cult film freak: jack arnold

Showing posts with label jack arnold. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 11/26/2025 / No comments / fifties , grant williams , horror , jack arnold , les tremayne , lola albright , paul frees , science-fiction , thriller , troy donahue

LOLA ALBRIGHT & GRANT WILLIAMS IN 'THE MONOLITH MONSTERS'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicQluAMPYhiUtc0yN4v-QBm2A9DxHT3xChZ0v-RrnlCs0d1Dg5-t2Y4qRsx34RjkEqn2fkob6aXvTPW5XAAVimEntudzmACTwJHOQrx9EUguXxPUOy85JxjlegD5VDguEdXmS1Z3hdWdyLaEU6ikNVHK7RvzeQy1ZY9NOQBt_XgROV6M-0Re-szKIBH-QO/s2794/Screen%20Shot%202025-11-30%20at%207.51.08%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1374" data-original-width="2794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicQluAMPYhiUtc0yN4v-QBm2A9DxHT3xChZ0v-RrnlCs0d1Dg5-t2Y4qRsx34RjkEqn2fkob6aXvTPW5XAAVimEntudzmACTwJHOQrx9EUguXxPUOy85JxjlegD5VDguEdXmS1Z3hdWdyLaEU6ikNVHK7RvzeQy1ZY9NOQBt_XgROV6M-0Re-szKIBH-QO/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-11-30%20at%207.51.08%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lola Albright in THE MONOLITH MONSTERS Year: 1957 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Grant Williams, with an unassumingly skinny frame, All-American blond hair and soft voice, is perfect for science-fiction as he passively allows strange things to happen around him... even when vanishing into thin air for <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2023/05/shrinkwrapup.html">THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN</a>, and, here as a small town cop, he's partnered with a old scientist to figure out how giant monoliths are growing out of the earth...</p><p></p><p>Which eventually look fantastic as they crash into a raging river... but these titular MONOLITH MONSTERS never seem that formidable, and are more dangerous in semi-suspenseful scenes leading up... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

fifties, grant williams, horror, jack arnold, les tremayne, lola albright, paul frees, science-fiction, thriller, troy donahue

LOLA ALBRIGHT & GRANT WILLIAMS IN 'THE MONOLITH MONSTERS'

Lola Albright in THE MONOLITH MONSTERS Year: 1957 Rating: **1/2 Grant Williams, with an unassumingly skinny frame, All-American blond hair a...

MARA CORDAY BOWLING FOR 'PETER GUNN' IN 'KEEP SMILING'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUYKH75rC-PVv9V9ViKXK4hk42FuVHnEPsmpQtxkPun6MaBXhIpYy9yLpHO4_Or49uJ_8QCzKJnnePAtQghWEJrJe-ynTyXpeb3EiaCdP-sNwe73eCjHOYN-1QMqvEQHhtSwfun3udUKSmHw0FWYixMcifODztJWiTUgNVom9BvLKlqkF0WP7_yzcb5UvT/s1724/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="1724" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUYKH75rC-PVv9V9ViKXK4hk42FuVHnEPsmpQtxkPun6MaBXhIpYy9yLpHO4_Or49uJ_8QCzKJnnePAtQghWEJrJe-ynTyXpeb3EiaCdP-sNwe73eCjHOYN-1QMqvEQHhtSwfun3udUKSmHw0FWYixMcifODztJWiTUgNVom9BvLKlqkF0WP7_yzcb5UvT/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Mara Corday on PETER GUNN: KEEP SMILING Year: 1959 Grade: B+</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With a plot right out of the James Cagney flick LADY KILLER, a group of con-artists use a beautiful dame to hook lonely (in this case) bowling alley frequents, take them to an apartment and then rob 'em blind... wherein the usually jazzy-cool titular gumshoe Craig Stevens's PETER GUNN plays the awkward nebbish to vulnerably hook the girl...<br><br>But once at the hot spot, he's made by one of the baddies... making this episode a kind of twenty-minute b-movie, and the gorgeous dame's played by fitfully hot b-movie starlet Mara Corday... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

blake edwards, con man, craig stevens, crime, film noir or melodrama, jack arnold, jackie coogan, mara corday, tv series

MARA CORDAY BOWLING FOR 'PETER GUNN' IN 'KEEP SMILING'

Mara Corday on PETER GUNN: KEEP SMILING Year: 1959 Grade: B+ With a plot right out of the James Cagney flick LADY KILLER, a group of con-art...

