For the Love of Science-Fiction :: Every Living Thing Flees Before the Terror of Its Giant Poison Fangs and Crushing Claws of Death! (December, 1955)

 

 

 

 

This post is part of the For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon hosted by Ferdy on Films, This Island Rod, and Wonders in the Dark. This year’s theme is science-fiction, and we’ll be leaning hard toward the “mad science” portion of the genre. Hope you enjoy, and please click on the link above and donate to help restore the silent film, Cupid in Quarantine. The goal is to raise $10,000. Give what you can, won’t you? Thank you!

Tarantula (1955) Universal International / P: William Alland / D: Jack Arnold / W: Robert M. Fresco, Martin Berkeley, Jack Arnold / C: George Robinson / E: William Morgan / M: Herman Stein / S: John Agar, Mara Corday, Nestor Paiva, Leo G. Carroll, Ross Elliot

Running Wild (1955) Universal International / P: Howard Pine / D: Abner Biberman / W: Leo Townsend, Ben Benson (novel) / C: Ellis W. Carter / E: Edward Curtiss, Ray Snyder / M: Joseph Gershenson / S: William Campbell, Mamie Van Doren, John Saxon, Keenan Wynn, Kathleen Case

Trapped in the Forbidden Amazon! Horror from a Lost Age! Biggest Double-Excitment Show of Them All! (December, 1956)

 

 

 

 
Curucu, Beast of the Amazon (1956) Jewel Productions :: Universal Pictures / P: Richard Kay, Harry Rybnick / AP: Edward B. Barison, Jeffrey Mitchell / D: Curt Siodmak / W: Curt Siodmak / C: Rudolf Icsey / E: Terry O. Morse / M: Raoul Kraushaar / S: John Bromfield, Beverly Garland, Tom Payne, Harvey Chalk, Larri Thomas

The Mole People (1956) Universal International Pictures :: Universal Pictures / P: William Alland / D: Virgil W. Vogel / W: László Görög / C: Ellis W. Carter / E: Irving Birnbaum / M: Heinz Roemheld, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein / S: John Agar, Cynthia Patrick, Hugh Beaumont, Alan Napier, Nestor Paiva

The William Castle Blogathon :: A Story that’s Slightly Different… (October, 1946)

 

 
As a character, Rusty the dog had a total of eight movie adventures. Here, in the first sequel, Castle gives us a thinly veiled retread of Gus Edson and Irwin Hasen’s Dondi — a popular syndicated comic strip (who has its own tale of cinematic infamy), where our canine hero helps another war orphan, who stowaway-ed his way to the States, in an attempt to find the G.I. who befriended him back in Czechoslovakia. Other directors who handled Rusty’s leash include John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape) and Lew Landers (The Raven, Return of the Vampire).
 

 
This post is part of Goregirl’s Dungeon and The Last Drive-In’s The William Castle Blogathan, a week long tribute to the King of Schlock. Follow the linkage, Boils & Ghouls. It’s gonna be a great week. And stick around, as we’ll be showcasing Castle’s film career from its fairly normal beginnings through it psychotronic glory days. Stay tuned!

The Return of Rusty (1946) Columbia Pictures / P: Leonard S. Picker / D: William Castle / W: Lewis Helmer Herman, William Sackheim / C: Philip Tannura / E: James Sweeney / M: George Duning / S: Ted Donaldson, John Litel, Mark Dennis, Barbara Woodell, Dwayne Hickman

The Last Crooked Mile (1946) Republic Pictures / P: Rudolph E. Abel / D: Philip Ford / W: Jerome Gruskin, Robert L. Richards, Jerry Sackheim / C: Alfred S. Keller / E: William P. Thompson / M: Joseph Dubin / S: Don Barry, Ann Savage, Adele Mara, Sheldon Leonard, Nestor Paiva

For the Love of Film Noir :: Caught in a Three-Ring Tornado of Thrills and Chills! (July, 1943)

 

 

 

 

 

This post is part of my rehash and continuation of the For the Love of Film Noir Blogathon originally held back in February of 2011. Thus and so, we will be heading down the rain-soaked streets and neon-drenched back alleys of Noirville again for the entire month of March. And along with all the old material migrating over from the old site, we’ll also be scattering around a lot of new stuff as well. Also of note, we’ll be posting them in chronological order to show how the genre evolved and progressed from the 1940′s through the late ’50s. And as an added bonus, I’ll be posting some vintage adverts to stuff I’ve always associated with the genre — cigarettes, booze and fashionable ladies.

