Robot Monster
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| Robot Monster | |
|---|---|
 Film poster |
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| Directed by | Phil Tucker |
| Produced by | Producer: Phil Tucker Executive Producer: Al Zimbalist |
| Written by | Wyott Ordung |
| Starring | George Nader Claudia Barrett Selena Royle John Mylong Gregory Moffett Pamela Paulson George Barrows |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography | Jack Greenhalgh |
| Editing by | Bruce Schoengarth Merrill White |
| Distributed by | Astor Pictures Corporation |
| Release date(s) | June 10, 1953 |
| Running time | 66 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $16,000 (estimated) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Robot Monster is a 1953 science fiction B-movie made in 3-D by Phil Tucker. Like the more famous "Plan 9 from Outer Space" it is known in bad-film fandom for being "so bad, it's good" and has the dubious honor of being considered one of the "Worst films ever". Its laughable plot line and cheesy special effects has helped it attain status as a cult film.
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[edit] Plot
The evil alien "Ro-Man" has destroyed all but eight humans on Earth with his death ray, the "Calcinator". Survivors include a family of five, a scientist, and two unseen assistants to the scientist in a spacecraft bound for an orbiting space platform carrying a garrison of human soldiers. All eight have developed an immunity to the death ray as a side effect of an antibiotic serum developed by the scientist. Ro-Man must destroy these survivors before his invasion of earth is complete. He is waylaid in his mission after developing an attraction towards Alice, the eldest daughter of the family. He refuses to eliminate her, forcing "The Great Guidance", leader of the aliens, to personally finish the unsavory task.
[edit] Production
Twenty-five-year-old writer/director Phil Tucker made Robot Monster in four days for an estimated $16,000. The film is similar in plot to Invaders from Mars, released a month earlier by Fox. Both pictures contain a young boy stumbling upon an alien invasion and is captured by the alien as he struggles to save his family and himself. As the alien commences the final destruction of earth the boy awakens to find it was all a dream. The film grossed $1,000,000 in its initial release.[1]. It was filmed in Bronson Canyon, the site of innumerable motion pictures and TV settings.[2]. The soundtrack was composed by Elmer Bernstein, who also composed the music for Cat Women of the Moon the same year[3] The film's special effects include stock footage from the 1940 picture One Million B.C., 1951's Lost Continent, and Flight to Mars spliced into the film.[1]
The film was shot and projected in dual-strip, polarized 3-D. The stereoscopic photography in the film is considered by many critics to be of a high quality, and is an extra honor in favor to the crew, who had no experience with the previously unused camera rig.[4]
In the film's opening credits, "N. A. Fischer Chemical Products" is given prominent credit for the "Billion Bubble Machine", used in the film as part of Ro-Man's communication device for reporting to his superior.
Robot Monster was originally released with the 3 Dimensional Pictures short "Stardust in Your Eyes", starring nightclub comedian Trustin Howard as Slick Slaven.[4]
[edit] Critical reviews
- Michael Weldon of the Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, no doubt appreciating the cheesy nature, said in retrospect, "Movies don't come any better".
- Peter Wood of the National Review On Line said it was a "a notorious 1953 example of incompetent moviemaking".
- Glenn Erickson of The DVD Savant said "The important thing to note here is that Robot Monster is very entertaining. It'll bring a smile to anyone's face."
- John Sinnott of DVD talk felt "This movie is so mind bogglingly bad, that it is enjoyable to watch."
- In his non-fiction book Danse Macabre Stephen King briefly discusses the film and his laughing fit when watching the film stoned on marijuana. In his part-autobiography, part-writing handbook On Writing, he claims that Robot Monster is his earliest memory of watching television.
[edit] Aftermath
The poor quality of the movie gave rise to a long-lived rumor within the film industry that the poor reception from audiences caused director Phil Tucker to attempt suicide. According to Keep Watching the Skies!, a comprehensive history of 1950s American science fiction films, author Bill Warren claims Tucker's attempted suicide was actually due to depression and a dispute with the film's distributor, who had allegedly refused to pay Tucker his contracted percentage of the film's profits.
George Nader won the Golden Globe award in 1954 as most promising male newcomer of the year. He signed with Universal Studios where he starred in secondary features while other male stars like Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson were assigned the major film roles.
