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| Attack of the Crab Monsters / Not of This Earth; February, 1957 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 11 2016, 05:22 PM (351 Views) | |
| Laughing Gravy | Jun 11 2016, 05:22 PM Post #1 |
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![]() ![]() Attack of the Crab Monsters and Not of This Earth (1957) Prod. and Dir. by Roger Corman Strange Science Cinema #074-075 A big, big treat this week as we took the fabled In The Balcony Wayback machine to early 1957 for one of the quintessential science-fiction double features of the '50s. Noting the success of cheap B&W monster movies over at American-International, Allied Artists hired Corman and told him to work his magic for them; he tapped his favorite scribe, Charles B. Griffith, to pen both of 'em and the result is a pair of classics that work well together. First up, a large crew of scientists (that almost instantly is reduced to a very small crew) visits a remote, small Pacific island to look for the previous scientists, who disappeared, and find a crab the size of a Sherman tank lurking about. Ah, but not just ANY tank-sized crab, no sir (or ma'am): this one (get this!) slices off your head with its massive claw, eats your brains, and then absorbs your thoughts and talks in your voice to lure your buddies to their doom in its crab cave. No, no, really, he does. I'm tellin' ya, Mr. Corman knew how to deliver the goods. Richard Garland (Mr. Beverly), Russell Johnson, Mel Welles (dressed in a ridiculous French accent), and Pamela "The Undead" Duncan, she of the great enormous hooters, are our stars. Million-dollar Scientific-Type Dialog: "The molecular structure of this crab is entirely disrupted! There's no cohesion between the atoms!" The whole island eventually sinks into the sea, which we know because we see ancient stock footage of lightning followed by characters standing on a tiny plot of land discussing how the entire island has sunk into the sea. Hey, we're on a BUDGET here, people!!! As good as movies get, in a way. We took advantage of the intermission to get some snacks from the snack bar, returning to our seats to find Popeye trying to get ready for his wedding to Olive Oyl but being constantly stymied by Bluto in Nearlyweds (1956), which was terrible. Then we saw the trailer for NEXT week's big show, The Incredible Shrinking Man! WOW! On to our next classic, as Paul Birch is a businessman from outer space; nuclear war on his planet has apparently dried out the survivors' blood, and he's here to see if ours'll do in a pinch. He hires lackey Jonathan Haze and nurse Beverly Garland, both of whom snoop around to try and found out why he invites homeless tramps to dinner but they never leave. Mr. Birch wears wraparound sunglasses (Corman must've liked the darn things, he'd use them again in his films) and when he takes 'em off, he has eggwhites in his eyes and can force people to do his evil bidding! Miss Garland has never looked more beautiful or sexier, particularly when she takes off that cute li'l nurse outfit and hangs out in her slip and stockings. Hey, I'm a man, I'll admit a fondness for that sort of thing. Million-dollar Dialog: Birch's description of Earth Folks: "They're second stage sub-humans, weak and full of fright." Well, EXCUUUUUUSE me. That Guy Dick Miller has an impressive, funny sequence as a door-to-door vacuum sweeper salesman who convinces the space vampire to let him into the house; Corman said audiences loved the scene and it inspired him to include more humor in his pictures. Birch is rather stiff and monotonous but he's supposed to be ("Do not run from me, Nadine. I'm going to dispatch you.") and Haze is a favorite of ours, always fun to see him in a Corman picture (he's in all of 'em, right?). Shout! Factory released both of these films (and War of the Satellites) as a DVD set that includes over an hour of Corman trailers. A must-buy. |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| Laughing Gravy | Jun 12 2016, 09:25 AM Post #2 |
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And YEAH, I have a complete set of lobby cards for Crab Monsters, what of it?!?!?![]() While I have your attention, this week's antique faire her in town (second Sunday of each month) garnered me the following for my collection: An original poster for MANFISH (1956) starring Lon Chaney, Jr.; an original color still for BELLS ARE RINGING (1960) with Dean Martin and Judy Holliday; a 1970s-era Marx Brothers poster; and a 1981 Roger Corman Halloween tribute poster! |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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6:32 AM Jul 11