Gamera the Invincible/Daikaijû Gamera/Gamera, the Giant Monster (1965) - The birth of the child-friendly turtle kaiju

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A sensationalistic, nothing short of fabulous poster for Sandy Howard and Noriaki Yuasa's Gamera, the Giant Monster

Before the film's title sequence a Russian jet plane gets shot down and explodes in Alaska with an atomic bomb, which goes off, and an enormous fire-spouting turtle, who can fly like a UFO, gets created.

Gamera, the Giant Monster is written by Richard Kraft (American scenes) and Niisan Takahashi (Kemeko no uta (1968)) and directed by Sandy Howard (Diary of a Bachelor (1964)) (American scenes) and Noriaki Yuasa (Shiawasa nara te o tatake (1964)).
What follows after the events detailed above is what feels like quite a long movie, though the film is shorter than 90 minutes. The effects impress, as when Gamera the flying turtle knocks over nuclear reactors. But there is also a ridiculous sub-plot about a boy, who really cares for the giant monster.
SPOILER In the end Gamera gets locked inside a giant capsule and sent to Mars, meanwhile the Gamera song, (it's pretty bad yeah), gets played again, and the screen excitedly proclaims as from the mouths of its expectedly enthused audiences; Sayonara Gamera!

Related post:

Gamera franchise: Destroy All Planets/Gamera vs. Viras/Gamera Vs. Space Monster Viras/ガメラ対宇宙怪獣バイラス (Gamera tai uchū Kaijū Bairasu) (1968) - Unmitigated kaiju trash

Watch a great chronological collection of Gamera trailers that runs 20 minutes here

Cost: 40 mil. ¥
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain - but reportedly a big hit in Japan
[Gamera, the Giant Monster was released 27 November (Japan) and runs around 78-86 minutes (different versions). Made as a more child-friendly rival to Toho's popular Godzilla (1954), the film was first intended to feature live rats attacking a miniature city. But the rats gotten for the film turned out to have fleas and were removed, the story was rewritten and resultingly the Gamera monster was created. The cost is under half of the one for Godzilla (100 mil. ¥). The film was reportedly a big hit in Japan, where production of a sequel was instantly begun with an elevated budget on par with Godzilla's. An Americanized version with some new scenes, dubbed dialog and a new theme song was created and released in December 1966. It is the only Gamera film to get a North-American release, and its gross numbers are regrettably unknown. Gamera returned in Gamera vs. Barugon (1966) and 10 later sequels. Howard returned with King of Africa/Caccia ai Violenti (1968); Yuasa with Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967). 2,533 IMDb users have given Gamera: The Giant Monster (the Japanese version of the film) an average 5.0/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Gamera the Invincible?

Cloak and Dagger (1946) - Lang's spy adventure romance action thriller buoys

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Beautiful old poster for Fritz Lang's Cloak and Dagger

QUICK REVIEW:

We are at the end of WWII, and Gary Cooper (High Noon (1952)) is an atomic physicist who becomes an agent for the United States to spoil the Germans' atomic research.
Between beautiful ladies, fist fights, shoot-outs and exclusive parties this entertaining and impressively filmed (by Sol Polito (The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)) genre mixer plays out pretty well. An adventure/romance/spy/thriller/action/war-movie all in one.
Roughly around its middle, Cloak and Dagger loses some terrain with a watery love story.
The ending has strong traces of Casablanca (1942); here also SPOILER love will have to wait, until the war has passed. Great German director Fritz Lang (Metropolis (1927)) wanted a different ending, which he also shot, but he didn't have final say, and the reel has since been lost.
Cloak and Dagger is scripted by Albert Maltz (Broken Arrow (1950)) and Ring Lardner Jr. (MASH (1970)), who would both later be members of the Hollywood Ten (meaning that they were blacklisted from working as screenwriters) during McCarthy's communist witch-hunt.