Selena Royle, MGM stock player, had a durable film career starting 1941 until 1951 when she was branded a Communist sympathizer during the McCarthy-era hysteria. She refused to appear before the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities and eventually cleared her name but the damage had already been done. She made only two additional films. [5].
[edit] Monkey tales
The budget didn't allow for a robot costume as intended so director Phil Tucker used his friend George Barrows who had his own gorilla suit to play Ro-Man. Phil Tucker added the space helmet. George Barrows had a long run in films and television playing simians. Among his gorilla credits are:
- Gorilla at Large (1953)
- The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, "The Gorilla of Owl Hoot Mesa" episode (1954)
- Black Zoo (1963)
- The Addams Family, "Morticia Joins the Ladies League" episode (1964)
- The Beverly Hillbillies, "Come Back, Little Herby" episode (1966)
- The Beverly Hillbillies, "The Gorilla" episode (1966)
- The Honeymooners, "Petticoat Jungle" episode (1956)
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E., "The My Friend the Gorilla Affair" episode (1966)
- The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)
- Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967)
- The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Simian Terror" episode (1968)
- Night Gallery, "Hatred unto Death" episode (1973)
Although Ro-Man was played by George Barrows, the voice was credited to John Brown.
[edit] References in popular culture
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) featured it as one of its early movie-mocking episodes.
- Ro-Man makes a cameo appearance in the movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
- Ro-Man appears in a fantasy sequence in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories.
- A clip of the movie also appeared in the music video for The Cars' 1984 single, "You Might Think".
- Similarly, a clip of the movie also appeared in the music video for Cyndi Lauper's 1983 single "Girls Just Want to Have Fun".
- The character of "Ro-Man" is mentioned in the 1994 Church of the Subgenius book called Revelation X: The "Bob" Apocryphon as a third gender created by JHVH-1 to populate Earth, but failing so due to "impossibility of living without its helmet". There have been several Ro-Man appearances at Subgenius' devivals, as seen in the movie Arise!.
- A brief clip from the movie can be seen on a television screen in John Carpenter's 1995 film In the Mouth of Madness.
- The Calcinite alien in X-COM: Terror from the Deep is believed to be an adaption of Ro-Man.
- Ro-Man can be seen during Grim's trial in Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure
- A clip of Earth Ro Man menacing Claudia Barrett appeared in the Saturday Morning Cartoon spin off of the Muppet Show, Muppet Babies. The title characters opened a closet door and witnessed the spectacle, which was a common device on the show.
- The Marvel Comics character Slapstick once reenacted the plot of this movie (while wearing a Ro-Man costume) for a school assignment.
- Images and descriptions of the film are featured prominently in Harry and Michael Medved's popular film book The Golden Turkey Awards. The film and its director are "nominated" for the dubious honors of "Most Ridiculous Monster in Film History" and "All Time Worst Director" respectively; in the former category, the film "won" the Turkey. The aforementioned "Billion Bubble Machine" credit is nominated for "worst screen credit".
- Was featured in an episode of the 1986 syndicated Laraine Newman comedy series Canned Film Festival.
[edit] Availability
- A dual projection polarized 3-D print of "Robot Monster" was screened at The World 3-D Expo 2006 September 16, 2006 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, Ca. and at the "3-D at the Castro" film festival October 19, 2006 at the Historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco.
- The trailer (2D version) can be seen here courtesy of Sabu Cat Productions.
- The VHS version in inferior red and green anaglyph 3-D is no longer commercially available. Used copies periodically show up on various internet auction sites.
- The DVD version in "glorious 2-D" was released by Image Entertainment in 2003 and is still available.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b How to Make a Monster "How to Make a Monster" Retrieved on 2007-01-08
- ^ Films made at Bronson Canyon "Bronson Canyon - facts and information". Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
- ^ Elmer Bernstein - the official site. "Elmer Bernstein - The official site". Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
- ^ a b 3-D Movies: "A History and Filmography of Stereoscopic Cinema" by R. M. Hayes, McFarland Classics, Paperback
- ^ Selena Royle "Selena Royle - Biography notes at imdb". Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
[edit] External links
