Sorry about the Trump Tirade last night. I didn't mean to bog things down with politics or go off on a tangent about that idiot, but I got thrown off track by the title of the Tim Holt movie ("Rio Grande Patrol") and once I mentioned that Tim and Chito portrayed border agents in the film, I was off and running because of the topicality of that subject in the news. Also - re: my tirade but on a lighter note - perhaps Robert Mueller read last night's blog too. If you recall, I referred to him as "the disappointing Robert Mueller" but lo and behold today he turned around and agreed to testify, in public and on camera. Think he read the blog? (wink, nudge). :) I still don't think the House Intelligence Committee members will extract much new information out of him, but let's hope.
In any event, I do have a movie for you tonight, and boy is it ever a good one : "Tarantula" (1955), starring John Agar once again, Leo G. Carroll and the beautiful Mara Corday, who we saw last year in "The Giant Claw". The movie came from my recently purchased Ultimate Sci-Fi Collection dvd set. It is well-known in sci-fi circles but for whatever reason I had never seen it, but once I pressed "play" I was riveted to my seat for the next 80 minutes.
Agar, thankfully less annoying than he was in "The Mole People", plays a doctor living in the small Arizona town of Desert Rock, and in fact the film was shot in the Arizona desert near a sandstone formation that resembles a smaller version of the Alabama Hills (site of many a classic Western).
Dr. Agar flies his own plane and has just returned from an appointment in the city. Immediately upon landing, he is met on the barren dirt airstrip by the local Sheriff, who is agitated and asks Agar to meet right away with the town funeral director to have a look at a body the director is preparing for burial.
We the viewers have already seen the dead person. As the movie opened, he was stumbling around the rocks, in his final moments of life, wearing his striped pajamas. And there was something very wrong with his face.
John Agar, after having a look for himself, is told by the funeral director that the cause of death was acromegalia, a rare disease caused by overactivity of the pineal gland. You can Google it for good measure, but rest assured that the "Tarantula" version of the disease is worse than anything you are gonna see online. Agar has heard of acromegalia, knows a little about it, and suspects that the funeral director may have it wrong, as the disease is very rare. The director suggests he visit the local microbiologist, played by Leo G. Carroll (because every small desert town must have a microbiologist, right?)
Carroll worked with the dead man. They were partners in a laboratory experiment involving animals and a synthetic nutritional serum designed to supplant normal food. Carroll is a Futurist who is planning ahead for the eventual overpopulation of the Earth, when food supplies will at some point run low. Thus he has developed his nutritional serum and tested it on rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, monkeys and a tarantula spider. All have not only been able to live on the artificial food but have thrived on it.
Every animal in the experiment has grown exponentially since ingesting the serum. Some can barely fit in their cages.
John Agar visits Leo G. Carroll, but becomes even more suspicious when the scientist doubles down on the post-mortem declaration of acromegalia, concerning the dead man.
Agar knows that Carroll, an MD himself, should know better. Carroll is lying about something....and
....meanwhile, John Agar drives back to the town center, which consists of just a few buildings, and - while checking in with the postmaster/hotelier, he is introduced to Mara Corday, a young biologist who has just arrived to work with Dr. Carroll. She needs a ride out to his place, which is of course waaay out on the outskirts of the desert, and Agar agrees to take her there (which you or I would do as well).
While he is at the laboratory, Agar takes it upon himself to question Carroll about the diagnosis of acromegalia on the dead man. Carroll insists this was the cause of death, but Agar is not convinced and this will soon become a point of contention. Leo G. Carroll does take the time to show Agar around his lab, though, showing him all the oversized animals, and the serum.
Agar has become friendly with Mara Corday, who has settled in with Dr. Carroll as they continue their work on the nutritional serum.
Meanwhile.......and folks this is simply horrible......and it happens out of the blue.....
A Mutant breaks into the lab while Dr. Carroll is working. He wrecks the place, attacks Carroll, and injects him with the serum! What in the world!.....(man oh man).
A chemical fire breaks out in the process that destroys half the lab. The Mutant is killed; Dr. Carroll miraculously survives. The next thing you know, he is burying the Mutant out in the desert, doing all the shovelwork himself, so that no one will know what happened. This way, he will be able to continue working on his experimental serum with Mara Corday, his lovely assistant.
But Carroll has been injected with the serum and soon something is wrong with his face. It is elongating, the bones are jutting out and shifting, everything is growing too big. One eye is moving lower than the other.
But even worse is that during the fire, the tarantula has escaped.
Now it has turned into the Tarantula, as big as a football field. And boy it it hungry....and pissed.
This may sound cheesy on paper, but I assure you it's not. "Tarantula" was made by Universal and they put good money into the special effects. This is a movie where, had I seen it as a seven year old on late night TV, it would have scarred me for life.
All the ingredients are in place for one of the greatest sci-fi movies of the 1950s : the remote desert location, the inquisitive young doctor, the mad scientist who is lying about his experiments, the local sheriff who is confused about how to deal with the situation until it is too late, and lastly the ubiquitous beautiful woman who gives the hero a personal stake in the outcome.
Meanwhile, while Agar is out in his car, driving around the rock formations to try and locate the Tarantula, Mara Corday is isolated in the remote laboratory with Leo G. Carroll, who is starting to resemble The Elephant Man.
I'm telling you, this is major league horror as great as any sci-fi of the classic black and white 1950s era.
I know I've revealed a lot of spoilers, but I had to tell you how awesome this movie is.
The last thing I will say, hopefully without spoiling anything, is that if you stick around til the end, you will get a surprise that will have you cheering. But you've gotta keep your eyes peeled. /////
"Tarantula" gets my absolute highest rating for a Sci-Fi film, Two Gigantic Thumbs Up, Ten Out Of Ten Stars. This is classic Atomic Age stuff, well directed and shot by Jack Arnold, who would go on to helm a majority of the "Gilligan's Island" episodes, as well as other motion pictures.
Beyond highly recommended, "Tarantula" is an absolute Must See. I am shocked that I didn't see it for myself until now.
That's all I know for tonight. See you in the morn with tons of love sent. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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