Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted November 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 6, 2011 We talk about films a lot on here but not nearly enough about old films. So what I'm doing with this is picking a subject, year, director, star or something else from between the late silent era and 1970 every week and doing 10 films I like from that topic (in no particular order aside from my star choice), hopefully encouraging some classic film discussion, insults about my choices and further insults about ones that I forgot, rather than the stony silence that I am expecting. Â This week - 1950s science fiction. Mostly a decade remembered for its anti-Communist monster B-movies and while there was definitely a lot of that going on in them, it didn't stop a lot of them from being truly great:- Â * The Thing From Another World (1951) - Over 30 years before John Carpenter reworked it into a classic sci-fi horror in its own right, The Thing From Another World was a groundbreaking science fiction film that still stands up to this day. Impressive special effects and one amazing piece of stuntwork are memorable in themselves, but a great finale and a tremendous build-up paper over the blatantly anti-Communist agenda here. It was also notable at its time for having characters talking over one another - almost unheard of at the time and now taken for granted these days. Â * Invaders From Mars (1953) - One of the most terrifying memories of my childhood was staying up late on the recommendation of my uncle Graham and watching Martians take over the minds of people while no-one will believe the little boy trying to warn them. Massively influential in the 'no-one believes the kid' list of films, but a lot more than that when you dig deeper. David MacLean as the little boy was a terrific and prolific child actor whose career strangely fell away after this - but he popped up in the cacky 1986 remake as a doubtful police chief. Â * GLADSTONE'S CHOICE - Them! (1954) - Classic 1950s plot fare as giant ants terrorise New Mexico (and eventually beyond) after they are mutated by atomic weapon testing. Like many of these films, the plot is so silly to read yet the actual film is far better. For their time, the giant ant special effects are pretty amazing whilst there is more flamethrower usage than I can remember in any film before the 1980s. It really is outstanding fun from start to finish, and you never quite forget the ant noises once you have seen it. I'm surprised it hasn't been badly remade by someone to date, but you can attribute almost all the 'things get made giant by atomic weapons' films to this. Â * 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954) - This big budget (at the time) Jules Verne adaptation (one of two in this list) is different from many or most sci-fi films of the decade but no less fun. Seeing James Mason and Kirk Douglas in a sci-fi film still seems strange to this day, plus it has Peter Lorre in one of his few high quality roles for the latter end of his career. Massively influential on steampunk, and it used to be a staple of bank holiday Monday morning television before they settled on shitty Shrek instead. Â * The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) - Also one of two in this list in terms of both Quatermass films and British films. I think it's forgotten that this and Quatermass 2 were Hammer productions, mainly because they weren't Dracula or Frankenstein films, but they were very much a staple of the Hammer back catalogue. This one features an astronaut who returns from a maiden space voyage not quite as he seems. The idea was nicked wholesale for the dreadful The Astronaut's Wife 40-odd years later, and while this isn't as good as the source BBC serial, it's still one of the greatest British films of what was a great decade for British cinema. Â * Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956) - There have been three notable versions of the Body Snatchers plotline, all of them in their own way really good. While I prefer the 1978 Donald Sutherland / Leonard Nimoy version, the original is truly outstanding. It was also Don Siegel's (of Dirty Harry and Coogan's Bluff fame amongst others) only foray into science fiction. Quite why he never made another is open to debate but he left quite an impression with this. You are also left wondering why Kevin McCarthy never had quite the career he should have - he is exceptional here. Â * The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) - Some poor sod gets shrunken to a pint-sized version of himself when his boat runs through a mysterious toxic cloud and then faces a battle with terrors that are rather closer to home than you get in most sci-fi monster movies. It's one of those films that everyone has heard of (thanks to its memorable title) but not nearly as many have seen. It's a really simple premise that manages to summon up far more tension out of 'giant' household creepy-crawlies than it really has any right to. Â * Quatermass 2 (1957) - The sequel outdoes the original in several ways. If Chris Carter hadn't seen this about a dozen times before creating The X Files, I'll be amazed as it deals with alien infiltration and conspiracy years and years before such storylines were in vogue. The casting features Sid James in a rare serious role (and showing he could pull it off with little or no problem) and Brian Donlevy as Quatermass manages to turn in a great lead performance despite apparently being drunk for almost the entire shoot. Â * The Fly (1958) - Not the only film on this list to be tremendously reworked 20 to 30 years later, but it deserves to be remembered as more than the film that inspired Jeff Goldblum storing his cock in a jar. It has dated perhaps more than any other film on the list, and Vincent Price wildly outshines David Hedison in the lead role, but it still has some genuine creepy moments and it's great to see how different it