1/30/2008
I got a catalog in the mail from one of those discount dvd places, with lost of listings of unusual movies-including some that brought back memories for me.
One that was listed is “the Lost World”- which some of you may remember as a staple of the old “Family Classics” show on channel 9. It starred an aging Claude Rains as Professor Challenger, head of the expedition in this version of the Arthur Conan Doyle tale, leading his crew to a mysterious plateau in the Amazon jungle (possible near the Black Lagoon of our last “Creature” feature?)-which is just brimming with giant spiders, giant dinosaurs (portrayed by magnified lizards), and a dangerous cannibal tribe. Since this movie was an Irwin Allen production, and starred David Hedison, I remember them re-using big chunks of it in a “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” episode, which also starred Hedison and was helmed by Allen.
The movie also had the decorative Jill St. John in the cast, along with Michael Rennie (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”) and Fernando Lamas. I remember the movie being a lot of fun to watch as a kid- but, would it be worth buying the dvd?
Also included is the low-budget “Alligator’ from 1980- which took the legend of all the tiny pet alligators that were once the rage, and supposedly flushed down toilets when their owners got tired of taking care of them- and turned it into a tale of one of the gators growing to immense size down in the sewers (thanks to toxic waste of course- what, did he have to fight the CHUDs for it?), and causing big-time destruction from under the streets of Manhattan. I always remember them throwing in the report that a sewer worker- named ED NORTON!- was killed by the beast! I’ve always thought this would be a great Sven feature…
They even have the seldom seen “Robinson Crusoe on mars” from 1964- a modernization of the original “Robinson Crusoe” tale, with an astronaut (Paul Mantee) being marooned on the Red Planet- accompanied by a monkey and a silent “native” who becomes his man Friday. This film also stars Adam West, though he doesn’t get a heck of a lot of screen time. I always remember that the odd movement of the attacking alien spaceships was kind of disconcerting- and, only later, found out they were stop-motion left-overs from George Pal’s 1953 version of “War of the Worlds!”
Am I going top order any of these dvds? Well, I’m definitely tempted- but, I’m even more tempted to put our programming guys on the trail of them, to try and secure them for future Sven shows!
One that was listed is “the Lost World”- which some of you may remember as a staple of the old “Family Classics” show on channel 9. It starred an aging Claude Rains as Professor Challenger, head of the expedition in this version of the Arthur Conan Doyle tale, leading his crew to a mysterious plateau in the Amazon jungle (possible near the Black Lagoon of our last “Creature” feature?)-which is just brimming with giant spiders, giant dinosaurs (portrayed by magnified lizards), and a dangerous cannibal tribe. Since this movie was an Irwin Allen production, and starred David Hedison, I remember them re-using big chunks of it in a “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” episode, which also starred Hedison and was helmed by Allen.
The movie also had the decorative Jill St. John in the cast, along with Michael Rennie (“The Day the Earth Stood Still”) and Fernando Lamas. I remember the movie being a lot of fun to watch as a kid- but, would it be worth buying the dvd?
Also included is the low-budget “Alligator’ from 1980- which took the legend of all the tiny pet alligators that were once the rage, and supposedly flushed down toilets when their owners got tired of taking care of them- and turned it into a tale of one of the gators growing to immense size down in the sewers (thanks to toxic waste of course- what, did he have to fight the CHUDs for it?), and causing big-time destruction from under the streets of Manhattan. I always remember them throwing in the report that a sewer worker- named ED NORTON!- was killed by the beast! I’ve always thought this would be a great Sven feature…
They even have the seldom seen “Robinson Crusoe on mars” from 1964- a modernization of the original “Robinson Crusoe” tale, with an astronaut (Paul Mantee) being marooned on the Red Planet- accompanied by a monkey and a silent “native” who becomes his man Friday. This film also stars Adam West, though he doesn’t get a heck of a lot of screen time. I always remember that the odd movement of the attacking alien spaceships was kind of disconcerting- and, only later, found out they were stop-motion left-overs from George Pal’s 1953 version of “War of the Worlds!”
Am I going top order any of these dvds? Well, I’m definitely tempted- but, I’m even more tempted to put our programming guys on the trail of them, to try and secure them for future Sven shows!
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