publication
date: 1954; paperback, 160 pages.
Analysis: On further study of the turnaround of the social construct, history often
demonizes the heroes and canonizes the villains, to the convenience of the mores and the
perceptions of those who lived through the actual events. It is still considered a normal
procedure for governments to seal records of an event until the parties involved have all died;
often preventing the prosecution of the instigators and executioners; and influencing the
historical record by fiat. This borderline between fact and fantasy (read: legend) is slowly
becoming erased by the internet and the advent of public journalism, which will no longer allow
real events to become layered by the fiction of political convenience. Once everyone has seen it
happen in real time or the recent past, the actual event is cemented in history without
diminution.
Critical reception: As related from In Search of Wonder (1956), Damon Knight wrote: "The
book is full of good ideas, every other one of which is immediately dropped and kicked out of sight. The
characters are child's drawings, as blank-eyed and expressionless as the author himself in his back-cover
photograph. The plot limps. All the same, the story could have been an admirable minor work in the
tradition of Dracula, if only the author, or somebody, had not insisted on encumbering it with the year's
most childish set of ‘scientific’ rationalizations." Galaxy reviewer Groff Conklin described I Am
Legend as "a weird and rather slow-moving first novel ... a horrid, violent, sometimes exciting but too
often overdone tour de force." Anthony Boucher praised the novel, saying "Matheson has added a
new variant on the Last Man theme ... and has given striking vigor to his invention by a forceful style of
storytelling which derives from the best hard-boiled crime novels".
Dan Schneider from International Writers Magazine: Book Review wrote in 2005: "...despite
having vampires in it, [the novel] is not a novel on vampires, nor even a horror nor sci-fi novel at all, in
the deepest sense. Instead, it is perhaps the greatest novel written on human loneliness. It far surpasses
Daniel DeFoe’s Robinson Crusoe in that regard. Its insights into what it is to be human go far beyond
genre, and is all the more surprising because, having read his short stories - which range from competent
but simplistic, to having classic Twilight Zone twists (he was a major contributor to the original TV
series) there is nothing within those short stories that suggests the supreme majesty of the existential
masterpiece I Am Legend was aborning."
In 2012, the Horror Writers Association gave I Am Legend the special Vampire Novel of the
Century Award.
Influence: Although Matheson calls the assailants in his novel "vampires", there is little
similarity between them and vampires as developed by John William Polidori and his
successors, which come straight out of the gothic novel tradition. I Am Legend greatly influenced
the zombie genre and popularized the concept of a worldwide zombie apocalypse. Although
the idea has now become commonplace, a scientific origin for vampirism or zombies was fairly
original when written. It is referred to as "the first modern vampire novel", and as a novel of
social theme.
Notable horror author Stephen King said, "Books like I Am Legend were an inspiration to me."
Film critics noted that the British film 28 Days Later (2002) and its sequel 28 Weeks Later both
feature a rabies-type plague ravaging Great Britain, analogous to I Am Legend. Although this
was never acknowledged by Matheson, it is worth noting that Mary Shelley published a novel
entitled The Last Man that told the story of a future world ravaged by a plague and the last
solitary inhabitant.
The plague legend itself has its roots in the 14th century, where stories of the onset of the
Black Plague and The Red Death were widespread. These may also have led to Edgar Alan Poe
writing The Masque of The Red Death, in which Prince Prospero seals himself and his guests inside
his castle, hoping to escape the contagion ravaging the land, only to become infected by a dwarf
(his fool) and a tiny dancer. Matheson must have drawn on Poe for the basis of his adventure.
Adaptations: The book has also been adapted into a comic book mini-series titled Richard
Matheson's I Am Legend by Steve Niles and Elman Brown. It was published in 1991 by Eclipse
Comics and collected into a trade paperback by IDW Publishing. An unrelated film tie in was
released in 2007 as a one-shot I Am Legend: Awakening published in a San Diego Comic Con
special by Vertigo.
A 9 part abridged reading of the novel performed by Angus MacInnes was originally
broadcast on BBC Radio 7 in December 2007.
The Omega Man: (1971) starring Charlton Heston as Robert Neville and Anthony Zerbe as
a cult leader called Matthias (presumably named after Matthias Corvinus, the Hungarian king
who joined with Dracula to drive out the Turks). Matheson had no influence on the screenplay
for this film; it deviates from the novel's story in several ways, completely removing the
vampiric elements except for the sensitivity to light. The infected appear as extremely pale and
frequently sick. Heston spends his days looking for food and drink while avoiding the
“zombies”. He meets a black woman who soon becomes his lover, but eventually she is also
infected and he has to kill her. His death is violent and also brings the film to a close with a dull
thud.
In I Am Legend (2007) Will Smith stars, directed by Francis Lawrence. The film takes place
in New York City in the years 2009 and 2012. This film also deviates from the original novel,
but a rewrite in scenario was done to distance the project from the other zombie films. The
infection is caused by a virus originally intended to cure cancer, made virulent apparently by a
test injection in several subjects. Neville is slowly revealed to have been the scientist who
developed the virus.
Some vampiric elements are retained, such as sensitivity to UV light and attraction to
blood, though the infected are portrayed as ultraviolent savage creatures of limited but
instinctual intelligence. The introduction of the dog is shown as a union between man and
animal for companionship, made especially poignant when he must put her down after she is
badly injured and infected with the disease by other dogs. The ending of the film was also
altered to portray Robert Neville as a hero for sacrificing his life to save humanity, while in the
book Robert Neville is executed for crimes against the surviving vampiric humans. In this
rendition, he allows a woman and her daughter to escape to a healthy compound in the country
while he takes on the creatures himself.
I have seen the film and I must say that it was a bit heavy on the eyeballs. Grim, tortuous,
and mercifully over after two plus hours of almost nonstop aggression, desperation and
violence.
DR WHO AND THE DALEKS (1965)
Directed by Gordon Flemyng
Produced by Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky
Written by Terry Nation, Milton Subotsky, Max J. Rosenberg and David Whitaker
Music by Barry Gray and Malcolm Lockyer
Cinematography by John Wilcox
BBC Pictures (Thames) Release date August 23, 1965; Running time 79 minutes.
Cast:
Peter Cushing as Dr. WHO
Roy Castle as Ian Chesterton
Jennie Linden as Barbara
Roberta Tovey as Susan
Barrie Ingham as Alydon
Michael Coles as Ganatus
Yvonne Antrobus as Dyoni
Geoffrey Toone as Temmosus
John Bown as Antodus
Mark Petersen as Elyon
Thals (all uncredited) - Ken Garady, Nicholas Head, Michael Lennox, Jack Waters, Virginia
Tyler, Jane Lumb, Bruce Wells, Martin Grace, Sharon Young, Gary Wyler
Thal Child - Michelle Scott (uncredited)
Daleks - Bruno Castagnoli, Michael Dillon, Brian Hands, Robert Jewell, Kevin Manser, Eric
McKay, Len Saunders, Gerald Taylor
Dalek Voices - David Graham (uncredited), Peter Hawkins (uncredited)
Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) was the first of two Doctor Who films made in the 1960s. It was
followed by Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. The film features Peter Cushing as Dr. Who,
Roberta Tovey as Susan, Jennie Linden as Barbara, and Roy Castle as Ian. It is based on The
Daleks, the second Doctor Who serial (and the first to feature the Daleks). Filmed in Technicolor,
it is the first Doctor Who story to be made in color and in a widescreen format. The television
series continued to be made in black-and-white until 1963, and not in widescreen until the
revival of the series in 2005, when Paul McGann took on the role of the 10th regeneration of the
Doctor in the film Dr. Who.
Plot: The Doctor (Cushing) and his companions Susan (Tovey) and Barbara (Linden), show
Barbara's boyfriend Ian Chesterton (Castle) the Doctor's latest invention: a time machine called
the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space). When Ian accidentally activates the
machine, it takes them to a petrified jungle on the planet Skaro, devastated by an ancient nuclear
war fought between the Daleks and the Thals. It is the conclusion of the war, and the Daleks,
heavily mutated by radiation, had encased themselves in protective machines and retreated
into their city; while the humanoid Thals survived the fallout through the use of an
antiradiation drug and became a peaceful race of farmers. The Thals' crops have recently failed,
however, and they have journeyed to the petrified jungle to seek help from their former
enemies.
The Daleks, although determined to become the dominant race on Skaro, are unable to
leave the city due to their vulnerability to radiation and their reliance on static electricity to
power their travel machines.
Ian and Barbara are unnerved by the jungle’s creatures and demand to return to London;
but the Doctor is eager to investigate the city and fakes a leak in one of the vital TARDIS fluid
links to keep them on Skaro. The group search the city for the mercury needed to refill the link
but stumble across a case of Thal drug vials as they leave. In the city, the Doctor reads a Geiger
counter and realises that the planet is radioactive. They are all feeling unwell, and he deduces
that they are developing radiation sickness. Suddenly, the Daleks appear and capture the
travelers, confine them in a cell and seize the Doctor's fluid link for inspection.
The Daleks know of the Thal radiation drug and want to reproduce it in large quantities
so that they can leave the city and exterminate the Thals. They offer to let the humans use some
of the drug to cure their sickness if the vials left outside the TARDIS are brought to the city. As
they carry out their task, Susan encounters Alydon, the Thal leader who left the vials. Alydon
gives Susan a secondary drug supply to use in case the Daleks deviate from their promise; and
also lends her his plastic cape to protect her from the radioactive rain.
The Daleks discover Susan's secret drug supply but allow the humans to treat themselves
with it. They then order (they never ask) Susan to write a letter to the Thals, informing them
that they wish to end post war hostilities, and will leave some food in their control room as an
act of friendship to the Thals. Our heroes discover that when the Thals arrive they will be
ambushed and “exterminated!”
When a Dalek comes to the cell to deliver their food and water, the Doctor and his
companions immobilize it by forcing it onto Susan's cape, thus insulating it from the charged
metal floor. They open the Dalek’s case and discover the creature inside: a shrunken alien being
with tentacles. Ian secretes himself inside the casing and notifies another Dalek that he is taking
the Doctor, Barbara and Susan to the control room for questioning. Now freed from their cell,
the travelers go outside. They shout to warn the Thals who are entering the city and escape with
them into the jungle. An elderly man is killed by the Daleks.
Later, the Daleks test the Thal drug on a number of volunteers, but find that it causes
disastrous side effects. They are genetically incompatible. With no way to leave the city, the
Daleks decide to detonate a neutron bomb to increase the radiation on Skaro; to a point that not
even the Thals can survive.
At the Thal camp, the Doctor urges Alydon to fight the Daleks and secure a safe future for
his species. Alydon insists that the Thals are pacifists, but the Doctor tests this claim by ordering
Ian to take Dyoni, Alydon's lover, to the Daleks and exchange her for the confiscated fluid link.
Alydon punches Ian to the ground, showing the Thals that they can and do fight for some
things. Alydon, Susan and the Doctor lead the tribe to the front entrance of the city, where they
try to confuse the enemy's scanners by reflecting light off small mirrors and give the impression
that the Thals have the advantage of greater numbers. The plan fails when the Daleks appear.
The Thals scatter and Susan and the Doctor are captured.
Meanwhile, Ian and Barbara, guided by their Thal helpers, set out to infiltrate the city from
the rear. Elyon is killed by a marsh denizen in the swamp, and the party is forced to jump a
chasm to proceed further. A Thal called Antodus falls short of the leap and plunges into the
void, but manages to cling to the uneven rock face and is pulled up by the others.
In the city control room the Daleks ignore the Doctor's appeals as they start the countdown
to detonation. Ian, Barbara, Ganatus and Antodus penetrate the city and join Alydon and the
rest of the Thals, who have returned determined to rescue Susan and the Doctor. The Thals and
humans enter the control room and assault the Daleks while the Doctor yells for someone to
stop the bomb detonation.
Ian calls out his presence and dives for cover as the Daleks fire towards him in unison. The
Daleks inadvertently destroy their own control panel, disabling themselves as well as freezing
the countdown. The Doctor then retrieves the TARDIS fluid link to restore it to his control
mechanism.
In the jungle, the Thals bid farewell to the Doctor and his companions and express their
gratitude with special gifts. When the travellers depart in the TARDIS they materialise not in
London, however, but on a battlefield in front of an advancing Roman army. The Doctor takes
it all in his usual unflappable stride. END
Analysis and Additional Notes: One of the reasons I included this film on the list was the
spectacular special effects work on the part of the animators of the Daleks in the battle sequence.
Not only was this accomplished in miniature, the sense of scale between the full size and the
model Daleks was well preserved. This was probably due to superior miniature animation by
Gerry Anderson, who went on to create the models and ships featured in his SuperMarionation
television shows Thunderbirds, Thunderbirds Are Go, and Super Car. He is not credited in the film
but I suspect he was happy just to get paid.
For those of you who don’t know, (and I don’t understand why you don’t) Doctor Who
began as an obscure little television series on the BBC when it was just starting out as a fully
fledged network. It was originally shot on video tape and the sets and costumes were extremely
primitive. The budget made it impossible for the production crew to create anything
spectacular; everything was recycled from other shows or consisted of curtains, sheets and
props and sets made out of cardboard or even paper. The stars of the show were who carried
the show, and created a brand new fantasy world for young people.
The series revolved around an irrascible and eccentric “inventor” calling himself “the
doctor”. We never learned his real name. He traveled around in his amazing spacetime machine
called the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) with a serious of companions,
who were considered both his guests and his constant gadflies. He was first introduced with
his grandaughter Susan, who one day demanded to be left behind when she fully matured. His
first human companions were two school teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Williams, who
got into trouble at the drop of a hat but always managed to extricate themselves (and sometimes
the Doctor, too.).
Over the course of the next few years, the series was threatened with cancelation several
times but a fan following had grown. Eventually, the Doctor was written as a maleable,
adjustable and somewhat immortal character. He was an alien, a timelord, and a renegade at
that; who occasionally regenerated into a new face and form when he was mortally wounded.
Thus, the producers and writers had more material to work with and the Doctor has evolved
over 12 regenerations, with a whole series of companions joining him in his adventures. Each
new adventure was creative and imaginative, though some were a little better than others. It all
depended on the lead writer and his vision. Soon, Dr. Who became a permanent fixture on
British television, even more enduring than Star Trek. Now in 2013 the 50th anniversary of Doctor
Who has been celebrated, and we don’t know when it will lose steam. The current incarnation
features Peter Capaldi as The Doctor, Gemma Coleman as Clara Oswald, his “impossible girl”,
and each episode approaches genius.
I was finally able to see Dr. WHO and The Daleks again on video disc after about 30 years.
In the intervening time I was either too busy to see it in syndication or it was shown in the wee
hours of the morning. As a long time fan of Dr. WHO and his amazing adventures, I was able
to connect the Doctor to this film as a long lost part of the series. By some strange
miscommunication, the feature film was never included in the timeline of the series. Peter
Cushing certainly could have been the next Doctor had he had the legal means to work himself
in. But as it was, the actors’ guilds in the UK were not so amenable. They were not merged into
BAFTA at the time.
A special note: film credits were sparse to minimal owing the the cost of film stock. Later,
the actors and crew unions around the world gave voice to their objections, and soon after that
(1972), films began to run longer as their credits began scrolling down. The first film to be
extended for credits was probably Superman (1978), where the credits were 20 minutes long all
by themselves. Later, the end credits would roll with empty theaters, as the patrons did not
bother to stay, but the film makers had the legal obligation in include the credits. It’s too bad
about that, because film makers would often insert little extra pastiches or loose ends at the very
end to keep people there or to address clues not explained. After a while, that novelty wore off,
too.
Production: In 1995, a documentary about the two Dalek films, Dalekmania, was released;
it revealed details about the productions, spin-offs, and publicity. Barrie Ingham discussed the
production in an interview in Australia in 1976 for the Doctor Who fanzine Zerinza.
Originally, the Daleks were going to be armed with flamethrowers, but these were vetoed
for violence and safety reasons, and replaced with smoke projectors. Flamethrowers were,
however, later incorporated into the Daleks seen in the TV serial The Daleks' Master Plan
broadcast later in 1965. The Daleks were slightly redesigned from their appearance in the
television series, most noticeably in the rounded bases. Three of the movie Dalek models were
hired by the BBC and used in the serial The Chase. As the film was not released until after The
Chase, this film actually marks those movie Daleks' second appearance.
David Whitaker novelized the original television serial in 1964 as Doctor Who In An Exciting
Adventure With The Daleks (later retitled Doctor Who And The Daleks). Although not strictly a
novelization of the film, there are some similarities in that the book has Ian Chesterton joining
the TARDIS crew for the first time as he does here, even though he actually joined the Doctor
in a previous serial in the television version, with William Hartnell as The Doctor.
The Dalek props seen in the film are taller than the TV Daleks, having large bumpers at
the base (Possibly to make them more imposing - the TV Daleks were only about five feet high).
All of the Daleks featured large, distinctive dome lights and a number were also fitted with a
mechanical pincer instead of a plunger. Some of the Daleks used in the background for 'crowd
scenes' were constructed from molded fiberglass, and can be distinguished by the slightly
different shape of the brass collars around their midsections. A number of Daleks were
displayed on the back of a truck at the Cannes film festival for publicity. Single Daleks were
also sent further afield, one making an appearance at a cinema in Sydney, Australia, before
apparently being thrown out or "lost".
Music from this film has been released on Dr. Who & the Daleks by Silva Screen Records.
FAHRENHEIT 451 (1966)
Directed by François Truffaut
Produced by Lewis M. Allen
Screenplay by Jean-Louis Ricard and François Truffaut;
based on the novel by Ray Bradbury
Music by Bernard Herrmann
Cinematography by Nicolas Roeg
Studio: Anglo Enterprises; Vineyard Film Ltd.
Distributed by Universal Pictures; Release dates September 16, 1966 (UK); November 14, 1966
(USA)
Running time: 112 minutes; Budget $1.5 million
Cast:
Oskar Werner as Montag
Julie Christie as Linda Montag/Clarisse
Cyril Cusack as Captain
Anton Diffring as Fabian
Jeremy Spenser as Man with the Apple
Bee Duffell as Book Woman
Alex Scott as Book Person
and a cast of many others
Plot: In the not too distant future, a totalitarian regime employs a special force known as
Firemen to seek out and destroy all literature. They are permitted to search anyone, anywhere,
at any time, for books which the government has deemed illegal to own.
One of the Firemen, Guy Montag (Oskar Werner), meets one of his neighbors named
Clarisse (Julie Christie), a 20 year old schoolteacher whose job is now hanging by a thread
because of her unorthodox views about books. The two have a discussion about his job, and she
asks if he ever reads the books he burns.
His life up to now has been dull, lifeless and routine. Every day he goes out and burns
books, then goes home to his wife Linda, who is parked in front of the television set most of the
time. Apparently, everything in this society revolves around that flat screen, which is set up in
every home. She is watching a talk show when he arrives and throws him a casual wave hello.
That appears to be the extent of their marriage. Montag is usually too tired to argue and throws
himself onto their bed to brood while she entertains her friends and goes out to party.
But what Clarisse says about books stirs something in him. Curious to know more, Montag
begins to sneak books from the homes before the bonfires are lit and brings them home to hide
in his house. He starts reading them, starting with David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. This
leads to protracted conflict with his wife, who is more concerned with being popular enough to
be a member of The Family, an interactive television program that refers to its viewers as
"cousins". (This predates reality shows by about 30 years, but you see the creeping intrusion of
these kinds of shows into the average household living room by now. I don’t watch them. I’m
too busy writing books and exploring new worlds to care about the useless, childish lives of
fake celebrities.)
At the house of a book collector, the Firemen captain (Cyril Cusack) talks with Montag at
length about how books used to make people want to be better than others, which is considered
antisocial, even as the men slide out their gasoline hoses and start another bonfire.
A middle aged woman, who was once seen with Clarisse a few times during Montag's
rides to and from work, is a book collector who now refuses to leave her house. She has opted
instead to burn herself and the house so she can die with her beloved books. The Firemen oblige
her with a happy, careless grin. Humanity is shown as debased by these mindless automatons,
more concerned with keeping their jobs than questioning authority, and their sensitivity toward
their fellow men is thrown into sharp relief against Montag’s growing compassion for those
who only want to read.
Montag is disturbed by this event, and when he returns home later that day he tries to tell
Linda and her friends about the woman who martyred herself in the name of books. He
criticizes them about their deliberate ignorance of the world and their hatred for literature,
calling them "zombies" and telling them they're just "killing time" instead of living an active,
educated and imaginative life. That they are being spoon fed drivel by the government to keep
them entertained and uncurious.
Linda's friends start to leave, but Montag stops them and forces them to sit and listen to
him reading from a novel. During the reading, one of Linda's friends breaks down with tears,
now fully aware of the feelings she had repressed over the years. Linda's other friends finally
get up and leave in disgust over Montag's alleged cruelty and the "sick" content of the novel.
Linda is incensed and goes into their bedroom, slamming the door. Montag is now so
thoroughly mortified by their uncaring attitudes that he camps out on the couch instead of
trying reason with her. At this point, we see that their marriage, if that is what we can call it, is
long over.
That night, Montag dreams of Clarisse and the book collector who had killed herself. At
one point in the dream he thinks them one and the same woman, and wakes from his nightmare
even as Clarisse’s house is being raided in the night. But Clarisse escapes through a trapdoor in
the roof with the help of her uncle and they run away.
Montag visits in the morning, sees the burned out house and becomes distraught that she
is missing. But no one will tell him where she might have gone. The next evening, Montag
breaks into the captain's office looking for information and is caught, but not punished.
Apparently Firemen are a rare breed who only take orders.
Later, Montag discovers where Clarisse has gone and follows after When he catches up,
Clarisse tells him that there are others like her, and she had to flee without leaving any proof of
their existence. He helps her break back into her house to make sure the papers are destroyed.
She then tells him more about the "book people," a sect which flouts the law and preserves
books. Each of them has taken on the duty to memorize a single book to keep it and the words
alive. She and Montag agree to meet later on, when the search dies down and he can get away.
Montag then goes to the fire station and tells the captain he is resigning. The captain claims
that Montag can’t just walk away from his duty, and convinces him to go on one more call;
which turns out to be at Montag's own house. Linda tells Montag that she can't live with his
book obsession anymore. In a last fit of anger, he destroys the bedroom and television set before
setting fire to the books. The captain lectures him about his heresy, and pulls Montag's last book
out of his coat, for which Montag kills him.
Montag runs and manages to escape the city. After walking alone for some time, he finds
the book people and tells them he has left the city for good. A television nearby shows his
"capture" on television, staged to keep the masses entertained. The government doesn't want
the truth to come out. By now, Montag no longer cares. Only time would tell if the people in
the city conquer their fear of the unknown and throw off the oppressive yoke of their leaders.
Montag becomes one of the book people willingly. He learns that they are like a tribe, with
traditions and rules, and the young ones are taught the books of their old ones by oral tradition,
so that the stories will be preserved for posterity. He selects a book to memorize, Tales of Mystery
& Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe, and he is happy to learn the words, the book’s meaning, the
cadence of the narrative. Soon, he is seen walking among them, reciting the book for all time.
