Bill Warren - Keep Watching the Skies! : American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, The 21st Century Edition

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE BILL THOMAS

Foreword by Howard Waldrop

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

e-ISBN: 978-1-4766-2505-8

2010 Bill Warren. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Designed by Robert Franklin

Cover 2010 Kerry Gammill

Second printing, with corrections

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com

To absent friends

Ron Hale
Bob Greenberg
Bill Rotsler
Allan Rothstein
Tim Murphy
and always and forever to
Forrest J Ackerman

The acknowledgements for the original two volumes remain intact (see following). The list for this volume is much shorter.

Tom Weaver, who knows more about the people who made the science fiction movies of the 1950s than anyone else on the planet, including me, went over this manuscript entry by entry over the course of a couple of years, offering suggestions and doing great proofreading. Not copy editing; we were both cautious about that, as our strongly held opinions dont often match.

I was helped in tracking down obscure films by the amazing Dave Sindelar, who for many years now, has been reviewing a different genre film every day. You can find his long, long inventory of reviews at his Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings (http://www.scifilm.org/).

Tim Murphy, the Bird Man of South El Monte, surprised me some years back when he revealed he was trying to get on video every movie covered in Keep Watching the Skies! With the exception of The Weird Ones, which no one, not even its director, has any longer, I think Tim has accomplished his goal. For this book, he was of great help in turning up films I hadnt seen, but was especially useful in tracking down Great Pretenders.

In the first editions, I should have expressed thanks to Jon Berg and Jim Danforth; I didnt then, so Im doing it now. Thanks also to Dave Schow and Scott Fresina, for times past. Leonard and Alice Maltin werent mentioned prominently enough; Ive worked on Leonards annual Movie Guide volumes for over twenty years and hes never failed to be helpful, friendly and often funny. A special acknowledgement to Bob Burns and Joe Dante; not only have both always been prompt with information, but the commentary track for Pals The War of the Worlds we recorded together remains one of my favorite professional activities. (We recorded it the same day I visited the set of Spielbergs War of the Worlds, a coincidence that delighted me.) Thanks also to Bill Patterson, expert on Robert A. Heinlein, who was of great help with the entries on Destination Moon and Project Moon Base. Thanks also to Ted Newsom and George Carlisle, for encouragement and suggestions. More thanks to Tim and Donna Lucas of Video Watchdog; Donna was particularly helpful as I neared the end of this project. Also thanks to William Malone and Robert Skotak, both unfailingly willing to offer corrections and other help. Also to Leslie Swigart, who has been a demon for tracking down information online. Thanks to Charles Lee Jackson II, who frequently called me with suggestions and advice. I also owe a lot of thanks to Stuart Galbraith IV, Harry Medved, August Ragone, Eric Caidin and Steve Ryfle. At the last minute, Don Glut and Eric Hoffman helped by turning up some unusual photos. And thanks to the opinionated bunch at the Classic Horror Film Board (CHFB), including Rob Cromb and Greg Espinoza, among many others.

A special note of thanks to David Sechrest, who began helping at a very late datethe manuscript had already been submitted. But his assistance was invaluable nonetheless.

As Jack Moffitts Hollywood Reporter reviews were one of my favorite discoveries while initially researching this project, Glenn Ericksons DVD Savant reviews are the favorite this time around. Hes published one collection of the reviews so far (it has the same title), and they continue to appear at www.dvdtalk.com. Glenn is one of the best film reviewers I have ever readwell-informed, intelligent and never stuffy. Id say he belongs up there with Pauline Kael, but Glenn would blush and balk at that, so I wont. But he does. Do yourself a favor and track down his reviews. (Sad side note: some idols do have feet of clay. Jack Moffitt was a major part of the Hollywood Red-baiting of the 1950s, naming names profusely.)

I also owe special debts of thanks to Dave McDonnell of Starlog and Anthony Timpone of Fangoria. And to Jerry Del Colliano formerly of Audio/Video Revolution, the website for which I once wrote reviews.

Ive been surprised to learn of celebrities and Hollywood creative types who are fond of the book, including Ira Steven Behr, producer of such series as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and The 4400. Howard Waldrop, writer, fisherman and bon vivant, caught my attention with his entertaining, well-researched alternate-history stories even before I learned he also liked my books. I was able to arm-wrestle him into writing the introduction for this volume. But nothing surprised me more than learning that Jonathan Winters, one of my favorite comedians, and Gary Owens of Laugh-In fame for a while amused each other by reading entries from Keep Watching the Skies! to each other over the phone. A lot of directors and special effects artists have expressed fondness for the book, even some actors. Scott Spiegels enthusiasm was a welcome treat. (Buy two, Scottie.) I thanked Joe Dante a lot in the original volumes; hes due more thanks for this one.

Im very critical of the book The 50 Worst Films of All Time throughout this book. I still dont like the book, but its co-author Harry Medved has turned out to be a courteous, helpful and friendly colleague.

Frank Dietz did the original drawings for this book. I think theyre terrific. If you think so, too, contact Frank at www.sketchythings.com. Regarding the illustrations in the original Keep Watching the Skies!someone out there in readerland violated ethics and the law, and issued coffee cups and other items with Marc Schirmeisters drawings. They didnt bother to get permission from me, McFarland or Schirmeister; they certainly didnt pay for this appropriation. They didnt even send us examples of their products. Pleasedo not misuse Frank Dietzs drawings in this manner.

Theres also a group I should thank, not so much for what they did on this book, but for what they did for my lifethey saved it. By 2002, my heart valves were covered with what was unsettlingly referred to as vegetation. I had to have surgery to alleviate this endocarditis, or I would die. Dr. Jorgensen and the staff of the cardiac department of Kaiser Permanentes Hollywood branch saved my life. Special thanks to Dr. Nomura, disease specialist, who recognized what I had (and a few years later recognized what Beverly had and, by so doing, saved her, too). And the nurses at the Kaiser hospital made it worth living as I recuperated.