Wednesday, June 18, 2008

THE SPACE CHILDREN - Van Cleave - "The Theme" (1958)

What a great movie "The Space Children" is, and it's definitely at the top of the list of 'films I need to watch again real soon,' and should also be on yours, and here's the reasons why!!!! 
 
Director Jack Arnold put out an unprecedented and amazing array of films in the 50's with titles like "It Came From Outer Space", "This Island Earth", "Tarantula" and "The Amazing Shrinking Man" to name a few before becoming a major TV director who, among other things produced and directed a large number of "Gilligan's Island" episodes. Sadly Jack left this planet back in 1992, but his legacy will be forever remembered through his massive body of work!!! 
 
"The Space Children" is a veritable pile of acting talent too big to detail, but here's a few choice tidbits! Just to start off with, we have Peggy Webber of "Screaming Skull" fame, and veteran heavy Adam Williams! 
 
In the backseat, on the left there's Johnny Crawford of "The Rifleman" as Ken Brewster, here in a very early role, and on the right, child actor Michel Ray who quit acting in 1964, was a member of the 1968 UK Olympic Ski Team, and in 2002 inherited over 50% of the Heineken Beer empire worth over 4 billion dollars! Hey Mike, we love your work, man, if you ever need any help with anything!!! 
 
The set is sparse but ingenious, set up some trailers on the coast! Sweet!! 
 
And to round out this cast of wonders, first off, smoking a cigarette, you've got the Professor from "Gilligan's Island" Russell Johnson in the weird role as the abusive stepfather. Then, you've got Uncle Fester Jackie Coogan in a straight role as Hank Johnson! There's Ty Hardin as 'The Sentry' who would go on to have his own cowboy TV show as "Bronco Layne," and child star Sandy Descher discovered at the age of 3! The list goes on and on! What a cast!! 
 
The excellent theme is the product of the Maestro Van Cleave!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Man, I really dig this theme!

Greg Goodsell said...

The one Jack Arnold project that he never realized -- and would have been a hoot to watch, would have been "A Circle of Wheels," more in line with his comedic, self-reflexive sci-fi that he did with "The Mouse That Roared."

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