DIRECTOR JACK ARNOLD'S 'THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUHeMWsRUW3dtJlfai-AxDU4bPUnHAyKs8Op64ifJi6GEJdx1nxy2p3kc07dbC5jn0kyw0Ak74mlG6rjs8X6ljsGnQqavpk6FVvDGra_vP7uW1LGNtZB00TNnDD7UycfOgNYubxkqS4gawEjTJqOPmMN0RQ8UHGcSxtjA_H8vSzhgM-JZ-UAqCKbcZA/s995/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-07%20at%207.36.52%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="995" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUHeMWsRUW3dtJlfai-AxDU4bPUnHAyKs8Op64ifJi6GEJdx1nxy2p3kc07dbC5jn0kyw0Ak74mlG6rjs8X6ljsGnQqavpk6FVvDGra_vP7uW1LGNtZB00TNnDD7UycfOgNYubxkqS4gawEjTJqOPmMN0RQ8UHGcSxtjA_H8vSzhgM-JZ-UAqCKbcZA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-07%20at%207.36.52%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN Year: 1957 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director Jack Arnold had a way of taking the most fantastical stories and making them seem completely grounded, even normal... from aliens landing in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/10/IT.html">IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE</a>, a giant arachnid attack for <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/09/TARANTULAlland.html">TARANTULA</a>, or in this case, a grown man shrinking as THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN...</p><p>In the first act, when Grant Williams goes from doctor to doctor, trying to figure out why his work-clothes keep outgrowing him, it's like a separate movie... a kind of intentionally uncomfortable melodrama told in a slow-burn, semi-nightmarish, page-turning fashion... much different than the suspenseful action-packed survival-tale involving a comparably gigantic cat and spider the movie's most famous for...</p>

action, adventure, april kent, cult, fifties, grant williams, jack arnold, randy stuart, richard matheson, science-fiction, universal monsters, william schallert

DIRECTOR JACK ARNOLD'S 'THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN'

Title: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN Year: 1957 Rating: ***1/2 Director Jack Arnold had a way of taking the most fantastical stories and maki...

DIRECTOR JACK ARNOLD GROUNDS 'IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcbbJmjDy07eVm8H2txEwjDzl4LDWwcYQMNatENP38gZr3ZhWKtKsPBpa27MjwdFwEFF2sG7HgH0ug1OZHv4mT0XOA3Q2ypkrEILKBdXuRLIlS0oFuDJ9a-zgBGb1QCIWAL8ziWfIfADzz0roow2XB2Te8-9IQKjhrqUPIj3Fyz0-WrilMsRQ8FaqE2xUA/s2740/Screen%20Shot%202026-01-04%20at%208.29.36%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1520" data-original-width="2740" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcbbJmjDy07eVm8H2txEwjDzl4LDWwcYQMNatENP38gZr3ZhWKtKsPBpa27MjwdFwEFF2sG7HgH0ug1OZHv4mT0XOA3Q2ypkrEILKBdXuRLIlS0oFuDJ9a-zgBGb1QCIWAL8ziWfIfADzz0roow2XB2Te8-9IQKjhrqUPIj3Fyz0-WrilMsRQ8FaqE2xUA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-01-04%20at%208.29.36%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Barbara Rush in IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE Year: 1953 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The same year as the theatrical WAR OF THE WORLDS, where what resembles a meteorite lands on Earth and turns out being aliens that the entire region witnesses, <i>amateur stargazer</i> Richard Carlson is all alone in what's half a theory: while it's fact that <i>something</i> landed into the desert ground, only HE realizes what's really inside it...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And Jack Arnold was beginning a great career as Universal's science-fiction/monster b-movie director, and while the near-future TARANTULA, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN and both CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON features, IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE is more slow-burn than exciting, and while somewhat short on outright thrills and suspense, the story's told so conventionally and unpretentiously it all seems completely natural, providing Arnold a natural fit for bringing farfetched down to earth...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

barbara rush, fifties, horror, jack arnold, kathleen hughes, richard carlson, russell johnson, science-fiction, thriller

DIRECTOR JACK ARNOLD GROUNDS 'IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE'

Barbara Rush in IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE Year: 1953 Rating: ***1/2 The same year as the theatrical WAR OF THE WORLDS, where what resembles a...

