I'm writing from home tonight, off work for a couple of weeks. I originally planned to watch "I Was A Teenage Werewolf" but decided to save it for a less hectic evening. The curfew threw my schedule off and I was forced to do all my miles in one long walk instead of spreading them out over a couple of shorter excursions. I shant get into politics or current events because, like classical KUSC, this blog is a refuge from the news, but I do hope the trouble dies down soon (and the police officer goes to prison).
The movie I chose instead was called "The Horrors of the Red Planet"(1965). It popped up on my Youtube recommendations this afternoon. I saw it co-starred John Carradine so I had to give it a shot. After a very slow start, it turned out to be pretty decent, even original in it's weird way. Four astronauts (three men and a woman) are on their way to Mars, to take atmospheric readings from orbit. At the last minute they are hit by an electrical storm - huge bolts of lightning extending hundreds of miles into space! - and forced to crash-land on the Martian polar region. They have only enough oxygen to last four days, so in order to avoid certain death, they have to venture out of their capsule and onto the surface of the Red Planet, to search for the Main Stage of their rocket, which was ejected prior to orbit. If they find it they can apparently go home, though I always thought that rocket stages were only fuel tanks.
Well anyhow, at this point the movie turns into a Mars travelogue for the next forty minutes. Our intrepid crew cross the polar ice until they come to a river, which they ford with two rafts brought along for that purpose. They escape the danger of some Slithery Snakelike Sprouts which block the water at one juncture, and row until they come to a cavern at the edge of a Vast Desert. This sequence was filmed at a place called Lehman Caves in Nevada. Their transponder receives a faint signal suggesting they are on the right track to locate the Main Stage, so they enter the cavern system. This part of the trek is reminiscent of "Journey To The Center of the Earth", with the Ubiquitous Narrow Ledge Scene. There are also underground "rooms" full of stalagmites which look very cool because they're the real thing instead of papier mache. At one point they have to pass by the cauldron of a Bubbling Volcano. "One slip and you'll fry like bacon", says the Captain, and he ain't kidding.
Nothing really happens during all this time, but it all looks good, thanks to the actual cave location and the beautiful matte paintings depicting the outdoor Martian landscape, complete with pink sky. The dialogue is read straight off cuecards, but that's okay because we're enjoying the scenery. Finally, at around the fifty minute mark, the astronauts exit the cavern and emerge onto the dunes, where they discover a grouping of what look like bricks half buried in the sand. And - here I have to yet again pose a Possible Directorial Influence Phenomenon, because of the way in which this scene plays out. Do you recall, in "The Martian", when Matt Damon dug up that generator he'd been looking for? He dug it out of the sand, right? Well, I'd be willing to bet a nickel (no more, no less) that Ridley Scott saw this movie, because not only did he use the same idea (of uncovering something in the sand), but there is also shot after shot of the crew trudging through the dunes with the pink sky in the background. It closely resembles the way Scott photographed Damon doing the same thing, with the same look. And we already know Ridley is inspired by older (and cheaper) science fiction movies; witness his appreciation of "IT! The Terror from Beyond Space", which led to "Alien". So yeah, I'm betting he saw and admired this film too, at least enough to crib a couple of ideas for "The Martian".
What the crew reveal in our movie is a road. Could it be made of the proverbial Yellow Bricks? It may seem that way, because when they "follow" it (nudge, nudge), they ultimately come to a Shining City with a castle in the center, the remains of an ancient civilisation. The transponder is beeping loudly now. They suspect their Main Stage is inside the castle walls, so they enter the labyrinthine structure, and pass through a series of tunnels, until they notice Several Tubes, coated with Eons of Grime, standing at the side of a doorway. Finally, at the one hour mark of this 78 minute movie, we're gonna get a little action. The Captain scrapes the dirt off one of the tubes to expose a Hideous Alien, entombed in suspended animation behind glass. It's an absolute mindblower because it's the exact same guy we saw in "Space Probe Taurus"! Do you remember my review of that film? I mentioned a scene in which the crew of the Space Probe come across a floating power plant. They board it and encounter one of the ugliest, most creepy looking Aliens ever seen. I believe I described him as Cretinous, with the additional complication of Progeria.
Folks, it's the same dude here, except this time his cranium has been removed. And, he's benign instead of murderous. Thank goodness for that, right? He's been asleep for ages, but when the Captain places a hand on the glass, he awakens. Then he puts his own hand on his side of the glass, to cover the Captain's, and he Mind Melds with him. "Hello, Mr. Roddenberry? I've got yet another idea for you".
In the Mind Meld, the Ancient Alien reveals the way to the Main Stage. But first he asks the Captain's help to save the survivors of his race. "You must go through that door", he instructs. The passage through the door features some very bizarre special effects, where the Alien's Spirit follows the crew into the room beyond. All of this makes up for the slow going earlier in the film, because it's freakin' weird!
And now for the Piece de Resistance :
In the Darkened Room, which opens into the night sky, a Giant Head appears. Earlier we mentioned the metaphor of a Yellow Brick Road, and now we are at it's terminus. We're face-to-face with The Wizard of Mars, and............he's John Carradine!
Carradine goes on to give a Major Speech, in Grand Language, that's as mesmerising as it is unintelligible. It has to do with what led to the demise of the Ancient Civilisation, and it's so great that I did a Youtube search after the movie to see if anyone had isolated that scene (unfortunately, they hadn't). What happened was that the Martians became so technically advanced they were able to stop time. They did so to become immortal, but their immortality had consequences, which Carradine explains. He then lays out instructions for the crew to Start Time Back Up, which will restore what is left of the Martian race. It's one of the great speeches in motion picture history, or at least the history of low-budget sci-fi cinema.
"The Horrors of the Red Planet" is like two movies in one. The first 50 minutes, as noted, is more or less a walking tour of Mars, though a very good looking one. But once you get to the Emerald City (purple in this case), things get a whole lot weirder and more interesting, beginning with the Alien in the Tube. And then you get The Speech, given by the the great John Carradine, one of the most off-the-wall orations you'll ever witness. The movie builds to a spectacular conclusion, which is why I'm giving it Two Big Thumbs Up in spite of the bad acting and wooden dialogue. It's not a great or classic film like some of our recent entries, but it has things about it that are unique, and for that reason, and it's production design, I recommend it. //////
That's all for now. See you a little later at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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