Tag Archives: Ray Harryhausen

The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

December 27, 2022 Ken Miller 3 Comments

Directed by Jim O’Connolly, produced by Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen, written by William Bast and starring James Franciscus, Richard Carlson, Laurence Naismith, Gila Golan, Curtis Arden and Freda Jackson.

'Cowboys battle monsters in the lost world of Forbidden Valley': how can any self-respecting monster movie fan resist that tag line?! — ‘Cowboys battle monsters in the lost world of Forbidden Valley’: how can any self-respecting monster movie fan resist that tag line?!

THE VALLEY OF GWANGI is a dino-tastic story set in Mexico at the turn of the 20th century. It follows the adventures of rodeo circus owner T.J. Breckenridge (a dubbed Gila Golan), her former beau Tuck Kirby (Franciscus), a British paleontologist (Naismith), a Mexican boy called Lope (Arden) and various cowboy members of the circus, as they find themselves in peril in the Forbidden Valley, a rocky zone that is full of prehistoric creatures! Woot!

Gwangi won't be caged for long! — Gwangi won’t be caged for long!

THE VALLEY OF GWANGI is a vibrant monster-fantasy-western that features stop-motion effects courtesy of the great Ray Harryhausen, a rousing score by Jerome Moross and likeable performances from the likes of James Franciscus and Richard Carlson.

Plot-wise, the movie is a lost world adventure with a western twist, which then transitions into a King Kong-style finale, where the titular dinosaur Gwangi is brought back to civilisation to be displayed at Breckenridge’s circus but, as always happens in these tales, the beast escapes and runs amok in the local Mexican town.

Gwangi on the rampage, reaches the big cathedral... — Gwangi on the rampage! The dinosaur reaches the big cathedral…

...and there's a cat-and-mouse encounter inside the building, as Tuck takes on the giant predator... — …and there’s a cat-and-mouse encounter inside the building, as Tuck takes on the giant predator…

...and eventually Gwangi is burnt to death, as the cathedral catches fire and starts to collapse — …and eventually Gwangi is burnt to death, as the cathedral catches fire and starts to collapse

'The strangest round up of all as cowboys battle monsters!' — ‘The strangest round up of all as cowboys battle monsters!’

Harryhausen’s effects are definitely the movie’s main selling point, and for this production we get to see an Eohippus, a Pteranodon, an Ornithomimus, a huge Allosaurus (Gwangi) and a Styracosaurus roaming across the screen. A stop-motion model of an elephant is also used when the pachyderm fights Gwangi during the finale.

The real stand-out moment is the roping sequence, when the cowboy heroes attempt to capture Gwangi using lassos. This is a wonderful action scene, showcasing Harryhausen’s top-notch stop-motion skills.

Another mouthwatering effects set piece is Gwangi’s fight with the Styracosaurus. Lots of roaring and biting! I love stop-motion dino battles!

Some earlier scenes with El Diablo the Eohippus, a tiny prehistoric horse, are also memorable, with Harryhausen putting just as much effort into these quieter, sweeter moments as he does with the more bombastic dinosaur encounters later on.

He's a sweet lil' thing, ain't he? — He’s a cute lil’ thing, ain’t he?

The Eohippus says 'hi' to its much bigger descendant — The Eohippus says ‘hi’ to its much bigger descendant

I’m not a fan of the solid-latex model of Gwangi that’s used for the scenes where the dinosaur knocks itself out while trying to push its way through the narrow gap to escape Forbidden Valley. I think Harryhausen himself was never pleased with these shots, as this inflexible model definitely has no ‘life’ to it: it looks especially stiff in the shots of Gwangi lying unconscious on the ground. Harryhausen had done similar scenes in his previous dinosaur adventure, ONE MILLION YEARS B.C., for instance, where Ray presented us with a marvellous shot of a dying Ceratosaurus lying on the ground, with its belly inflating and deflating as it desperately tries to keep breathing. So it’s such a shame a similar effect couldn’t have been used in GWANGI, though I’m sure Harryhausen was under a lot of budget and time constraints (but the Styracosaurus model in GWANGI was equipped with an inflatable air ‘bladder’ to simulate breathing).

Gwangi’s skin colour changes a few times over the course of the movie because, as there was so much animation to do, Harryhausen didn’t have enough time to do proper colour testing, so Gwangi ranges from grey to blue to purple-ish. I actually don’t think these colour changes are distracting and I’m sure I never spotted them when I viewed the movie as a kid.