RUSS TAMBLYN IN JACK ARNOLD'S 'HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibl6Sa6F4WC2AIbQ5qKdGq13j4GzDPeAqj6RwNMZTZKGW4xziYb51E_K4pZWgBBnksB-ih3TurmG6GcCW2Yes_tKASqIT1R9DUYJvNbdG4Ttxg_f98DpcekRKcOCDdotwV07Ye2IyT_6Ig/s1600/519ZQD6I24L._SY450_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="247" data-original-width="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibl6Sa6F4WC2AIbQ5qKdGq13j4GzDPeAqj6RwNMZTZKGW4xziYb51E_K4pZWgBBnksB-ih3TurmG6GcCW2Yes_tKASqIT1R9DUYJvNbdG4Ttxg_f98DpcekRKcOCDdotwV07Ye2IyT_6Ig/s1600/519ZQD6I24L._SY450_.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1958 Rating: ***1/2 Director: Jack Arnold</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Russ Tamblyn is so good in this, so self-assurred and natural and 
villainously awesome it doesn't seem possible what anyone else watching would 
figure upon the first ten minutes, and what the entire movie turns into: A Warning Sign for the 1950's youth that includes a teenage girl addicted to pot as if it were morphine... <br>
<br>
But all the dated elements
 aside, and the somewhat forced special guest casting of Mamie Van Doren as Tamblyn's sexy "aunt" (product placement for testosterone) this 
cult classic, about our confidently rebellious new kid in high school, builds suspense with perfection and includes a terrific car 
race. And the great directorial flow shouldn't be a shock to fans of Jack Arnold: one of the all time great b-moviemakers ranging from CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON to TARANTULA to THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN. He turns what many call camp into a perfect outing.<br>
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action, cult, exploitation, fifties, jack arnold, mamie van doren, russ tamblyn, teen

RUSS TAMBLYN IN JACK ARNOLD'S 'HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL'

Year: 1958 Rating: ***1/2 Director: Jack Arnold Russ Tamblyn is so good in this, so self-assurred and natural and villainously awesome ...

WILLIAM ALLAND PRESENTS 'CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQDMtBtRAptaQPxWnBDZR6VYvT2xiB6sc7jI0iLYIizxXBDBWmZNyJK7pcmfnvyCQ82nO-QcGHD0_cMMy-skZTorTc5idOR9UImGwxKyWXshx6naCNj9TMKYk0h_wgw9MwNR0x4h6k83fp/s1600/111+2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="549" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQDMtBtRAptaQPxWnBDZR6VYvT2xiB6sc7jI0iLYIizxXBDBWmZNyJK7pcmfnvyCQ82nO-QcGHD0_cMMy-skZTorTc5idOR9UImGwxKyWXshx6naCNj9TMKYk0h_wgw9MwNR0x4h6k83fp/s400/111+2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Part of a great foreign poster from the YEAR: 1954</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Several films were inspired by CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON; two in particular, and both are connected: The first X-MEN was directed by Bryan Singer ala <i>Bad Hat Harry</i> Productions, a homage to the movie JAWS. And when you see various underwater shots with the camera aimed up at Julia Adams swimming, it's extremely similar to the famously doomed skinny-dipper in the Steven Spielberg killer shark opus... <br>
<br>
As is the built-in suspense of completely vulnerable characters unaware of what's directly beneath them in the water, where humans have very little control in the first place. As for X-MEN: both that and CREATURE start out with an expository lecture on Evolution, with images... Only in this case it's oddly coupled with Creation, and... well.... back in those days, the Big Bang needed explaining for how that <i>big fuse</i> got lit..<br>

creature, fifties, franchise, horror, jack arnold, julie adams, richard carlson, thriller, universal monster, william alland

WILLIAM ALLAND PRESENTS 'CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON'

Part of a great foreign poster from the YEAR: 1954 Several films were inspired by CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON; two in particular, and...

AGAR & ALLAND DOUBLE FEATURES 'TARANTULA' & 'MOLE PEOPLE'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNACyPV-S6VrOnFItwoyMD4v4-fyITcoRZHrf2ZHgr94bY4aVsfnLMPqcrQKacTWAajHoHF5SHClmkoF1c6DAW8FbtR3Se8ecHDyFrNww0WxCKWN0pf-_hRYuq4O3J0OlWIdpkctxQ8-Q/s1600/222222.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNACyPV-S6VrOnFItwoyMD4v4-fyITcoRZHrf2ZHgr94bY4aVsfnLMPqcrQKacTWAajHoHF5SHClmkoF1c6DAW8FbtR3Se8ecHDyFrNww0WxCKWN0pf-_hRYuq4O3J0OlWIdpkctxQ8-Q/s400/222222.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The man who shoots the TARANTULA is pictured below YEAR: 1955</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>TARANTULA</u>: The now obsolete special-effects method of superimposing insects or critters to make them seen giant, menacing and formidable only works since they're something we humans can easily otherwise hunt, shoot or step on – and now it's their turn to turn <i>us</i> into roadkill, or dinner...<br>
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But, using the enlarging-of-nature device for a contrived short-cut, producer William Alland's THE LAND UNKNOWN had footage of Gila Monsters to seem like dinosaurs, which didn't work since turning something naturally (relatively) small into what's supposed to be gigantic is just plain cheap – a possible one of several reasons his most capable and talented stock director, Jack Arnold, backed out of the project. But a year earlier, not only did Arnold direct TARANTULA, one of the best 1950's b-movie creature features, it's derived from a story he himself co-created...<br>