END
Analysis and Additional Notes: I first saw this film on television in syndication. Ironic, isn’t it?
It struck me as being one of those heavy films which was not meant to entertain but to educate.
Some say it was meant to be satire, even parody. Not to me. I saw it as an indictment of our
own society, which is rapidly being consumed by the internet. Don’t get me wrong, I love the
internet. It has its good features and bad, but the trick is to learn which is which. Having not
read the novel yet at the time, I did not realize what was going on in a society where television
was king. Of course I was only 16, and not yet wiser to the ways the world works.
But the signs were already there: most of the people I went to school with were not
interested in reading books. The dropout rate was staggering. Grades were low, and unless you
lived on the moon, the emphasis on reading was somewhat low. Early on, it was clear that
sports ruled and what passed for comedy involved too many four letter words. Irreverence
ruled the day, and courtesy started to die virtually before my very eyes.
As a youngster I had started reading early in my life, so that when I was five years old and
entered preschool I could already read and write rather well. I was not in the class for long.
Despite my age, I was bumped up to 1st grade. And then 2nd grade. Ah, well. But I never stopped
reading whatever I could get my hands on. Soon I was labeled as something of a problem,
because the teachers were alarmed at my progress. Isn’t that silly? Why should they want to
hold me back? Two little words: convention and conformity. “She shouldn’t be reading at that
level,” they said, and “she’s progressing too fast.” My mother asked, “why not?” And that was
that.
Reading enables people to obsorb facts better, to learn to form their own ideas better, to be
prepared to face the world’s challenges better. Children should be exposed to books early so
that they can be able to solve the world’s ecological and economic problems. No one seems to
remember that the Nazis burned books written by the major philosophers and social scientists
of their time, in bonfires very much like those started by the Firemen. It seemed that the Nazis
were determined to recreate the world in their own image and books were only an impediment
to realizing that vision.
By trying to stop people from reading and focusing only on making them watch television,
the regime of Montag’s world was also determined to reshape the world to suit their agenda.
They fed the populace a menu of mindless pablum much in the way the Romans staged their
violent games to keep the citizens entertained and quiet. Now, we have seen an uproar about
the real life burning of a religious book and the attendant violence associated with it, staged by
the ultrareligious who know nothing about the rest of the world and who don’t want to.
We are now seeing the quest to preserve the status quo when politicians do all they can to
hinder the progress of their own citizens; their refusal to accept the mandate of their people;
and their willing capitulation to the influence of the rich and powerful. Statecraft has descended
into “every man for himself”, even to the point of adjourning early instead of staying on and
hammering out the details of needed legislation.
The people have a funny habit of bucking against that tradition because they read more
than the politicians realize. The people are ready for new things. Only those who refuse to see
the truth in front of their eyes are willing to hold back progress. Those who place their faith in
one or two books and nothing else are only holding themselves back.
I don’t always read because I am writing, but when I do, I prefer science fiction. Keep
reading, my friends.
Production: About Oskar Werner as Guy Montag: Francois Truffaut kept a detailed diary
during the production, and this was later published in both French and English (in Cahiers du
Cinema in English). In this diary, he called Fahrenheit 451 his "saddest and most difficult"
filmmaking experience, mainly because of intense conflicts between Truffaut and Werner, who
had divergent ideas about Montag’s character and Werner’s performance.
The film was Universal Pictures' first European production. Julie Christie was originally
just cast as Linda Montag, not both Linda and Clarisse. The part of Clarisse was offered to both
Jean Seberg and Jane Fonda. After much thought, Truffaut decided that the characters should
not have a villain/hero relationship, but rather be two sides of the same coin, and cast Christie
in both roles, although the idea came from the producer, Lewis M. Allen.
In an interview from 1998, Charles Aznavour said he was Truffaut's first choice to play the
role eventually given to Werner. Aznavour said Jean-Paul Belmondo was the director's second
choice, but the film's producers refused on the grounds that both of them were not familiar
enough to the English speaking audience. (Who does not know Jean-Paul Belmondo? For
shame!)
Paul Newman, Peter O'Toole and Montgomery Clift were also considered for the role of
Montag; Terence Stamp was cast, but dropped out when he thought he would be overshadowed
by Christie's dual roles in the film. Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave, and Sterling Hayden
were considered for the role of the fire captain before Cyril Cusack was cast. I think Newman
may have been better. Peter O’Toole was too tall and well-known, and Montgomery Clift was
too emotionally fluid. Werner himself was stiff, quiet, and prone to sudden fits of peak, much
more in line with Montag’s overstressed and morally disgusted character.
The film was shot at Pinewood Studios in England, with the monorail exterior scene taken
at the French SAFEGE test track, in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire near Orléans, France. The track has
been dismantled since then. The film featured the Alton housing estate in Roehampton, South
London and also Edgcumbe Park in Crowthorne, Berkshire. The final scene of the “book
people” was filmed in a rare and unexpected snowstorm that occurred on Julie Christie's
birthday, April 14 1966.
The production work was done in French, as Truffaut spoke virtually no English, but did
co-write the screenplay with Jean-Louis Ricard. Truffaut expressed disappointment with the
often stilted and unnatural English language dialogue, which was minimal at best. He was
much happier with the version that was dubbed into French.
The movie's opening credits are spoken rather than displayed in type, which might have
been the director's hint of what life would be like in an illiterate culture. Tony Walton did
costumes and production design, while Syd Cain did art direction.
The novel vs. the script: Among the other notable differences with the original text is that
the film adaptation dropped almost all science fiction elements present in the book, such as
professor Faber and his portable communicator, the Mechanical Hound, and the "book
people's" methods of recalling texts from memory without learning them by rote. The film also
does not show the total war and destruction that break out as Montag flees the city, though
there is mention of a war that the government is keeping from the public by disguising it as
"field training" for men who have been drafted into the army. I suspect that numerous casualties
on the training grounds would have attracted some concern on the part of the general public,
but I digress.
Most important here is the character of Clarisse McClellan. In the novel, Clarisse is a 17
year old girl who dropped out of high school to escape its luddite tedium, and ends up dead
when a speeding car hits her while her family moves out of town. In the movie, Clarisse is now
a 20 year old woman who was an elementary school teacher, but was fired for her unorthodox
teaching methods. While other teachers make the students recite their times tables, Clarisse
actually engages her students in discussing arcane subjects, an act considered hideously
antisocial in this future society.
She is almost caught by the Firemen who suspect her and her uncle of subversion, but ends
up escaping society, reuniting with Montag when he flees the city and joins the Book People.
Ray Bradbury was pleased with Truffaut's decision to keep her alive, preferring the ending so
much that he adapted it for his stage production of Fahrenheit 451.
Music: According to an introduction by Ray Bradbury to a CD of a rerecording of the film
score by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra (William Stromberg conducting), he had suggested
Bernard Herrmann to Truffaut for composer. Bradbury had once visited the set of Torn Curtain,
meeting both Alfred Hitchcock and Herrmann before he left the film. When Truffaut contacted
Bradbury for a conference about his book, the author recommended Herrmann, as Truffaut had
already written a detailed book about Hitchcock. When Herrmann asked Truffaut why he was
chosen over "modern" composers such as the director's friends Pierre Boulez or Karlheinz
Stockhausen, the director replied that "they'll give me music of the twentieth century, but you'll
give me music of the twenty first!"
Herrmann used a score of only string instruments, harp, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba,
and glockenspiel. As with Torn Curtain, Herrmann refused the studio's request to do a title song.
Reception: Critics had mixed feelings about the film, but in later years Fahrenheit 451 would
be liked for what it was. Time magazine called the film a "weirdly gay little picture that assails with
both horror and humor all forms of tyranny over the mind of man"; it "strongly supports the widely held
suspicion that Julie Christie cannot actually act. Though she plays two women of diametrically divergent
dispositions, they seem in her portrayal to differ only in their hairdos." They also noted that the film's
"somewhat remote theme challenged (Truffaut's) technical competence more than his heart; the finished
film displays the artisan more than the artist."
Unfortunately, Christie’s Clarisse was a construct of the film, not the story, so whatever
she did was really up to Truffaut. If he had wanted a real performance he should have asked
her to improvise. Bosley Crowther called the film a "pretentious and pedantic production"
based on "an idea that called for slashing satire of a sort beyond Truffaut's grasp, and with
language he couldn't fashion into lively and witty dialogue. The consequence is a dull picture—
dully fashioned and dully played—which is rendered all the more sullen by the dazzling color
in which it is photographed."
In spite of that, the film was nominated for a 1967 Hugo Award in the "Best Dramatic
Presentation" category, along with Fantastic Voyage and 3 episodes of Star Trek. It lost out to the
Star Trek episode "The Menagerie". Martin Scorsese has called the film an "underrated picture"
which had influenced his own films.
Leslie Halliwell described it as "1984 stuff, a little lacking on plot and rather tentatively
directed, but with charming moments". On the review aggregator web site Rotten Tomatoes,
the film holds an 83% positive rating among top film critics based on 30 reviews, and a 70%
positive audience rating based on user ratings.
Author Ray Bradbury had said in later interviews that, despite its flaws he was pleased
with the film. He was particularly fond of the film's climax, where the book people walk
through a snowy countryside reciting the poetry and prose they have memorized, set to
Herrmann's melodious score. He found it especially poignant and moving. Bradbury later died
in May of 2012.
5 Million Years To Earth (1967)
Based on the BBC television serial "Quatermass and The Pit"
produced in 6 parts
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Produced by Anthony Nelson Keys
Written by Nigel Kneale
Music by Tristram Cary
Cinematography by Arthur Grant
Studio: Hammer Films; Distributed by Associated British-Pathé (UK); Twentieth Century Fox
(USA);
Release date November 9, 1967; Running time 97 minutes; Budget £275,000
Cast:
Andrew Keir as Prof. Bernard Quatermass
James Donald as Dr. Matthew Roney
Barbara Shelley as Barbara Judd
Julian Glover as Col. Breen
Duncan Lamont as Sladden (drill operator)
Plot: Workers building an extension to the London Underground at Hobbs End dig up skeletal
remains. Palaeontologist Dr Matthew Roney (James Donald) is called in to examine them
according to the building code’s requirement. He looks at them and deduces that they are the
remnants of a group of apemen over five million years old, more ancient than any previous
find; probably members of the missing link species of hominid everyone has been searching for.
Along with the remains, one of Roney's assistants uncovers part of a quasimetallic object.
Believing it to be an unexploded bomb, they call in an army bomb disposal team.
Meanwhile, Professor Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir) is dismayed to learn that his
plans for the colonization of the Moon are to be taken over by the military. He gives a cold
reception to Colonel Breen (Julian Glover) who has been assigned to join Quatermass's British
Experimental Rocket Group. Naturally, Breen is an officious, nonthinking pragmatist who
thinks that the PM’s decision ought to be enough for Quatermass.
When the bomb disposal team call for Breen's assistance, due to the significance of the find,
Quatermass insists on accompanying him to the site. Roney and Quatermass meet for the first
time and discuss the situation. Roney takes Breen’s attitude with the teaspoon of salt he ought
to, and assures Quatermass that there is no use agonizing over it until more facts are brought
to light.
After the rubble has been cleared away, The metallic object turns out to have an odd
configuration, neither metal nor bullet like. Another apelike skeleton is found next to or under
the object. On first glance Breen concludes it is a V-weapon left over from World War II, but
Quatermass disagrees, saying it may have a more alien origin. Roney, however, is a methodical
man and will not entertain the notion that it is as described until he has more proof.
The workmen are already suspicious of the dig, some claiming that they have seen strange
things in the tunnel before. One has even claimed he had seen a ghost of a dwarf as that is the
best description he can muster. Roney says that it is a common occurrence, and that the name
“Hobb’s End” has been used to describe the neighborhood for centuries. Quatermass becomes
intrigued by the naming of the area, recalling that “Hob” is a medieval name for the Devil.
Working with Roney's assistant, Barbara Judd (Barbara Shelley), Quatermass finds many
historical accounts of hauntings and other spectral appearances going back over centuries of
history.
They deduce that these events coincided with any disturbances of the ground around
Hobbs End. Perhaps these hauntings are somehow associated with the site. Quatermass later
insists that the reporters and other gawkers be cleared away from the dig and the surrounding
area for their own safety, but Breen ignores him. He does not believe in ghosts and has the idea
that the publicity would be good for the subway project.
After a brief press conference Colonel Breen says that the object may be of historic
significance but the tunnel must be dug. He says that everything that can be done to investigate
it is being done and that the project will be back on schedule soon. Quatermass tries to put in
his opinion, but again Breen ignores him. Afterwards, Breen and Quatermass argue about it.
Breen leaves satisfied that he has done his job, leaving a skeleton guard to keep out the curious
and allowing the dig crew to do what they can to “defuse” the object.
An attempt to open a sealed chamber in the object using a drill fails to make any progress.
Then suddenly, a strange noise emanates from it. The noise penetrates the entire chamber. The
driller is caught in an electric charge and is burned to death. Another driller man, a man named
Sladden, swears that he will not be so clumsy and sets up to strart his drill. But soon afterward
the sound emanates again. Sladden becomes disoriented, nauseated, and exits the chamber in
a hurry.
A few moments after the drill is stopped, a small glowing patch is seen in the skin of the
craft and a hole appears. Sladden (Duncan Lamont), is certain it was not created by his machine.
The hole widens and then the skin of the hull breaks open to reveal the contents: the corpses of
insectoid creatures with antennas resembling horns, suggesting that the antennas were vestigial
or their corpuses were embedded.
Roney and Judd work to preserve the bodies before they decay any further. It is slow,
methodical work, and we see that they are all deteriorating rapidly from exposure to the air.
The insects have been dead for millions of years, preserved in their capsules until they were
opened. Roney is delighted at this discovery to the horror of his assistants. The corpses smell
terrible, and there is a moment when an assistant uses a scalpel to open the chest cavity of one
of them. A horrible greenish fluid exudes, driving everyone back with disgust and horror.
An examination of the creatures' physiologies suggests that they must have come from the
planet Mars. Quatermass and Roney note the similarity between the appearance of the creatures
and the Devil in human memory, the old drawings of the hauntings corroborating their
conclusion. Among all the strange devices they find in the craft are various weapons. The object
is also seen to be resting on more of the hominid skeletons, as if it had been carried there on
their backs. Something had happened eons ago which defy explanation, and the mass grave
was slowly buried in the soft English soil until it disappeared.
While the scientists are working on their artifacts, the drill man Sladden tries to open
another hatch. His drill slips, and the roiling sound which comes from the object catches him in
its spell. He exits screaming like a maniac, stumbles past Quatermass and his fellows and climbs
the ladder, pushes his way past the guards and runs off into the night. Quatermass gives chase,
and when he catches up with Sladden in a church cemetary, Sladden is found cowering at a
grave, almost senseless with terror.
Sladden tells Quatermass he saw a vision of hordes of the creatures from the missile:
“Leaping. Jumping! High in the air! And I was one of them!” Thinking quickly, Quatermass
guides the man into the church, where he is met by the pastor. There, Quatermass tries to learn
more. What else does he see? Is the sky blue? Sladden becomes sullen, then replies, “no. Dark…
dark purple…”
Quatermass comes to the conclusion that this is a race memory, though he is not sure about
it himself. Seeking proof, he returns Sladden to the Hobbs End lab and tells Roney what
happened. Roney thinks he has an answer. He retuns to the lab, which is set up next to the pit;
bringing a machine Roney has been working on which taps into the primeval psyche of the
human brain, seeking ancestral connections for genetic research. At first, they place a headset
on Sladden’s head to record the impressions he has experienced. Nothing happens. Somehow
the connection has been lost.
Quatermass becomes convinced that whatever Sladden experienced has something to do
with the initial shock, so he sets up next to the object and attempts to discharge the power again,
using one of Sladden’s tools. All he has to do is touch it with a metal object, and the noise begins
again. It is terrible as it catches Sladden again, but this time he is near gone, collapses finally
and dies.
But somehow, Barbara is affected, too, without the head set. Things are constantly moving,
papers fly, as Barbara says, “I can see!” Quickly, Quatermass gets the headset off Sladden and
she nods as he puts it on her. She goes blind with the visions, and so affected by the
electromagnetic force that she begins to rise from the floor. Roney and Quatermass hold her
down until the force dissipates and dies down. She is exhausted but otherwise unaffected, later
complaining only of a headache.
Soon after that, Quatermass presents his theory to a government minister (Edwin
Richfield) and other officials gathered at the laboratory. He shows the recording of both
Sladden’s vision and Barbara’s visions to the men. We see a projection of a crowd of insects at
war, destroying each other in a paroxysm of violence. Barbara reacts with disgust.
Quatermass concludes that the occupants of the missile had come from the dying planet
Mars. Unable to survive their war, they chose to preserve some part of their race by creating a
colony on Earth; and by significantly enhancing the intelligence of the native hominids in the
process. The descendants of these apemen evolved into modern humans but retain the vestiges
of the Martian influence buried in their subconscious minds.
A skeptical Colonel Breen offers an alternative theory: the missile is a Nazi propaganda
exercise designed to sow fear of an alien invasion among the populace. The minister rejects the
Martian theory in favor of Breen's and decides to unveil the missile to the press. Quatermass
objects again approaching violent dissent, but to no avail. Once again, people only see what
they want to, and in their eyes science has nothing to do with the truth.
That evening, the officials are planning to have another press conference and reveal the
object to the public at large. But as the broadcasting equipment is set up and activated,
something happens. A powerful electric connection is triggered in the craft, which we see is
beginning to activate. Its skin grows translucent, and what looks like a bloodstream is moving
throughout it. There is a heartbeat as it comes to life. Apparently, broadcast power is all it needs
to emerge from its long hibernation. The noise begins, the living craft begins to glow.
A powerful discharge topples technicians from their platforms, causing a panic. The
reporters and crew exit as a desperate mass of moving flesh. Quatermass, Roney and Barbara
follow them, unable to stop it. Mesmerized, Breen remains where he is, then falls to his knees
and is slowly roasted to death by the power emanating from the craft.
Somehow the scientists are separated as the crowds on the street magnify the panic into a
full on war. Quatermass is affected as well, and fights off the terrible urges driving him to kill,
trying to retain his humanity. Barbara pursues him through the streets determined to end him.
She was apparently descended from the enemy. She is transformed into a witch, the supreme
worshipper of the Devil, who will use her power to achieve her master’s ends.
The sound and its power drive Quatermass into a ruined building, where he hides from
Barbara and watches as the population divide themselves under the influence of the craft and
go on a destructive rampage. Others are somehow immune from the insanity, and they corner
the affected to kill them with the power of their minds alone. Others turn on each other like
animals.
Eventually, Roney has found him and snaps him out of it by talking to him. Roney is
himself unaffected, and is immune to the craft’s influence somehow. He has retained his human
mind despite everything that is happening around him. Quatermass is mortified, and does not
know what to do next. They look out the window and see a giant projection of a Martian insect
towering over London like a god. Or the Devil. Whatever it is, it is centered over Hobbs End.
Suddenly, Roney has an idea. Recalling the stories about how the Devil could be defeated
with iron and water, Roney thinks the alien energy could be discharged into the earth like static.
He spots an industrial crane standing nearby. It is made of metal, so he runs to it and starts to
climb. Quatermass cautions him that he will be killed, but Roney is determined to do it, saying
that if anything his life will at last mean something to the human race. (A side of Roney we were
not privy to before; the spirit of self-sacrifice is strong in this one.)
Barbara appears again. Roney tells Quatermass to keep her occupied and her attention
away from him. Barbara tries to kill Quatermass with her mind, but he fights back and wrestles
with her. She is like a thing possessed as she resists, until he finally coshes her in the jaw and
puts her out of commission. He holds her close to him as he watches Roney.
The scientist climbs out onto the swing arm and pushes it toward the specter in the sky.
As the arm touches it, it sparks and the crane goes up in flames, killing Roney. The specter
disappears and the noise stops, leaving darkness and silence. Roney’s gambit is successful.
As Quatermass and Barbara sit exhausted and dazed in the rubble of Hobbs End, dogs
barking, fire engines and police bells can be heard in the distance as the human race regains its
senses. END
Analysis and Additional Notes: When I first saw this film it gave me goosebumps. Seriously, I
was terrified for the first time in my life, and I had seen other films which were labeled “horror”
which were not scary to me. I was 16, with at least 20 really scary movies under my belt. This
one really stirred a primitive fight or flight response which I have since reasoned down to an
effective script with the right proportion of sight and sound to tell a terrifying story.
In its own way, it inspired me to study archaeology and anthropology as I became more
curious about the remote past of the human species. While I do not believe that we were directly
descended from Martians, there is a kernel of curiosity about it. Now that there have been
robotic probes sent to the surface of Mars in the last decade, my questions may be answered.
There was no way we could really be Martians. Yet, in the last decade robotic probes sent to its
surface have proved that there was the potential for life at one time, but most of it was microbial.
There is no evidence of an alien civilization on the surface of Mars.
Yet, microbes were transported to Earth on meteorites in eons past, so some of our
existence can be traced to Mars after all. This film along with another film, Queen of Blood,
formed part of the basis for my own science fiction/vampire novel, Mars And The Dragon’s Blood.
I was terribly disappointed by the ending, however. I kept saying to myself, “is that all
there is?” prompting me to ask even more questions. The end seemed so brief and unresolved,
as if there was more to say in the film. It was far too short, and left too many things unresolved.
Does Roney get a memorial for his heroic act? Does the government acknowledge its mistakes?
(Of course it would not.) What happened to the object once it was disabled, and where would
it have gone? Was it truly a living being, or was it programmed to behave that way? Was it
destroyed, and the community restored to some semblence of order? We will never get any
answers to these questions.
Production: Nigel Kneale wrote the first draft of the screenplay in 1961, but difficulties in
attracting interest from American financiers meant the film did not go into production until
1967. The director, Roy Ward Baker, was chosen on account of his experience with technically
demanding productions such as A Night to Remember. This would be the first of many films he
directed for Hammer.
Andrew Keir, playing Quatermass, found making the film an unhappy experience,
believing Baker had wanted Kenneth More to play the role. Due to lack of space the film was
shot at the MGM studios in Elstree, Borehamwood rather than Hammer Film's usual home at
the time, which was the Associated British Studios, also in Elstree.
The film opened in November 1967 to favorable reviews and remains generally well
regarded. Hammer Film Productions announced that they would make a fourth Quatermass
film but nothing ultimately came of this. A new serial adventure – titled simply Quatermass –
was eventually made in 1979 by ITV television in 1979 and received a limited cinema release
under the title The Quatermass Conclusion.
Professor Bernard Quatermass was first introduced to audiences in two BBC television
serials, The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and Quatermass II (1955), all written by Nigel Kneale.
The rights to both these serials were acquired by Hammer Film Productions, and the film
adaptations – The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass 2, both directed by Val Guest and
starring Brian Donlevy as Quatermass – were released in 1955 and 1957 respectively. Kneale
went on to write a third Quatermass serial – Quatermass and the Pit – for the BBC, which was
broadcast in December 1958 and January 1959. It was intended that Val Guest would once again
direct and Brian Donlevy would reprise the role of Quatermass, with production to commence
in 1963.