I would've liked more atmospheric matte paintings like this one — I would’ve liked more atmospheric matte paintings like this one

The full-scale Pteranodon model and Gwangi head, used for close-ups, are not as effective as their stop-motion counterparts, but I’ll stop quibbling now and reiterate that THE VALLEY OF GWANGI is a colourful, entertaining fantasy flick, replete with monsters, gypsy curses, a belligerent circus elephant and even a dangerous-bull-in-a-bullring scene!

Trying to break the Pteranodon's neck! — Trying to break the Pteranodon’s neck!

Shot in Spain, which stands in for Mexico, the movie utilises the odd rock formations of La Ciudad Encantada, a distinctive geological site near the city of Cuenca (which is also featured in 1982’s CONAN THE BARBARIAN), to create the prehistoric vistas of the Forbidden Valley.

This shot features some of La Ciudad Encantada's mushroom-shaped rock formations — This shot features some of La Ciudad Encantada’s mushroom-shaped rock formations

Jerome Moross, the composer who worked on such films and TV series as THE BIG COUNTRY, GUNSMOKE, WAGON TRAIN and HAVE GUN – WILL TRAVEL, provides a soundtrack that really injects a thrilling, full-blooded western vibe into GWANGI. It’s a great score, with a main theme dripping with urgency (that I happen to be listening to right now as I write this!)

Here's some free advice, cowboy-dudes: don't use a blanket to ward off a vicious Allosaurus! — Here’s some free advice, cowboy-dudes: don’t use a blanket to ward off a vicious Allosaurus!

I was never quite sure why the cowboy decided to spear the herbivore, rather than the more dangerous predator... — I was never quite sure why the cowboy decided to spear the herbivore, rather than the more dangerous predator…

The scene where Gwangi lunges into view and snaps-up the fast-running Ornithomimus in its jaws was later recreated in JURASSIC PARK, this time featuring a Tyrannosaurus Rex plunging into shot to gobble up a fast-running Gallimimus.

Anyway, this is a Ray Harryhausen movie about cowboys venturing into a lost world of dinosaurs, so of course I will always love this movie!

THE WILLIS O’BRIEN CONNECTION
This film was actually a project that Willis O’Brien tried to develop, many decades earlier. It was titled THE VALLEY OF THE MISTS and it had been in preproduction at RKO for a while but, like a lot of O’Brien’s projects, it unfortunately fell through.

Here are some storyboards drawn by Willis O’Brien…

Willis O'Brien storyboard — Willis O’Brien storyboard

Here’s a hand-filled report (by O’Brien) on a printed RKO Radio Pictures form detailing visual effects requirements for an action sequence titled ‘Edge of Cliff’, which would’ve been featured in his iteration of the Gwangi movie…

Even though Willis O’Brien’s Gwangi movie was never made, some of his old production materials came into Ray Harryhausen’s possession and he proposed making his own version of the film to his producer/business partner Charles Schneer, who agreed that it should be their next project. And so THE VALLEY OF GWANGI finally went into production. Hooray! Though, as some people have pointed out, it’s a shame that O’Brien, who put a lot of effort into conceptualising the original Gwangi concept, didn’t receive a credit in the 1969 movie.

RAY HARRYHAUSEN CONCEPT ART
Here are some really gorgeous examples of Ray’s well-rendered concept art for his movie…

In Ray's concept drawing for the pteranodon attack he drew it with accurate-looking pterosaur wings. In the movie his stop-motion model had Ray's stylised bat-like wings. — In Ray’s concept drawing for the pteranodon attack he drew the flying reptile with accurate-looking pterosaur wings. In the movie his stop-motion model was equipped with stylised bat-like wings.

Rays's hand-drawn scale concept for the Pteranodon features Ray's signature bat-like wing design — Rays’s hand-drawn scale concept drawing for the Pteranodon features Ray’s signature bat-like wing design

Rays concept drawing for Gwangi, with cowboys and a horse shown for scale — Ray’s concept drawing for Gwangi, with cowboys and a horse shown for scale

Interestingly, long before Ray Harryhausen made his Gwangi movie, he actually painted this scene, way back in the 1930s. The painting’s title is: ‘Allosaurus attacking a cowboy’. So, I guess Ray was destined to make THE VALLEY OF GWANGI one day…

POSTERS FOR THE MOVIE
Uber-talented artist Frank McCarthy, responsible for vivid, astounding poster illustrations for DUEL AT DIABLO, THE DIRTY DOZEN, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, KRAKATOA EAST OF JAVA, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, WHERE EAGLES DARE and many more, produced the striking artwork that adorns almost all of the poster versions for THE VALLEY OF GWANGI.

