2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - "The Stargate" (1968)

Approximately 88 minutes out of 141 in "2001: A Space Odyssey"are without dialogue! As people walked out of the theatre, they couldn't stop talking about this series of colorful shots of shooting though space! To this very day, they still haven't stopped!!! 

This would have been a good opportunity to put in some killer rock music, and that really would have taken this film to an even higher level than it has already attained, but Stanley opted for whatever you want to call this, it's not exactly music, but more like The sounds of shooting through space at 80 gazillion miles a second!!!

These shots of Keir Dullea as Dr. Dave Bowman are some of the best Hollywood ever had to offer! 

The process that was used to create these wild, kaleidoscopic images is known as "Slitscan Photography". It was developed by Douglas Trumbull, one of the special photographic effects supervisors on the film! 

Haven't seen it lately? Now's a good time to try it again, it's still as confusing as ever!! Don't know what I'm talking about? Go get a copy!!!

RYMDINVASION I LAPPLAND (Terror In The Midnight Sun) - Allan Johansson/Brita Borg/Golden Gate Quartet/Unger/Herbert - "Midnight Sun" (1959)

"Terror In The Midnight Sun" is right up there with "Dementia" in the musical quality department! Okay, it's not the greatest movie in the world, but when was the the last time you got to hear some good Lapplander music anyhow? 

 

If Lapplander music isn't your bag, the super cool theme song is sung by The Golden Gate Quartet, one of the most successful Jubilee Gospel groups of all time. They also sang one of the all-time classic wartime tunes, "Stalin Wasn't Stallin'" which kinda goes like this, "Stalin wasn't stallin' when he told the beast of Berlin, that he wouldn't be contented until he had driven him from the land, so he called the Yanks and English, and proceeded to extinguish, Der Fuhrer and his vermin, that is how it all began!" Whew! The Golden Gate Quartet is the bomb, and a lot of their work was A Capella, so it's too sweet to hear them with musical backing!! Hallelujah Brothers and Sisters!!! 

 

Based on an olde Swedish song written by Gustaf Unger with English lyrics by Frederic Herbert, "The Midnight Sun Lament" is sung by 1950's Swedish Pop Queen Brita Borg, and the rest of the soundtrack is jazzed up by her husband Allan Johansson, a fellow member with her in the Swedish jazz vocal group, "The Flickery Flies," and Harry Arnold, another great Swedish composer! 

 

How much musical talent can you pack into one movie? Wow!!! 1950's Lapplanders Gospel Swedish Jazz Pop, now that's What's Happening!!! 

 

And, not to forget, a really big, pretty scary monster to boot!!! He does kind of look like a giant hairy penguin, but ............... 

 

He's pretty scary when he gets right in your face!! Aaarrrgghhh!!!!! 

 

Now as much as we love Jerry Warren, it's kind of hard to forgive him for not using the theme as sung by The Golden Gate Quartet, in his "Invasion Of The Animal People" version, and at least in this case, I think it's safe to say, that the original was better than Jerry's version, but at least he got another payday out of it and got this awesome film a little more exposure, and "Invasion Of The Animal People" does have a great title card!!!! Viva La Jerry!!!

THE GHOST GOES GEAR - Spencer Davis Group/Joan Shakespeare - "Polly Put The Kettle On, The Drum Floated Away" (1966)

"The Ghost Goes Gear" comes across like the bastard son of "A Hard Day's Night" and "The Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow," but not near as good as either one of them! Kind of like one long and very annoying Spencer Davis music video variety show, the music is very good, of course, but the film is full of extremely irritating secondary characters who are in the movie for no reason but to bother you. 

 

If the band's manager, and his constant cloying, "Spencer, Oh Spencer" isn't bad enough, you've got that other old man, and let us not forget about Polly, and can you believe they made Steve push the wheelbarrow. I guess it figures, he was the youngest! 

 

I was really going to slam Sheila White's portrayal of Polly as being one of the worst and aggravating performances ever put on film, but after doing some research, I figured out that she was only 16 at the time, and it was her first ever performance, so probably, the blame really lies with the lame director who was telling her and the others to act so cuckold, it really grates on my nerves and she looks like she needs to wash her hair! 

