Posts Tagged ‘Morris Ankrum’


The Giant Claw

June 26th, 2009 | article by | No Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Columbia Pictures / Clover Productions [1957] 75′
country: United States
director: FRED F. SEARS
cast: JEFF MORROW, MARA CORDAY,
cast: MORRIS ANKRUM, LOUIS MERRIL

“Date – the 18th of the month. Sky clear, light clouds. Visibility – unlimited. Time – 08:15 hours. A CAB plane flies to the site of the previous day’s crash involving Mitchell MacAfee. On board: Four members of the Civil Aeronautics Board investigative team and a pilot. Time – 08:16 hours. . . another significant moment in history. . .”

The uncredited narrator for this film couldn’t have known how right he was. . .

It’s almost impossible for me to accurately account for the enormous impact this film had on me as a child – but I suppose I can give it a try anyway. My mother and her three sisters grew up watching this film throughout the late sixties and early seventies, during the heyday of television matinees, and had very fond memories of it themselves – particularly vivid was their recollection of the ending shot of the film showing a monstrous claw sinking slowly beneath the waves as THE END fades in over top of it. I, myself, grew up in the time when TNT’s MONSTERVISION scifi and horror marathons were truly at the top of their game. Knowing already that I had an interest in like films, my mother spotted that THE GIANT CLAW was slated for an appearance on the aforementioned network and, even though it was playing late, insured that a tape was rolling in the VCR to capture it.

Continue Reading »


Flight to Mars

March 19th, 2009 | article by | No Comments »
Tags: , , , , ,

Monogram Pictures Corporation [1951] 72′
country: United States
director: LESLEY SELANDER
cast: MARGUERITE CHAMPAN, CAMERON MITCHELL,
cast: ARTHUR FRANZ, VIRGINIA HUSTON

In 1951, the Pentagon makes a shocking announcement – preparations have been completed on a secret military-funded project to send the first manned flight to Mars. Heading the crew are Dr. Lane, Dr. Barker [Arthur Franz], and Barker’s girl of the moment Carol [Virginia Huston as a much-maligned woman scientist never referred to with a 'Dr.' before her name] – two civilians, Professor Jackson and reporter Steve [Cameron Mitchell], are along to make observations. The rocket launches without issue and, in just 7 days [!], is within sight of Mars – it’s a good thing too, as Barker and Carol’s relationship is on the verge of an ugly meltdown and Steve is itching to make a play for the only female on board.

Suddenly, disaster strikes – the ship flies into a meteor storm and gets a pummeling. While the crew are unharmed, the storm manages to knock out the landing gear, forcing pilot Barker to attempt a crash landing. Unfortunately for those of us who are already sick of the cast, he is entirely successful. The crew steps out onto the frozen surface of Mars and are greeted by the planet’s rather human inhabitants, who waste no time in showing off their fancy underground civilization and ability to speak perfect English [that old 'we've been listening to your radio broadcasts for years' explanation is already feeling tired here, a scarce two months after Klaatu was heard using it in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL]. What’s more, they offer to help the stranded Earthlings fix their ship and send them back on their way.

Continue Reading »


Red Planet Mars

March 19th, 2009 | article by | No Comments »
Tags: , , , , ,

Melaby Pictures Corp. [1952] 87′
country: United States
directors: HARRY HORNER
cast: PETER GRAVES, ANDREA KING,
cast: HERBERT BERGHOF, WALTER SANDE

The planet Mars was no stranger to cinema screens in the beginning of the fifties. Flash Gordon had fought Ming the Merciless on the red planet as early as 1938, but it wasn’t until 1950′s DESTINATION MOON cash-inn ROCKETSHIP X-M made an unscheduled stop there en route to the moon that Mars began making appearances in the more serious science fiction efforts of the day. While the George Pal epic THE WAR OF THE WORLDS remains the most oft remembered of these, there were a host of others – one of the most obscure of these is the one covered here today, which seems to have slipped under the radar of most B-movie aficionados in spite of its being relatively available.

RED PLANET MARS begins with a startling astronomical discovery – Mars’ polar ice caps have, over the course of a week, all but disappeared, with the planet’s canals [an absurd idea popular for a brief time at the dawn of the 20th century that had been losing steam since around 1910] filling with the resulting melt water. The discovery gives much-needed inspiration to scientist Chris Cronyn [Graves], who is running the ultimate ham radio experiment – using his advanced transmitter, built from a design by genius ex-Nazi scientist Franz Calder [Berghof], to broadcast radio messages to Mars. Up until now he’s only received his own messages back in return – that all changes when Chris’ son give him the idea of sending the first few numbers of Pi without rounding the last digit. Once their original message – 3.1415 – is replied to with 3.1415926, everything changes.

Continue Reading »


Rocketship X-M

March 6th, 2009 | article by | No Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Lippert Pictures [1950] 77′
country: United States
director: KURT NEUMANN
cast: LOYD BRIDGES, OSSA MASSEN,
cast: JOHN EMERY, NOAH BEERY JR.,
cast: HUGH O’BRIAN, MORRIS ANKRUM

1950 was to be a momentous year for American science fiction cinema – the lengthy and much publicized production of DESTINATION MOON was over, and George Pal’s technical marvel was finally to be unveiled to a well-primed public. Enter Lippert Pictures and a producer who saw a quick buck to be made at the considerable expense of Pal’s production. Riding on MOON’s publicity wave, the meagerly funded ROCKETSHIP X-M entered cinemas in June of 1950, beating that film to the screen by several weeks and raking in hefty returns [and confused audiences, according to star Loyd Bridges] in the process.

X-M begins with its crew – Col. Graham [Bridges], Dr. Van Horn [Massen], Dr. Eckstrom [Emery], Maj. Corrigan [Beery], and navigator Chamberlain [O'Brian] – undergoing last-minute physicals in preparation for the launch of the RXM, the first manned space flight. A very pre-flight press conference allows for the dispensing of important exposition – the RXM, a multi-stage booster rocket powered by a mixture of oxygen, hydrogen, and the new A-12 fuel compound developed by Dr. Van Horn for the project, is to carry its five person crew to the moon. The conference finished, the crew boards the RXM and preps it for lift-off while project director Dr. Fleming [Ankrum] shows the press to an area from which they can view the launch.

Continue Reading »


Invaders From Mars

March 1st, 2009 | article by | No Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Edward L. Alperson Productions [1953] 78′
country: United States
director: WILLIAM CAMERON MENZIES
cast: JIMMY HUNT, HELENA CARTER
cast: ARTHUR FRANZ, MORRIS ANKRUM

When aspiring young astronomer David McLean [Jimmy Hunt] sees a luminous green flying saucer land in the sand pit behind his house, he’s spooked – but that’s peanuts in comparison to the change he sees in his father the next day. Having gone out to investigate David’s sighting in the night, Mr. McLean [Leif Erickson] is cold, aggressive, and not at all the man he was just hours before. What’s more, David spies a strange X-shaped incision on the back of his father’s neck, something he promptly hides once he knows it’s been spotted. Later that morning, David uses his telescope to focus in on the area where he saw the saucer land, only to see his childhood friend Kathy Wilson disappear into the sand. When Kathy’s reappearance coincides with the burning down of her own house, David puts the pieces together – whoever or whatever landed the previous night is changing the people around him, and certainly not for the better.

Continue Reading »