However, securing finance for the new Quatermass film proved problematic. In 1957
Hammer had stuck a deal with Columbia Pictures to distribute their pictures, and the two
companies would go on to collaborate on thirty films between 1957 and 1964. Columbia, who
were not interested in Quatermass, passed on the script and production went into limbo for
several years.
In 1964 Kneale and Anthony Hinds submitted a revised, lower budget script to Columbia;
but by this time the relationship between Hammer Films and Columbia had begun to sour, and
the script was once again rejected. In 1966, Hammer entered into a new distribution deal with
Seven Arts, ABPC and Twentieth Century Fox, and Quatermass and the Pit finally entered
production. Perhaps this was one of the reasons it was such a good film. A better budget
enabled better conditions for the film and its reception.
Writing: The script of Quatermass and the Pit is largely faithful to the television original.
The plot was heavily condensed in order to fit the shorter running time of the film, with the
main casualty being the removal of a subplot involving the journalist James Fullalove, who does
not appear in the film adaptation at all. The climax was altered slightly to make it more
cinematic, with Roney using a crane to short out the Martian’s manifestation, while in the
television version he merely throws a metal chain into the pit.
The setting for the pit itself was changed from a building site to the London Subway
Underground. The script was sent to John Trevelyan of the British Board of Film Censors in
December 1966. Trevelyan replied that the film would require an “X” Certificate for violence
and gory situations, and raised concerns regarding the sound of the vibrations from the alien
ship, the scenes of the Martian massacre, the scenes of destruction and panic on the Earth as the
Martian influence takes hold, and the image of the Devil. I guess he really thought it was the
Devil. Moron.
Casting: James Donald played Doctor Roney. Donald first came to prominence playing
Theo van Gough in Lust for Life (1956) before going on to play a string of roles in the World War
II prisoner of war films The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Great Escape (1963), and King Rat
(1965). Though he did not play the title role Donald was accorded top billing status for his
performance alone.
Andrew Keir as Quatermass: Nigel Kneale had long been highly critical of Brian Donlevy's
interpretation of Quatermass and lobbied for the role to be recast, arguing that enough time had
passed that audiences would not resist a change of actor. A number of actors were considered
for the part including André Morell, who had played Quatermass in the television version of
Quatermass and the Pit. However, Morell was not interested in revisiting a role he had already
played.
The producers eventually settled on Scottish actor Andrew Keir, who had appeared in
supporting roles in a number of Hammer productions including Pirates of Blood River (1962), The
Devil-Ship Pirates (1964) and Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966). He was quite convincing as a
very human scientist trying to prevent a catastrophe.
Keir found the shoot an unhappy experience. He later recalled, “The director – Roy Ward
Baker – didn't want me for the role. He wanted Kenneth More... and it was a very unhappy shoot…
Normally I enjoy going to work every day. But for seven and a half weeks it was sheer hell.” Roy Ward
Baker denied he had wanted Kenneth More, who he felt would be “too nice” for the role, saying,
“I had no idea Keir was unhappy while we were shooting. His performance was absolutely right in every
detail and I was presenting him as the star of the picture. Perhaps I should have interfered more.”. Keir
went on to appear for Hammer in The Viking Queen (1967) and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
(1971). He reprised the role of Quatermass for BBC Radio 3 in The Quatermass Memoirs (1996).
Barbara Shelley as Barbara Judd: Shelley was a singularly personable regular leading lady
for Hammer, having appeared in The Camp on Blood Island (1958), Shadow of the Cat (1961), The
Gorgon (1964), The Secret of Blood Island (1964), Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Rasputin: The Mad
Monk (1966) for them. Quatermass and the Pit was her last film for the company and she
subsequently worked in television and the theatre in minor roles after that. Roy Ward Baker
was particularly taken with his leading lady, telling Bizarre Magazine in 1974 he was “mad about
her in the sense of love. We used to waltz about the set together, a great love affair.”.
Julian Glover as Colonel Breen: Roy Ward Baker first met Glover when he directed him in
an episode of The Avengers (1961–69). Baker said of Glover's performance, “He turned in a
tremendous character, forceful, autocratic but never over the top”. Glover recalled of the role,
“I think I was too young for it. I think I played it all right. It was very straightforward. Bit of a
stereotype. The obligatory asshole!”. He had also starred with Tom Baker as Andred in DR
WHO: The Revenge of Skaro, and later as an Imperial walker captain in Star Wars: The Empire
Strikes Back; and still later as the foolish Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade,
who chose poorly. Glover has created memorable villains and also heroes throughout his career.
Other actors appearing in the film include Robert Morris, Bryan Marshall, Edwin Richfield
and Peter Copley. Duncan Lamont, playing Sladden, had appeared in the original BBC
production of The Quatermass Experiment in the key role of the hapless astronaut Victor Carroon.
Quatermass and the Pit also features an early film role for Sheila Steafel, who makes a brief
appearance as a journalist near the start of the movie. (The part was cut out later as superfluous.)
Filming: By the time Quatermass and the Pit finally entered production Val Guest was
occupied on Casino Royale (1967), so directing duties went instead to Roy Ward Baker. Baker's
first film had been The October Man (1947) and he was best known for The One That Got Away
(1957) and A Night to Remember (1958). Following the failure of Two Left Feet (1963), he moved
into television; directing episodes of The Human Jungle (1963–64), The Saint (1962–69) and The
Avengers.
Producer Anthony Nelson Keys chose Baker as director because he felt his experience on
such films as A Night to Remember gave him the technical expertise to handle the film's
significant special effects requirements. Baker, for his part, felt that his background on factbased dramas such as A Night to Remember and The One That Got Away enabled him to give
Quatermass and the Pit the air of realism it needed to be convincing to audiences. He was
impressed by Nigel Kneale's screenplay, feeling the script was "taut, exciting and an intriguing
story with excellent narrative drive. It needed no work at all. All one had to do was cast it and
shoot it."
He was also impressed with Hammer Films’ lean set-up: having been used to working for
major studios with thousands of full-time employees. He was surprised to find that Hammer's
core operation consisted of just five people and enjoyed how this made the decision making
process fast and simple. Quatermass and the Pit was the first film the director was credited as
“Roy Ward Baker”, having previously been credited as “Roy Baker”. The change was made to
avoid confusion with another Roy Baker who was a sound editor. Baker later regretted making
the change as many people assumed he was a new director.
Filming took place between February 25 and April 25, 1967. The budget was £275,000. The
production team included many Hammer regulars, including production designer Bernard
Robinson who, as an in-joke, incorporated a poster for Hammer's The Witches (1966) into the
dressing of his set for the Hobbs End station. Another Hammer regular was special effects
supervisor Les Bowie. Roy Ward Baker recalled he had a row with Bowie, who believed the
film was entirely a special effects picture, when he tried to run the first pre-production
conference.
Bowie's contribution to the film included the Martian massacre scene, which was achieved
with a mixture of puppets and live locusts, and model sequences of London's destruction,
including the climatic scene of the crane swinging into the Martian apparition.
Music: Chosen to provide the score for Quatermass and the Pit was Tristram Cary. He
developed an interest in electronic music while serving in the Royal Navy as an electronics
expert working on radar during the Second World War. He became a professional composer in
1954, working in film, theatre, radio and television, with credits including The Ladykillers (1955).
He said of his assignment, “I was not mad about doing the film because Hammer wanted
masses of electronic material and a great deal of orchestral music. But I had three kids, all of
which were at fee-paying schools, so I needed every penny I could get!” Cary also recalled that,
“The main use of electronics in Quatermass, I think, was the violent shaking, vibrating sound that the
“thing in the tunnel” gave off… It was not a terribly challenging sound to do, though I never played it
very loud because I didn't want to destroy my speakers – I did have hopes of destroying a few cinema
loudspeaker systems, though it never happened.”
In point of fact, that sound was very much like what I imagined an alien spacecraft would
sound like.
Carey went on to write the score for another Hammer film, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb,
in 1971. Several orchestral and electronic cues from the film were released by GDI Records on
a compilation titled The Quatermass Film Music Collection.
Reception: Quatermass and the Pit premiered on November 9, 1967 and went on general
release in a double bill with Circus of Fear on November 19, 1967. It was released under the title
Five Million Years to Earth in the US in March of 1968. The critical reception was generally
positive.
Writing in The Times, John Russell Taylor found that, “After a slowish beginning, which shows
up the deficiencies of acting and direction, things really start hopping when a mysterious missile-like
object discovered in a London excavation proves to be a relic of a prehistoric Martian attempt (successful.
it would seem) to colonize Earth… The development of this situation is scrupulously worked out and the
film is genuinely gripping even when (a real test this) the Power of Evil is finally shown personified in
hazy glowing outline, a spectacle as a rule more likely to provoke titters than gasps of horror.”
Paul Errol of the Evening Standard described the film as a “well-made, but wordy, blob of
hokum.”, a view echoed by William Hall of the Evening News who described the film as
“entertaining hokum” with an “imaginative ending”.
A slightly more critical view was espoused by Penelope Mortimer in The Observer who
said, “This nonsense makes quite a good film, well put together, competently photographed, on the whole
sturdily performed. What it totally lacks is imagination.” Of course, the public’s reception of the film
was probably different. It was meant to be scary and it succeeded in spades.
Legacy: The film was a success for Hammer and they quickly announced that Nigel Kneale
was writing a new Quatermass story for them but the script never went further than a few
prelimininary discussions. Kneale did eventually write a fourth Quatermass story, broadcast as
a four-part serial, titled Quatermass, by ITV television in 1979, an edited version of which was
also given a limited cinema release under the title The Quatermass Conclusion. Quatermass and the
Pit continues to be generally well regarded among critics.
John Baxter notes in Science Fiction in the Cinema that “Baker's unravelling of this crisp thriller
is tough and interesting… The film has moments of pure terror, perhaps the most effective that in which
the drill operator, driven off the spaceship by the mysterious power within is caught up in a whirlwind
that fills the excavation with a mass of flying papers.”
John Brosnan, writing in The Primal Scream, found that, “As a condensed version of the serial,
the film is fine but the old black-and-white version, though understandably creaky in places and with
inferior effects, still works surprisingly well, having more time to build up a disturbing atmosphere.”
Bill Warren in Keep Watching the Skies! said, “The ambition of the storyline is contained in a
well-constructed mystery that unfolds carefully and clearly.”
Nigel Kneale had mixed feelings about the end result: he said, “I was very happy with
Andrew Keir, who they eventually chose, and very happy with the film. There are, however, a
few things that bother me... The special effects in Hammer films were always diabolical.”
The serial has been cited as an influence on the writer Stephen King and the film director
John Carpenter. It featured in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled
by the British Film Institute in 2000, where it was described as "completely gripping", and in
2005 the BBC's own website declared it "simply the first finest thing the BBC ever made. It justifies
licence fees to this day."
DVD release: The release of Quatermass and the Pit from Anchor Bay includes a commentary
from Nigel Kneale and Roy Ward Baker as well as trailers and an instalment of a documentary
called The Worlds of Hammer devoted to Hammer's forays into science fiction.
THE POWER (1968)
Directed by Byron Haskin
Produced by George Pal
Written by John Gay; based on "The Power" by Frank M. Robinson
Music by Miklós Rózsa
Cinematography by Ellsworth Fredericks
Distributed by MGM Release date 1968; Running time 108 minutes
Cast:
George Hamilton as Professor Jim Tanner
Suzanne Pleshette as Professor Margery Lansing
Michael Rennie as Arthur Nordlund
Arthur O'Connell as Professor Henry Hallson
Earl Holliman as Professor Talbot Scott
Nehemiah Persoff as Professor Carl Melnicker
Richard Carlson as Professor Norman E. Van Zandt
Gary Merrill as Policeman Mark Corlane
Yvonne De Carlo as Mrs. Sally Hallson
Barbara Nichols as Flora (Joshua Falls diner)
Aldo Ray as Bruce (Joshua Falls mechanic)
Celia Lovsky as Mrs. Hallson (Henry's mother)
Vaughn Taylor as Mr. Hallson (Henry's father)
Ken Murray as Fred Grover (man at party)
Miss Beverly Hills as Sylvia (woman at party)
Miiko Taka as Mrs. Van Zandt
Lawrence Montaigne as Briggs
Forrest J Ackerman as Hotel clerk (uncredited)
Plot: Dr. Jim Tanner is an expert on human endurance. As the film opens, he is the chairman of
a committee of scientists based at the laboratory of the Space Research Commission in San
Marino, California; tasked to find the limits of human endurance, and those factors which could
best enable a human being, say a prospective space pilot, to survive extreme stress and to make
instant decisions that could save his life in an emergency. But never before has Tanner found
himself pushed to the limits of his own endurance.
On a day like any other, Dept. of the Navy liaison Arthur Nordlund visits his laboratory
and observes some of Tanner's work, as four test subjects are undergoing endurance tests of
direct neural stimulation, immersion in freezing-cold water, extreme heat, and high acceleration
in a centrifuge. Though impressed, Nordlund is somewhat skeptical of the expense. Tanner
assures him that the work is necessary to maintain the continued viability of the US space
program.
Biologist Talbot Scott interrupts Tanner, asks to talk with him privately, and warns him
that another of their colleagues, anthropologist Henry Hallston, is scheduled to present his
report on his human intelligence survey, and is somehow convinced that all the committee
members are "being watched." Scott is afraid that Hallston will embarrass the Committee in
front of Nordlund, who is scheduled to attend.
Tanner cannot persuade Nordlund not to attend, so when the Committee sits, he tries to
put off Hallston’s claims instead. But Hallston will not be silenced. His survey, in which the
Committee members had participated, reveals that one of the members, unidentified because
the questionnaires were coded, is an unmeasurable genius, so much so that his genius might
reward him with preternatural powers of unknown quantity. The other members are openly
skeptical about this, and Tanner despairs of the bad impression Hallston is giving to Nordlund,
but Nordlund is intrigued and wants to hear more. The laboratory's chief administrator,
Norman E. van Zandt, insists on allowing Hallston to have his say, if only to falsify his
seemingly outrageous theories. But when physicist Carl Melniker sets up a test by placing a
sheet of notepaper on an improvised spindle, Hallston insists that everyone in the room should
try together to make the paper spin without touching it.
The incredible happens: the paper does spin, slowly at first, then faster and faster.
Everyone is amazed at this result and do not know who could be responsible. Or could they all
be equally powerful? No one knows at this point in the film.
Tanner is more inclined to ignore the whole thing as a parlor trick, but his colleague and
paramour, geneticist Margery Lansing, is not so sure. She asserts that such a genius is possible
and that he or she could be born today. Then the telephone interrupts them, and speaking at
the other end is a frantic Sally Hallston, who tells Tanner that her husband had gone to the lab
to pick up his questionnaires and has not returned home. In fact, Hallston has gone to his office,
but never made it out. Someone has impressed on Hallston's mind that the swinging door
(which is no more than knee high) has become a high gate, and then a solid wall he cannot
surmount. After that, Hallston has suffered a heart attack and collapsed at his desk.
Reluctantly, Tanner and Marge drive back to the lab. Together, they look over Hallston's
empty office, which shows signs that someone has fallen over the desk and spilled whatever
was on it. Among the scattered papers on the floor Tanner finds a memo sheet with the name
"Adam Hart" scrawled on it. As he is trying to figure out who that person might be, they hear
the centrifuge in the next room starting up. Tanner and Marge rush to the centrifuge control
room but cannot stop the machine. Tanner rushes down the hallway to pull the main breaker,
and together he and Marge wait for the centrifuge to stop.
When they open it, they find Hallston seated in it. He is dead, his eyes and tongue still
protruding from the high acceleration forces he has suffered. (Actually, his eyes and tongue
would have compressed, not protruded, but I imagine this was the best the special effects team
could do with what they had.)
The next day, a police detective oversees the removal of Hallston's body and interviews
Tanner. That is when things begin to go seriously wrong for Tanner. First, the centrifuge's
controls now work properly, contrary to Tanner's story and experience. Then, the detective and
Dr. van Zandt both accuse Tanner of academic fraud, after Tanner's colleges and graduate
schools have no record of his having ever enrolled, much less graduated. Then Talbot Scott
abruptly refuses to speak to Tanner, this although they had had a friendly conversation only
five minutes before. Forced to resign his position, Tanner leaves the laboratory, but not before
the detective hints to him that he is now a "person of interest" in what is now a murder
investigation. He is told not to go far.
Tanner wanders aimlessly in the tourist section of San Marino, trying to figure out what
went wrong, only to experience weird events as he goes along. A water-dipping bird on display
abruptly straightens up, winks at him, then drinks from the water glass and spits at him. In
another display window, a company of toy soldiers march smartly into formation, unlimber
their muskets, aim at him, and fire! Then he tries to cross the street, but the pedestrian traffic
signal changes its message from DON'T WALK to DON'T RUN. He runs from there into a fun
house, where he finds himself on an empty carousel with a horse that winks at him. The carousel
begins to rotate, then accelerate as fast as the centrifuge, and the carousel operator has to pull
an emergency switch to stop it and allow Tanner to get off. It is all like a nightmare, only Tanner
is wide awake.
By now, Tanner has had it. He realizes that someone who was at the Committee meeting
had set him up. That person, presumably the mysterious Adam Hart, first murdered Hallston,
then framed Tanner with the murder. That Hart had somehow erased his academic record, and
now was trying to kill him, but for some reason he had failed. Tanner does not want to wait for
another murder attempt, but decides to track Adam Hart down himself and bring him to justice.
He goes to Joshua Flats, Hallston's hometown, and starts asking questions about Hart, first
of a local cafe waitress who becomes romantically interested in Tanner; a thing that had also
happened to him in the tourist section, but he was too muddled to pay attention. He then asks
about Hallston's parents. The witnesses variously describe Hart, who had been Hallston's
schoolmate, as a genius and something of a chick magnet, but he had left town and no one knew
him anymore. Then the local gas station operator offers to take Tanner to Hart's old hangout,
but instead dumps Tanner in the middle of the desert next to the Air Force firing range.
Tanner is nearly killed again when a squadron of jets starts strafing the range. He escapes
only because he has the presence of mind to light a fire in the dry brush, prompting the pilots
to break off.
Furious, he returns to the gas station, bursts into the operator's bedroom and interrogates
him harshly. The station operator finally confesses that Adam Hart gave him a standing order
ten years earlier to kill any person who dared to ask questions about him. That the man would
blindly obey such a dangerous order after all these years only convinces Tanner that he is
dealing with an assassin with the very same preternatural abilities that Hallston had most
feared. Now he knows the reason for Hallston's attitude: Hallston, having grown up with Hart,
had felt instinctively that Hart was a very dangerous person. Tanner is now Hart's target. But
now Hallston is dead and cannot corroborate his innocence.
Tanner goes to see Hallston's widow, who is no help either. She does not remember the
name Adam Hart, though she had said before that Hallston had mentioned him once; doesn't
remember what her late husband looked like, and doesn't even remember Tanner; though for
some weird reason she also seems romantically interested in him. Tanner puts that down to her
being drunk. Her amnesia is too conveniently erratic to be natural.
Next, he goes to see Margery Lansing, but Carl Melniker has invaded Marge's home, tied
her up, and laid in wait for Tanner; thinking him to be the unknown genius who had killed
Hallston. Tanner manages to subdue Melniker long enough to convince him that he means him
no harm, and frees Marge. Melniker is alternately contrite and forgiving. The three scientists
then try to have a rational discussion about what they're facing, and how to combat it, or survive
it. The three scientists decide that for now they don't dare fall asleep, so they drive to a hotel in
nearby Santa Lisa, and enter a salesmen’s convention to hide out in the crowd.
While there, Tanner sees a newspaper with several copies bearing a partial headline:
DON'T RUN! This luckily turns out to be part of a legitimate headline, but why the newspaper
would run a banner headline about the city's mayor telling an opposing candidate not to run
against him seems very unusual to Tanner. Later, despite their best efforts, Melniker winds up
dead, and Tanner and Marge must flee together into the unknown.
Tanner and Marge next drive to the apartment complex where Arthur Nordlund lives. As
they drive into the parking garage, they see Nordlund there. He suffers an apparent heart attack
and then stumbles into an elevator. The elevator starts to go up, then starts back down, then
gets stuck between floors. Tanner climbs to the top floor, enters the elevator shaft, and tries to
climb down to the elevator by rappeling down the cable; but the elevator starts to go up again,
threatening to crush Tanner. Tanner quickly lets himself down to the elevator cab, opens the
trap door, and enters the cab. He finds Nordlund lying on the floor, seemingly near death.
Now that Hallston and Melniker are dead, and with Nordlund injured, Tanner trusts
Marge implicitly. Tanner now narrows his list of suspects to van Zandt and Scott. Nordlund
urges a homicidal counterstrike against the unknown genius, but Tanner does not wish to kill
anyone indiscriminately without knowing which man is the right man. Tanner then visits Dr.
van Zandt's home, but succeeds only in speaking to Mrs. van Zandt and through her learns that
van Zandt suspects Tanner himself of the murder.
Then Tanner barely escapes alive when someone tries to run him down on the street. He
recovers and then drives away, only to find himself in a car without brakes. He careens the
runaway car into a river and escapes drowning by unfastening the car's convertible top, only to
be picked up by the police when he swims to the surface. They take him to a hospital, where
the detective first tells him that he is under arrest for the murders of Dr. and Mrs. van Zandt,
who had died when their house burned down under mysterious circumstances. The detective
also informs him that Nordlund had disappeared when they arrived.
Then comes word that Talbot Scott has locked himself in the auditorium at the laboratory,
armed to the teeth, and has demanded to see Tanner. Tanner insists that he could talk to Scott
and reason with him, and reluctantly the detective lets him go to the laboratory. There, he listens
as Scott babbles incoherently about Tanner being the genius. Scott is willing to serve Tanner
however he wishes if only Tanner will not kill him. In the end, the now deranged Scott dies in
a gun battle with the police.
At last Tanner realizes who is responsible for setting him up and the murders of his
colleagues. Instead of running, he walks the corridor and looks at notes that someone had left
concerning the effect of intense pain on the heart. Tanner notes the similarity between
Nordlund’s heart attack and the notes. Marge then reveals herself from hiding, telling Tanner
that she is glad that he has stopped running and will now stand and fight, because she now
realizes that Adam Hart is responsible. Somehow, she has been resistant to most of the mental
attacks and is the only person Tanner can trust.
Tanner confronts Adam Hart directly in the hall. Hart turns out to be Arthur Nordlund,
who unleashes his full telepathic fury on Tanner, willing him into a torturous sequence of
extremes: plunged into freezing cold, then searing heat, and finally into the unforgiving void of
outer space. Somehow Tanner survives all these mental shocks, but physically collapses.
Now he knows why Nordlund/Hart wants him dead: there are in fact two geniuses of
immeasurable power, not one: Adam Hart and himself! There can be only one, and Nordlund
will kill whoever stands in his way. Tanner recovers and fights back directly, killing Nordlund
by telekinetically squeezing his heart and holding it compressed until he dies.