In lieu of a trailer, here's a short scene from Cloak and Dagger

Costt: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown

What do you think of Cloak and Dagger?
What was Fritz Lang's best American movie?

Hell and High Water (1954) - Submarine action adventure with laudable mission: Prevent Cold War from going nuclear

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Several posters for Samuel Fuller's Hell and High Water remark that 'You see it without glasses in CinemaScope', - undoubtedly hinting at the time's short wave of 3D-film, - the first 3D-wave, - which, just as now, required that the audiences wore silly glasses

Hell and High Water is an atomic scare action adventure sub-marine thriller about a private humanistic-scientific submarine expedition to the Pacific to check out and possibly defuse a secret, Communist nuclear weapons base on an island in the neutral zone.
The film has an exciting premise and a good set-up. It starts with footage from a real nuke going off, provided by the U.S. Government, who insisted that certain colors be altered in case they would "reveal nuclear secrets."
The plot gets constructed around the reluctant, skeptical, realist captain, played without sentimentality by Richard Widmark (Judgement at Nuremberg (1961)) and the idealistic, pacifist professor Montel, played with serenity by Victor Francen (The Big Scare (1964)). As Montel brings his co-scientist professor on-board, he reveals to the stunned submariners that the professor is a fascinating, wildly attractive woman, played by Bella Darvi (Good Little Girls (1971) in her screen debut. She is multi-lingual and never aloof and quickly becomes an object of attraction, but only as almost certain death are over them does the strong, desired captain SPOILER kiss her under the red lights.
The film has good sets and action and was Oscar-nominated for its special effects. It also has a lovely sense of what one Internet commentator calls 'moral certainty', meaning that there's no doubt the Soviets are the enemy, and that our guys are the good ones, (but also that nuclear war should be prevented).
The big challenge for director Samuel Fuller and DP Joseph MacDonald (S.O.S. Ashiya (1964)) with Hell and High Water was to show that the wide, slim CinemaScope-format could also be used to good effect in something as seemingly ill fit for it as a claustrophobic submarine plot. They do that, quite impressively, and thus proved to producer Darryl F. Zanuck that CinemaScope "could be used for anything!"
Hell and High Water is ideal as an afternoon watch, especially for fans of war movies, submarines and/or westerns.

The details:

The reasons that the film never becomes greater than it does, are that it gets long somewhere towards the end of the voyage to the island and on the island itself, and that there are some inconsistencies in the script, which also asks us to take some leaps of faith with it a few times, where I think it comes out a bit weak instead.
The ending is one such, somewhat thick and unbelievable moment, as the enemy nuclear bomber is shot down and crashes on the next island, and its bomb goes off, (why we don't know), and the captain immediately tells his favorite woman professor that her SPOILER father, professor Montel, must have died there. It seems a hurried conclusion, considering the relatively small explosion in sight, until the Government footage is then inserted again.
The film is directed by Samuel Fuller (Underworld U.S.A. (1961)), who reportedly didn't like it and only did it as a favor to Zanuck for standing up for him, when his last film Pickup on South Street (1953) was attacked by J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI. Still, the film isn't at all bad work by Fuller, who added some of the film's best scenes.
Darvi was an interesting, tragic person; a miraculous WWII concentration camp survivor, who had since the war become a drunken gambler in Monaco, where she was found by Darryl F. Zanuck and his wife Virginia, who saw greatness in her and took her to Hollywood and even devised her last name Darvi from their own first names. But Darvi's acting capabilities were limited, and she had a lisp that also sometimes makes her speech hard to understand in Hell and High Water. The finality of her Hollywood career was secured with a sex scandal involving her and Darryl F. Zanuck. Mrs. Zanuck, who had treated Darvi as a kind of favorite niece, packed her bags and shipped her back to Europe. Here she made some ineffectual movie-roles and relapsed to drinking and gambling and eventually killed herself by gas in her Monaco apartment, and was only found after having been dead for ten days in 1971, 42 years old.