Here’s McCarthy’s illustration without the poster blurb. It’s a glorious piece of promotional art that exaggerates the scale of Gwangi. The mounted cowboys, dwarfed by the size of the mega-Gwangi, ride their steeds away from the dinosaur and gallop past supersized skulls, adding a lot of dynamism to the composition. A couple of scared, attractive women and the burning cathedral (from the end of the movie) add extra flavour to the artwork.

McCarthy produced several preliminary design sketches that explored possible compositions for the Gwangi poster…

This Frank McCarthy preliminary artwork explores showing Gwangi from a reverse angle — This Frank McCarthy preliminary artwork explores the idea of showing Gwangi from a reverse angle

This rough prelim sketch depicts a very upright-looking Gwangi

This is the Frank McCarthy preliminary artwork design that was chosen for the poster. 'This is it' is even written on the design! — This is the Frank McCarthy preliminary artwork design that was chosen for the poster. ‘This is it’ is even written on the design!

Let’s check out a whole bunch of Gwangi posters now…

Italian poster. This puts a scantily-clad female at the front of the action. Those Italians!

Italian poster. This one actually doesn't use Frank McCarthy's dinosaur illustration: it features a spike-backed carnosaur (cribbed from a comic book) — Italian poster. This one actually doesn’t use Frank McCarthy’s dinosaur illustration: it features a spike-backed carnosaur instead (which was cribbed from a comic book)

A much more recent Mondo poster for the movie, designed by Mike Saputo

Poster for a screening of the movie by the Bristol Bad Film Club (I'm sure the club didn't think this movie was actually bad!) — Poster for a screening of the movie by the Bristol Bad Film Club (I’m sure the club didn’t think this movie was actually bad!)

LOBBY CARDS
Here are just some of the bobby cards for the film…

Lobby card. Laurence Naismith is just about to get squashed!

Lobby card. Two big prehistoric beasts have a face-off!

Lobby card. Gwangi gobbles up an Ornithomimus!

ART INSPIRED BY THE VALLEY OF GWANGI
Here are some cool artworks by illustrators who were inspired by the movie…

Gwangi-inspired cover art for the 1983 May issue of 'Fantasy Book' magazine, by Alan Gutierrez — Gwangi-inspired cover art for the 1983 May issue of ‘Fantasy Book’ magazine, by Alan Gutierrez

Here are some Gwangi-tastic illustrations by the very prolific and very talented artist Jamie Chase…

William Stout…

Illustrator & designer Ross Persichetti produced some illustrations, featured on ArtStation, that were inspired by THE VALLEY OF GWANGI. Ross’ faux Gwangi sequel was called ‘Return to the Valley of Gwangi’

Another faux 'Return to the Valley of Gwangi' concept illustration by Ross Persichetti — Another faux ‘Return to the Valley of Gwangi’ concept illustration by Ross Persichetti

PRESSBOOK
Pages from the Gwangi pressbook…

'This is not 50,000,000 years ago... this is today!' — ‘This is not 50,000,000 years ago… this is today!’

Page depicting various posters and accessories

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES
Here’s a bunch of different Gwangi-related items…

A page from 'The Monster Times' magazine — A page from ‘The Monster Times’ magazine

A shot of Ray Harryhausen with his clever set-up for the Gwangi vs elephant fight scene

Finally, here’s one more look at Gwangi in action…

I love how Gwangi stops to scratch his nose! Such a great touch from Ray, that adds more 'life' to the animated star of the movie — I love how Gwangi stops to scratch his nose! Such a great touch from Ray, that adds more ‘life’ to the animated star of the movie. It is, of course, also a nice nod from Ray to Willis O’Brien’s dinosaur from KING KONG, which had an itchy snout too.

Posters for Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

December 19, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS was directed by Don Chaffey, produced by Charles H. Schneer, and featured a great cast, including Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Honor Blackman, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith, Niall MacGinnis (my favourite Zeus!), Patrick Troughton, Douglas Wilmer, Michael Gwynn and Nigel Green (a really good Hercules!)