is from the David Cronenberg interpretation. HELP MEEEEEEE.... Â * Journey To The Centre Of The Earth (1959) - The second Jules Verne adaptation on the list and the second James Mason appearance in one as a scientist encounters all kinds of nastiness as he heads for the Earth's core. To be honest, Pat Boone is awful in the lead role but is saved by Mason's quality and the various monsters you get along the way. By this time, science fiction was heading for something of a Hollywood lull with cheapo B-movies trotted out left, right and centre for the drive-in market, but Verne would be revisited several more times after this for film adaptations - but not quite as well. Â BUBBLING UNDER (Ones I haven't seen or didn't really rate):- Â The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) sits in my collection unwatched and I have seen enough of the remake to suggest that I am wise not to have watched the Keanu Reeves version all the way through. Red Planet Mars (1952) deserves a mention for being the most shamefully propagandistic film of the decade - Americans are God's people and the evil Russkies are the devil. Not exactly subtle but great fun. It Came From Outer Space (1953) also remains unwatched, but Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) does not and was a huge disappointment to me when I first saw it. The creature itself was about as frightening as a scatter cushion, I think that was the main problem for me. Add This Island Earth (1955) to my unwatched list, but by now almost everyone will have seen Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959). I have seen many films that I would describe as so bad they're good - this isn't one of them. I just thought it was really dull, but without it we would never have got the film Ed Wood. That would have saddened me greatly. Â Next week - James Stewart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted November 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 6, 2011 I've not seen a single film on that list, as I've never really had any inclination to do so- Sci-Fi has never been my scene, aside from the major Hollywood blockbuster stuff. However, in September I visited a fantastic exhibition at the British Library in London called Out Of This World: Science Fiction, But Not As You Know It, which chronicled the history of Sci-Fi and really piqued my interest in the genre, especially the older stuff. Consequently, I'm currently reading Jules Verne's Journey To The Centre Of The Earth and I'd happily watch any of those films now. I'll keep my eye out for them on TCM (unless anyone can recommend any other channels that are known to show these kind of films?). Â The exhibition finished in late September, otherwise I'd have highly recommended it to everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted November 6, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 6, 2011 That's the thing - most film channels are shit nowadays. Sky Classics is only really showing 'modern' classics and it's a shite state of affairs, really, if you want to see this kind of stuff.  It's always worth checking YouTube, though.  Here's The Incredible Shrinking Man, complete:-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebgp12xmgaU...606B340306A8859  Invaders From Mars:-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dvaKoxiiTE  In fact, this guy has got a whole load of amazing old films on his playlist:-  http://www.youtube.com/user/lakerfan867  The Thing From Another World:-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRWxJCwS4_g  YouTube is now getting great for this kind of thing, always search there first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted November 6, 2011 Awards Moderator Share Posted November 6, 2011 * 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954) - This big budget (at the time) Jules Verne adaptation (one of two in this list) is different from many or most sci-fi films of the decade but no less fun. Seeing James Mason and Kirk Douglas in a sci-fi film still seems strange to this day, plus it has Peter Lorre in one of his few high quality roles for the latter end of his career. Massively influential on steampunk, and it used to be a staple of bank holiday Monday morning television before they settled on shitty Shrek instead. Â I've wanted to see this since visiting the replica Nautilus they've got outside Space Mountain at Disneyland, but have never seem to have caught it in full when it's been on TV... one day! Â * The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) - Some poor sod gets shrunken to a pint-sized version of himself when his boat runs through a mysterious toxic cloud and then faces a battle with terrors that are rather closer to home than you get in most sci-fi monster movies. It's one of those films that everyone has heard of (thanks to its memorable title) but not nearly as many have seen. It's a really simple premise that manages to summon up far more tension out of 'giant' household creepy-crawlies than it really has any right to. Â Read and enjoyed the book this was based on - assuming it's an adap of Richard Matheson's 'The Shrinking Man'? - so I'd love to see this. Will be watching out for it like a tiny man watches out for AN EVIL FUCKING GIANT SPIDER... