HE WALKED BY NIGHT - "The Work Of Police Like That Of Woman, Is Never Done!" (1948)

I can't help it, I love film noir movies, so I guess Wednesdays have evolved into Murder Mystery Film Noir Thriller Action Adventure Nights! This fantastic Japanese poster has nothing to do with tonight's film, except for the title, but it sure is cool! Here's a bit of the opening narration to properly set the mood!

Actually, sometimes he walked around in the daytime too! The trick was just not to get caught!!

For some reason besides being in black and white, this shot looks like it came right out of a "Twilight Zone" episode!

John (HIGHWAY 13) McGuire is an off-duty cop headed home for the night when he spots something suspicious going on, so he decides to stop and ask a few questions!

You wanna see my military discharge papers? BANG!!! Richard Basehart is not such a nice guy in this movie! In fact, he's not nice at all! He's a cruel heartless killer! Based on a real crime story, the city of L.A. is now minus one officer!

Looks like any second Commissioner Gordon is going to send out the Bat Signal!!

 

Dum Da Dum Dum, Dum Da Dum Dum Dum!  I'm just giving you the facts! "He Walks By Night" was a precursor to TV's "Dragnet" starring none other than that man there with the stare, Jack Webb!

"He Walked By Night" might not be a monster movie, but here's a pair of characters that some of the best monster movies couldn't have done without,  Thomas Browne (EARTH VS.THE FLYING SAUCERS, BEGINNING OF THE END, 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS, BLOOD OF DRACULA, THE THING THAT COULDN'T DIE, SPACEMASTER X-7, HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER) Henry on the left, and Whit (CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, TARGET EARTH, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF, I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN, MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS, Bissell on the right. Between these two guys, they have 492 TV and movie credits! Unfreakinbelievable!!

Here's how you take a simple shot of a guy standing in a doorway, and make it into something special!

Tough guy Richard Basehart has to painfully  remove his own bullet!

"He Walked By Night" doesn't have very many females in it. Carlotta Monti has a small role as a liquor store customer. Earlier in her career, Carlotta was a theatergoer in "King Kong!"

Back in the good olde days, without the help of computers, they had to figure out things the hard way like matching up shell casing rubs!

The cops just can't figure out what this guy looks like, so all the witnesses are gathered together to try and put a composite sketch together, and it comes out pretty damn close!

Great little shot of absolutely nothing!

Even evil bastard killers enjoy the company of man's best friend! Dog's just don't  know how to be judgmental! Give them some food and a little attention and they're your friend forever!

Pretty futuristic looking, I think you will agree! L.A. storm drain tunnels put to very good use, just like the B.A.R.T. tunnels in "THX 1138!"

There is absolutely no reason not to watch "He Walked By Night!" You can find it at the fantabulous Internet Archive right here to watch or download to your heart's content for free, so there are literally no excuses not to!

OUTER LIMITS: Cry Of Silence / Daystar Productions - 1964

It's Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We gots one of the last episodes of the series starring Eddie (THE DEVIL'S RAIN) Albert, June (FOLLOW THE SUN) Havoc and Arthur (CAT BALLOU) Hunnicutt. In the third and last season, running on a low budget, there are only 3 actors and tumbleweeds serve as the monsters in this story of an invisible visitor from space.

Eegah!! sent us over a soundclip from this episode, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the giant bat, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... Cry Of Silence!

Andy and Karen Thorne are lost and in the middle of a deserted valley, Karen is injured after falling down a steep rocky hill. Hey, at least they gots a nice '64 Mercury convertible!

They get trapped and then attacked by a roaming gang of tumbleweeds!!

Then, there's a mysterious figure that mysteriously helps them get free of the mean old dusty attacking tumbleweeds...

The old man lives in the area so he takes Andy and Karen to his place, and, his wife has disappeared. Besides all that, he's acting mighty strangely!

They are attacked by a horde of frogs, so, Andy puts one in water and it dissolves, giving evidence of visitors from space?

They surmise that the old man is possessed by an alien and try to communicate with it, but communication breaks down.

In a totally surrealistic scene, Andy tries to make sense of the weird situation. Suddenly, one of the scoops on the tractor swings down and nearly bonks him on the head!

Andy ends up communication with the alien force after he hypnotizes himself with a swinging spoon!

THX 1138 - Lalo Schifrin \ Walter Murch - "Serious Chemical Imbalance" (1971)

"The Future Is Now!" - "I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus!" - The Firesign Theatre

"THX 1138" was George Lucas's first full length film!

For some, like Tabonga, who are of the rubber monster persuasion, "THX 1138" is too arty,  slow, and dreary!

It might move at a paramecium's pace at first, but if nothing else, "THX 1138" is 86 minutes of pure eye taffy!!

The amazingly active and talented Robert Duvall as "THX 1138" has been nominated for 6 Oscars for either best actor or best supporting actor, and won the the gold statue once for best actor in "Tender Mercies!"

This is LUH 3417, THX's mate, as portrayed by Maggie McOmie! One of the stars of George Lucas's first feature and yet she has appeared in only one other feature film, four shorts, and one video!

The future doesn't show a lot of promise unless you've got a lot of help!

Home entertainment is provided by repetitious holograms and jungle rhythms provided by Lalo Schifrin!

The almighty ones make judgment upon anyone involved in illegal sexual activity like THX and LUH!

THX and LUH are permanently separated for their illicit behaviour and THX loses it!

Because of his distractions, THX almost turns the whole place into a nuclear nightmare!

The authorities cannot allow such conduct, and the robot security forces escort THX to his new home!

Desperation, despair, despondence, alienation, and a total mental whiteout wipeout are his earned rewards!

Donald Pleasence is Sen 5241, his name has been popping up a lot around here lately! 6' 4" Don Pedro Colley is the black hologram in a white world, and the only one who knows the way out, of course!

Reality is madness to the tenth degree! Maybe the insanity of solitude wasn't so bad compared to the overpopulated and insanely fast moving world of the outside!

How convenient is that? George Lucas's studios were in the Bay area, the home of the B.A.R.T. system, and the awesome looking underground rail system of the future! Sleek and stark, how absolutely perfect?

Unfortunately, holograms aren't such great drivers!

Panic, pursuit and pandemonium ensue!

Shades of "Vanishing Point," some odd number of years into the future!

Run THX, run! There has to be something better! There just has to! Head towards the light, and the possibility of a different existence, even if it means death, it will still be worth it!!

Light, warmth, sunshine, and the possibility of love, maybe? Life really is worth living, or is it? Maybe there's still time for tomorrow, or a sequel, but then, maybe not!