Elizabeth, that sounds like a wonderful book you are reading. And, you are at a great reading spot by the lake! I just now did a quick Google of Sigurd Olson and it said he wrote a lot about the lake country around Superior, so that's perfect. I am enjoying my book, too, the Velikovsky, and I just finished reading about a long vanished glacial lake in Canada, up above the Great Lakes, that was named Lake Agassiz after the geologist who discovered it. It was formed during the Wisconsin Glaciation and covered an enormous area. According to the book you can still see remnants of it, not the water but the sediment and boundaries.
I am glad you're able to visit your lakes and rivers and all the places you love. I have to say that's a very nice picture of you, holding your book. There is no doubt of your happiness in that pic! Thanks as always for including the sound. It's a beautiful place for sure. :):)
On the movie front, we got lucky last night. In a last minute search I clicked on a link I hadn't used before ("Old Sci-Fi Movies For Free"!) and a title popped up : "First Man Into Space". It was a little long for my liking, 78 minutes, and the title sounded generic, but the name of the star grabbed my attention : Marshall Thompson, who was in the classics "Fiend Without A Face" and "IT! The Terror From Beyond Space". A quick check of IMDB revealed a decent rating of 5.5 for this picture (not that that makes any difference), but more importantly a game-clinching synopsis.
"A Navy pilot crash lands after becoming the first man to fly into outer space. He is presumed dead, but then a series of grisly murders occur in the surrounding area, and a growling thing is seen wandering the countryside".
That was all I needed to hear, so I went to Youtube, and sure enough they had a copy. The movie opened with stock footage of what looked like the Bell X-1 being carried up in the air by a B-50. IMDB lists only MGM England as a location (the film is an English production), but the jet and rocket scenes have gotta be from Edwards and Vandenberg AFBs, respectively. I don't know how the filmmakers obtained this footage but it's a real find and a great way to start things off. In the movie, the experimental jet is known as the Y-12. The film was released right around the time the legendary X-15 program was getting underway. That was the first X-plane to take man past the boundary of space, so I suppose the Y-12 is meant to stand in for the X-15.
Anyhow, Marshall Thompson is "Commander Prescott", in charge of the budding Y-series program, designed to test the anatomical effects of high altitude flight. His younger brother Dan (Bill Edwards) is the program's #1 pilot. He's also a risk-taker who is prone to break the rules. On the test of the Y-12, he takes the jet up higher than he is supposed to, because he wants to break the altitude record. On the way down, though, the Y-12 spins out of control. Dan is able to bring it in for a hard landing, but the jet is ruined and he is lucky to escape with his life.
However, when his brother the Commander rushes to the site with a rescue squad, Dan is nowhere to be seen. "I have a hunch where to find him", Thompson fumes. The next thing we see is the interior of a living room. The camera pulls away to reveal Dan on a couch with his Italian girlfriend (Maria Landi). They are making out, haha, so it's all in day's work for Dan the Daredevil : you get in your rocket jet, fly to 250,000 feet, you crash land and then head over to your girl's house for a smooch session.
Commander Thompson doesn't think it's very amusing. He storms in to Landi's house and chews Dan out big time. Dan lets the scolding roll off like water from a duck's back. "Ho hum. You know I'm the best pilot you've got. If it wasn't for me there wouldn't even be a Y-program".
"But you just wrecked a 10 million dollar plane"!
"So what? Do they want us to just play it safe? What's the point of going up if we're not gonna push the envelope? Besides, they've already got Y-13 ready to go. This time I won't lose control, I've already got the bugs worked out".
Thompson is riled by his brother's attitude but has to shrug it off because Dan is right. He is the only pilot capable of pushing the jet to the limits of it's design. The next day, the Y-13 is set for takeoff and Dan is cleared for flight. They don't waste any time with the Y-program, lol. He promises his brother he'll obey the rules this time, but when he gets up to the 350,000 foot limit, he can't resist. "I've gotta do it"!, he tells Control. "I'm almost there. I know I can make it, I'm gonna be the first man into space"!