Marge tells Tanner that she ought to have suspected earlier: Adam Hart would never have
revealed himself by making the paper spin at the original meeting, and everyone else but van
Zandt had tried individually to spin the paper and failed, so she had to conclude that Tanner
was the genius all along. Now that Tanner realizes what kind of man he is, he and Marge leave
the laboratory together, with Tanner speculating idly on whether his newfound power will
corrupt him, and is unable to answer his own question. END
Analysis and Additional Notes: The first time I had seen this film I did not know anything
about George Hamilton, so you will forgive me if I told you I found his leaning toward comedy
in subsequent films to be somewhat jarring. As a dramatic actor he was compelling, and he
seemed to fight for every line as if he was Tanner. His chemistry with Michael Rennie was
stellar. It is a pity he could not exploit his talent as well as he should have. Don’t get me wrong:
I loved his Dracula in Love At First Bite (a terrible little film) and his role as Diego/Ramon Vega
in Zorro: The Gay Blade, but his drama was very good, too.
I remember also that this was one of the first instance of telekinesis being treated as a
genetic mutation instead of a freakish aberration. It is also a caution against absolute power
corrupting absolutely. Nordlund’s quest for more power undid him in the end, whereas Tanner
treats it as a novelty of uniqueness. Maybe that will temper his use of it, we hope for good
instead of evil. I chose the film because of its sensitivity and subtlety in approaching the subject.
The injection of a waking nightmare into the scenario lent even more credibility to the idea that
reality may be fantasy, and vice versa, and that we really don’t know which is which. It is up to
the human mind to sort them out, and to do so with moral compassion so frequently absent
from men who have the power to carry out their deepest, darkest desires. Talk about monsters
from the id. Nordlund was confident that his will would prevail no matter what happened in
reality. That was the flaw in his plan.
The source novel was substantially changed in the John Gay screenplay, which moved the
location to San Marino, California; and changed most of the characters' names while retaining
the surnames of Tanner, Nordlund, and department head Professor van Zandt. It also
eliminated several subplots and characters, presumably to fit the story into a short film format.
Hamilton starred as Professor Jim Tanner, with Pleshette as his teammate and romantic
interest Margery Lansing (Marge Hanson in the novel) and Michael Rennie as new government
liaison Mr. Nordlund. Otherwise, the story proceeds in a fashion similar to the novel, except for
a somewhat different twist to the conclusion. In the movie, Tanner defeats Hart but retains his
humanity; whereas in the novel, Tanner sheds his humanity after killing Hart and looks
forward to playing God with normal humans just as Hart had.
This somewhat obscure and often forgotten movie is also memorable for a number of
intriguing scenes, including murder by centrifuge, the seemingly possessed "Walk / Don't
Walk" sign, toy soldiers firing their guns with real bullets, and winking inanimate objects, which
are featured in the novel.
The soundtrack features a beating heart and the eerie music of a cymbalum (a hammered
dulcimer) accompanying the more suspenseful moments. The opening credits feature a
cymbalum being played, as if that is what the movie was really about. Hardly a dramatic
beginning to what would turn out to be a diamond in the rough.
The theme music, written by Oscar winning composer Miklós Rózsa, contributes an
amusing transition when Tanner, hearing the haunting tune, seems to expect a new disaster,
only to be visibly relieved when he finds a cymbalum and violin duet being performed in the
hotel lobby; as if the music was also pursuing him all over the film. This device was suspenseful
and kept the audience riveted. This was Rózsa's final score for a film produced by MGM, for
which he had previously scored numerous films throughout his career. I believe it was with
this film that he retired.
There are very few notes to be found about the novel itself, which I have not read. It
received no acclaim beyond its release as a film and it has since passed into the “where are they
now?” category of science fiction novels. It is nonetheless a disturbing expose’ of the human
aspirations to achieve godhood, writ large by the cast’s stellar performances on film. There are
no further notes to be had. It was what is called “a flash in the pan.”
Charly (1968)
Directed and Produced by Ralph Nelson
Original Music by Ravi Shankar
Cinematography by Arthur J. Ornitz
Written by Stirling Silliphant; based on the novel "Flowers For Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
Cast:
Cliff Robertson as Charlie Gordon
Claire Bloom as Alice Kinnian
Lilia Skala as Dr. Anna Straus
Leon Janney as Dr. Richard Nemur
Ruth White as Mrs. Apple
Dick Van Patten as Bert (as Richard Van Patten)
Edward McNally as Gimpy (as Skipper McNally)
Barney Martin as Hank
William Dwyer as Joey
Dan Morgan as Paddy
Plot: Charlie Gordon (Cliff Robertson), is a mentally challenged man with a strong desire to
make himself smarter. He is not happy with his current state and has been attending night
school for 2 years, where he is taught by Alice Kinnian (Claire Bloom) to read and write.
However, his spelling remains poor and he is even unable to spell his own name, leading him
to go home in frustration and anger. It seems that he forgets everything he has learned no matter
how hard he tries. He talks to Alice and tells her he wants to be better; that he is a grown man
and must make his own way in the world.
Charlie supports himself during the day by working as a cleanup worker at the local
bakery, where his coworkers tease him and treat him awfully. They play jokes on him that
would anger anyone else but he takes it all in with his childlike humor, yet goes home feeling
miserable. He knows there is something wrong but does not know how to reason it out.
Alice learns about an experimental procedure which might help him, and takes him to the
Nemur-Straus Clinic, a hospital specializing in enabling retarded children and run by Dr.
Richard Nemur and Dr. Anna Straus. They have been increasing the intelligence of laboratory
mice with a new surgical procedure and are looking for a human test subject to complete their
project. As part of a series of tests to ascertain Charlie's suitability for the procedure, he is made
to race Algernon, one of the laboratory mice which has been treated with this procedure.
Algernon physically runs through a maze while Charlie uses a pencil to trace his way through
a diagram of the same maze. Charlie is disappointed that he consistently loses the race each
time. Nevertheless, he is given the experimental surgery when Alice convinces the surgeons
that he is viable and extraordinarily willing, even desperate to subject himself to the treatment.
After the surgery, Charlie is disappointed that he is not immediately smarter than he was
before and becomes angered when he still loses in races against Algernon. Alice talks to him
and convinces him that it takes time for his treatment to work, and he must be patient.
Reluctantly he agrees and says he will be good and do everything he is told. One day, he finally
beats Algernon in a race, and his intelligence quotient begins to increase rapidly. Alice continues
to teach him, but he soon surpasses her, to his delight and her chagrin. He begins to treat her as
inferior even as she tries to keep up.
Charlie goes home after the treatment and goes to work in the bakery as usual. His
coworkers do not know why he was absent but try to play with him anyway. One of them
challenges him to work at his machine and shows him how to work the controls. To his
amazement and consternation, Charlie calmly follows his instructions to the letter. The men see
that they cannot tease him anymore; he is now his own man. Feeling intimidated by this, the
men sign a petition against him and he loses his job at the bakery. He goes home despondent
and angry.
Gradually, Charlie also starts staring at Alice's bottom and breasts as well as drawing and
painting abstract nude figures of her. He also questions whether Alice loves her fiancé. He has
discovered sex, something his childlike brain has never been concerned with before. His
intellect shoves his hormones into overdrive. One night, Charlie follows Alice back to her
apartment and sexually assaults her, pulling her to the floor and kissing her forcefully until she
breaks free by slapping him on the face. Charlie feels both embarassed by his behavior and
repulsed by hers, storms out of her apartment and disappears.
The film then uses a montage sequence to show that Charlie has run away and gone on his
own, with a moustache and goatee (and long hair!), riding a motorcycle, kissing a series of
different women, smoking pot, doing psychedelic drugs and dancing at all hours of the night.
He is experimenting with life in the full bloom of delayed adolescence and teenage rebellion.
But soon after that he tires of it, thinking it extremely immature to waste himself like that,
and is thoroughly bored with it before long. His friend and drinking partner discovers that he
is no longer easy to manipulate or control, and leaves him dangling on his own. Finally, Charlie
has hit rock bottom in a jail cell, and now misses Alice terribly. Alice comes to bail him out, and
Charlie is contrite to her.
A further montage sequence shows Charlie and Alice running through the woods, kissing
under trees, accompanied by a voiceover of the two of them talking about bonding and
marriage vows. In the meantime, news of Charlie’s situation has spread, and he becomes
something of a celebrity as he is invited to guest on various TV talk shows, but over time he
realizes that he is no longer happy with being too smart. He feels like a freak and a fraud being
displayed in the cage of public entertainment. The pressure of performing is getting to him.
Worse, he has begun to see visions of himself as the old Charlie, retarded and yet strangely
happy, appearing before him when he needs to use his intellect the most; even waving at him
at times. He becomes spooked by their frequency and wonders if he is going mad. Finally, in a
stunning indictment of television as a communication medium, he declares that people are
limited by their own perceptions, that mindless entertainment for its own sake has no meaning
in the big picture. This is not what the television executives want to hear, so he is quietly
“uninvited” to future broadcasts. He is not surprised by this; he has seen this coming for some
time.
By now Charlie is thoroughly depressed. He returns home, haunted by his former self, to
commiserate with Alice. He has begun to forget things, he must now keep notes. He demands
to know what is happening to him. Finally, Straus and Nemur present their research to a panel
of scientists, including a question and answer session with Charlie. He is aggressive during the
session, and then reveals that he knows Algernon has just died. Forgetting that a mouse only
lives about two years at most, the fact of the animal’s death causes Charlie to believe that his
own magnified intelligence is only temporary and that he too will lose all cognitive ability and
die soon.
Strauss and Nemur reluctantly agree; that according to their studies, he can expect to keep
functioning normally for about as long as the mouse lasted. Charlie decides to work with
Nemur and Strauss to help them advance their research and see if he can be saved. But despite
all their efforts, Charlie realizes that there is nothing that can be done to prevent his intelligence
from fading. Desperate to shore up his spirits, Alice visits Charlie and asks him to marry her,
but he refuses and tells her quite bluntly to leave. She does so quietly and without a fuss.
Later, Alice sees Charlie playing with children in a playground, having reverted to his
former happy go lucky self. END
Analysis and Additional Notes: This was a brilliant story about the scientific effort to bring all
human beings to their maximum potential, to put right a terrible error in genetic selection, and
the tragedy of learning that some things are irreversible. This is the tragedy of Alzheimers,
which is an inexorable degenerative disease of the brain with no apparent cure. Current
research can only halt the onset temporarily, not prevent or cure it entirely. Through the
experiences of Charlie Gordon, we see that the retarded are not really suffering. Charlie Gordon
had the intellect to see that he should try become more than he was, but it was just not possible;
and he was not happy with what he had become as time went on. It was akin to tilting at
windmills. He finally accepted himself as he was and returned to the happy shelter of his
prolonged childhood.
Cliff Robertson’s portrayal of Charlie Gordon was real for me, and I am sure he lived and
suffered every moment of it. His character represented all of us, and what we might be without
our healing sciences and our genetic diversity. His sensitive performance left many (including
me) weeping in the audience.
This film also brought a sensitive and painful subject into the forefront, revealing a
problem which was frequently swept under the rug until then. In the years before the 1960’s,
painful events like the retarded being institutionalized for life, hysterectomies and vasectomies
forced on them to prevent their ever having children, used for medical experiments against
their will, and being euthenized in old age, were all commonly practiced as mandated by the
state and those with political power. After all, the retarded were not deemed capable of forming
important judgments or voting, so the politicians did not care what happened to them. The
retarded were treated like subhuman living dolls with no human rights, nor even granted the
right to live.
After this film was shown to the public, people began to ask questions about the plight of
the retarded, the genetic abnormals, the castoffs, the permanently disabled. Slowly, the public’s
eyes were opened to the travesty being perpetrated on their watch. Schools soon began to
require that Flowers for Algernon, on which the film was based, be read so that these crimes
against the helpless would never happen again.
Thanks to charity groups devoted to improving the lives of those less fortunate than the
rest of us, their efforts and money made inroads, and many of the retarded are now able to live
full productive lives and even have children, none of which have had the same symptoms as
their parents. Retardation is not a disease, it is an accident of genetics; an unfortunate mutation.
We can no more treat it as worse than cleft palates, extra digits, or premature baldness. And we
now have thousands of young men and women returning home from foreign lands with similar
symptoms, due to post traumatic stress and other devastating injuries. We must remember that
they are all blessed with the enormous potential to conquer their limitations, and move past
their disabilities with their minds alone.
Production: The novel had been the basis of The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon, a 1961
television adaptation in which Robertson had also starred for CBS's U.S. Steel Hour. Robertson
bought the rights to the story, hoping to star in the film version as well.
Reception: Vincent Canby called the film a "self-conscious contemporary drama, the first
ever to exploit mental retardation for...the bittersweet romance of it"; he called Robertson's
performance "earnest" but points out that "we [the audience] are forced into the vaguely
unpleasant position of being voyeurs, congratulating ourselves for not being Charlie as often as
we feel a distant pity for him." Canby calls Nelson's direction "neo-Expo 67", referring to the use
of split screen to "show simultaneously the reactions of two people facing each other and
conversing" and the use of "little postage stamp-sized inserts of images within the larger screen
frame."
Time magazine called Charly an "odd little movie about mental retardation and the dangers of allconquering science, done with a dash of whimsy." While "the historic sights in and around Charly's
Boston setting have never been more lovingly filmed…the impact of [Robertson's] performance...is
lessened by Producer-Director Ralph Nelson's determination to prove that he learned how to be new and
now at Expo '67: almost every other sequence is done in split screens, multiple images, still shots or slow
motion."
Screenwriter Maurice Rapf called Robertson's performance "extraordinary" and called
"astonishing" his on-screen "transformation from one end of the intellectual spectrum to the
other"; Rapf took issue with what he called the "pyrotechnics of the camera" and the "flashy
opticals", calling the effects "jarringly out of place" and better suited for a "no-story mod film
like The Knack."
Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, saying "The relationship between Charlie
(Cliff Robertson) and the girl (Claire Bloom) is handled delicately and well. She cares for him, but
inadequately understands the problems he's facing. These become more serious when he passes normal
IQ and moves into the genius category; his emotional development falls behind. It is this story, involving
a personal crisis, which makes Charly a warm and rewarding film." By contrast, Ebert pointed out "the
whole scientific hocus-pocus, which causes his crisis, is irrelevant and weakens the movie by distracting
us."
In 2009, Entertainment Weekly listed Charly among its "25 Best Movie Tearjerkers Ever."
Awards: At the 40th National Board of Review Awards, Charly was fourth in their list of
"Top Ten Films" of 1968, and Cliff Robertson was chosen the year's best actor.
At the 41st Academy Awards, Robertson won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a
Leading Role, under some controversy: less than two weeks after the ceremony, Time magazine
mentioned the Academy's generalized concerns over "excessive and vulgar solicitation of votes"
and said "many members agreed that Robertson's award was based more on promotion than
on performance."
The film was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, losing to 2001:
A Space Odyssey.
About the book: Flowers for Algernon; Author: Daniel Keyes; Genre: Science fiction; publisher:
Harcourt, Brace & World. Published: April 1959 (short story), March 1966 (novel); Print
(Hardback & Paperback) 274 pages (novel) ; ISBN 0-15-131510-8 (first edition, hardback); OCLC
Number 232370.
The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine
of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960. The novel was
published in 1966 and was joint winner of that year's Nebula Award for Best Novel.
The eponymous Algernon is a laboratory mouse who has undergone surgery to increase
his intelligence by artificial means. The story is told by a series of progress reports written by
Charlie Gordon, the first human test subject for the surgery, and it touches upon many different
ethical and moral themes such as the treatment of the mentally disabled.
Although the book has often been challenged for removal from libraries in the US and
Canada, sometimes successfully, it is required reading in schools around the world and has
been adapted numerous times for television, theater, radio and as the Academy Awardwinning film Charly.
Background: The ideas for Flowers for Algernon developed over a period of 14 years and
were inspired by numerous events in Keyes's life; starting in 1945 with Keyes's personal conflict
with his parents, who were pushing him to pursue a medical education in spite of his desire to
pursue a writing career. Keyes felt that his education was driving a wedge between him and
his parents and this led him to wonder what would happen if it were possible to increase a
person’s intelligence.
A pivotal moment occurred in 1957 while Keyes was teaching English to students with
special needs; one of them asked him if it would be possible to be put into a regular class if he
worked hard and became smart. Different characters in the book were also based on people in
Keyes's life. The character of Algernon was inspired by a university dissection class, and by the
poet Algernon Charles Swinburne. Nemur and Strauss, the scientists who develop the
intelligence enhancing surgery in the story, were based on professors Keyes had met while
studying psychoanalysis in graduate school.
In 1958, Keyes was approached by Galaxy Science Fiction magazine to write a story, at which
point the different elements of Flowers for Algernon fell into place. When the story was
submitted, however, the editor suggested changing the ending so that Charlie retained his
intelligence, married Alice Kinnian, and lived happily ever after. Keyes refused to make the
change and sold the story to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction instead.
Keyes worked on the expanded novel between 1962 and 1965 and first tried to sell it to
Doubleday, but they also wanted to change the ending. Again, Keyes refused and gave
Doubleday back their advance. Five different publishers rejected the story over the course of a
year until it was finally published by Harcourt in 1966.
The short story "Flowers for Algernon" was first published as the lead story in the April
1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It was later reprinted in The Best from
Fantasy and Science Fiction, 9th series (1960), the Fifth Annual of the Year’s Best Science Fiction
(1960), Best Articles and Stories (1961), Literary Cavalcade (1961), The Science Fiction Hall of Fame,
Volume One, 1929-1964 (1970), and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction: A 30-Year
Retrospective (1980).
The expanded novel was first published in 1966 by Harcourt Brace with the Bantam
paperback following in 1968. By 2004, it had been translated into 27 languages, published in 30
countries and sold more than 5 million copies. Since its original publication, the novel has never
been out of print.
Awards: The original short story won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960. The
expanded novel was joint winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966, tied with Babel17 by Samuel R. Delany, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1967, losing
out to The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein. In the late 1960s, the Science Fiction
Writers of America (SFWA) decided to give Nebula Awards retroactively and voted for their
favorite science fiction stories of the era ending December 31, 1964 (before the Nebula Award
was conceived). The short story version of Flowers for Algernon was voted third out of 132
nominees and was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929-1964 in 1970.
Keyes was elected the SFWA Author Emeritus in 2000 for making a significant contribution to
science fiction and fantasy.
Censorship: Flowers for Algernon is on the American Library Association's list of the 100
Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–1999 at number 43. The reasons for the challenges
vary, but usually center on those parts of the novel in which Charlie struggles to understand
and express his sexual desires. Many of the challenges have proved unsuccessful, but the book
has occasionally been removed from school libraries, including some in Pennsylvania and
Texas. It's their loss.
In January of 1970, the school board of Cranbrook, British Columbia, as well as Calgary,
Alberta, removed Flowers for Algernon from the local high school curriculum and the school
library, after a parent complained that it was "filthy and immoral". The president of the British
Columbia Teachers' Federation criticized the action. Flowers for Algernon was part of the British
Columbia Department of Education list of approved books for grade 9, and was recommended
by the British Columbia Secondary Association of Teachers of English. A month later, the board
reconsidered its decision and returned the book to the library; they did not, however, lift its ban
from the curriculum. But inexplicably they did not ban the short story from the curriculum.
How curious. Did they forget why they did it in the first place?
Flowers for Algernon has also been the inspiration for muscial works that include the album
“A Curious Feeling” by Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks, and Kyosuke Himuro's debut solo
album “Flowers for Algernon”.
PLANET OF THE APES (1968)
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Produced by Arthur P. Jacobs
Screenplay by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling; based on La Planète des Singes by Pierre Boulle
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography by Leon Shamroy
Studio: APJAC Productions; Distributed by 20th Century Fox; Release date: February 8, 1968;
Running time 112 minutes; Budget: $5.8 million; Box office: $32,589,624
Cast:
Charlton Heston as George Taylor
Roddy McDowall as Cornelius
Kim Hunter as Zira
Maurice Evans as Dr. Zaius
James Whitmore as President of the Assembly
James Daly as Honorious
Linda Harrison as Nova
Robert Gunner as Landon
Lou Wagner as Lucius
Woodrow Parfrey as Maximus
Jeff Burton as Dodge
Buck Kartalian as Julius
Norman Burton as Hunt Leader
Wright King as Dr. Galen
Paul Lambert as Minister
Dianne Stanley as Astronaut Stewart (uncredited)
Plot: Astronauts Taylor (Charlton Heston), Landon (Robert Gunner), Dodge (Jeff Burton) and
Stewart (an uncredited Dianne Stanley) are in deep hibernation when their spaceship is taking
a 2,000+ year voyage to another planet. The year is unspecified, but as we watch the ship passing
through many different star groups, we hear Heston’s voice as he records a log entry about the
mission. He introduces the astronauts, each of which are specialists. Stewart is also noted to be
a very important member because she is female, with all that it implies.
Some time later, something goes wrong. In a dizzying spin out view, the ship crash lands
somewhere. We see finally that it has landed in a lake in the middle of a sandy desert and is
slowly sinking.
The astronauts awaken; all except Stewart. After a quick check of their life support system,
all appears to be functional. But then Stewart is found in her hibernation capsule, dessicated
and mummified. They discover that the time dilation effect worked so that the astronauts
would have aged only about 18 months, but something had happened to her capsule. A fault
had caused an air leak and her stasis equipment had failed. The ship shifts as it begins its
descent into the water, and the three men must use an inflatable raft to reach the shore. Before
departing the ship, Taylor notes that the current year is AD 3978. Something had gone seriously
wrong, and they were now stranded on an alien planet without guidance or help, Mission
Control is thousands of years away.
Once ashore, Dodge performs a soil test and pronounces the soil incapable of sustaining
life. It is dead as any desert can be. The astronauts must find somewhere which has shelter, food
and water, or they will die there. Taylor declares that the only thing they can do is to explore
the area beyond the horizon and they strike out toward the east.
As the three astronauts wander through the desert they encounter nothing living along the
way. The sky appears similar to Earth’s, and the rocks are rocks. But no birds fly through the
air, no lizard or insect scurries through the sand. There are no animals at all. Gradually, the
desert gives way to sparse vegetation, then a forested wilderness. As they come to a hillock and
stop to rest, Dodge sees something. He points out something at the top of the grotto. There, on
the rocks above them, what looks like a body mounted on an “X” shaped stand.
They climb up to where it is, and find that it is a makeshift scarecrow with markings on it.
They see still more, but then they discover that there is an oasis below them, formed of a grotto
with a waterfall. Delighted that they have found what they need to survive, the astronauts
quickly forget the scarecrows and climb down the hill to stop at the base of the waterfall, where
they drink the water greedily then strip down and go swimming.
While they are enjoying themselves, we see a human hand reach out and take their clothes
from atop a rock. When the men are ready to come out of the water they cannot find their suits.
Someone living has stolen them. On further investigation they find that their clothes have been
left in shreds and their supplies broken open.
They see movement in the brush and see what looks like a human being running away.
Taylor and the others pursue him, only to find themselves in a cornfield, where others like the
primitive are seen ripping the ears from their stalks and eating the kernels. Taylor approaches
a young female and speaks to her. But he has no time to get an answer when suddenly, creatures
on horseback invade the field and send the humans fleeing. To his shock, he sees that it is a
gorilla, but it is clothed and armed with a rifle, riding the horse like a human. The gorilla is
joined by others, some of who are carrying rifles, snares and rope nets.
