Category: 1950s

Roguish impoverished poet Howard Keel accidentally proves himself to be prophetic to the benefit of corrupt Wazir Sebastian Cabot, while his daughter Ann Blythe falls in love with the disguised caliph Vic Damone in this musical filled with mistaken identities and other mishaps. The plot feels like a retread, the songs are unmemorable, and there is an exceptional amount of glaringly white skin for a desert setting, but Keel and Cabot do well in their over-the-top roles. It’s also filmed in my beloved Cinemascope. While they could have gone further in their design, the costumes and settings are delightful and brightly filmed through that medium. 

Adapted from the classic Herman Melville novel, Gregory Peck is Captain Ahab, a whaling captain bent on revenge against the white whale who stole his leg. I have no idea how accurate it is to the source, but it does capture the main points of Ahab’s maniacal pursuit for his foe. The whaling scenes are quite impressive and the final battle is rather exciting, but even though he gave a solid performance, I think Peck’s casting might have been a mistake. I’m used to him playing intelligent, level-headed voices of reason, which might be why he doesn’t quite capture the captain’s spiral into madness. 

Unable to provide the identity of the one witness of his assistance of Allied soldiers during World War II, Hungarian immigrant Vittorio Gassman jumps ship in New York Harbor to evade immigration officials. Knowing only the man’s first name and that he works in Times Square, Gassman has a day to find him or risk never being able to enter the country again. It’s a tight little chase film with Gassman searching the dark streets of New York finding allies and foes on every corner. There’s a neat climax at the new United Nations headquarters that includes a somewhat heavy handed soliloquy over the treatment of immigrants particularly as a step in spreading peace and freedom throughout the world.

As one of the most costly film props at the time, it’s nice seeing Robby the Robot getting a little more love in this sequel of sorts to Forbidden Planet . Frustrated with his son, Richard Eyer’s, inability to live up to his expectations, scientist Philip Abbott takes the boy to his research laboratory where he introduces the kid to the local supercomputer and a box full of Robby parts. With a sudden, unexpected burst of intelligence, Richard manages to put Robby back together and finds in him the friend he has been longing for. This is no Forbidden Planet, but it’s still quite a bit of fun. Eyer is a complete brat in his role and would have been a great candidate to join the kids in Village of the Damned if he weren’t generally an idiot. He gets Robby to help him fly in a giant kite with no harness, turn invisible, and generally reek havoc all over his parents’ lives. Too bad there’s someone smarter and more powerful that can get in his way.  

After Army doctor Charlton Heston returns to his coal-mining home town, he is encouraged by socialite Lizabeth Scott to take a job tending to the imagined ailments of wealthy matrons in order to pay off the debts of his brother who had died in a mine he had failed to maintain the safety of. This is essentially The Citadel but told for an American audience. They both touch on the risks of coal mining, incompetent surgeons, good doctors gone astray by the lure of money, dutiful women standing by their good doctors, and a social ill that the film pushes to correct. Where the earlier film inspired the establishment of the NHS, this film argues against doctors who misrepresent themselves to patients and take credit for the work of other doctors. I think I’d rather have the NHS.

A starship, commanded by Leslie Nielsen, is sent to Altair IV to determine the fate of a previous expedition to the planet. As they approach, they receive a warning not to land from Walter Pidgeon, the only survivor from the earlier crew, which of course the current team ignores. I have developed quite an appreciation for 1950s science fiction and this one filmed in Cinemascope with absolutely gorgeous set pieces is an incredible specimen. I would have cynically tweaked the ending, but other than that, it’s an absolute classic from its score to its special effects to its quaint notions on interstellar travel.   

Oscar Nomination: Best Effects, Special Effects