Fly By Night (1942) Paramount Pictures / P: Sol C. Siegel / AP: Colbert Clark / D: Robert Siodmak / W: Jay Dratler, F. Hugh Herbert, Ben Roberts, Sidney Sheldon / C: John F. Seitz / E: Arthur P. Schmidt / M: Gerard Carbonara / S: Richard Carlson, Nancy Kelly, Albert Bassermann, Miles Mander, Martin Kosleck, Nestor Paiva

Entering the 3rd Dimension :: Pent-Up Passion from the Devonian Age Unleashed! (April, 1954)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
As the legend goes, it was while working for Orson Wells, back in the Mercury Theater days, that producer William Alland first heard the tales of a legendary fish-man that lived somewhere way upstream in the backwaters of the Amazon river. And these tales, told by famed Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, eventually germinated into one of the most iconic cinematic monsters ever conceived and executed on film. And though it’s usually one of the first things that come to mind while thinking about 3-D pictures, but truthfully, Creature from the Black Lagoon was one of the last big features to use the already rapidly waning process.

I’ve been lucky enough to see a 3-D print of both Creature and its sequel, Revenge of the Creature, and the differences between seeing them flat and seeing them topographical is like the difference between how long Ben Chapman and Riccou Browning can hold their breath underwater. And now, with advances in home video technology, we all can see the Gill-Man unrequited quest for love in all it’s Stereo-Scopic glory!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) Universal International / P: William Alland / D: Jack Arnold / W: Harry Essex, Arthur A. Ross / C: William E. Snyder / E: Ted J. Kent / M: Joseph Gershenson, Henry Mancini, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein / S: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Whit Bissell, Nestor Paiva

Project M7 (1953) Two Cities Films :: Universal Pictures / EP: Earl St. John / P: Antony Darnborough / D: Antony Darnborough / W: William Fairchild, John Pudney (novel) / C: Desmond Dickinson / E: Frederick Wilson / M: Benjamin Frankel / S: Phyllis Calvert, James Donald, Robert Beatty, Herbert Lom, Muriel Pavlow

Gigantic Shock Show! You’ll Be Surrounded by Mayhem, Murder & Mirth! (March, 1955)

 

 

 

 

 

 
Revenge of the Creature (1955) Universal International / P: William Alland / D: Jack Arnold / W: Martin Berkeley, William Alland / C: Scotty Welbourne / E: Paul Weatherwax / M: William Lava, Herman Stein / S: John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield, Nestor Paiva, Grandon Rhodes

Cult of the Cobra (1955) Universal International / P: Howard Pine / D: Francis D. Lyon / W: Jerry Davis, Cecil Maiden, Richard Collins / C: Russell Metty / E: Milton Carruth / M: Joseph Gershenson / S: Kathleen Hughes, Faith Domergue, Richard Long, Marshall Thompson, Jack Kelly, David Janssen

Stark and Brutal! All New Giant Thrill Show! (October, 1955)

 

 

 

 

 
Tarantula (1955) Universal International / P: William Alland / D: Jack Arnold / W: Robert M. Fresco, Martin Berkeley, Jack Arnold / C: George Robinson / E: William Morgan / M: Herman Stein / S: John Agar, Mara Corday, Nestor Paiva, Leo G. Carroll, Ross Elliot

Running Wild (1955) Universal International / P: Howard Pine / D: Abner Biberman / W: Leo Townsend, Ben Benson (novel) / C: Ellis W. Carter / E: Edward Curtiss, Ray Snyder / M: Joseph Gershenson / S: William Campbell, Mamie Van Doren, John Saxon, Keenan Wynn, Kathleen Case