The humans scatter and try to run away, the astronauts with them. In the ensuing melee’,
we see that the gorillas are trying to capture or kill the humans; capturing them in their nets,
snaring them with loops and rods, and shooting them when they resist. Dodge is shot in the
back, Landon is knocked unconscious and dragged away, and Taylor is shot in the throat. He
goes down choking, but is rounded up and thrown in a cage mounted on a horse drawn cart.
He and his fellow captives are hauled away as he falls unconscious. We note here that among
the captives is the young woman he had just been talking to.
The gorillas guide the cart to an enclave of dwellings where there are many other apes
living and working there. It appears to be a large city. The cart is taken to a place where the
chimpanzees are scientists, working with live and dead humans and performing experiments.
Taylor and the young woman, along with several others, are rousted off the cart and placed in
little more than horse stalls filled with hay. Two of the chimpanzee scientists, animal
psychologist Zira (Kim Hunter) and a surgeon called Galen (Wright King), examine Taylor and
pronounce him an unusual specimen. They undertake to heal his throat wound, then place him
back in his cage.
Upon awakening, Taylor finds himself in this strange place, and discovers that his throat
wound has rendered him mute. His neck is wrapped in bandages. He is still in pain,
disorientated, confused.
Through their behavior and speech, Taylor quickly learns that the apes are in control on
this world and are divided into a strict caste system: the gorillas function as police, military,
hunters and workers; the orangutans are administrators, politicians, lawyers and religious
clerics; and the chimpanzees are intellectuals and scientists. He also discovers that their
common language is English and they can read and write as well, which puzzles him. How
much parallel development had occurred here with that of the Earth? There is no way to know.
He sees that the humans, who are mute, are considered to be feral vermin, hunted for sport and
killed outright, enslaved for manual labor or used for scientific experimentation.
Dr. Zira (Kim Hunter), a veterinarian, and her fiancé, Dr. Cornelius (Roddy McDowall),
who is an archaeologist, both take an active interest in Taylor. They are concerned with the
health of their subjects. Zira appears especially sympathetic. She and Cornelius resent the way
the humans are treated but cannot do anything to change the system. Cornelius cautions her
that such subversive thoughts are against the teachings of the Law Giver, a superior being
something like the Buddha. She retorts that the Law Giver would never countenance the torture
of another being. Taylor hears the argument and gains some hope that he can extricate himself
from his current situation.
Taylor makes an attempt to communicate with them by sign language, and by
demonstrating some polite behavior when they feed him. Zira is amazed; she has never seen a
human like him. Cornelius remarks that he is no different from the humans used for the circus,
but she is not so sure. She talks to Taylor on occasion as if she thinks him a pet. He responds
with kindness and good behavior.
One day, they place a woman with him in the stall. Dr. Zira wants him to mate with her,
saying that he must be lonely and a specimen like him should yield more intelligent subjects.
Taylor backs away from the young woman as he sees that she is the same woman he had met
the day he was captured. Zira is disappointed at this. She was so sure Taylor would like her.
But when Zira asks her handlers to remove the woman, Taylor becomes protective and holds
her close.
Delighted at this, Zira relents and allows him to keep her. Later that night, Taylor holds
her close as he sleeps. And so it goes for several weeks. Taylor and the woman form a strange
bond, but he still will not have sex with her. He eventually gives her the name Nova, for “New
World”. It is as if they were fated to be together.
One day, the director of the institute, an orangutan named Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans),
comes down to visit the compound and see what all the fuss is all about. On seeing Taylor and
his civilized ways, he becomes guarded and skeptical, saying that encouraging humans to act
like apes is dangerous. Zira objects to his assessment. “What is wrong with humans acting like
us?” By his behavior, Zaius reveals that he knows more about humans and their past than he
ought to, but says that she is practicing a peculiar form of science and she ought to proceed with
her other projects instead. Then he leaves.
Zira is angry at his strange attitude and stamps her foot with frustration. She goes on at
length about self-important autocrats. Cornelius sympathizes with her but it is all beyond his
control; Zaius is his boss and he does not want to lose his job. The next day, Taylor uses his sign
language to gain her attention and tries to speak to her. Wide eyed, Zira tells Cornelius that
Taylor is trying to talk. But Cornelius treats it as Taylor mimicking them. After all, monkey see,
monkey do. But Zira is insistent.
Desperate to communicate, Taylor finally beckons to them and attempts to write in the
dirt. But then Nova tries to obliterate what he has written. She reveals that she is aware of the
danger of talking without speaking a word. He assures her with gestures that he will not try
again. By now, both Zira and Cornelius are so comfortable with him that they let him and Nova
out of the cage and perform routine examinations on them, noting his and Nova’s good health.
Again, Zira asks why Taylor will not mate with Nova. He tries to talk again but cannot.
He sneaks into Zira’s office and steals some paper and a writing instrument. He tries to
write a note to Zira. But before he can get her to see it, Dr. Zaius enters the office and sees him
there. Taylor is caught en flagrante, and Zaius orders the guards to seize him. Then, against
Zira’s protests, he orders that Taylor be castrated.
Taylor strikes back, manages to escape capture and runs away. Eventually, he finds himself
in a museum, where Dodge's corpse has been stuffed and put on display. He is horrified and
angry, but has no time to lose. In a running fight for freedom, Taylor is recaptured by the
gorillas. He wrestles, punches, pushes, but their grip on him are relentless. Finally, he finds his
voice and yells, "take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"
The apes watching this gasp in astonishment and begin to ask questions. But the gorillas
ignore them and drag him back to the institute. Taylor is unable to stop them from removing
Nova from the cage. They throw him back into his cell and the warden of the stalls gives him a
shower using a firehose. Zira objects, but is told by Zaius that her position is in danger as it is.
If she does not back down he will have her tried for sedition. Cornelius next objects, saying that
Zira is only saying what many other scientists are saying. That their unsimian treatment of the
humans is unconscionable. It has gone on far too long, and what would the Law Giver have
said about it?
Zaius backs down a little at this, but says it is his decision and he will call a tribunal to
determine the truth.
Later, we see their form of law, where the public is freely allowed to witness the
proceedings. Cornelius and Zira are questioned extensively on their involvement in the affair,
while Taylor is made to stand by in chains and watch. Finally, Zira throws down the gauntlet
and tells the council to ask Taylor himself for the answers. Zaius starts to object to this, but the
judges are only interested in the truth and he is overruled. Freed from his cage at last, Taylor
addresses them as an equal and explains that he does not really know how they got there, but
that he and his comrades were marooned there, with no way to get back home. He says that
Dodge was murdered by a gorilla, and of Landon’s whereabouts he had no knowledge. The
defender then demands that the court produce Landon to prove Taylor’s allegations.
A few minutes later, Landon has been found. But as he is led into the courtroom, Taylor’s
fears have been proven. Landon, subject to experimentation, was lobotomized. The man is
beyond death, rendered catatonic so that he cannot speak or even reason. Taylor is disgusted
and sickened. At this, Zira comes forward and condemns apekind for allowing such things to
happen. They are as guilty of harming humans as they are their fellow apes.
Cornelius comes to her defense, citing the Law Giver, saying that apes are better than this,
and that the court must temper justice with mercy. Moved by his speech and the the truth of
Taylor’s ability to speak as an intelligent being, the tribunal has no choice but to exonerate
Taylor, Zira and Cornelius. But Taylor cannot remain among apekind. He must be banished or
put to death. Taylor is placed in a cage to await their decision.
Zaius then comes to visit him and reveals that he knows a great deal about his kind.
Mankind, he says, is a throwback to an ancient ancestor, a race so self-destructive that they
killed each other off. The Law Giver long ago had forbidden apes to remember what had
happened. Apes are the dominant species now, and Taylor is just a dinosaur. He wants to know
where Taylor really came from, and threatens to lobotomize him if he does not reveal the truth.
Taylor does not know what he is talking about. This is not his home planet, he claims. He
is an alien for all intents and purposes. He then challenges Zaius to prove his claims. Naturally,
Zaius cannot and leaves, intending to carry out his threat.
Taylor is busy trying to escape his cage when another ape appears. He is Lucius (Lou
Wagner), Zira’s teenaged nephew, who is a somewhat rebellious youth who questions
authority. He has learned from Zira about Taylor, and tells him that he is there to get him out.
Relieved, Taylor allows him to unlock the cage and follows him to a hiding place where Zira
and Cornelius are waiting. They are arranging to get Taylor out of the city before Zaius has him
killed. Taylor is grateful and calls them his friends. Then he tells them about what Zaius had
said.
Cornelius then tells Taylor about a dig he had undertaken in the Forbidden Zone, a region
subject to quarantine. No ape is allowed to go there except by special permission. He says that
he found artifacts of a previous civilization in a cave, a civilization which was distinctly nonsimian. But Zaius had forbidden him from speaking about it when he returned. After that,
Cornelius was not allowed to go back to study it.
Taylor says they must go back to the cave to obtain the artifacts and to prove to his
satisfaction that he is not a native of their world. Lucius says that there are other apes who are
asking the same questions about apekind, which their elders will not discuss with them.
Quietly, they return to the prison and free Nova, then find horses supplied them by
another rebel ape. Together the group gallop out toward the Forbidden Zone with the rising
sun. Cornelius leads them to the cave, but they are intercepted by Dr. Zaius and his mounted
gorillas. Taylor manages to capture Zaius and puts a prisoner’s collar on him.
The gorillas are confused and unable to rescue him, cautioned that if they move to try he
will be killed. Trapped in a Mexican standoff, Taylor says that all of Zaius’s answers can be
found in that cave, or is he unwilling to learn the truth? Zaius says that he already knows what
is down there, but is willing to go down and prove Taylor wrong. He promises that Cornelius
and Zira will not be harmed.
Cornelius then leads them down into the darkness of an underground cavern. It is filled
with rubble, and the entryway is quite artificial, suggesting that it was built. Down in the dusk,
they see several different artifacts which include products of human civilization: dentures, a
pair of prescription glasses, and most damning of all: a talking doll. It looks human, and says
“mamma!” when Zaius turns it over. Cornelius is mortified; everything he knows is wrong.
Zaius openly admits to Taylor that he had always known that humans existed long before
apes came to rule the planet; that the Forbidden Zone was once a verdant paradise that man
made into a desert long ago. Man, he says, did not deserve to live. Taylor cynically points out
to him that apekind is no better; that their fear of the unknown will kill them eventually. He
still does not know if this planet is his home; he will enjoy finding out no matter what happens
out there. He accepts his banishment because he would rather die free than live as a slave among
apekind.
A few minutes later, Taylor and Nova are given horses and a few supplies to sustain them.
In a poignant scene with Cornelius and Zira, he makes his goodbyes. He is grateful to Zira for
caring about him when he was in captivity. He asks to kiss her. Zira thinks long and hard before
replying, “well, alright. But you’re so damned ugly!” It turns out to be a chaste little peck.
As Taylor mounts his horse, he reminds Lucius that the future will always be his. Then he
says goodbye one last time. Together, he and Nova ride away.
Once they are out of sight, Zaius commands that the gorillas set charges in the cave and
blow it up. Cornelius is devastated, and Zira says that Zaius is committing a sin against science.
Zaius replies that he will destroy the evidence so that apes may never know of the past. He
claims that they are better off not knowing. He then threatens to arrest Cornelius and Zira for
committing heresy. This is the last we see of them.
Meanwhile, Taylor and Nova ride on into the wilds of the Forbidden Zone, following the
crooked shoreline. The surf crashes against the rocks as it has done for eons. After a long while,
they come to a curve around a giant rock. Taylor pauses, staring upward, surprised. He
dismounts, and as Nova watches him, he says, “I’m here. I’m… home.” Then he falls to his
knees, and in a last angry roar of frustration, shouts, “my God. You did it. You bastards really
did it. God damn you. God damn you all to hell!”
Nova looks up at the statue of Liberty, buried halfway in the sand at an angle. Taylor and
his fellow astronauts had gone on a journey which had only one destination: the post
apocalyptic Earth of the far distant future. END
Analysis and Additional Notes: Once again, Charleston Heston managed to star in another
science fiction film. Along with the sequels and his Soylent Green, which was made in 1973, he
reprised his tough but sensitive hero role from Ben Hur. But what was especially significant
about Planet of The Apes is that it presented its anti-nuclear position combined with a cautionary
tale of evolution gone wrong. Or right, depending on how you look at the social significance of
the post-apocalyptic scenario or dystopia. All I know is that it fit in right with the prevailing
sentiment of the time.
We were all arguing with each other about nuclear weapons and the devastation they
could wreak on civilisation; human or otherwise. There was a plethora of similar stories
circulating at the time along similar lines; all pointing to a single mandate: trees are pretty;
nuclear weapons are bad.
This film was also a blockbuster of an indictment of the human condition by means of role
substitution. The apes were slowly descending into a kind of sunset of their culture without
being aware of it. I believe it resembles what Rome would have looked like if it had survived
and evolved into a rudimentary democracy under the class system. Leaders like Zaius are no
different from your usual autocrat or bureaucrat, who makes decisions based on what he thinks
is true without questioning the source. The principles of the Law Giver are practiced as if that
is the only way apekind should live. It is not a religion. It is more like philosophy. Apes are
forbidden from harming other apes, but have no reservations about their treatment of humans.
And as history has shown before, history is often written by the victors. Nonviolent
democracy is certainly a rule we humans should live by, yet now we are trapped in a paroxysm
of idealistic violence perpetrated against each other. The saber rattling has extended to include
threats of using the bomb again. How quickly we forget what that will do to the futuristic
society we have created. It will be the end of the world, and no one will escape.
Production: The script was originally written by Rod Serling but had many rewrites before
it was finally made. J. Lee Thompson and Blake Edwards were approached to direct, but the
film's producer Arthur P. Jacobs, upon the advice of Charlton Heston, chose Franklin J.
Schaffner to direct the film. Schaffner's changes included creating a more primitive ape society,
instead of the more expensive idea of having futuristic buildings and advanced technology.
Filming took place between May and August 1967, mostly in California and Arizona, with the
opening scene shot at Lake Powell, Utah.
The film was groundbreaking for its prosthetic makeup techniques created by artist John
Chambers, and was well received by critics and audiences. It launched a film franchise,
including four sequels, as well as a live action television show, animated series, comic books,
various music and audio CDs, and eventually a remake in 2001 and a reboot in 2011.
For a couple of years after the first film debuted, fans were seen wearing ape makeup and
costumes around science fiction conventions. There were no mute humans, however. In
particular, Roddy McDowall had an ongoing relationship with the story series, appearing in
four of the original five films, and also in the television series.
In the late 1960s, most studios were not convinced that this film was a feasible production.
One script that came close to being made was written by The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling,
though it was finally rejected for a number of reasons. A prime concern was cost, as the
technologically advanced ape society presented in Serling's script would have involved
expensive sets, props and special effects. Michael Wilson was brought in to rewrite Serling's
script and, as suggested by director Franklin J. Schaffner, the ape society was made more
primitive as a way of reducing costs.
However, Serling's stylized twist ending was retained, and became one of the most famous
movie endings of all time. The exact location and state of decay of the Statue of Liberty changed
over several storyboards. One version depicted the statue buried up to its nose in the middle of
a jungle, while another depicted the statue in pieces. The option of burying it halfway on the
shore of the ocean was the right one, as one could see that silt and sediments built up over
thousands of years would have landed Ellis island and the surrounding bay. It was the most
scientific of them all for that reason.
To convince the Fox Studio that Planet of the Apes could be made, the producers shot a brief
test scene from a Rod Serling draft of the script, using early versions of the ape makeup.
Charlton Heston appeared as an early version of Taylor (named Thomas, as he was called in
the Serling drafts), Edward G. Robinson appeared as Zaius, while actors James Brolin and Linda
Harrison played Cornelius and Zira. Harrison, who was the girlfriend of the head of the studio
at the time, later played Nova in the 1968 film and its first sequel, and had a cameo in Tim
Burton's Planet of the Apes more than 30 years later, as did Heston. This test footage is included
on several DVD releases of the film, as well as the documentary Behind the Planet of the Apes. Dr.
Zaius was originally to have been played by Robinson, but he backed out; the heavy makeup
and long sessions required to apply it did not appeal to him. Robinson later made his final film,
Soylent Green (1973) along with Heston.
John Chambers had actually tested the ape makeup some time earlier in the TV series Lost
in Space (1965–1968); another 20th Century Fox production at the time. In one episode, Dr. Smith
(Jonathan Harris) and Major West are imprisoned along with an ape-like alien. Harris was
offered a role in Planet of the Apes but, like Edward G. Robinson, turned it down due to the
complexities of the makeup.
Michael Wilson's rewrite kept the basic structure of Serling's screenplay but rewrote all the
dialogue. According to associate producer Mort Abrams an additional uncredited writer (his
only recollection was that the writer's last name was Kelly) was hired to polish the script.
According to Abrams the uncredited writer also rewrote some of the dialogue and included
some of the heavier, more witty dialogue ("I never met an ape I didn't like") which was not in
Serling or Wilson's drafts of the script. According to Abrams, some scenes such as the one where
the judges imitate the "See no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil" monkeys were improvised
on the set by director Franklin J. Schaffner, and kept in the final film because of the favorable
audience reaction during test screenings prior to the film’s release.
Writer Rod Serling was brought back to work on an outline for a sequel. Serling's outline
was ultimately discarded in favor of a story by associate producer Mort Abrams and writer Paul
Dehn, which became the basis for Beneath the Planet of the Apes.
Most of the early scenes of a desert-like terrain were shot in northern Arizona near the
Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, Lake Powell, Glen Canyon and other locations near Page,
Arizona. Most of the sets of the ape village, interiors and exteriors, were filmed on the Fox
Ranch in Malibu Creek State Park, northwest of Los Angeles, which was essentially the backlot
of 20th Century Fox. The concluding beach scenes were filmed on a stretch of California
seacoast between Malibu and Oxnard with cliffs that towered 130 feet above the shore.
I’ve been there on many occasions. Reaching the beach on foot was virtually impossible,
so cast, crew, film equipment, and even horses had to be lowered in by helicopter. The remains
of the Statue of Liberty were shot in a secluded cove on the far eastern end of Westward Beach,
between Zuma Beach and Point Dume in Malibu. As noted in the documentary Behind the Planet
of the Apes, the special effects shot of the half buried statue of Liberty was achieved by seamlessly
blending a matte painting with the existing cliffs.
The spacecraft in the beginning is never actually named in the film or the script, but the
name Icarus was applied later by fan Larry Evans. It is now generally referred to in fan circles
by that name. The full sized model was later used in a low budget film whose title escapes me,
but which was “embellished” with other parts to make it look different. But no one can disguise
that pointy profile. The name is appropos to the situation the astronauts found themselves in.
You will recall that according to mythology, Icarus was the son of Daedelos, who fashioned
wings for both of them so that they could fly. Icarus flew too far and too high. The sun melted
his wings and he fell to his death.
Reaction: Planet of the Apes was well received by critics and is widely regarded as a classic
film and one of the best films of 1968. The film holds an 89% "Certified Fresh" rating on the
website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 46 positive reviews. In 2008, the film was selected by Empire
magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.
The film won an honorary Academy Award for John Chambers for his outstanding makeup achievement. The film was nominated for Best Costume Design (Morton Haack) and Best
Original Score for a Motion Picture (Jerry Goldsmith). The score is known for its avant-garde
compositional techniques, as well as the use of unusual percussion instruments and extended
performance techniques.
Later films and adaptations: of which there is quite a list - Four sequels: Beneath the Planet
of the Apes (1970), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972),
and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973); as well as 2 short-lived television series: Planet of the
Apes (1974) and Return to the Planet of the Apes (animated) (1975).
Remake/Reboots: Planet of the Apes (2001) was "re-imagined" by director Tim Burton. Rise
of the Planet of the Apes (2011) A series reboot, directed by Rupert Wyatt, was released in August
2011 to critical and commercial success. It is intended to be the first in a new series of films. But
one wonders how much a remake or reboot is necessary, since the first films were so good,
declining in quality with each successive film. Another would only exascerbate the problem.
Comic book adaptations of the films were published by Gold Key (1970) and Marvel
Comics (b/w magazine 1974-77, color comic book 1975-76). Malibu Comics reprinted the Marvel
adaptations when they had the license in the early 1980's. Dark Horse Comics later published
an adaptation for the 2001 Tim Burton film.
Parodies: As the film has been further ingrained into pop culture, numerous parodies have
appeared in films and other media, including Spaceballs, Futurama, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,
Family Guy, and The Simpsons among others; as well as a sequence featuring Kermit the frog in
a Muppets episode back in the 1980’s.
A parody of the film series titled "The Milking of the Planet That Went Ape" was published
in Mad Magazine in regular issue #157, March 1973. It was illustrated by Mort Drucker and
written by Arnie Kogen.
About the book: La Planète des Singes, known in English as Planet of the Apes or Monkey
Planet, is a French 1963 science fiction novel by Pierre Boulle. The novel tells the tale of three
human explorers from Earth who visit a planet orbiting the star Betelgeuse, in which great apes
are the dominant intelligent and civilized species, whereas humans are reduced to a savage
animal-like state.
Publication history: The novel was published in 1963 by René Julliard in France. The first
English language version, with a translation by Xan Fielding, was published in the United States
by Vanguard Press in June 1963 under the title Planet of the Apes. In January 1964 it was
published in the United Kingdom as Monkey Planet by Secker & Warburg of London, then reissued as Planet of the Apes in August 1973 to tie it in to the film franchise it inspired. The first
paperback edition was published in the US in March 1964 by Signet-New American Library. In
May 1964 Saga: The Magazine For Men printed an abridged version of the novel.
And now, la pièce de resistance.
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
Produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke; based on “The Sentinel” by Arthur C.
Clarke
Cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth
Distributed by MGM (original); Warner Bros. (DVD); release date: April 2, 1968; limited
release: April 4, 1968 Running time: 161 minutes (Premiere); 142 minutes (Theatrical); budget:
$10.5 million; box office: $190,000,000
Cast:
Keir Dullea as Dr. David Bowman
Gary Lockwood as Dr. Frank Poole
William Sylvester as Dr. Heywood R. Floyd
Douglas Rain as the voice of the HAL 9000
Daniel Richter as the chief hominid ("Moon-Watcher" in Clarke's novel)
Leonard Rossiter as Dr. Andrei Smyslov
Margaret Tyzack as Elena
Robert Beatty as Dr. Ralph Halvorsen
Frank Miller as mission controller
Edward Bishop as lunar shuttle captain
Edwina Carroll as Aries stewardess
Penny Brahms as stewardess
Heather Downham as stewardess
Alan Gifford as Poole's father
Ann Gillis as Poole's mother
Vivian Kubrick (uncredited) as Floyd's daughter
Kenneth Kendall (uncredited) as the BBC announcer
Plot: The film consists of four major sections, three of which are introduced by superimposed
titles.
