The Invisible Man vs. the Human Fly (1957)
Seven years after The Invisible Man Appears, Daiei released this sequel which begins with a series of murders that seem to be the work of an invisible man. However, there seems to be the sound of buzzing with each kill. It’s the work of a war criminal who created the formula and as a result, was […]
Beginning of the End (1957)
American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, or Am-Par, decided to create their own film studio to make low-budget movies that they could place into their theaters, signing a deal with Republic Pictures to make them. And after the success of Them!, who else but Burt I. Gordon to make more giant bug movies? Gordon did the effects by himself […]
Drag Strip Girl (1957)
One of American-International Pictures first winners was this movie, released as a double feature with Rock All Night. It has Fay Spain in the title role, in a story that would pretty much be recycled as Motorcycle Gang along with cast members John Ashley (this was his first movie) and Steve Terrell. Ashley had never acted […]
Mister Rock and Roll (1957)
Charles S. Dubin was blacklisted but still ended up being a TV director of some reknown five years afterward. He’d go on to direct 44 episodes of M*A*S*H*, as well as TV movies like The Deadly Triangle and the 1979 remake of Topper. Here, he’s putting together a jukebox musical featuring Mr. Rock and Roll himself, Alan Freed, […]
Cat Girl (1957)
An unofficial remake of Cat People, this Alfred Shaughnessy-directed (he wrote Upstairs Downstairs) film is all about Leonora Johnson (Barbara Shelley, perhaps Hammer’s best-known female actress with roles in Dracula, Prince of Darkness; The Gorgon; Rasputin, The Mad Monk and Quatermass and the Pit), who may have inherited a family curse — when angered, she transforms into a murderous cat — […]
Kiss Them for Me (1957)
Stanley Donen has one hell of a directorial resume: On the Town, Singin’ In the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Damn Yankees and so many more. Here, he’s working from a 1945 Luther Davis play that was in turn based on the Frederic Wakeman Sr. novel Shore Leave. Wakeman had worked in advertising until the war and as he […]
The Wayward Bus (1957)
Jayne Mansfield and Joan Collins in the same movie? My dreams do come true. Joan is Alice Chicoy, the owner of a restaurant that likes her booze. Her husband Johnny (Rick Jason, The Witch Who Came from the Sea) owns a bus that is falling to pieces. She’s unhappy with life, so she determines that she needs […]
The Burglar (1957)
With a $90,000 budget, a noir sensibility and no small amount of grit, some have seen this film as the last b-movie made by Columbia Pictures. It’s all about professional burglar Nat Harbin (character actor Dan Duryea) trying to justify his life and how it keeps involving his adoptive daughter Gladden (Jane Mansfield). Directed by Paul […]
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)
Frank Tashlin wrote, produced and directed this film, taking only the title and the character of Rita Marlowe from the successful Broadway play Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? He also made the smart move of hiring Jayne Mansfield to reprise her role as Rita. It’s an anarchic movie for a big studio film, taking shots […]
Drive-In Friday: Fast & Furious ’50s Style Night
Thank the celluloid gods of the analog netherworlds for giving Sam the idea to commemorate the Fast & Furious franchise, thus granting the opportunity to go ’50s hot roddin’ rock n’ roll crazy with this week’s Drive-In Friday tribute. Tonight’s show takes me back to the days when AMC was still known as “American Movie […]
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