Watch the original, CinemaScope-pounding trailer here

Cost: 1.8 mil. $
Box office: 2.7 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertainty

What do you think of Hell and High Water and Samuel Fuller's movies?
Other Bela Darvi particulars are welcomed

First Spaceship on Venus (1960) or, East Block Gravity

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A poster for Kurt Maetzig's First Spaceship on Venus

Today's review is of a rather obscure movie, the East-German/Polish First Spaceship on Venus, an adaptation of a Stanislaw Lem novel called The Astronauts. Pole Lem also wrote the novel basis for Solaris (1972 and 2002) and many other adaptations, but Venus was the first film based on his writings.
Venus takes place in the then sfuture of 1985, in which a spool from another planet is found at a spaceship crash site in the Siberian dessert. An international mission is assembled to journey to Venus to learn more about this civilization. But what they find is disheartening yet eye-opening.
Venus is a curious film, told in bountiful narration, and - on Earth - by a blond reporter. The small crew of the space mission includes an African, two apparently Japanese, some Caucasians and what appears an Indian, the highest standing professor of them all, who works tirelessly to figure out the message on the spool. A natural center for the men on-board is the female voyager Dr. Ogimura (Yoko Tani (The Savage Innocents (1960)), who is described as a "good woman". But - save for a brief indication of nakedness in the beginning, (to get into the spacesuit), Venus doesn't hold any hanky-panky or jokes of any kind. The very scientific team are strictly interested in facts and a sober examination of them, - making them a bit dull as characters.
But then Venus is, first and last, science fiction, and actually pretty good sci-fi: The science talk is mostly convincing, and the suits and sets are well-made. The effects include; zero gravity moving around and laughing, a robot brought along to make initial tests on Venus, the strange landscape of Venus and a kind of black, dangerous porridge that follows them there, as they escape. Several crew members die in the dramatic mission, including the sympathetic and courageous African, who is simply left on Venus.
Venus is an enjoyable science fiction curiosity, sometimes involuntarily comic, as when SPOILER one male crew member dies because the robot drives into his stomach.

Hardly 'Mankind's Most Incredible Journey!' - but Kurt Maetzig's First Spaceship on Venus is worth watching

The details:

German director of Venus Kurt Maetzig had previously done communistic propaganda for the USSR, the so-called 'socialist realism'. Instances of Soviet propaganda is said to flourish some in the long version of Venus, which runs 93 minutes. Unfortunately, I was only able to see the shortened US version of 78 minutes.
The technique of Venus is pretty rough; it continuously uses jump cuts; perhaps due to time restraints, or clearly defined, alternative theory, opposition to Hollywood-film-making or just plain incompetence.
Still, the film is very interesting from a historical standpoint, although many questions about it cannot be answered now, like the one above. Another question would be about the internationality of the crew and particularly the inclusion of the almost pitch black African as a total equal on the mission; was this done as a provocation to the still blatantly racist US, as idealism on the film-maker's part, or is it taken from Lem's novel?
The film shows SPOILER a scary example of the effects of atomic explosions, as the inhabitants of Venus have annihilated themselves, only leaving, literally, their shadows. In this way, Venus seems to carry an anti-A-bomb-message. - Something that was also heavily prevalent in the American 'atomic-scare'-sci-fi-movies of the 50sand 60s. 
Mostly the film seems deeply humanistic in its viewpoint, but then again, perhaps the original version is different. So many questions.
In any case, this Forbidden Planet (1956)-reminiscent, minor science fiction gem is worth searching out for anyone interested in SF, history and 60s space exploration.

Related review:

Stanislaw Lem: Solaris (2002) - A suffering space question mark

Watch a short trailer for the film here

Budget: Unknown
Box office: Unknown - but it apparently sold more than 4 mil. tickets in East Germany, so there's a good chance it was a hit
= Unknown

What do you think of First Spaceship on Venus?
Can you answer any of the many questions from my review?
Have you seen other Stanislaw Lem-adaptations and if so, how were they?