This is one of Ray Harryhausen’s very, very best movies! Boasting a well-paced plot, a wonderful Bernard Herrmann score and memorable stop-motion creatures, including Talos and the Harpies. The many-headed Hydra that guards the fleece is a very well-designed creation and is probably my favourite stop-motion movie beast.

The Hydra is a gorgeous-looking critter!

The sword fight between Jason and a couple of his Argonauts versus seven grimacing skeletons is a truly exciting and memorable moment in fantasy cinema. For me, this is the best stop-motion sequence of all time!

It's all about to kick off... — It’s all about to kick off…

Amazing stuff. Fantasy adventure movies don’t get better than this!

Here’s a selection of just some of the posters produced for the movie…

UK double bill quad poster for re-release of Jason and the Argonauts/Mysterious Island. I saw this double bill at the cinema! Woot! — UK quad poster for re-release of Jason and the Argonauts/Mysterious Island. I saw this double bill at the cinema! Woot!

A couple of limited-edition posters…

By Killian Eng — Poster by Killian Eng (he added too many skeletons!)

Some lobby cards…

I hope he used deodorant... — I hope he used deodorant…

Some fotobustas (Italian version of lobby cards)…

Some VHS, DVD and Blu-ray covers…

Some Super 8mm box art…

Derann box art for Super 8mm colour/sound reel

Some acrylic paintings by Jamie Chase…

Finally, some Ray Harryhausen concept art for the movie…

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

November 20, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Sinbad visits the kingdom of Charak and soon realises that all is not well. He eventually discovers that Prince Kassim, brother of Princess Farah (who Sinbad wishes to marry), has been turned into a baboon by his evil, magic-wielding stepmother Zenobia! In order to turn Kassim back into a human so that he can be crowned Caliph, Sinbad must seek out the alchemist Melanthius, which then leads to a quest to a far-off country beyond the north polar wastelands.

Prince Kassim has become a baboon, but he can still play chess!

Zenobia has got the eye(s) of the tiger!

Directed by Sam Wanamaker, SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER stars Patrick (THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT) Wayne, Jane (FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY) Seymour, Taryn Power and Patrick (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS) Troughton. With stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen, this was the third Sinbad movie released by Columbia Pictures.

Stop-motion ghouls: yikes! — Zomboid ghouls: yikes!

This colourful fantasy romp features, amongst other things, a fight with three bug-eyed zomboid ghouls, an attack by a (fairly) big bee, a witch (Margaret Whiting) who ends up with the foot of a seagull and a voyage to the lost land of Hyperborea. It’s a shame, then, that TIGER is nowhere near as good as either THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD, which boasted better cinematography, direction, acting, score, script and creatures, or THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, which had a livelier sense of adventure, a wonderful Bernard Herrmann score and more striking stop-motion beasties.

SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER has rather a lot of iffy moments, unfortunately: ‘ice’ that looks like it’s been made out of plastic bags, the unblinking, lifeless glass eyes of the sabre-toothed tiger and poor blue screen work seen during the Petra scenes.

However…

…there’s still a lot of stuff I do like: all the baboon and Trog stop-motion scenes are good, the film has an attractive (though wooden) cast, the attack of the giant walrus is enjoyable and Patrick Troughton, as the alchemist Melanthius, acts everyone else off the screen.

Trog and Kassim the baboon become buddies

A lovely fantasy landscape. I wish there had been more shots of this kind in the film

It would've been better if the Minoton had been given more to do in the film — It would’ve been better if the Minoton had been given more to do in the film

The mechanical Minoton, animated via Zenobia’s sorcery, looks pretty cool, but has a rather throwaway demise when it just falls under a block of stone: I would have liked to see it fight either Sinbad or Trog.

Complaints aside, the film is charming and watchable – and I still have very fond memories of seeing this movie twice in the cinema, once in a double bill with the Nicholas Hammond SPIDER-MAN (which was released theatrically in the UK).

Here are some more posters…

US advance style 1 sheet – illustration is by Birney Lettick

Foldout movie promo…

Promo foldout - back cover (illustration is by Victor Gadino) — Promo back cover (illustration is by Victor Gadino)

Lobby cards…

Lobby card - Patrick Wayne, Patrick Troughton, Taryn Power and Jane Seymour — Lobby card – Patrick Wayne, Patrick Troughton, Taryn Power and Jane Seymour

Lobby card - Patrick & Taryn — Lobby card – Patrick & Taryn

Super 8 movie box art…

VHS, DVD and Blu-ray covers…

Pages from the movie pressbook…

A comic book adaptation of SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER was produced in the UK by General Publishing. This single issue also included a couple of movie features.