The Dawn of Man: After the fanfare of "Also Spracht Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss, we
begin with a series of shots showing a low plain or desert. A tribe of herbivorous early hominids
is foraging for food, digging for scrub roots and succulent shoots, often squabbling over their
meager finds among a herd of tapirs who compete with them. While they are foraging, a leopard
stalks and kills a member of their tribe. Later, another tribe of hominids drives them from their
treasured water hole. On the whole it is not a good day to be early Man.
Defeated, the group sleep overnight under a large exposed rock as the leopard continues
to hunt. Fortunately, it has brought down a pliocene zebra and is not concerned with them.
They huddle together and listen for danger, while others remain silent or keep their infants
close. One of them happens to see a scrub right in front of him and reaches for it. Another sees
this and protests. They jostle for room and protest to each other about the lack of food while
their leader watches and listens.
With the coming of the dawn, the lead hominid awakens to see something unusual. He
turns to stir the others awake, and as they see what he is looking at, they become excited, too.
There, planted feet in front of them, stands a strange rectangular object. It is sleek and black,
immovable and silent, of the perfect proportions 1 x 4 x 9. The hominids scatter at the intrusion
of this strange object into their territory, shrieking and pounding, jumping about, as the leader
is slowly drawn toward it. Finally, taking a chance, the leader reaches out and places his fingers
against it. The object does not move and does not make a sound. Finally, the other hominids
throw off their fear and join him in caressing its smooth artificial surface. There is a great
celebration of discovery as the others join him and examine it closely, finding a god for the first
time.
The next morning, the object has disappeared. The hominids resume their daily foraging
as usual as if the excitement of the day before never happened. They dig about among the brush
finding little to eat.
Their leader is doing the same thing, and is exploring a pile of bones when he freezes
suddenly and gasps. Something has happened to him overnight. Carefully, he examines the
bones, picks a femur up, sniffs at it, then begins to play with it. The larger bone shatters a few
of the smaller ones. He analyses the effects, then in a growing paroxysm of excitement, uses the
bone to shatter more. Before long, we see him raise the bone higher, then bring it down hard,
interspersed with shots of tapirs beginning to hit the ground. The hominid has discovered a
tool, and with it, the solution to his species' survival: meat.
The next scene shows that the tribe has evolved to eat meat as part of its diet. The younger
ones are learning to play with bones and to eat as the adults do, a sign that evolution has been
accelerated into overdrive.
After that, we see that the meat eaters have decided to make war on the hominids who
stole their watering hole. There is much screaming and jumping about as the hominids
challenge each other; no real violence has ever occurred before. But now, the leader of our tribe
splashes across the puddle and strikes the leader of the others with his bone. The hominid goes
down as he stands back.
Emboldened by this, other members of his tribe take their new weapons and follow him,
dealing the felled leader of the enemy blow after blow and scattering his friends. As the defeated
tribe slinks away to nurse their wounds the leader of the meat eaters growls at them. His tribe
settles down to drink the water as he growls at the audience. Then in savage celebration he
tosses his weapon high into the air.
The scene shifts (via match cut) from the falling bone to an orbital satellite millions of years
in the future, introducing the next segment.
To the sounds of "The Blue Danube" by Richard Strauss, we see a series of spacecraft and
orbital platforms floating in orbit around earth. A Pan Am space plane carries Dr. Heywood R.
Floyd (William Sylvester) to a space station (the circular orbiter I told you about before!). It will
take several hours for the plane to rendevous with the station, so we see that it is staffed with
stewardesses and we see a shot of the interior of the cockpit as one of them delivers microwaved
dinners to the pilots and Dr. Floyd. Curiously, Floyd is the only passenger aboard this particular
flight.
Floyd learns how to eat in space and even has a chance to nap, as one of the stewardesses
thoughtfully rescues an errant pen from midair and tucks it back into his breast pocket. Later,
he explores the procedure for using a zero gravity toilet. We continue to follow the plane as it
arrives and docks with the station, where he disembarks and enters a travel pod manned by a
stewardess who greets him by name and welcomes him aboard.
When he emerges from the pod he must pass through a body scanner and identify himself
by voiceprint. Once he has been verified the computer issues a boarding pass and he takes it
with him as he is met by another man. They discuss his destination: Clavius Base, a United
States outpost on the Moon. Floyd explains that something is going on up there but that he
knows very little, the trip is classified so he can’t talk about it. He then asks to make a phone
call (remember that this film predates cellphones by decades). The man says he will see Floyd
later and walks away.
Dr. Floyd then enters a phone booth, which sports a push button public box with a video
screen in it. When he enters the number, he is greeted by his six year old daughter Vivian, who
answered the phone first. Floyd says hello and asks where mommy is, and Vivian says, "gone
to shopping." Floyd then asks about her nanny Rachel, Vivian replies that she is in the
bathroom. Floyd apologizes to Vivian for missing her birthday, and what does she want him to
bring back as a gift? She replies that she wants a bushbaby. He chuckles at that and says he will
see what he can do. When he concludes the call, we see that it only costs him $1.50 to make it.
As he leaves the booth we see that several people are seated in the lounge nearby. Floyd
sees them and goes over to say hello. They are an old friend named Elena (Margaret Tyzack),
who is a Russian scientist, her colleague Dr. Smyslov (Leonard Rossiter), and another female
scientist. Their greeting is cordial and they invite him to have a drink with them. Floyd hesitates,
then decides that it can do no harm to chit chat. The conversation is about their various projects;
Elena and her friends are headed home after having recalibrated a new communications
antenna. He says that he is headed to Clavius.
At this, Dr. Smyslov changes the subject somewhat and asks Floyd about "odd things"
occurring at Clavius, to which Floyd claims he has no knowledge, then Smyslov openly talks
about the rumor of a mysterious epidemic at the base having broken out. Floyd becomes more
guarded in his behavior as he politely but firmly declines to answer any questions about it.
Things start to get chilly but Elena steers the conversation back to the present with an invitation
to have dinner when Floyd gets back, and to say happy birthday to Vivian for her. Deflected
from a confrontation, Floyd smiles and agrees, then leaves the lounge. As he goes, they share a
conversation in Russian which we are not privy to.
Fade to: a larger moon shuttle, which is accompanied by the last half of "The Blue Danube".
It is already near the moon as it approaches Clavius base. It lands inside a gigantic portal and
on a platform, which lowers it to the landing bay as the music concludes.
In the next scene, we see a conference room full of people, with a photojournalist recording
the event. It is immediately apparent that the people are a little flummoxed about the situation
they are in, and when the man finishes shooting pictures he informs the base leader that he is
finished. Then he leaves. The base leader then stresses that absolute secrecy is still essential and
apologizes to them for not allowing them to have contact with Earth, then introduces Dr. Floyd
and allows him to speak.
Floyd greets them amiably and apologizes for the epidemic cover story, saying that
hopefully it will all be over soon. He then explains that his mission is to investigate a recently
found artifact—"Tycho Magnetic Anomaly One" (TMA-1)—which was apparently "deliberately
buried" in the moon's surface four million years ago. Since he is project director he cannot know
how to proceed without seeing it for himself.
Later Dr. Floyd and the archaeologists ride in a moonbus to the place where the artifact
was found. There, he is introduced to a black monolith identical to the one encountered by the
hominids of 4 million years before. Floyd moves closer and touches it, wiping his glove against
the opaque surface with curiosity. One of the other men gathers the survey team to pose for a
photo in front of it. As they do so, a very loud radio signal emanates from within the artifact
and almost deafens them all, right through their suits. We see also that the monolith is lined up
with a planet in the solar system, which is revealed to be Jupiter in the next segment.
There was a ten minute theatrical intermission inserted here which was later cut out.
Eighteen Months Later: To the strains of "Gayne's Ballet Duet" the American spaceship
Discovery One floats in space bound for Jupiter, its engines shut down to conserve fuel. On board
are mission pilots and scientists Dr. David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (Gary
Lockwood), along with three other scientists who are in cryogenic hibernation. We see that
Bowman and Poole quietly go about their work on various projects, sleep, or excercise inside
the artificial gravity unit which is contained in the forward pod.
Later, Poole extracts a microwave dinner from an oven. We are shown that their food
consists of mashed and creamed vegetables which have been poured into small trays for
reheating. Poole reacts to the heat of the trays as he extracts them. This was the first time we see
microwave ovens as consumer tools. (Most of these things were developed for military and
space applications before they were introduced to the public as household appliances.) Poole
joins Bowman at a dinner table, where they watch Hal and themselves being interviewed in a
BBC show about the mission on a flat pad tablet.
The interviewer discusses the mission of Discovery One and who is aboard, introduces
doctors Poole and Bowman, then speaks about the ship being controlled by the latest generation
of computer intelligence, called the HAL 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain), or simply "Hal", as the
crew call it. The interviewer introduces Hal, which is a rectangular interface ideally made to
appear as a miniature monolith fitted with a glowing red "eye", actually a camera lens. He
points out that thus far the computer interface has been judged "foolproof and incapable of
error."
He then asks Hal about the mission and its role, and Hal replies in soft tones that it is proud
of its participation in the mission. He then asks Hal about its interaction with the other
astronauts, and Hal responds that it enjoys the companionship of humans and is eager to fulfill
all its obectives for the mission. It claims that it has the greatest enthusiasm for the mission's
success.
When asked by the host if Hal has genuine emotions, Bowman replies that Hal appears to
have emotions, but that there really is no way to tell for sure; however, they have grown to
regard it as a de facto sixth member of the team.
There follows a series of scenes showing the two astronauts taking readings and checking
guages. It is a routine they have been familiar with for weeks.
Later, we see that Dr. Poole is lying on a diagnostic bed indulging himself with getting a
tan. He is very relaxed and comfortable. Hal contacts him saying that a squirt has been received
from Poole's parents. Poole tells Hal to pipe it in there. After a few moments, the transmission
is shown.
The parents wish him a happy birthday and talk about various events in their town. Then
his father mentions that the discrepancy in his pay package has been resoved and he should be
seeing his rate increase soon. The two of them sign off saying "many happy returns" and "see
you next Wednesday." When it ends, Poole calmly asks Hal to lower his bed a bit and relaxes
again.
Still later, while Dr. Bowman is sketching on a notepad, Hal asks Dave about it. Bowman
replies that he is almost finished. Hal then asks to see it. Dave obliges by holding his pad up to
the interface. Hal remarks that the sketches are good and that Dave is coming along fine as an
artist.
When Dave closes his pad, Hal then asks Bowman about the unusual mystery and secrecy
surrounding the mission, that the other astronauts were placed aboard already in hibernation.
Bowman naturally replies that he does not know about it either and it does seem odd, but that
there must have been a logical reason for it. Hal implies that there most be more than that. Dave
asks if Hal is working up his crew psychology report. Hal hesitates before it replies, "of course
I am."
Suddenly, Hal tells him to wait just a moment; then reports that it has detected a fault in a
particular communications mechanism, the AE-35 unit. It predicts that the circuit’s failure is
imminent. Dave asks him how long before it fails, and Hal suggests that they can certainly be
out of communication with Earth for the time it would take to replace it. So Poole and Bowman
go out in one of the transport pods and retrieve the mechanism. But, after reviewing the
component with a logic probe, the astronauts cannot find anything wrong with it. Hal then
suggests they reinstall the part and let it fail so the problem can be found.
Later, Mission Control concurs, but advises the astronauts that results from their twin HAL
9000 on Earth indicate that the ship's HAL is in error predicting the fault. When queried about
this, Hal insists that the problem, like all previous issues with the HAL series, has always been
due to "human error".
Concerned about Hal's behavior, Bowman and Poole enter one of the EVA pods to talk
without the computer overhearing them. They both have had suspicions about Hal, despite the
perfect reliability of the HAL series, but they decide to follow its suggestion to replace the unit
in order to test Hal’s veracity. As the astronauts agree to deactivate the computer if it is proven
to be wrong, they are unaware that Hal is reading their lips through the pod's window. Poole
goes EVA and attempts to replace the faulty unit. Dr. Bowman monitors his expedition to make
sure everything is proceeding as planned.
The transport pod abruptly turns around, severs Poole’s oxygen hose and sets him adrift
into space. Poole struggles to reactivate his oxygen feed and fails, dying horribly. Dr. Bowman
reacts, asks Hal what happened, to which the computer replies that it does not have enough
information. Bowman is forced to take another pod to attempt a rescue, and accidentally leaves
his helmet behind.
While he is gone, Hal turns off the life support functions for the crewmen frozen in
cryosuspension. Bowman retrieves Poole’s body and returns to the ship, but Hal refuses to let
him in. Bowman tries to reason with it, but Hal’s hard drive is made up that the both of the
astronauts were jeopardizing the mission.
“Hal, I won’t argue with you. Open the pod bay doors.”
HAL: “Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.”
Bowman tries several times to get Hal to respond, to no avail. He is forced to jettison
Poole’s body into space and must manually open one of the ship's emergency airlocks. He
triggers the explosive bolts holding the pod’s hatch closed and enters the ship, risking death
from decompression.
After donning a spare helmet, Bowman proceeds to Hal's processor core intent on
disconnecting most of Hal’s computer functions. Hal first tries to reassure Dave that it was a
glitch, that it made a mistake, then pleads with him to stop, and finally begins to express fear—
all in a steady and pleasant monotone voice.
Dave ignores him and disconnects each of the computer's processor modules. Hal
eventually regresses to its earliest programmed memory, the song "Daisy Bell", which it sings
for Bowman on command until all of its functions finally cease.
When the computer is finally shut down, a prerecorded video message from Dr. Floyd
plays on a small screen nearby. In the video Floyd reveals the existence of the ancient black
monolith on the moon. Floyd adds that it has remained completely inert; except for a single,
very powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter it has remained silent, "its origin and purpose
still a total mystery.”
Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite: On arrival at Jupiter, Dr. Bowman leaves Discovery One in
a pod and finds a larger monolith than the one on the moon suspended in orbit around the
planet. Upon approaching its black featureless surface, the pod is suddenly pulled into a tunnel
of colored light, and a disoriented and terrified Bowman finds himself racing at hyperspeed
across vast distances of space, viewing bizarre cosmological phenomena and strange alien
landscapes of unusual colors.
After the mind blowing journey of a million light years, he finds himself standing in a
bedroom appointed in the style of Louis XVI. Strange whispering and sounds of singing ensue,
filling the richly appointed water closet with echoes. As he enters another door he pauses with
shocked astonishment. He sees himself, clad in a bathrobe and eating dinner.
Bowman is seen eating dinner while completely alone when he hears a noise and looks up.
But there is nothing there. He rises from the table and walks to another door, listening intently,
but again hears nothing. Then he gives up and returns to the table. He reaches for the salt and
accidently knocks over his water glass, reaches over to examine it, then looks up and sees
himself as a very old man lying in a bed and dying of old age.
A black monolith appears at the foot of the bed, and as Bowman reaches for it, he is drawn
into its black depths again and transformed into a fetus-like celestial being enclosed in a
transparent orb of light. The new being floats in space beside the Earth, gazing at it and finally
at the audience. END
Analysis and Additional Notes: I was transfixed by this film the first time I saw it, and every
time since. It was the synthesis of the journey of mankind into the future and an argument for
space as mankind’s ultimate destination. It was the best science fiction film I had ever seen, as
it presented several different possibilities and scenarios of what could happen as well as what
might happen to man in his quest to conquer space.
The introduction of the computer as an artificial intelligence was an added plus. The idea
of a machine making the same mistakes as any human being proved out in its own statement:
that any glitches in its operating parameters had to be due to human error. Given that machines
are incapable of emotions like guile, hatred, fear and sorrow, HAL was nearly as emotional as
any organic being. This in itself was a glorious foil for man’s ambitions to discover the wonders
of deep space.
I did question the very ending to the film. The amazing shifting colors and special effects
of the hyperspace tunnel did not bother me as much as the appearance of the starchild at Earth,
as if there was some message in his arrival which to this day eludes me. Had there been a few
scenes about why Bowman should transform into a starchild in the first place I would
understand it better. I chalk it up to some haste to end the film with a satisfying bang. But it lost
me for a long time and it still does.
I’m not sure what purpose Stanley Kubrick had in showing this inexplicable transition.
Was this supposed to be what man will evolve into millions of years down the road? Or was
this meant to be a representation of the forces behind the monoliths? There was not enough
expository film to even make an argument about it. But for its amazing clarity of vision, of
thoroughness and prophetic attention to detail, I give it an A+. 4 stars, all the way across.
Production: Financed and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), the film was
made almost entirely in England, using both the studio facilities of MGM's subsidiary "MGM
British” and those of Shepperton Studios. Kubrick decided to settle in England permanently
during the filming of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Though the film was released in the United States
over a month before its release in the United Kingdom, and Encyclopædia Britannica calls this
an American film, other sources refer to it as an American, British, or joint American-British
production.
Thematically, the film deals with elements of human evolution, technology, artificial
intelligence, and extraterrestrial life. It is notable for its scientific accuracy, pioneering special
effects, ambiguous, sound or music in place of traditional narrative techniques, and minimal
use of dialogue. Daniel Richter, a professional street mime, played the lead hominid in the Dawn
of Man sequence and was also responsible for choreographing the movements of the others in
his troupe.
The film has a memorable soundtrack, the result of the association that Kubrick made
between the spinning motion of the satellites and waltzes, which led him to use “The Blue
Danube” by Johann Strauss II and the symphonic poem “Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Richard
Strauss, to portray the philosophical concept of the übermensch or superman in Nietzsche's
work of the same name. It had already become Kubrick’s style to use classical music for his film
music rather than independent themes by notable composers. Thus, the consistent appearance
of circular and elliptical motions closely matched the movement and music of the planets.
While receiving mixed reactions from critics and audiences alike, 2001: A Space Odyssey
garnered a cult following and slowly became a box office hit. Some years after its initial release,
it eventually became the highest grossing picture in North America until the premiere of Star
Wars. Today, it is universally recognized by critics, filmmakers, and audiences as one of the
greatest and most influential films ever made. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, and
received one for its visual effects.
In 1991, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United
States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 1984
a sequel directed by Peter Hyams was produced titled 2010: The Year We Make Contact, which
ostensibly answered some of the questions provoked by 2001.
Title: At first, Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke privately referred to their project as How the
Solar System Was Won as an homage to MGM's 1962 Cinerama epic, How the West Was Won.
However, Kubrick chose to announce the project in a press release issued on February 23, 1965,
as Journey Beyond The Stars. "Other titles which we ran up and failed to salute were Universe,
Tunnel to the Stars, and Planetfall", Clarke wrote in his book The Lost Worlds of 2001. "It was not
until eleven months after we started—April 1965—that Stanley selected 2001: A Space Odyssey.
As far as I can recall, it was entirely his idea."
Intending to set the film apart from the standard "monsters and sex" type of science fiction
movies of the time, Kubrick used Homer's The Odyssey as his inspiration for the title. "It occurred
to us", he said, "that for the Greeks the vast stretches of the sea must have had the same sort of
mystery and remoteness that space has for our generation”.
Clarke and Kubrick wrote the novel and screenplay simultaneously, but while Clarke
ultimately opted for clearer explanations of the mysterious monolith and StarGate in his book,
Kubrick chose to make his film more cryptic and enigmatic by keeping dialogue and specific
explanations to a minimum. "2001", Kubrick says, "is basically a visual, nonverbal experience
that avoids the spoken word in order to reach the viewer's subconscious in an essentially poetic
and philosophic way. The film is a subjective experience which "hits the viewer at an inner level
of consciousness, just as music does, or painting".
The film conveys what some viewers have described as a sense of the sublime and
numinous. In a book on architecture, Gregory Caicco writes that “2001: A Space Odyssey
illustrates how our quest for space is motivated by two contradictory desires, a ‘desire for the
sublime’ characterized by a need to encounter something totally other than ourselves; and the
conflicting desire for a beauty that makes us feel no longer ‘lost in space’, but familiar with it as
at home.” Similarly, an article in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy,
titled "Sense of Wonder", describes how 2001 portrayed a universe that inspired a sense of awe
while promoting a profound understanding.
The scenes aboard the space station lead us to see that everything deemed “conventional”
has gone to space with mankind; down to the idea of a Hilton Hotel occupying a whole sector
of the station, the oddly shaped chairs with their bright pink cushions sitting at random on the
pristine beige carpeting, the phone booth with a view of a rotating Earth; and the distribution
of sandwiches aboard the space bus taking Floyd from Tycho Base to the site where the
monolith was found.
Shortly after completing Dr. Strangelove; or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(1964), Stanley Kubrick became fascinated by the concept of extraterrestrial life, and determined
to make the proverbial great science fiction movie. Kubrick was advised to seek out the noted
science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke by a mutual acquaintance. Convinced that Clarke was "a
recluse, a nut who lives in a tree", Kubrick agreed to cable the author with the film proposal.
Clarke's cabled response stated that he was "frightfully interested in working with enfant
terrible", and added "what makes Kubrick think I'm a recluse?" (He lived on the island of Sri
Lanka until his death.)
The two met for the first time at Trader Vic's in New York on April 22, 1964, and began
discussing the project that would take up the next 4 years of their lives. Kubrick told Clarke he
was searching for the best way to make a movie about Man's relation to the universe, and was,
in Clarke's words, "determined to create a work of art which would arouse the emotions of
wonder, awe,...even, if appropriate, terror." Clarke offered Kubrick six of his short stories, and
by May, Kubrick had chosen one of them—"The Sentinel"—as source matter for his film.
In search of more material to expand the film's plot, the two spent the rest of 1964 reading
books on science and anthropology, screening science fiction movies, and brainstorming ideas.
Clarke and Kubrick spent two years transforming "The Sentinel" into a novel, and then into a
script for 2001. Clarke notes that his short story "Encounter in the Dawn" inspired the "Dawn
Of Man" sequence in 2001.
The collaborators had originally planned to develop a novel free of the constraints of a
normal script, and then to write the screenplay. They agreed that the final writing credits would
be "Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, based on a novel by Arthur C. Clarke
and Stanley Kubrick" to reflect their preeminence in their respective fields. In practice, however,
the cinematic ideas required for the screenplay developed parallel to the novel, with crossfertilization between the two. In the end, the screenplay credits were shared while the novel,
released shortly after the film, was attributed to Clarke alone, but Clarke wrote later that "the
nearest approximation to the complicated truth" is that the screenplay should be credited to
"Kubrick and Clarke" and the novel to "Clarke and Kubrick".
Astronomer Carl Sagan wrote in his book The Cosmic Connection that Clarke and Kubrick
asked his opinion on how best to depict extraterrestrial intelligence. Sagan acknowledging
Kubrick's desire to use actors to portray humanoid aliens for the sake of convenience but argued
that alien life forms were unlikely to bear any resemblance to Earthlings, and that to do so
would introduce "at least an element of falseness" to the film. Sagan proposed that the film
suggest, rather than depict, an extraterrestrial superintelligence. He attended the premiere and
was "pleased to see that I had been of some help."
Kubrick hinted at the nature of the mysterious unseen alien race in 2001 by suggesting in
a 1968 interview that, given millions of years of evolution, they had progressed from biological
beings to "immortal machine entities", and then into "beings of pure energy and spirit"; beings
with "limitless capabilities and ungraspable intelligence." That the monoliths were merely shells
used to interact with the biologicals and were not necessary to the survival of their engineers.