The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961) or, The Mad Doctor Javorsky!

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A long list of names are listed in the service of selling Coleman Francis' The Beast of Yucca Flats on this poster

 

Soviet scientist, Joseph Javorsky, who may be a murderer, (but probably isn't), is on the run in Yucca Flats with a briefcase of military secrets. Hunted by the KGB, he wanders into an American nuclear test site and the radiation alters him into a killing beast! He must be stopped!!!

 
The Beast of Yucca Flats is written, co-produced, directed and co-edited by debuting Coleman Francis (Red Zone Cuba (1966)). It is an extremely poorly put together nuclear scare low-budget indie. It starts with a nude murder scene that doesn't really have any relation to the rest of the film. There's not much dialogue, and what there is gets said by faces unseen, - to make the dubbing easier. Guns also fire off-screen for the same reason. People get shot and are then OK in following shots. And the main dramatic action is either laid in the hands of the exerted, foreign giant, who heaves his way around the dessert landscape, or the narrator, who informs us whenever there is a plot point in the story, and is pretty much there to mysteriously guide us through the entire movie. Another bad indication is that Francis did the narration himself.
The Beast of Yucca Flats is infamous as one of the worst films of all time, and it certainly is almost unbelievably bad.
The film stars Swedish wrestler turned strong man and then monster actor, Tor Johnson (Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)) as staggering nuclear monster Javorsky. The one heart that the film gets here is for Johnson and for the still entertaining bad movie value that the outrageous narration and lines lend to the film. Here's a rather long list of ludicrous lines from it, (but which of these could I really with any justification have left out?...)

 
Narrator: A man runs, someone shoots at him

Narrator: Flag on the moon. How did it get there?

Narrator: Boys from the city. Not yet caught by the whirlwind of Progress. Feed soda pop to the thirsty pigs.

Narrator: Touch a button. Things happen. A scientist becomes a beast.

[after one of the Beast's victims dies:]
Joe Dobson: Well, doctors can't help her. Maybe angels, but not doctors.

[last lines:]
Narrator: Joseph Javorski. Noted scientist.
 

And as for the Swedish-born beast star, here's a collection of some of the many humorous faces of our good pal Johnson:

 

 

 

 

 

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 34k $
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain

[The Beast of Yucca Flats was released 2 May (USA) and runs 54 minutes. Shooting took place in 1959 in California, including in Los Angeles. Details on the film's theatrical earnings or scope are regrettably not to be found online. Francis returned with The Skydivers (1963). Johnson returned in The Dick Powell Theatre (1961, TV-series) and theatrically in Head (1968). 12k+ IMDb users have given The Beast of Yucca Flats a 1.8/10 average rating.]

 
 
What do you think of The Beast of Yucca Flats?

Attack of the Giant Leeches/The Giant Leeches/Demons of the Swamp (1959) or, The Leech Turkey

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One of the fairly gross, sexually charged posters for Bernard L. Kowalski's Attack of the Giant Leeches

Somewhere in the Florida Everglades, a couple of giant leech monsters start attacking humans from their base in an underwater cave.

Attack of the Giant Leeches is an awful little horror flick. Not even the good-looking actors (which includes Playboy centerfold, Yvette Vickers (Hud (1963))), a Theremin-laden score or the goofy plastic monsters can salvage this fiasco. One scene where a fat storekeeper takes moral revenge over his frivolous wife and lover is kind of interesting, but otherwise there are more yawns than chills to be had with this bona fide turkey.
It is directed by Bernard L. Kowalski (Columbo (1971-76)), who worked mainly on TV, and written by Leo Gordon (Tobruk (1967)), who was mainly an actor. Attack of the Giant Leeches rests safely among other atomic scare grade-Z turkeys.

Even on this painted poster for Bernard L Kowalski's Attack of the Giant Leeches, the leech-monsters look like guys in leech-outfits...