It's extremely reckless of him, but at least he got the movie's title spoken. That's imperative, you know. Dan pulls back on the throttle and the Y-13 soars. The special effects are awesome as he passes through the exosphere and into the blackness of space. A carpet of stars awaits him as he passes 500,000 feet, but hold on a minute!..................what's that cloud coming toward him? Oh my God it's a swarm of Millions of Meteorites! They pummel the jet on all sides, pitting it's skin, leaving a plethora of pockmarks. Dan struggles to maintain control but then the engine quits. The Y-13 disappears off radar. What could have happened? Is Dan still alive?
The wreckage of the jet is finally located in New Mexico by a rancher, who - in addition to reporting the crash - also mentions the mutilation of one of his cows. Oh man, are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'? Marshall Thompson hauls ass out to the crash site, this time bringing the Base Commander along with him. The jet is broken apart, but this time it's covered in a weird rubbery film of some sort, like a skin.
"What do you think this is"?, asks the BC.
"I don't know sir. But look at this.......when you peel it off, the metal underneath is intact. It isn't burned or scratched. Could this be some kind of protective coating"?
Hmmm.........it's looking that way. But what is it protecting? Where the hell is Dan? Once again there's no sign of him.
Later that night, a blood bank is broken into in a nearby town. The place is thoroughly ransacked and all the blood is gone. A trucker has also called in to report a carjacking (or truckjacking to be precise). Could the two crimes be connected? Did the blood thief steal the truck? The state cops set up a roadblock to find out, but holy smokes, now whoever it is has ditched the truck and stolen a car. Worse, he's killed the couple inside, and........and..........he's drained every drop of their blood.
Why is he doing this!? What's up with all the blood? Who is this maniac?
The New Mexico State Police are about to find out. They make the Huge Mistake of pulling over the stolen car, and............(folks, you've gotta be ready for this.......I'm not joking........prepare yourselves) :
A Monster gets out of the car, so horrible looking that you'll probably never recover, hence the warnings. By this time, you can guess it's identity. Or, I'll just tell ya. It's Dan, the pilot. Somewhere along the line, when the meteorites hit his jet at 500,000 feet, he got covered in the same skin that enveloped the Y-13, and I'm telling you the result isn't pretty. He can still drive a car, though, and because he's now got an insatiable thirst for blood, he's racing around all over New Mexico trying to find more.
Now the State Troopers are dead and the General wants to bring in artillery. Marshall Thompson pleads with him to spare Dan's life, not just because he's his brother but because he believes Dan is a victim of the Slimy Stuff, whatever it is that's covering him. He volunteers to take responsibility if they'll just let him coax Dan back to the base. There, they can perform tests to see why he's acting this way. The base doctor thinks the High Altitude Tank might help.
Folks, you're gonna get a much closer look at Dan if they agree to Thompson's proposal, so you might wanna make your voice heard if you're against it. Remember, you have a say in this too, but if they go ahead and bring him in anyway, you might wanna keep the remote control nearby in case you need to hit "Stop"! real quick. (man oh man......this Monster.......I mean "Dan"........yikes!)
I'm gonna let you discover the rest of the plot yourself, but I'll leave you with two items of note. The first is that this movie was a big influence on Ridley Scott's "Alien". The second is that it's part of the Criterion Collection. Wow! I didn't know either of those things until after the film was over, but it's worthy of both honors. The Air Force stock footage alone makes it look big league. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to get shots of rocket engine tests, and the stuff from the Bell X-1. We're in Grade A "B-Movie" territory now, with a much higher budget than we're used to. There are fantastic special effects, as noted, and solid acting, especially from Bill Edwards as Dan the pilot/monster. "First Man Into Space" gets Two Huge Thumbs Up, but it's one movie I'm glad I never saw as a kid. One IMDB reviewer called it "The Scariest Movie I've Ever Seen" and claimed he's been scarred for life.
My goodness, sci-fi fans, and to think we stumbled upon it by accident. Highly recommended, of course! //////
Well, it's another Hot One in the 'Hood and time for my nightly walk. I hope you'll be able to sleep after that review. I'll check on ya when I get back, somewhere around the Usual Time....... :)
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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