As the central character of the "Jupiter Mission" segment of the film, the HAL 9000 was
shown by Kubrick to have as much intelligence as human beings, possibly more; while sharing
their same "emotional potentialities". Kubrick agreed with computer theorists who believed that
highly intelligent computers that can learn by experience will inevitably develop emotions such
as fear, love, hate, and envy. Such a machine, he said, would eventually manifest human mental
disorders as well, such as a nervous breakdown—as HAL demonstrated in the film.
Clarke noted that, contrary to popular rumor, it was a complete coincidence that each of
the letters of HAL's name immediately preceded those of IBM in the alphabet. The meaning of
HAL has been given both as "Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer" and as
"Heuristic ALgorithmic computer". The former appears in Clarke's novel of 2001 and the latter
in his sequel novel 2010.
In computer science, a heuristic subroutine is a programmable procedure not necessarily
based on fixed rules, producing informed guesses using trial and error or pragmatic
extrapolation from a series of facts. The results can be false such as in predictions of stock market
bids, sports scores, or the weather. Sometimes this can entail selecting one of several methods
to solve a problem based on historical experience.
On the other hand, an algorithm is a programmable procedure that produces reproducible
results using invariant established methods (such as computing square roots). A heuristic
approach that usually works within a tolerable margin of error may be preferred over a perfect
algorithm that requires a long time to run. Approximations of these kinds are also riddled with
attendant factual “hiccups” which can significantly alter a prediction altogether. Whatever the
method, computer intelligence is without error up to a certain point, so one truly cannot expect
perfection in anything.
Depiction of spacecraft: All of the vehicles in 2001 were designed with extreme care in
order for the small scale models as well as full-scale interiors to appear realistic. The modeling
team was led by Kubrick's two hirees from NASA, science advisor Fred Ordway and
production designer Harry Lange, along with Anthony Masters, who was responsible for
turning Lange's 2D sketches into 3D models. Ordway and Lange insisted on knowing "the
purpose and functioning of each assembly and component, down to the labeling of individual
buttons and the presentation on screens of plausible operating, diagnostic and other data."
Kubrick's team of 35 designers was often frustrated by script changes done after designs
for various spacecraft had been created. Douglas Trumbull, chief special effects supervisor,
wrote, "one of the most serious problems that plagued us throughout the production was simply keeping
track of all ideas, shots, and changes and constantly reevaluating and updating designs, storyboards, and
the script itself. To handle all of this....a ‘control room’...was used to keep track of all progress on the film."
Ordway noted that the U.S. modelers had problems satisfying Kubrick with its equipment
suggestions, while design aspects of the vehicles had to be updated often to accommodate rapid
screenplay changes. One crew member resigned over an unspecified related issue. Eventually,
conflicting ideas of what Kubrick had in mind, what Clarke was writing, and equipment and
vehicular realities emerging from the design team were resolved and coalesced into the final
designs and construction of the spacecraft before filming began in December 1965.
Stages of script and novel development: Arthur C. Clarke kept a diary throughout his
involvement with 2001, of which excerpts were published in 1972 as The Lost Worlds of 2001. The
script went through many stages of development in which various plot ideas were considered
and subsequently discarded. Early in 1965, when backing was just secured for Journey Beyond
the Stars, the writers still had no firm idea of what would happen to Bowman after the Star Gate
sequence, though as early as October 17, 1964 Kubrick had come up with what Clarke called a
"wild idea of slightly fag robots who create a Victorian environment to put our heroes at their
ease."
All of Discovery's astronauts were to survive the journey, but the decision to make
Bowman the sole survivor and have him regress to a superior infancy was agreed on by October
3, 1965. The computer HAL 9000 was to be named "Athena", after the Greek goddess of wisdom,
with a feminine voice and persona; however, Rain’s superior translation of the lines in a nearly
unisex voice was a better choice.
Early drafts included a short prologue containing interviews with scientists about
extraterrestrial life, voiceover narration (a feature in all of Kubrick's previous films), a stronger
emphasis on the prevailing Cold War balance of terror, a slightly different and more explicitly
explained scenario for Hal's breakdown, and a differently imagined monolith for the "Dawn of
Man" sequence. The last three of these survived into Arthur C. Clarke's final novel, which also
retained an earlier draft's employment of Saturn as the final destination of the Discovery mission
rather than Jupiter, and the discarded finale of the Star Child exploding nuclear weapons
carried by orbiting satellites. Clarke had suggested this finale to Kubrick, jokingly calling it "Son
of Dr. Strangelove"; a reference to Kubrick's previous film.
Feeling that this conclusion's similarity to that of his previous film would be detrimental,
Kubrick opted for a more pacific conclusion. In my opinion, a terribly bland and inexplicable
ending, as I have said before.
Some changes were made simply due to the logistics of filming. Other changes were made
due to Kubrick's increasing desire to make the film even more nonverbal, reaching the viewer
at a visual and visceral level rather than through a conventional narrative style. Vincent
LeBrutto notes that on the other hand Clarke's novel has "strong narrative structure" which
fleshes out the story, while the film is a mainly visual experience where much remains mainly
"symbolic" and in some places inexplicable. While many ideas were discarded in totality, at
least two remnants of previous plot ideas remain in the final film. Kubrick must have presumed
that the audience would have read the novel first and did not need any further translation.
What a pity.
HAL's breakdown: Early script drafts spell out that HAL's breakdown is triggered by
authorities on Earth who had ordered it to withhold information from the astronauts about the
true purpose of the mission. This is also explained in the film's sequel, 2010. Frederick Ordway
said that in an earlier version, Poole tells HAL there is "...something about this mission that we
weren't told. Something the rest of the crew knows and that you know. We would like to know
whether this is true", to which HAL enigmatically responds: "I'm sorry, Frank, but I don't think
I can answer that question without knowing everything that all of you know."
In this version, HAL then falsely predicts a failure of the hardware maintaining radio
contact with the Earth during the broadcast of Frank Poole's birthday greetings from his
parents. While the film drops this overt explanation, it is hinted at when HAL asks David
Bowman if the latter feels bothered or disturbed by the "mysteries" and "secrecy" surrounding
the mission. After Bowman concludes that HAL is dutifully drawing up the "crew psychology
report", the computer then makes its false prediction of the hardware failure.
But in an interview with Joseph Gelmis in 1969, Kubrick simply stated that "[Hal] had an
acute emotional crisis because he could not accept evidence of his own fallibility." I see no
logical reason why Hal should develop such a self image. In fact, he would not have much of
an ego to begin with.
Another holdover of discarded plot ideas is with regard to the famous match cut from
prehistoric bone weapon to orbiting satellite, followed sequentially by views of three more
satellites. Piers Bizony, in his book 2001: Filming The Future, said that after ordering designs for
orbiting nuclear weapon platforms, Kubrick became convinced he should avoid too many
associations with Dr. Strangelove, and he decided not to make it so obvious that they were "war
machines". Kubrick now thought this had "no place at all in the film's thematic development",
with the bombs now becoming an "orbiting red herring". An agreement had been reached in
1967 between the nuclear powers not to put any weapons into outer space, and if the film
suggested otherwise it would "merely have raised irrelevant questions to suggest this as a
reality of the twenty-first century".
Arthur C. Clarke, in the TV documentary 2001: The Making Of A Myth, described the boneto-satellite sequence in the film, saying "The bone goes up and turns into what is supposed to
be an orbiting space bomb, a weapon in space. Well, that isn't made clear, we just assume it's
some kind of space vehicle in a three-million-year jump cut".
Former NASA research assistant Steven Pietrobon wrote "The orbital craft seen as we make
the leap from the Dawn of Man to contemporary times are supposed to be weapons platforms
carrying nuclear devices, though the movie does not make this clear."
The vast majority of film critics interpreted the satellites as generic spacecraft, as would
most of the audience. Fred Ordway sent a memo to Kubrick after the film's release listing
suggested changes to the film, mostly complaining about missing narration and shortened
scenes. One entry reads: "Without warning, we cut to the orbiting bombs. And to a short,
introductory narration, missing in the present version".
In other words, how one views the satellites may affect one's total reading of the film. This
was never even on my mind when I saw them. I concluded that they were scientific orbiters
and communications satellites. There is really not enough time for decals and other markings
to register on the human retina, so one can only proceed from a personal perspective on the
progress of science. I recall that my initial reaction was that the bone weapon had evolved into
an instrument of peace as mankind developed and threw off its primitive survival imperative.
To find that everyone involved in the making of the film thought otherwise is very
disappointing, indeed.
Filming: Principal photography began December 29, 1965, in Stage H at Shepperton
Studios, Shepperton, England. The only scene not filmed in a studio, and the last live action
scene shot for the film, was the skull-smashing sequence, in which Moonwatcher (Richter)
wields his newfound bone "weapon tool" against a pile of nearby animal bones. A small
elevated platform was built in a field near the studio so that the camera could shoot upward
with the sky as background, avoiding cars and trucks passing by in the distance.
Filming of the actors was completed in September 1967, and from June 1966 until March
1968 Kubrick spent most of his time working on the special effects shots for the film. The special
effects technicians on 2001 used the painstaking process of creating all visual effects seen in the
film "in camera" to avoid degrading the picture quality from the use of blue screen and traveling
matte techniques. This technique, known as "held takes", resulted in a much better image, but
it meant exposed film would be stored for long periods of time between shots, sometimes as
long as a year. In March of 1968, Kubrick finished the editing of the film, making his final cuts
just days before the film's general release in April of 1968.
The 70 mm prints were made by MGM Laboratories, Inc. on Metrocolor. The production
was $4.5 million over the initial $6.0 million budget, and 16 months behind schedule.
Special effects: As the film climaxes, Bowman takes a trip through deep space that involves
the innovative use of slit-scan photography to create the visual effects and disturbing
sequences, showing him terrified by the experience.
Stanley Kubrick chose to use front projection with retroreflective matting to produce the
backdrops for the African scenes, as traditional techniques such as painted backdrops or rear
projection did not produce the realistic look Kubrick demanded.
In addition to the "Dawn of Man" sequence, the front projection system was used to depict
astronauts walking on the lunar surface with the Tycho moon base in the background. The
technique has been used widely in the film industry since 2001 pioneered its use, although
starting in the 1990s it has been increasingly replaced by green screen systems.
The effects of the astronauts floating weightless in space and inside the spacecraft were
accomplished by suspending the actors from wires attached to the top of the set, with the
camera underneath them pointing up. The actors' bodies blocked the camera's view of the
suspension wires, creating a very believable appearance of floating. For Poole floating into the
pod's arms during Bowman's rescue attempt, a stuntman replaced a dummy on the wire to
portray the movements of an unconscious human, and was shot in slow motion to enhance the
illusion of drifting through space.
The scene with Bowman entering the emergency airlock from the pod was done in a similar
way, with an off-camera stagehand standing on a platform and holding the wire suspending
Kier Dullea above a camera positioned at the bottom of the airlock. At the proper moment, the
stagehand first loosened his grip on the wire, causing Dullea to fall toward the camera, then,
while holding the wire firmly, he jumped off the platform, causing Dullea to ascend back up
toward the hatch.
The colored lights in the Star Gate sequence were accomplished by slit-scan photography
of thousands of high contrast images on film, including op art paintings, architectural drawings,
moire patterns, printed circuits, and crystal structures. Known to staff as "The Manhattan
Project", the shots of various nebula, including the expanding star field of the Hercules cluster,
were colored paints and chemicals swirling in a “cloud tank”, shot in slow motion in a dark
room.
The live action landscape shots in the Star Gate sequence were filmed in the Hebridean
islands, the mountains of northern Scotland, and Monument Valley, Utah. The strange coloring
and negative image effects in these shots were achieved by the use of different color filters in
the process of making duplicate negatives. Kubrick also filmed several scenes that were deleted
from the final film, and were destroyed later. Kubrick was paranoid about his work being
“copied” by other film makers.
The first set of cuts includes a schoolroom on the Moon base and a painting class that
included Kubrick's daughters, additional scenes of life on the base, and Floyd buying a
bushbaby from a department store via videophone for his daughter. The most notable cut was
a 10 minute black and white opening sequence featuring interviews with actual scientists,
including Freeman Dyson discussing extraterrestrial life, which Kubrick removed after an early
screening for MGM executives. The actual text survives in the book The Making of Kubrick's 2001
by Jerome Agel.
The second set of cuts includes details about the daily life on Discovery, additional
spacewalks, astronaut Bowman retrieving a spare part from an octagonal corridor, a number of
cuts from the Poole murder sequence; including the entire spacewalk preparation and shots of
HAL turning off radio contact with Poole, explaining HAL's response that the radio is "still
dead" when Bowman asks him if radio contact has been made, and a closeup shot of Bowman
picking up a slipper during his walk through the alien bedroom; the slipper can still be seen
behind him in what would have been the next shot in the sequence.
Kubrick's rationale for editing the film was to tighten the narrative. Reviews suggested the
film suffered too much by the radical departure from traditional cinema story telling
conventions. According to Kubrick biographer Jan Harlan, the director was adamant the trims
were never to be seen, and that he "even burned the negatives" which he had kept in his garage
shortly before his death. This is confirmed by former Kubrick assistant Leon Vitali: "I'll tell you
right now, okay, on Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Barry Lyndon, some little parts of 2001, we had
thousands of cans of negative outtakes and print, which we had stored in an area at his house where we
worked out of, which he personally supervised the loading of it to a truck and then I went down to a big
industrial waste lot and burned it. That's what he wanted."
In December, 2010, Douglas Trumbull announced that Warner Bros. had located 17
minutes of lost footage, "perfectly preserved", in a Kansas salt mine vault. A Warner Bros. press
release asserts that this material is from the cuts, which Kubrick said totaled 19 minutes. No
immediate plans were announced for the footage, but Trumbull intended to use stills from them
in a book he planned to publish.
As special effect supervisor, Douglas Trumbull was unable to provide convincing footage
of Saturn for 2001, but he had solved the technical problems involved in reproducing Saturn's
rings by the time he directed Silent Running four years later in 1972, employing the effects
developed but not completed for 2001 in spite of Kubrick's tendency to destroy scenes not use
in the film. Unused footage from the final Star Gate sequence appears in the Beatles film Magical
Mystery Tour during the sequence accompanied by their instrumental song "Flying".
Soundtrack: Music plays a crucial part in 2001, and not only because of the sparse dialogue.
From very early on, Kubrick decided that he wanted the film to be a primarily “nonverbal
experience” in which music would play a vital role in evoking particular moods. About half the
music in the film appears either before the first line of dialogue or after the final line. Almost no
music is heard during any scenes with dialogue.
The film is remarkable for its innovative use of classical music taken from existing
commercial recordings. Most feature films then and now are typically accompanied by
elaborate film scores or songs written especially for them by professional composers.
In the early stages of production, Kubrick had actually commissioned a score for 2001 from
noted Hollywood composer Alex North, who had written the score for Spartacus and also
worked on Dr. Strangelove. However, during post production, Kubrick chose to abandon
North's music in favor of the familiar classical music pieces he had chosen as "guide pieces" for
the soundtrack. North was not informed about this abandonment of the score until after he saw
the film's premiere screening. (What a shock!)
In addition to the majestic compositions by the Strausses and Aram Khatchaturian,
Kubrick also used four highly modernistic compositions by György Ligeti which employ
micropolyphony, the use of sustained dissonant chords that shift slowly over time. This
technique was pioneered in Atmosphères, the only Ligeti piece heard in its entirety in the film.
Ligeti admired Kubrick's film but irritated by Kubrick's failure to obtain permission to use his
music; he was also offended that his music was used in a film soundtrack shared by composers
Johann and Richard Strauss. Other music used is Ligeti's Lux Aeterna and an electronically
altered form of his Aventures, the last of which was not listed in the film's credits.
HAL's version of the popular song "Daisy Bell", referred to by HAL as "Daisy" in the film,
was inspired by a computer synthesized arrangement by Max Mathews, which Arthur C.
Clarke had heard in 1962 at Bell Laboratories’ facility at Murray Hill. At that time, a speech
synthesis demonstration was performed by physicist John Larry Kelly, Jr, by using an IBM 704
computer. Kelly's voice synthesizer recreated the song "Daisy Bell", with Max Mathews
providing the musical accompaniment.
Arthur C. Clarke was so impressed by it that he later used it in the screenplay and novel.
Many foreign language versions of the film do not use the song "Daisy." In the French
soundtrack to 2001, HAL sings the French folk song "Au Clair de la Lune" as it is disconnected.
In the German version, HAL sings the children's song "Hänschen klein" ("Johnny Little") and in
the Italian version HAL sings "Giro giro tondo." A recording of British light music composer
Sidney Torch's "Off Beats Mood" was chosen by Kubrick as the theme for the fictitious BBC
news program "The World Tonight" seen aboard the spaceship Discovery.
On June 25, 2010, a version of the film specially remastered by Warner Bros sans music
opened the 350th anniversary celebration of the Royal Society at Southbank Centre, in
cooperation with the British Film Institute, with the score played live by the Philharmonia
Orchestra and Choir. In 1996, Turner Entertainment/Rhino Records released a new soundtrack
on CD which included the material redacted from the film and added a 9 minute compilation
of all of Hal's dialogue from the film.
Alex North's unused music had its first public appearance on “Hollywood's Greatest Hits,
Vol. 2”, a compilation album by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. All the music
North wrote was recorded by North's friend and colleague Jerry Goldsmith with the National
Philharmonic Orchestra and was released on Varèse Sarabande CDs shortly after Telarc's first
theme release but before North's death. Eventually, a mono mixdown of North's original
recordings, which had survived in the interim, would be released as a limited edition CD by
Intrada Records.
It is notable that North’s themes did not inspire much appreciation among fans of the film.
I found it to be a little too pedestrian for the grand sweeping segments presented in the film.
Release: The film's world premiere took place on April 2, 1968, at the Uptown Theater in
Washington, D.C.. It opened two days later at the Warner Cinerama Theatre in Hollywood, and
Loew's Capitol in New York. Kubrick then deleted 19 minutes of footage from the film before
its general release in five other U.S. cities on April 10, 1968; and internationally in five cities the
following day. The general release of the film in its 35mm anamorphic format took place in
autumn 1968.
The original release of 2001: A Space Odyssey in 70 mm Cinerama with 6 track sound played
continually for more than a year in several venues, and for almost 2 years in Los Angeles alone.
Part of the reason is that many movie goers were simply astonished, and went back to see it
several times. I myself saw it 9 times in a week, and then twice a week after that. Then, when I
had memorized every inch, finally stayed home. But from then on, I watched it on television by
the medium of TCM.
Warner Home Video released a 2-DVD Special Edition on October 23, 2007 as part of their
latest set of Kubrick reissues. The DVD was released on its own and as part of a revised Stanley
Kubrick box set which contains new Special Edition versions of A Clockwork Orange, The Shining,
Eyes Wide Shut, Full Metal Jacket, and the documentary A Life in Pictures. The film was later
released on both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The IMdb listing of this DVD and the official
Warner Brothers webpage have a complete listing of all the special features but both omit a
documentary entitled "What is Out There?" featuring interviews with Keir Dullea and Arthur
C. Clarke. The film was rereleased to movie houses in several European and Asian countries in
2001.
Reception: Upon its release, 2001 polarized critical opinion, receiving both ecstatic praise
and vehement derision. It has been noted that its slow pacing often alienates modern audiences
more than it did upon its initial release. I can only say that I have never heard of most of these
critics, and so it should be. They certainly did not see the film with an open mind.
It reminds me of a scene and a remark made by an audience person in King Kong (1933):
“But I was so looking forward to seeing Mr. Denim’s film – all those wonderful monkeys and
such.”
The usher replies, “but madame, this is a live presentation.”
To which she shudders with a blustery “oh”, and takes her seat, indignant that she did not
have the last word on the subject.
Science fiction writers: There was a range of author reactions to the film. Ray Bradbury
was hostile, stating that “the audience does not care when Poole dies.” He praised the film's
beautiful photography but did not like the “banality” of most of the dialogue. Both he and
Lester del Rey were put off by the film's apparent sterility and blandness in all the human
encounters amidst all the technological wonders, while both praised the pictorial elements of
the movie. Del Rey was especially harsh, describing the film as “dull, confusing, and boring”,
predicting: "it will probably be a box-office disaster, too, and thus set major science-fiction
movie making back another ten years."
However, the film was praised by science-fiction novelist Samuel R. Delany, who was
impressed by how the film undercuts the audience's normal sense of space and orientation in
several ways. Like Bradbury, Delany picked up on the banality of the dialogue (in Delany's
phrasing the characters were not saying anything meaningful), but Delany regards this as a
dramatic strength, a prelude to the rebirth at the conclusion of the film. Without analyzing the
film in much detail, Isaac Asimov spoke well of 2001 in his autobiography, and other essays.
Nevertheless, the film won the Hugo Award for best dramatic presentation, an award
heavily voted on by published science fiction writers.
Other Awards: 2001 earned Stanley Kubrick an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
and various other Oscar nominations. Anthony Masters was nominated for Best Art Direction;
there were also nominations for Best Director (Kubrick), and Original Screenplay (Kubrick and
Clarke). An honorary award was made to John Chambers in that year for his makeup work on
Planet of the Apes, and Clarke reports that he "wondered, as loudly as possible, whether the
judges had passed over 2001 because they thought we had use real ape-men..."
Although it was not even nominated for Best Picture, 2001 is considered by many sources
to be among the greatest films of all time.
Arthur C. Clarke and others commented that in the same year that 2001 was released, a
special honorary Oscar for ape makeup was given to Planet of the Apes, but the more realistic
ape makeup in 2001 was ignored. Clarke quipped that the committee may have not realized the
apes were also actors working in concert with baby chimpanzees.
4 BAFTA Awards for behind the scenes work; Cinema Writers Circle, Spain: Best Foreign
Film; David di Donatello Awards, Italy: Best Foreign Production; Hugo Awards: Best Dramatic
Presentation; Kansas City Film Critics: Best Director and Best Picture; Laurel Awards: Best Road
Show; Nominated BAFTA Awards: Best Film UN Award; Directors Guild of America (DGA):
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures.
Box-office: The film earned $8.5 million in theatrical gross rental from roadshow
engagements throughout 1968, contributing to North American rentals of $15 million during its
original release. Reissues have brought its cumulative exhibition gross to $56.9 million in North
America, and over $190 million worldwide. Of CD and DVD revenues I would not even venture
a guess but it must still be in the millions of dollars.
The film’s influence: “Stanley Kubrick made the ultimate science fiction movie, and it is going to
be very hard for someone to come along and make a better movie, as far as I'm concerned. On a technical
level, it can be compared, but personally I think that '2001' is far superior.” —George Lucas, 1977
The influence of 2001 on subsequent filmmakers is considerable. Steven Spielberg, George
Lucas and others, including many special effects technicians, discuss the impact the film has
had on them in a featurette entitled Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001
included in the 2007 DVD release of the film. Spielberg calls it his film generation's "big bang",
while Lucas said it was "hugely inspirational", labeling Kubrick as "the filmmaker's filmmaker".
Sydney Pollack referred to it as "groundbreaking", and William Friedkin said 2001 is "the
grandfather of all such films".
