Wow. In the world of exploitation cinema, this film really hedges all its bets...sexploitation, cod skiffy, no-budget noir, and no doubt something they didn't bother to display in the trailer, such as THE GIANT GILA MONSTER's monotonous attempts at a calypso soundtrack.
Great underrated '50s sci fi film with an excellent costume (affectionately dubbed, Cuddles) by Paul Blaisdell which gets reused in several different films including Voodoo Woman (1957), wearing different face and a blonde wig, featuring a number of the same actors as She Creature..
Also, a pretty good cast. Chester Morris who played Boston Blackie in a number of films. Tom Conway, onetime brother-in-law of Zsa Zsa Gabor, and brother of actor, George Sanders, whom he took over the role in The Falcon films from as the Falcon's brother. Former vaudevillain, El Brendel as Olaf, the butler (I first became consciously aware of him a couple of years ago when Fox Movie Channel aired a neat little 1930 sci fi musical titled, "Just Imagine" with a very young, and growing into great beauty, Maureen O'Sullivan.
Some good feminine pulchritude: Marla English - 36-22-36 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) - and Cathy Downs.
Trivia off of IMDB page:
Originally Edward Arnold was to play Dr. Lombardi, Peter Lorre was signed to play Timothy Chappel and Mike Connors was to play Dr. Erickson. However, Arnold died before production began, and by the time Chester Morris was signed to replace him, Lorre and Connors had become unavailable, and their parts were played by Tom Conway and Lance Fuller.
Bill, you've never seen The Giant Gila Monster? And you call yourself a Texan? Man, you pre-Baby Boom generations. A little thing in the '50s & '60s called TV was a great venue of popular culture including a rebirth of interest in monster movies such as '30s '40s & '50s horror films and '50s & '60s sci fi films like The Giant Gila Monster.
(Mumbling like Boomhauer) Guy's never even seen Hazel...
Cousin Festus Haggen calls it a pearl-button bangled billy, and advises you to watch it as a double feature with The Killer Shrews (1959).
Word of warning to purists: The Gila (HEE-la) Monster used in this film is not a Gila Monster, but actually a Mexican Beaded Lizard.
8 comments:
Wow. In the world of exploitation cinema, this film really hedges all its bets...sexploitation, cod skiffy, no-budget noir, and no doubt something they didn't bother to display in the trailer, such as THE GIANT GILA MONSTER's monotonous attempts at a calypso soundtrack.
Okay, now I gotta look for THE GIANT GILA MONSTER.
Great underrated '50s sci fi film with an excellent costume (affectionately dubbed, Cuddles) by Paul Blaisdell which gets reused in several different films including
Voodoo Woman (1957), wearing different face and a blonde wig, featuring a number of the same actors as She Creature..
Also, a pretty good cast. Chester Morris who played Boston Blackie in a number of films. Tom Conway, onetime brother-in-law of Zsa Zsa Gabor, and brother of actor, George Sanders, whom he took over the role in The Falcon films from as the Falcon's brother. Former vaudevillain, El Brendel as Olaf, the butler (I first became consciously aware of him a couple of years ago when Fox Movie Channel aired a neat little 1930 sci fi musical titled, "Just Imagine" with a very young, and growing into great beauty, Maureen O'Sullivan.
http://www.shebloggedbynight.com/2007/12/el-brendel.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021016/
Some good feminine pulchritude: Marla English - 36-22-36 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) - and Cathy Downs.
Trivia off of IMDB page:
Originally Edward Arnold was to play Dr. Lombardi, Peter Lorre was signed to play Timothy Chappel and Mike Connors was to play Dr. Erickson. However, Arnold died before production began, and by the time Chester Morris was signed to replace him, Lorre and Connors had become unavailable, and their parts were played by Tom Conway and Lance Fuller.
http://www.shebloggedbynight.com/2008/03/she-creature-19
I hope people are reading your comments, Doc.
Bill, you've never seen The Giant Gila Monster? And you call yourself a Texan? Man, you pre-Baby Boom generations. A little thing in the '50s & '60s called TV was a great venue of popular culture including a rebirth of interest in monster movies such as '30s '40s & '50s horror films and '50s & '60s sci fi films like The Giant Gila Monster.
(Mumbling like Boomhauer) Guy's never even seen Hazel...
Cousin Festus Haggen calls it a pearl-button bangled billy, and advises you to watch it as a double feature with The Killer Shrews (1959).
Word of warning to purists: The Gila (HEE-la) Monster used in this film is not a Gila Monster, but actually a Mexican Beaded Lizard.
http://www.applegatereptiles.com/species/gilamonster.htm
http://www.applegatereptiles.com/species/beadedliz.htm
http://www.drseward.com/
I did some research for my physician a year or so ago on Byetta:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exenatide
*****
http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue10/features/monster/text2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giant_Gila_Monster
Enough procrastinating. Off to the gym.
I can't believe I missed it, but we'll have the trailer in a few days. It's in the queue.
THE KILLER SHREWS. Gordon McLendon. The old Scotchman. Great stuff.
MST3K was my delivery system for GILA.
I AM FRIGHTENED AND YET STRANGELY DESIROUS!!
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