Ian Gibson, a regular artist for UK sci-fi comic 2000 AD, provided the nice-looking, detailed illustrations…

Written by Benny Aldrich, drawn by Ian Gibson

Some of Ian Gibson's original artwork. I like the very intricate line work! — Some of Ian Gibson’s original art. I like the very intricate line work!

Reaching the gate... — Reaching the gate…

Books and magazines…

The novelisation of the movie, written by John Ryder Hall

Here’s a hand pulled screen print art piece by a veteran of the UK graffiti scene, inspired by the film…

Finally, here’s a publicity shot…

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

November 14, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Kali: one of Ray Harryhausen's greatest creations! — Kali: one of Ray Harryhausen’s greatest creations!

Sinbad (John Phillip Law), his crew, a Vizier (Douglas Wilmer) and a slave girl called Margiana (Caroline Munro) undertake a voyage to find the legendary Fountain of Destiny in Lemuria, but a master of black arts, Koura (Tom Baker), is also set on acquiring the Fountain’s gifts to conquer the land of Marabia.

Directed by Gordon (SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN) Hessler, this movie was the second of three Ray Harryhausen Sinbad films released by Columbia Pictures (the other two were THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER) and it’s my personal favourite.

Margiana is offered up to the God of the Single Eye... a centaur! — Margiana is offered up to the God of the Single Eye… a centaur!

For me THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD has the best ‘feel’ of the three Harryhausen Sinbad productions: the lighting is great, the sets are marvellous, it has the best dialogue and the general atmosphere is a satisfying mix of seriousness, fantasy, adventure and humour.

Sinbad fights for his life in a fine-looking Lemurian temple set — Sinbad fights for his life in a moody Lemurian temple set

The score by composer Miklós Rózsa is wonderful, especially during the exciting sword fight between Sinbad’s crew and a statue of Kali. Rózsa had provided the music for THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940), a favourite film of Ray’s. THE THIEF OF BAGDAD had also featured green-skinned men and this Sinbad adventure has similar green tribesmen.

The main selling point of any Ray Harryhausen production is the chance to enjoy Ray’s stop-motion effects and THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD has a fine selection of animated adversaries, including the aforementioned many-armed Kali. Along with the Kali fight scene, the initial sequence that introduces Kali is also very well-done: the fact that Ray, through his stop-motion skills, imbues the six-armed statue with ‘life’ and then proceeds to show her dancing too is just amazing.

Other stop-motion creations include a wooden ship’s figurehead and winged homunculi. The scene in which Koura creates the second small homunculus from a jar of leaves and chemicals is effectively done, with the tiny creature acting as if it has just been born.

'Birth' of the homunculus — ‘Birth’ of the homunculus

Koura uses his dark magic to animate the figurehead on Sinbad's ship — Koura uses his dark magic to animate the figurehead on Sinbad’s ship

There is also an impressive cyclopean centaur, which kidnaps Margiana, then does battle with a griffin!

Some folks moan that the griffin just kind of strolls into the story to have a fight with the centaur and then gets killed. But this winged creature is performing a role set out in a prophecy told to Sinbad by the Oracle of All Knowledge (played by an uncredited Robert Shaw in striking makeup) and so, for me, the sudden appearance works fine because the griffin is functioning as part of the prophecy (which states “Destiny is a place where both good and evil wait” – the griffin obviously personifies the good) and when we see it get wounded by Koura so that the centaur can gain the upper hand in the battle, the griffin is again playing its part in the prophecy (“for it is the deeds of weak and mortal men that may tip the scales one way or the other.”)

The horned Oracle of All Knowledge is consulted

Lobby card shows Sinbad taking on the centaur

Tom Baker, as Koura, ageing every time he uses his magic, is the best villain in the Sinbad trilogy of films, I think. John Phillip Law is a fine Sinbad (the best!) and the lovely Caroline Munro adds glamour as slave girl Margiana, dripping sex appeal in all her scenes. Douglas (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS) Wilmer, as the badly burned Vizier, is hidden by a mask for most of the running time, but his voice is a great contribution to the film.

Tom Baker as Koura, surrounded by green tribesmen

The Vizier reveals his scarred face to act as a distraction, so that Sinbad can escape the green men. — Douglas Wilmer as the Vizier reveals his scarred face to act as a distraction, so that the protagonists can escape the green men.

