Scarecrow's Sci-fi Theater #1

It Came from Outer Space

Jack Arnold’s Arizona-set “they came from the skies, like a meteor landing in the desert, are they a danger to mankind?” sci-fi, screenplay by Essex based on Bradbury story, stars 50s B-movie stalwart, Richard Carlson, and ravishing Barbara Rush, as Carlson’s romantic interest. I always liked that the aliens from another world have no desire to harm humans, just to fix their ship and move on, only “taking the human form” of locals they come in contact in order to move about them without worry of being misunderstood and violently attacked. Carlson as the astronomer who claims what landed isn’t a meteor, once he visits where the ship lands and sees “something” inside, is considered a nut wanting publicity for his new book, seeking to help the aliens if they will just explain their purpose on Earth is perhaps best known for “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and Bert I Gordon’s Tormented (1960). Rush in the black dress at the top of the canyon is va-va-voom. Russell Johnson, of Gilligan’s Island and The Twilight Zone, is a telephone lineman who encounters one of the aliens, his form used to help move about the local AZ town so they can “take” supplies needed for ship repairs. Charles Drake is the sheriff who flat won’t consider what Carlson says about what he saw as legit, questioning him, and the two scuffle in the police station later when Drake wants to go to where the ship is located to get abducted citizens (the two lineman and eventually Rush), loading his gun. The POV through the lone eye of the “blob alien” gives us a unique perspective for sure, while the AZ desert setting, with its characteristic Joshua trees, are eyepopping. The makeup and stoic, cold tone of actors as the aliens in disguise do identify them in comparison to their human counterparts. 3/5.

For All Mankind

Incredible Documentary from Al Reinart, assembled from a lot of footage featuring all the Apollo missions, from a vault at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, with insightful, introspective, spiritual, comedic, and reflective interviews from those who experienced trips to the moon, along with plentiful moments of the entire body of NASA’s many crew who helped the astronauts accomplish such extraordinary space travel. I had just recently watched specials on Apollo 11, perhaps the most popular moon mission, with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, but I thoroughly enjoyed Charlie Duke (who shares a wonderful dream about following tracks on the moon in the rover) and John Young’s particular visit and time spent on the lunar surface. The footage of the Earth from outside the module and on the moon just always floor me with absolute awe. Earth at a distance or even in and around orbit is an astounding sight to behold. Brian Eno’s score lends a sense of majesty to the entire visual splendor of it all. The landing on the surface I had forgotten about, and the time spent seeing the astronauts goofing around (the butter-bread, music sharing which included Sinatri, Meryl Haggard, and Buck Owens, Galileo experiment featuring a feather and hammer) and their shared experiences while on their way (the boredom, pooping in a bag, feeding, navigating through such cramped confines, correcting mistakes they might encounter, joking with the guys back home) are marvelous. This is probably my favorite Documentary. The CNN Apollo 11 special I highly recommend, too. It captures quite a time capsule feel, whether with those civilians awaiting the launch, the astronauts preparing for the trip, or those many members of NASA who will be assisting them as it all transpires. But there is just something special about For All Mankind…I first saw it when I was a teenager in the 90s (I believe I discovered it on Encore before Starz became big), then hadn’t seen it again until 2011, renting it from Netflix after the death of my uncle (died of cancer, spread from his kidneys), remembering his influence on my love for science fiction and NASA. I loved how  the Apollo missions are organized within 80 or so minutes. Very impressive. 5/5.

Like a lot of folks, I’m caught up in the Moon fever, and I love all the specials devoted to the Apollo missions. I have so many different documentaries still to go (I have watched one which focused on the Apollo missions, within a two hour special on Discovery Channel), so July appears to be a very sci-fi heavy month. No complaints about that!

Twilight Zone – Where is Everybody?

I didn’t watch this during my personal 4^th of July marathon, but after For All Mankind, this episode just seemed fitting. You know the plot I’m sure: amnesiac in a flight suit finds himself in a small town occupied by no one but curiously signs of life (hot coffee on the stove, music box juking, telephone ringing, a smoldering cigar in an astray of a police station, church bell ringing, movie projector playing, etc.) emerge, leaving him gradually desperate to find somebody, anybody, to talk to. I plan to watch Forbidden Planet upcoming this weekend, so this episode, featuring Earl Holliman (the cook who gets Robbie the Robot to prepare him a lot of whisky!) in fine form, carrying almost an entire running time by himself, felt right in that regard, too. I have a fond memory of watching this with my grandmother who almost never watched science fiction of any kind. But for one particular Independence Day evening, it was on and she was quite compelled. My uncle, the one I mentioned earlier, was in there with us. I love that this is so still so distinct although it was just a couple years prior to her death in ’95. This mainly came to mind because of the ending where we see military gathered around after Holliman’s mental/psychological testing ends, informing us that he would be going to the moon very soon. Serling crafted this one-man breakdown reminding us that without human contact loneliness could be entirely cruel, but we are also prepared for when that time would eventually come. JFK’s speech comes just a wee bit later, while the TZ often crafted stories that spoke of astronauts far away from Earth or encountering problems after missions appeared not so quite successful. 4/5