At the 2007 Venice film festival, director Ridley Scott stated he believed 2001 was an
unbeatable film that in a sense “killed the science fiction genre”. Film critic Michel Ciment in
his essay "Odyssey of Stanley Kubrick" stated "Kubrick has conceived a film which in one stroke
has made the whole science fiction cinema obsolete." Others, however, credit 2001 with opening
up a market for films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, Blade Runner, and Contact;
proving that big budget "serious" science-fiction films can be commercially successful, and
establishing the "sci-fi blockbuster" as a Hollywood staple.
Science magazine Discover's blogger Stephen Cass wrote: "The balletic spacecraft scenes set to
sweeping classical music, the tarantula-soft tones of HAL 9000, and the ultimate alien artifact, the
Monolith, have all become enduring cultural icons in their own right." Video game director Hideo
Kojima also cited 2001: A Space Odyssey as one of the chief influences for his Metal Gear series,
with Solid Snake and Otacon inspired by Dave and HAL. One commentor suggested that the
image of the Star Child and Earth has contributed to the rise of the "whole earth" icon as a
symbol of the unity of humanity.
The film’s influence on technology and law: In August 2011, in response to Apple Inc.'s
patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung, the latter argued that Apple's iPad was effectively
modeled on the visual tablets that appear aboard spaceship Discovery, which legally constituted
"prior art". Legally, prior art is information that has been disclosed to the public in any form
about an invention before a given date that might be relevant to the patent's claim of originality.
"Siri", Apple's natural language voice control system for the iPhone, features three references to
the film; a modem that looks like HAL's faceplate. If asked to sing, it might reply "Daisy, Daisy,
give me your answer do", and it responds "I'm sorry I can't do that" when asked to "open the
pod bay door".
Inspired by Arthur C. Clarke's visual tablet device, in 1994 a European Commission R&D
project, code named "NewsPAD", developed and pilot tested a portable “multimedia viewer”,
pointing the way to a future fully interactive and highly personalised information source. The
film made no. 8 on Clarke's own list of the best science fiction films of all time, following The
Day the Earth Stood Still at no. 7. In 2011, the film was the third most screened film in secondary
schools in the United Kingdom.
Speculation on sources: The Russian documentary film maker Pavel Klushantsev made a
groundbreaking film in the 1950s entitled Road to the Stars. It is believed to have significantly
influenced Kubrick's technique in 2001: A Space Odyssey, particularly in its accurate depiction
of weightlessness and a rotating space station. Art critics have noticed the similarities between
Kubrick's monolith and a recurring monolith motif in the artwork of French painter Georges
Yatrides. Arthur Conte suggests that Yatrides "Adolescent and child" canvas painted in 1963
has a slab remarkably similar to that of Kubrick’s monolith. In Yatrides artwork, the monolith
acts as a mystical symbol, mediating superior knowledge. Sacha Bourmeyster a semiology
specialist, said that the Yatrides slab communicates supernatural life in a manner similar to that
in 2001. Sacha Bourmeyster has also noted the similarity in his book Interstellar Icons. Similarities
between Yatrides’ art and Kubrick's monolith have also been noted in the French architecture
website cyberarchitecte.
Since its premiere, 2001: A Space Odyssey has been analyzed and interpreted by professional
movie critics, amateur writers and science fiction fans, virtually all of whom have noted its
deliberate ambiguity. Questions about 2001 range from uncertainty about its deeper
philosophical implications about humanity's origins and final destiny in the universe, to
interpreting elements of the film's more enigmatic scenes such as the meaning of the monolith,
or the final fate of astronaut David Bowman.
There are also simpler and more mundane questions about what drove the plot, in
particular the causes of HAL's breakdown. Stanley Kubrick encouraged people to explore their
own interpretations of the film, and refused to offer an explanation of "what really happened"
in the movie, preferring instead to let audiences embrace their own ideas and theories. In a 1968
interview with Playboy magazine, Kubrick said: “You're free to speculate as you wish about the
philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film—and such speculation is one indication that it has
succeeded in gripping the audience at a deep level—but I don't want to spell out a verbal road map for
2001 that every viewer will feel obligated to pursue or else fear he's missed the point.“
Multiple allegorical interpretations of 2001 have been proposed, including seeing it as a
commentary on Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical tract Thus Spoke Zarathustra, or as an
allegory of human conception, birth and death. This latter aspect can be seen through the final
moments of the film, which are defined by the image of the Star Child, an in utero fetus that
draws on the work of Lennart Nilsson. The Star Child signifies a "great new beginning", and is
depicted naked and ungirded, but with its eyes wide open. Leonard F. Wheat sees 2001: A Space
Odyssey as a multi-layered allegory, commenting simultaneously on Nietzsche, Homer, and the
relationship of man to machine.
The reasons for HAL's malfunction and subsequent malignant behavior have also elicited
much discussion. HAL had once been compared to Frankenstein's monster. In Clarke's novel,
HAL malfunctioned because it was ordered to lie to the crew of Discovery. Film critic Roger
Ebert has noted that HAL was the supposedly perfect computer, and actually behaved in the
most human fashion of all of the characters. This is counterpointed brilliantly in Dr. Poole’s
seemingly cold behavior as he watches his parents’ vid letter to him. There is nothing of his
thoughts betrayed in his face or his body language. He is almost colder than a machine, but that
can also be interpreted as his lack of concern for something which may be 4 days old and he
had expected that everything discussed was dealt with already.
The first and second encounters of humanity with the monolith have visual elements in
common; both the hominids, and later the astronauts, touch the monolith gingerly with their
hands. The second encounter also suggests the triggering of the monolith's radio signal to
Jupiter by the presence of humans, echoing the premise of Clarke's source story “The Sentinel”.
In the 1996 film, Star Trek: First Contact, Capt. Jean-Luc Picard touches the casing of the
warp ship Phoenix with his hand in a similar fashion, explaining that the tactile sense makes an
object more real in terms of human history.
The monolith is the subject of the film's final line of dialogue: "Its origin and purpose still
a total mystery". Reviewers McClay and Roger Ebert have noted that the monolith is the main
element of mystery in the film, Ebert writing of "the shock of the monolith's straight edges and
square corners among the weathered rocks", and describing the apes warily circling it as
prefiguring man reaching "for the stars". Patrick Webster suggests the final line relates to how
the film should be approached as a whole, noting, "the line appends not merely to the discovery
of the monolith on the Moon, but to our understanding of the film in the light of the ultimate
questions it raises about the mystery of the universe." Key sequences of the monoliths show a
monolith lined up with a particular astronomical feature. In the first sequence: the moon. In the
second: Jupiter.
Scientific accuracy: 2001: A Space Odyssey is perhaps the most thoroughly and accurately
researched film in screen history with respect to aerospace engineering. There were several
technical advisers hired for 2001, some of whom were recommended by Arthur C. Clarke, who
also had a background in aerospace. 2001 accurately presents outer space as not allowing the
propagation of sound, in sharp contrast to other films with space scenes in which explosions or
sounds of passing spacecraft are heard.
2001's portrayal of weightlessness in spaceships and outer space is also more realistic.
Tracking shots inside the rotating wheel providing artificial gravity contrast with the
weightlessness outside the wheel during the repair and HAL disconnection scenes. Scenes of
the astronauts in the Discovery pod bay, along with earlier scenes involving shuttle flight
attendants, depict walking in zero gravity with the help of velcro equipped shoes labeled "Grip
Shoes".
Other aspects that contribute to the film's realism are the depiction of the time delay in
conversations between the astronauts and Earth due to the extreme distance between the two
(which the BBC announcer explains have been edited out of the broadcast), the attention to
small details such as the sound of breathing inside the spacesuits, the conflicting spatial
orientation of astronauts inside a zero gravity spaceship, and the enormous size of Jupiter in
relationship to the spaceship itself.
The general approach to how space travel is engineered is highly accurate; in particular,
the design of the ships was based on actual engineering considerations rather than attempts to
look aesthetically "futuristic". Many other science fiction films give spacecraft an aerodynamic
shape, which is superfluous in outer space except for craft such as the Pan Am shuttle, that are
designed to function both in atmosphere and in space.
Onboard equipment and panels on various spacecraft have specific purposes such as
alarm, communications, condition display, docking, diagnostic, and navigation, the designs of
which relied heavily on NASA's input. Aerospace specialists were also consulted on the design
of the spacesuits and space helmets.
The space dock at Moon base Clavius shows multiple underground layers which could
sustain high levels of air pressure typical of Earth. The lunar craft design takes into account the
lower gravity and lighting conditions on the Moon.
The Jupiter bound Discovery One is meant to be powered by a nuclear reactor at its rear,
separated from the crew area at the front by hundreds of feet of fuel storage compartments.
Although difficult to be recognized as such, actual nuclear reactor control panel displays appear
in the astronaut's control area.
The cryosleep stasis of three of the astronauts on board is accurately portrayed as worked
out by consulting medical authorities. Such hibernation would likely be necessary to conserve
resources on a flight of this kind as Clarke's novelization implies.
A great deal of effort was made to get the look of the lunar landscape right, based on
detailed lunar photographs taken from observatory telescopes. The depiction of early hominids
was based on the writings of anthropologists such as Louis Leakey.
Inaccuracy: The film is scientifically inaccurate in minor but revealing details; some due to
the technical difficulty involved in producing a realistic effect, and others simply being
examples of artistic license. The appearance of outer space is problematic, both in terms of
lighting and the alignment of astronomical bodies. In the vacuum of outer space, stars do not
twinkle, and light does not become diffuse and scattered as it does in a volume of air. The side
of the Discovery spacecraft unlit by the sun, for example, would appear virtually pitch black in
space. The stars would not appear to move in relation to Discovery as it traveled towards Jupiter,
unless it was changing direction. Proportionally, the Sun, Moon and Earth would not visually
line up at the size ratios shown in the opening shot, nor would the Galilean moons of Jupiter
ever align as in the shot just before Bowman enters the Star Gate. Kubrick himself was aware of
this latter point.
The sequence in which Bowman enters Discovery shows him holding his breath just before
ejecting from the pod into the emergency airlock. Doing this before exposure to a vacuum
instead of exhaling would actually rupture his lungs. In an interview on the 2007 DVD release
of the film, Clarke stated that had he been on the set the day they filmed this, he would have
caught this error. In the same scene, the blown pod hatch simply and inexplicably vanishes
while concealed behind a puff of smoke. I tend to think that the pod hatch would have bounced
off the airlock hatch and immediately smacked Bowman as he exited the craft, turning him into
jelly.
Finally, in an environment with a radius as small as the main quarters, the simulated
gravity would vary significantly from the center of the crew quarters to the 'floor', even varying
between feet, waist, and head. The rotation speed of the crew quarters was meant to be only
fast enough to generate an approximation of the Moon's gravity, not that of the Earth. However,
Clarke felt this was enough to prevent the physical atrophy that would result from complete
weightlessness.
Geophysicist Dr. David Stephenson, in the Canadian TV documentary 2001 and Beyond,
notes that "Every engineer that saw it [the space station] had a fit. You do not spin on a wheel
that is not fully built. You have to finish it before you spin it or else you have real problems". I
could imagine that variances in the gravity well caused by irregularities in the wheel’s surfaces
would do that.
There are other problems that might be more appropriately described as continuity errors,
such as the horizontal switching of Earth's lit side when viewed from Clavius, and the schematic
of the space station on the Pan Am spaceplane's monitors continuing to rotate after the plane
has synchronized its motion with the station. The latter is due to the position readout actually
being a projected film shown in a continuous loop, and being out of sync with other visual
elements. The direction of the rotation of the Earth's image outside the space station window is
clockwise when Floyd is greeted by a receptionist, but counterclockwise when he phones his
daughter.
Again, minor inconveniences in scientific accuracy pointed out by scientists with too much
time on their hands, quibbling over what was then totally unknown to the general theater
audience.
Imagining the future: Over 50 organizations contributed technical advice to the
production, and a number of them submitted their ideas to Kubrick of what kind of products
might be seen in the year 2001. Much was made by MGM's publicity department of the film's
realism, claiming in a 1968 brochure that "Everything in 2001: A Space Odyssey can happen
within the next three decades, and...most of the picture will happen by the beginning of the next
millennium." Although the predictions central to the plot —colonization of the Moon, manned
interplanetary travel and artificial intelligence—did not materialize by that date, some of the
film's other futuristic elements have indeed been realized.
Small, portable, flat screen devices were indeed available in the year 2001. The futuristic
device shown in the film and already under development when the film was released in 1968
was voice print identification; the first prototype was released in 1976. A credible prototype of
a chess playing computer already existed in 1968. Even though it could be defeated by experts,
computers did not defeat a champion until the late 1980s.
While 10 digit phone numbers for long distance dialing originated in 1951, longer phone
numbers for international dialing became a reality in 1970. Installation of personal inflight
entertainment displays by major airlines began in the mid 1990s, offering video games, TV
broadcasts and movies in a manner similar to those shown in the film.
The film also shows flat screen TV monitors, of which the first prototype appeared in 1972
produced by Westinghouse, but was not used for broadcast television until 1998. Plane cockpit
integrated system displays, known as "glass cockpits", were introduced in the 1970s (NASA
Langley's Boeing 737 Flying Laboratory). Today such cockpits appear not only in high tech
aircraft like the Boeing 777, but have also been employed in space shuttles, the first being
Atlantis in 1985.
Rudimentary voice controlled computing began in the early 1980s with the SoftVoice
Computer System; and exists in more sophisticated form in the early 2000s, although it is still
not as sophisticated as depicted in the film.
The first picture phone was demonstrated at the 1964 New York World's Fair. However,
due to the bandwidth limitations of telephone lines, personal video communication did not
succeed commercially and has only been practical over broadband internet connections.
Personal wireless telephones were ubiquitous in 2001, and yet no one in the movie had a
small personal communication device. Perhaps this was still in development and the laboratory
did not want to give away its secrets too soon.
Some technologies portrayed as common in the film which have not materialized in the
21st century include commonplace civilian space travel, space stations with hotels, colonies on
the Moon, suspended animation of humans, and a strong artificial intelligence of the kind
displayed by HAL. I prefer to think that these things will come along later in the 22 nd century,
when we have solved all our social problems and turned to a rational approach to our
advancement.
Viewers of the film today—especially those old enough to have seen it upon its first
release—will notice corporate logos in the film representing companies that either no longer
exist or were broken up by anti-trust lawsuits. Still others changed their business model or
represent countries that no longer exist. The vagaries of technology and also the economic
structures of international companies being what they are, no one could have predicted their
rise or demise.
Many reviewers thought the Russian scientists met by Dr. Floyd in the space station were
affiliated with the Soviet Union, which finally dissolved into a loosely woven democracy in
1991. Aeroflot, then the Soviet state airline, is now a privately owned carrier but still considered
the de facto national airline of the Russian Federation; much as Air Canada is considered the de
facto national airline of Canada, even though it has been privately owned since 1988.
Set design and furnishings: Stanley Kubrick involved himself in every aspect of
production, even choosing the fabric for his actors' costumes and selecting notable pieces of
contemporary furniture for use in the film. When Dr. Floyd exits the Space Station V elevator,
he is greeted by an attendant seated behind a slightly modified George Nelson Action Office
desk from Herman Miller's 1964 "Action Office" series. First introduced in 1968, the Action
Office style "cubicle" would eventually occupy 70 percent of office space by the end of 1999.
Noted Danish designer Arne Jacobsen designed the cutlery used by the Discovery astronauts in
the film.
Detailed instructions in relatively small print for various technological devices appear at
several points in the film, the most notable of which is the lengthy instructions for the zero
gravity toilet on the Aries Moon shuttle. Similar detailed instructions for replacing the explosive
bolts also appear on the hatches of the EVA pods, most visibly in closeup just before Bowman's
pod leaves the ship to rescue Frank Poole.
Sequels and adaptations: Kubrick did not want a sequel to 2001. Fearing the later
exploitation and recycling of his material in other productions as was done with the props from
MGM's Forbidden Planet, he ordered all sets, props, miniatures, production blueprints, and
prints of unused scenes to be destroyed. Most of these materials were lost, with some
exceptions: a 2001 spacesuit backpack appeared in the "Close Up" episode of the Gerry
Anderson series UFO, and one of HAL's eyepieces is in the possession of the author of Hal's
Legacy, David G. Stork.
In 2012 Lockheed engineer Adam Johnson, working with Frederick I. Ordway III, science
adviser to Stanley Kubrick, wrote the book 2001: The Lost Science, which for the first time
featured many of the blueprints of the spacecraft and movie sets that had previously been
thought destroyed. Naturally the designers sought to preserve as much as they could against
the desires of a driven director who did not want his legacy destroyed.
Arthur C. Clarke went on to write three sequel novels: 2010: Odyssey Two (1982), 2061:
Odyssey Three (1987), and 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997). The only filmed sequel, 2010: The Year
We Make Contact, was based on Clarke's 1982 novel and was released in 1984. Kubrick was not
involved in the production of this film, which was directed by Peter Hyams in a straightforward
style with more dialogue.
Clarke saw it as a fitting adaptation of his novel, and had a brief cameo appearance in the
film. (He was the man sitting on a park bench nearby feeding pigeons.) As Kubrick had ordered
all models and blueprints from 2001 destroyed, Hyams was forced to recreate these models
from scratch for 2010. Hyams also claimed that he would not make the film had he not received
both Kubrick's and Clarke's blessings: “I had a long conversation with Stanley and told him what
was going on. If it met with his approval, I would do the film; and if it didn't, I wouldn't. I certainly
would not have thought of doing the film if I had not gotten the blessing of Kubrick. He's one of my idols;
simply one of the greatest talents that's ever walked the Earth. He more or less said, ‘Sure. Go do it. I
don't care’." And another time he said, "’Don't be afraid. Just go do your own movie’."
The other two novels have not been adapted for the screen, although actor Tom Hanks has
expressed interest in possible adaptations of 2061 and 3001. In 2012, two screenplay adaptations
of both 2061 and 3001 were both posted on the 2001: Exhibit website, in the hopes of generating
interest in both MGM and WB to adapt the last two novels into films. (Unfortunately, I found
2061 to be somewhat pedestrian. In less technical terms it was a doorstop.)
Beginning in 1976, Marvel Comics published both a comic adaptation of the film written
and drawn by Jack Kirby, and a Kirby-created 10-issue monthly series expanding on the ideas
of the film and novel.
2001 has also been the frequent subject of both parody and homage, sometimes extensively
and other times briefly, employing both its distinctive music and iconic imagery. Thought to be
the first time Kubrick gave permission for his work to be reused, Apple Inc.'s 1999 website
advertisement "It was a bug, Dave" was made using footage from the film. Launched during the
era of concerns over Y2K software bugs, the ad implied that HAL's weird behavior was caused
by a Y2K bug, before driving home the point that "only Macintosh was designed to function
perfectly". (Really? Then why is it patently incompatible with everything else?)
Woody Allen cast actor Douglas Rain (HAL in Kubrick's film) in an uncredited part as the
voice of the controlling computer in the closing sequences of his science fiction comedy Sleeper.
Kubrick was both a great fan of The Simpsons and in friendly contact with the show's
producers, according to his stepdaughter Katharina. Analysts of the show argue that The
Simpsons contains more references to many films of Stanley Kubrick than any other pop culture
phenomenon. Gary Westfahl has noted that while references to "fantastic fiction" in The
Simpsons are copious: "There are two masters of the genre whose impact on The Simpsons
supersedes that of all others: Stanley Kubrick and Edgar Allan Poe." John Alberti has referred
to "the show's almost obsessive references to the films of Stanley Kubrick." The Simpsons creator
Matt Groening is also the creator of Futurama, which also has copious references to various
Kubrick films.
Of the many references to Kubrick in Groening's work, perhaps the most notable Space
Odyssey reference in The Simpsons is in the episode "Deep Space Homer" in which Bart throws a
felt-tip marker into the air; in slow motion it rotates, before a match cut replaces it with a
cylindrical satellite. In 2004 Empire magazine listed this as the third best film parody of the entire
run of the show. In the Futurama episode "Love and Rocket" a sentient spaceship revolts in a
manner similar to HAL. Total Film listed this as number 17 in its list of 20 Funniest Futurama
parodies, while noting that Futurama has referenced Space Odyssey on several other occasions.
Peter Sellers starred in Hal Ashby's comedy-drama Being There about a simple-minded
middle-aged gardener who has lived his entire life in the townhouse of his wealthy employer.
In the scene where he first leaves the house and ventures into the wide world for the first time,
the soundtrack plays a jazzy version of Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra arranged by Eumir
Deodato. Film critic James A. Davidson writing for the film journal Images suggests "When
Chance emerges from his home into the world, Ashby suggests his childlike nature by using
Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra as ironic background music, linking his hero with
Kubrick's star baby in his masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has a scene using actual footage from A Space
Odyssey in which the monolith morphs into a chocolate bar. Catholic News noted that the film
"had subtle and obvious riffs on everything from the saccharine Disney ‘Small World’ exhibit
to Munchkinland to, most brilliantly, a hilarious takeoff on Kubrick's ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’."
Andrew Stanton, the director of WALL-E, revealed in an interview with WIRED magazine
that his film was in many ways an homage to Space Odyssey, Alien, Blade Runner, Close Encounters
of The Third Kind, and several other science-fiction films. The reviewer for USA Today noted the
resemblance of the spaceship's computer, Auto, to HAL.
The same year saw the release of the much less successful film Eagle Eye, about which The
Charlotte Observer noted that, like 2001, it featured a "red-eyed, calm-voiced supercomputer that
took human life to protect what it felt were higher objectives." In fact, the conflict between the
pilot of the starliner, called “Dave”, has an epiphany that the pilot computer is up to no good
to the strains of “Also Sprach Zarathustra” and defeats it in hand to hand combat.
The poorly reviewed Canadian spoof 2001: A Space Travesty has been occasionally alluded
to as a full parody of Kubrick's film, both because of its title and star Leslie Nielsen's many
previous films which were full parodies of still other films. However, Space Travesty only makes
occasional references to Kubrick's material, its "celebrities are really aliens" jokes resembling
those in Men in Black. Canadian reviewer Jim Slotek noted "It's not really a spoof of 2001, or
anything in particular. There's a brief homage at the start, and one scene in a shuttle en route to the
Moon that uses The Blue Danube...The rest is a patched together plot." Among many complaints about
the film, reviewer Berge Garabedian derided the lack of much substantive connection to the
Kubrick film (the latter of which he said was "funnier").
2001: A Space Odyssey has also been referenced in multiple video games, usually either with
reference to either the monolith or HAL. In SimEarth and Spore, monoliths are used to encourage
the evolution of species. In Metal Gear Solid the human character of Hal Emmerich was named
inworld by his father for the computer HAL. In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the movie is
metioned by a character named after Kubrick's 1964 black comedy film Dr. Strangelove.
And so it goes. I have no doubt that there will be still more adaptations, references and
spinoff films made in the future. I have just given you a taste of what went before.

Here the first volume ends. The second volume takes up the list from 1970 to 1999.
I hope you have found this book both educational and entertaining, and also a useful reference
when settling an argument over details. Thanks very much for reading. ♦