Sinbad offers the Vizier a crown of untold riches

Ultimately, I think this Sinbad film stands out because its story uses the overarching theme of Destiny very well, in a script written by Brian Clemens that includes lots of chat peppered with praise to Allah, humour and colourful aphorisms: “My heart is filled with courage! But I have very cowardly legs.”

“Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel!”

Kali will be a real handful in a fight! — Kali is a real handful!

Some posters for the film…

Lobby cards…

VHS, DVD and Blu-ray covers…

Marvel Comics did an adaptation of the movie…

Publicity photo…

Finally, here’s a Ray Harryhausen concept drawing that shows a proposed fight between the centaur and a giant Neanderthal Man…

The Neanderthal Man was replaced with a griffin in GOLDEN VOYAGE, but a Troglodyte would feature in SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER — The Neanderthal Man was replaced with the griffin in GOLDEN VOYAGE, but a big Troglodyte would feature in SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER

Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)

November 6, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

This Columbia Pictures sci-fi film was directed by Fred F. Sears, produced by Charles H. Schneer, and stars Hugh (THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL) Marlowe, Joan (20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH) Taylor and Morris (THE GIANT CLAW) Ankrum.

The storyline was suggested by the bestselling non-fiction book ‘Flying Saucers from Outer Space’ by Major Donald Keyhoe, though the plot in the movie goes the full-on route of pulpy, full-scale alien invasion. Yes! This is what we want!

The iconic Ray Harryhausen-created flying saucers, of course, are the main draw for this fun flick. They are so, well, flying saucer-ish! This is how UFOs should look!

Ray's super-cool saucers! — Ray’s super-cool saucers!

I like how, at one point, the aliens initially try to negotiate a takeover without conflict because they don’t want to rule a messed-up world, but when they realise this isn’t going to happen… they simply throw their two human captives out of one of their craft mid-flight! Spiteful, nasty aliens!

Ray Harryhausen had considered portraying the aliens as animated worm-like beings, but the extraterrestrials in the movie were eventually portrayed as aliens wearing body armour made from solidified electricity (via men-in-suits, not stop-motion models). We do get a glimpse of an alien’s hairless, lined visage when its helmet is removed. ..

An alien's face is revealed — An alien’s face is revealed

This is one of the few 50s extraterrestrial invasion movies to actually deliver on what the posters promised: mass saucer attacks and lots of property destruction!

Here’s a whole bunch of posters for the movie (the Italians, as usual, produced some gorgeous artwork for their posters)…

Italian poster - illustration by Anselmo Ballester — Italian poster – illustration by Anselmo Ballester

French poster - nice, loose artwork by Georges Kerfyser — French poster: nice, loose art style by Georges Kerfyser

Swedish poster: this one's very lively looking! — Swedish poster: this one’s very lively looking!

Italian Locandina movie poster (Anselmo Ballester art)

Some DVD, Blu-ray and VHS covers…

Lobby cards for the movie…

Lobby card - run away! — Lobby card – run away!

Assorted assets…

Okay, here’s a pressbook for the film…

Some cool art by Sam Williams, from 2016…

Finally, here’s the cover of the book that inspired the film…

Posters for The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

October 10, 2021 Ken Miller 2 Comments

This was Ray Harryhausen’s first full colour fantasy movie, featuring Arabian Nights hero Sinbad leading an adventurous, incident-filled mission to the monster-filled island of Colossa!

Directed by Nathan Juran, produced by Charles H. Schneer, starring Kerwin Mathews, Torin Thatcher and Kathryn Grant, with a rousing score by Bernard Herrmann, the film became a sleeper hit and would go on to spawn two Sinbad sequels by Harryhausen, who filled each yarn with a memorable mix of stop-motion creatures.

Here are some of the many posters produced for THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD over the years…

Italian two-sheet: quite a forbidding composition! — Italian two-sheet poster: quite a forbidding composition!

Japanese poster: this one is so dynamic!

UK quad double bill poster: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad/Watch out, We're Mad! — UK quad double bill poster: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad/Watch out, We’re Mad!

German poster: interesting illustration style

Italian poster: this one's pretty cool! — Italian poster: this one’s pretty cool!

Ghanaian hand-painted poster: the artist gave the snake woman snake-headed hands!

