mcdamsten

Just saw this on Blu-Ray. It's true. It does drag. Doesn't have the pacing of better drive-in movies at the time. Some mild chuckles from the slow motion nurse, crackers, dialog etc. Yes, surprisingly Jonathan Demme is in this. But doggone that is the Detroit Tiger great Mickey Lolich as a security guard. I wonder how that came about. Oh well, Mickey shouts his one line out OK, I think. Lolich fans are probably better off getting his baseball card than this Blu-Ray. I elevated this to a score of two in honor of being Lolich's only movie nonetheless. As melting space monster movies go, I agree with some other reviewers who stated that The First Man In Space (1958) is a much better movie. The flimsy excuse for the Melting Man's condition was even more ridiculous than most 50's sci-fi and the disappointing space sequence was mercifully short. And yes that creek DOES look like the one in Without Warning (1980).

What a cast with so much character. Hard to pick a favorite. Edward G.'s middle age gangster return is right up there with Cagney's in White Heat. Bogart's disillusionment and cynicism creates a complexity that ranks as one of my favorite roles for him. 'Why should I stick my neck out for anybody?'. Read a few negative reviews of Bacall's performance. I thought she was believable as a war widow. Amongst all the character; somebody had to be more understated. Trevor's Oscar; well-deserved; pure character. Barrymore's performance and scene trying to get out of wheelchair and praying for the hurricane to destroy the hotel; great. Dan 'I'm the electrician'is a hoodlum/punk almost as memorable as Elisha Cook's Wilmer in The Maltese Falcon (Huston seemed to have a knack for these characters). But the character that I've been noticing more after a few viewings is Thomas Gomez as the assistant to Johnny Rocco. Gum chewing and eyes relentlessly shifting and surveying the situation. Trying to put off Bogart, Bacall, Barrymore,and all with a pleasant affront with barely concealed badness. He exudes a convincing familiarity with Johnny Rocco; nervously anticipating him and trying to keep him from losing his cool. As great a supporting role as you can get I think. Also noteworthy are Marc Lawrence as Ziggy. The sheriff character is good, too. One of my all-time favorites. The only negative I've read here that I could agree with is it may be too stagy for some. With that I give it 9 out of a 10. Lastly say 'She sells sea shells by the seashore' five times.

Actually this is one of my favorite 50's sci-fi films and one of my favorite films of 1959. I agree with Clarke's self-evaluation (liked his notes on DVD) on his direction 'It moves'. Instead of the usual 10 minutes of set-up laboratory scenes; it goes directly into the aftermath of the accident. More sense of action in this one, too, than usual. The camera angles seem good to me with lots of 50's L.A. cityscapes, coastal highways, beach, and oil fields. I enjoyed the 'why me' scene and Clarke's performance a lot. His presenting himself as a flawed character lead was a step above the usual bland 50's sci-fi character lead. His film-noir affair with Nan Peterson was definitely a plus. Definitely more than one would expect from a film that has been depicted as a turkey or one star movie in film guides. Anyhow, kudos to Clarke, and hope to find his autobiography someday.