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clumsy Dad Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 * Quatermass 2 (1957) Â I caught that on BBC2 a few weeks back. It was a little ropey in places, but great fun. It was strange seeing Sid James in a totally different role; the only other stuff I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgarTheSlouch Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 * The Thing From Another World (1951) - Over 30 years before John Carpenter reworked it into a classic sci-fi horror in its own right, The Thing From Another World was a groundbreaking science fiction film that still stands up to this day. Impressive special effects and one amazing piece of stuntwork are memorable in themselves, but a great finale and a tremendous build-up paper over the blatantly anti-Communist agenda here. It was also notable at its time for having characters talking over one another - almost unheard of at the time and now taken for granted these days. *  I remember watching this on the big screen when I was at Uni. It is a slow starter but does have a certain finessese that the Carpenter version doesnt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Galt Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 I really enjoy the original The Day The Earth Stood Still, though at this point in time, it's best viewed as a cultural time capsule. Aside from Bernard Herrmann's score which is timeless, everything else is just so 1950s America; the set design and characterisation is so white picket fences and gee whizz that it's amazing to think it isn't a parody. The best and most telling stuff though comes at the end where Klaatu lays down the same kind of hypocritical foreign policy that America loves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted November 6, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 6, 2011 * 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954) - This big budget (at the time) Jules Verne adaptation (one of two in this list) is different from many or most sci-fi films of the decade but no less fun. Seeing James Mason and Kirk Douglas in a sci-fi film still seems strange to this day, plus it has Peter Lorre in one of his few high quality roles for the latter end of his career. Massively influential on steampunk, and it used to be a staple of bank holiday Monday morning television before they settled on shitty Shrek instead. Â I've wanted to see this since visiting the replica Nautilus they've got outside Space Mountain at Disneyland, but have never seem to have caught it in full when it's been on TV... one day! Â Can't find that version on YouTube, but look at this:- Â http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qetwzFJ64yE...tton&wide=1 Â The 1916 version! Fucking amazing. Â In fact, the whole channel is full of vintage rarities for anyone interested:- Â http://www.youtube.com/user/VISOCinema Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Thunderplex Posted November 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 6, 2011 I can happily say that I have seen every filme on Gladstones list, apart from Red Planet Mars. Â Most were watched when I was in my early teens, when BBC2 used to so a horror/sci-fi double bill on a Saturday night. Â Bodysnatchers still stands up to it's remakes to this day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WWFChilli Posted November 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 6, 2011 Happy I have seen most of those on Gladders list. Need to get a hold of Quartermass 2 though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted November 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 6, 2011 One that just misses out, time-wise, as it's 1961, is the brilliant The Day The Earth Caught Fire. British movie, brilliantly acted, decent special effects and a great, slow-burn (ho-ho) story. It's got a real 50s feel, and it's got lots of fast dialogue set in a British newspaper office, as the earth starts spiralling towards the sun. It's kind of 'The West Wing' meets the apocalypse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIDDUM_N_STYLE Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 am i right in thinking that the thing from another world is the one where they try and stop the monster by setting it on fire, or is that some other film? remember seeing the scene i described on the 100 scariest moments countdown on 4 years ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members chokeout Posted November 6, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 6, 2011 Cracking list would have also added the original War of The Worlds, Forbidden Planet (which to be fair is probably left off because its one of the most talked about film of its type) The most blatent Anti-Communism film ever 'The Blob' and the rise of one of my heros, Ray Harryhaussen with films like It came from Beneath The Sea, 20 Million miles To Earth and although not Sci-Fi Im throwing it in cause it might be a while before I get to pimp it again, The 7th voyage Of Sinbad Invaders from Mars used to be shown in the 6 o'clock slot on BBC2 a lot. The image of the light coming from behind the hill was an image that stuck with me for years. It was one of those scenes you remember even when you forget the film Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted November 7, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted November 7, 2011 ^ Shit, of course, War Of The Worlds. I didn't like the original The Blob at all, but I think the remake was great!  am i right in thinking that the thing from another world is the one where they try and stop the monster by setting it on fire, or is that some other film? remember seeing the scene i described on the 100 scariest moments countdown on 4 years ago  That's the one. Amazing scene for its time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patiirc Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 One that just misses out, time-wise, as it's 1961, is the brilliant The Day The Earth Caught Fire. British movie, brilliantly acted, decent special effects and a great, slow-burn (ho-ho) story. It's got a real 50s feel, and it's got lots of fast dialogue set in a British newspaper office, as the earth starts spiralling towards the sun. It's kind of 'The West Wing' meets the apocalypse. Â Ive not see that for years, top film. iirc has something to do with Nuclear bombs causing Earth's orbit to change so it gets closer to the Sun. Also has Rumpole of the Bailey in it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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