Watch a trailer for the film here - in brain-numbing 3D!

Cost: 70k $

Box office: Unknown 

= Unknown - but likely a hit

[Attack of the Giant Leeches was released in October and runs just 62 minutes. It was shot in just 8 days in Los Angeles, California, including at the LA Arboretum and Botanic Garden, and in the Chaplin Studio, during which Kowalski was at one point hospitalized for pneumonia. The film was released by AIP on double bills with much superior films A Bucket of Blood (1959) and House of Usher (1960). Its box office performance is unknown, but it likely made money. Its copyright was not renewed, and so it is in public domain and can now be seen and downloaded free and legally right here. A same-titled remake was made in 2008, which is reportedly even worse than the original. Kowalski returned with episodes of Death Valley Days (1959, TV-series) and The Rifleman (1959, TV-series) and theatrically with Blood and Steel (1959). Vickers returned with 9 TV credits before returning to cinema as an uncredited 'Drunken Woman' in Pressure Point (1962); Ken Clark (A Man Called Sledge (1970)) in Sugarfoot (1959, TV-series), Lock Up (1959, TV-series) and theatrically as an uncredited 'Soldier Warning the Travelers' in Heller in Pink Tights (1960).  3,186 IMDb users have given Attack of the Giant Leeches a 3.5/10 average rating.] 

What do you think of Attack of the Giant Leeches?

Atom Age Vampire/Seddok, l'erede di Satana (1960) or, Spaghetti Mutant Trash

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It's pretty much guaranteed that you will not 'gasp with horror' from watching Anton Giulio Majano's Atom Age Vampire, as this poster promises, - although you may... - FALL ASLEEP!!

A stripper gets disfigured from a traffic accident, and she fears that her boyfriend will leave her as a result, so she gets a mad professor to cure her with radiation. He, of course, falls in love with her, and turns into a kind of mutant.

Recounted like this, the plot may sound pretty funny. If you have a thing for mad professors/doctors and/or strippers in movies, you may wanna check this film out, which is now in public domain and available for free, legal watch right here.
No vampire ever actually appears in the film, which must be its main defect. The sensational title promises something spectacular and a lot more thrilling than the actual movie, unfortunately.
Susanne Loret (Uncle Was a Vampire/Tempi Duri per i Vampiri (1959)) as the stripper acts horribly; the dialog is long and boring, and the American dub is scratchy.
Co-writer-director Anton Giulio Majano (The Eternal Chain/I Grandi Peccatori (L'Eterna Catena) (1952)) was a life-long director in Italian films and TV, - something that is not beneficial to Atom Age Vampire, but interesting to know. Majano wrote the script with Alberto Bevilacqua (Black Sabbath/I Tre Volti Della Paura (1963)) and Gino De Santis (Fury of Achilles/L'ira di Achille (1962)), and with Piero Monviso (Red Lips/Labbra Rosse (1960), second assistant director) contributing story elements.
What keeps Atom Age Vampire from totally failing is the dark fear of the atom age, which shines through it and remains fascinating, and also that it does have a fairly good ending, which I won't spoil here. Still, Atom Age Vampire is a terrible film.

Listen to the theme from the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 90 mil. Italian Lira (Italy only)
= Unknown
[Atom Age Vampire opened 16 August (Italy) and runs 105 minutes; there are truncated versions of the film; the release outside of Italy was 89 minutes, and there is also a 69 minute version in rotation. Majano only directed one more theatrical feature before committing himself exclusively to TV: The Corsican Brothers/I Fratelli Corsi (1961). Loret returned in The Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete/Teseo contro il Minotauro (1960), Alberto Lupo (Blood Feud/Il Sicario (1961)) in Anna Christie (1960, TV movie) and theatrically also in The Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete. 1,170 IMDb-users have given Atom Age Vampire an average rating of 3.7/10.]

What do you think of Atom Age Vampire?