50's Science Fiction

[Riverwind (imported)]

I understand, I collect old movies myself, but of a little higher class. Musicals, comedy, classics.

River

[MacTheWolf (imported)]

I understand, I collect old movies myself, but of a little higher class. Musicals, comedy, classics.

River

What ! How can any theatrical entertainment be higher in quality than Science Fiction?

Science Fiction is the Holy Grail

[A-1 (imported)]

What ! How can any theatrical entertainment be higher in quality than Science Fiction?

Science Fiction is the Holy Grail

ER.... how about...

ORAL SEX and

SINUS FRICTION?

You mean ...Holy Gale, the NUN?

No, AHHH! Andrew... Don't shoot... I take it back.... I didn't mean it.... I... I...

arrgggh....

P.S. just saw a Smokey Bear commercial with a child singing "The Bear Cummed Over the Mountain..." So that's how they stay WHITE on top... child exploitation, again. Probably recruited him from The "New Neighbor Boy" series...

[MacTheWolf (imported)]

UncleFlo and I still want the details of River's date with Bambi.

[TheOtherSide (imported)]

As bad as some of these movies might be, I'd like to challenge anyone here to do better.

Using 'Robot Monster' as an example (dollar amounts adjusted for inflation):

One week to film.

$150k budget.

Filmed in 3-D. (Possibly an optional requirement, if all others are met.)

Released to theatres.

Makes $10m or more in it's initial release.

Still talked about or cult classic 50 years from today.

That's a hell of a task, quite frankly. And honestly... if I had the cash, I'd love to see a film festival dedicated to just that challenge. (The advanced version would be to stick to the original figures, not adjusted for inflation, namely a $16k budget, with a $1m return on initial release alone.)

The world needs more "B" movies!!!

[Riverwind (imported)]

Except these were not "B" movies, they were less then that.

One thing about them you never knew who was in them because they never did anything again.

River

[Uncle Flo (imported)]

I know it is not 1950's but do any of you collectors have a copy of "Spaced Invaders" ? (I have one) It is one of my favorites. --FLO--

[DeaconBlues (imported)]

Oh this thread rakes up old UNPLEASANT childhood memories for me!

When I was a kid, I loved anything and everything to do with science fiction. Unfortunately... my mother did not like me going to the movie theater, or going anywhere else for that matter. It seems to me that I asked so so so many times to go see a move, and was universally turned down, either "there's no one to drive you into town," or "the man who owns that movie theater is nasty! I don't want you going there!" or finally the catch all "I don't want you going into to town!"

Television was lousy when I was a kid, only three channels, somedays four, lousy reception, most of the time it was a choice between "The Lawrence Welk Show" and some lame NOT science fiction movie.

But on Saturdays, well Saturdays were different... oh, how I DON'T like to remember my childhood, growing up in rural Arizona the son of a neurotic Seventh Day Adventist mother and a long dead father. Saturday I had to go to church, then, after MISSING ALL THE GOOD CARTOONS that everyone else got to see, maybe, just maybe, if I was very lucky... Nobody else in the house wanted to watch anything on the TV, and then I could watch a science fiction movie at 3:00 p.m. on the KPHO Channel 5 program "The World Beyond." Unfortunately.... the movie they would air would more often than not be some lame ghost story or vampire/werewolf crap. I would have done anything for a good "Flash Gordon" (I know, I know, the "Flash Gordon" series were long before the 50's).

I never got to see the classic "50's sci films" until some time in the SEVENTIES! 1974-79, that was when I first saw the 50's sci-fi classic "When Worlds Collide." I loved every sci-fi movie I ever got to see when I was a kid, even the stupid lame "made for TV" garbage like "Rollerball."

Eventually.... I was allowed to watch movies in the "nasty" movie theater. About the time the "Omega Man" (starring Charlton Heston) came out, that was one of the few movies I got to see when I was a kid. That one was not "50's sci-fi" (it was 70's) but it was based on a classic 50's sci-fi, that being the original "I Am Legend" starring Vincent Price. (Recently remade starring Will Smith.)

What I notice the most about the campy/cheesy/lame 50's sci-fi movies.... was that the special effects were really really really LAME back then. Kids like me wanted mostly to see the hideous "Creature from the Black Lagoon" or seamonster or spacemonster etc. etc. but film makers of that time were terribly averse to letting the audience see just how lousy the special effects were, so any of the really good "gore shots" were always too short. Instead of letting the audience see the things we really wanted to see (i.e. Raquel Welch naked, more hideous gore shots, Brigitte Bardot naked, more really hideous seamonsters, Ann Margaret naked, etc.), those hollywood hacks tried to make movies with "plots" or "storylines." What a terrible waste of film.

[Dave (imported)]

I remember watching "Little Shop of Horrors" late one Saturday night and about halfway through I asked my brother "Was this supposed to be a comedy" because it was so bad, it was giggle and snicker worthy. Jack Nicholson overacted his death and the rest of it was so amazingly awful, it became campy fun. Years later, they made the musical and that was deliberately funny.

[DeaconBlues (imported)]

I own both versions of "Little Shop of Horrors," the one with Jack Nickolson and the more recent one with Steve Martin. Both have their value, albeit, that value is very low.