UK quad double bill poster: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad/The 3 Worlds of Gulliver

Italian poster: featuring a scary cyclops!

Some lobby cards…

Some extra bits and pieces…

VHS cover... with a metallic-looking cyclops! — VHS cover… with a metallic-looking cyclops!

Box art for super 8mm 200ft, B&W, silent reel (I have this!)

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

June 4, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

A U.S. spaceship returns from a secret mission to Venus and crashes into the sea near the Italian coast. The only survivors of the trip are pilot Colonel Bob Calder (William Hopper) and fellow crew member Dr. Sharman, who soon dies from a disease contracted whilst on Venus. Meanwhile, a small creature washes ashore in a cylinder and is discovered by a young boy called Pepe (Bart Bradley). The kid sells the gel-encased critter to zoologist Dr. Leonardo (Frank Puglia), who is extremely intrigued by this creature, which soon hatches and begins to grow.

The newly hatched Venusian critter... — The newly hatched Venusian critter…

Poster — ‘Out-of-space creature invades the Earth!’

The reptilian-looking Venusian beast escapes from Leonardo and the hunt begins: Calder, who explains that the creature was a specimen brought back in his spaceship, wants to capture it alive, whilst the Italian police want to kill it before the continually-growing thing can do any harm to the populace.

Colonel Bob Calder captures the Ymir before it can be killed by the Italian cops… so does this mean he’s partly responsible for the death and damage caused by Ymir later in the movie?

Calder’s plan to catch the creature using an electrified net works and the beast is taken to Rome to be studied. Later, an accident allows the creature to escape its restraints and the very large alien goes on the rampage through the streets of Rome.

The captured Ymir will soon be on the loose again... — The captured Ymir will soon be on the loose again…

20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH’s main selling point is the Venusian creature itself, which most people refer to as the Ymir, though it is never called such a name in the film (the original title for the movie was going to be THE GIANT YMIR). The fact that the Ymir is goaded and prodded by humans to begin with in this movie makes him a creature we can sympathise with to a certain extent, stopping him from merely being seen as a monster.

Don't prod the Venusian creature! — Don’t prod the Venusian creature!

Brought to life by Ray Harryhausen, the Ymir is a reptilian creature with a long tail and human-like torso. Ray’s stop-motion talents mean the beast is agile, expressive and interacts effectively with the people around it, doing things onscreen that many other 50s-era B-movie critters could only dream of. There’s a moment, for instance, where the Ymir scoops up water in its hand and drinks it: it’s a wonderful little gesture that the monsters of flicks like IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST, etc, could never, ever do.

Ymir rubs his eye: this is a great little touch to add ‘reality’ to the character

Let’s face it: even a classic like THEM! (1954) had creatures far less mobile and fluid in their movements. But where the giant ant movie scores far higher is in its plot and dialogue, which are superior to 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH’s rather by the numbers script – and it’s the perfunctory plotting and dialogue that means this Harryhausen movie lacks what’s needed to enable it to rub shoulders with the likes of THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and THEM! in the upper echelon of 50s science fiction cinema.

But this movie is a fun watch nonetheless, with such involving moments as the Ymir attacking a pitchfork-wielding farmer in a barn and the now-giant creature’s rampage through Rome, including its fight with an elephant from the zoo and a showdown atop the Colosseum.

Don't get in Ymir's way! — Don’t get in Ymir’s way!

Though I was initially wondering why the Venusian disease (that killed the rest of the spacecraft’s crew) didn’t spread to Calder and others who came into contact with the dying Dr. Sharman, I soon forgot about this quibble as I was too busy enjoying watching the Ymir face-off against Italian cops with flamethrowers, smash through the Ponte Sant’Angelo bridge and knock over ancient Roman columns!

The dynamic sequence where Ymir smashes up through the bridge!

The bottom line is that 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH is an enjoyable B&W fifties sci-fi film, boasting a creature that is one of Ray Harryhausen’s best-loved and memorable stop-motion creations.

Ymir is angry! — I love how Ymir is lit here!

The Ymir stop-motion models were cannibalised for their armatures for Ray Harryhausen’s next film, THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, to be used for two Cyclops models.
The primary 12” Ymir armature was used for the 12″ two-horned Cyclops model that fights the dragon and the armature of the 6” Ymir model (used for long shots) was re-used to make the smallest Cyclops model (seen in the long shot atop the cliff as it stumbles, blinded, to the edge).

Monster Zone