My Train of Thought

In honor of Monster Bash this coming weekend, I thought I'd put up a post for the sci-fi fans, especially since AMC has been airing some of the vintage films.  This 1955 vehicle was the first sci-fi venture for Roger Corman.  Another notable from the "creature features" is Paul Blaisdell, who not only created the three-eyed, horned and clawed monster, but also was inside that same costume.  The story takes place right after an atomic explosion has caused devastation all over the planet.  Unrealistic as it is, for vegetation doesn't die immediately and the water is not contaminated, this movie is an initiation in awareness and fear during the 1950's of the consequences of nuclear war should there be any survivors of radiation fallout.

Featured are Richard Denning, who ran the gamut of film genres.  He'd finished Creature From the Black Lagoon the year before, so Day the World Ended was an easy transition.  He is probably better known, however, as Jerry North in the series Mr. and Mrs. North, Mike Shayne in the series of the same name, and one of his more recent recurring roles as Gov. Paul Jameson in the original Jack Lord Hawaii Five-O series.  Occasionally, TCM airs An Affair to Remember, where he portrayed the jilted lover of Deborah Kerr in favor of Cary Grant.

Among the cast is the heroine, Lori Nelson.  She also had several sci-fi features in her resume.  The same year as this film, she portrayed Helen Dobson in Revenge of the Creature.  Then in 2005, she reprised her role as Dr. Helen Dobson in The Naked Monster.  

Also cast is Mike Connors as the sinister and sleazy low-life in the film done before his hit series Mannix.  Adele Jergens' character is treated as an aging pass around by Connors.  A former Rockette and dubbed "the girl with the million dollar legs", hardly anything is seen of what made her so famous.  Rounding out the cast is Paul Birch as Lori Nelson's father, who,  having been infected by radiation, is dying.  Birch was another familiar face in the world of science fiction.  From The War of the Worlds, to his many appearances on Science Fiction Theatre, he was very comfortable in this venue.  His later known roles were as Mike Malone on the Cannonball series featuring the adventures of a trucker, and the police Capt. Carpenter from The Fugitive.

It turns out that the creature was Lori Nelson's boyfriend who was contaminated by radiation and was transformed into the gruesome and horrifying monster.  Ms. Nelson's character kept hearing him call her name and she is the only person he does not stab with his three-pronged claws.  

As a child, this monster was quite scary.  And while it had three eyes, the one resembling the cyclops was the one that made my heart beat a bit faster.  The face mask was just as menacing back then as some of the Japanese horror flicks I'd watched on Saturday afternoons.  Being all grown up, I have come to appreciate how uncomfortable wearing the creature costumes must have been.   This one is worth a look if you get a chance to see it.