 

Spencer Davis just keeps on smiling and Polly just keeps on gyrating!! There is literally a ton of music in this film, but some of the"Chasing The Drum Down The River" and "Polly Dancing In The Kitchen" music is the best, and stuff you've probably never heard before. Sounds a lot to me like a bit of what the future Traffic would sound like. Maybe it's just the sax, but there are some good grooves, and if you don't have to watch the maddening other characters, you can really enjoy the music, and you have Joan Shakespeare to thank for a lot of it! 

 

There's about 87 more songs in this movie including some Acker Bilk, The Lorne Gibson Trio, David Berry, The Three Bells, St. Louis Union, and M6! We might do more sometime, maybe not! It gets to be a bit much when the whole movie is music!! As bad as this movie is, anybody who loves 60's music like we do should get a copy, and it's usually available on Amazon for less than 10 bucks!!

...4 ...3 ...2 ...1 ...MORTE (Mission Stardust) - Antón García Abril & Erwin Halletz - "What About That Button?" (1967)

Okay, Here's your new favorite movie, a 1967 Italian film called "Mission Stardust" and you're oh so lucky, because this is a film that is actually relatively easy to get on DVD, and I'm sorry, but you just have to love that fact that director Primo Zeglio also worked under the name of Anthony Greepy, and that's just for starters! 

 

The music is boss, rumbles and definately rocks!!! Dig in kids, because this stuff will get your foot a tappin', with a money back, "It Just Doesn't Get Much Better"!!! 

 

Right about here the music turns to space smaltz, Hum, hum! Hum hum hum!! "Are you saying a naked girl is of interest to a man?" "More or Less!" Right!!!!! 

 

The incredible music is the product of the combined forces of Austrian composer Erwin Halletz, and Spanish composer Antón García Abril! And truly incredible it is, you've got a theme with icy soaring shrill vocals, and what about those chattering background chants and it's all driven by a monster rocking freak beat! When you listen to the theme, make sure there's no crystal in the room, or get ready to sweep up some glass!! 

 

So, here's your choices, evil from earth on the left, or not so bad from space on the right, where will your allegiance lie?? 

 

You can only imagine what's going to happen next in this scene!! 

 

The rest of the soundtrack is without restriction, limitation or restraint, and is a whole lotta fun to listen to, and the movie has a whole lot of eye candy like this to keep you awake too! 

 

Favorite line after this scene, "Well now, I suppose you two would like to unscrew your heads and go hide in the closet!" Okay, you can have it now Charlie!!!

PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE - Gordon Zahler - " I Saw A Flying Saucer!" (1959)

The music in "Plan 9 From Outer Space" is stock music from at least 12 different composers, so I guess the credits go to the guy who put the puzzle all together, Gordon Zahler. First off, we've got Criswell and the theme! 

 

Then there's some decent big band from the background music in the patio BBQ scene. "I don't think I've ever seen you in this mood before!" 

 

"I saw a flying saucer!"

 The movie from last night, "Creation Of The Humanoids" and tonights film "Plan 9 From Outer Space" both had an actor with the best stage name ever, Dudley Manlove! In this film, he is "Eros" and in "Humanoids" he plays a clicker named Lagan. Costume design by none other than Dick Chaney!! Practically everything else was done by Edward D. Wood Jr. The rest has all been said before! 

 

Talk about life imitating art, I guess they knew this would happen someday!! R.I.P. Vampira!!!

CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS - I.F.M. - "Electronic Harmonics" (1962)

You know I'm starting to see a pattern here! If you combine a freaky weird vision and anything with shrill but soothing ethereal voices from the farthest nether regions of outer space, then you have probably reached the uttermost point of some film score composer's conceptual dream! I'm thinking the "Creation Of The Humanoids" theme is a perfect example of what I'm trying to convey here, if you get my meaning, if you feel my drift! 

 

The musical credits go to "Electronic Harmonics by I.F.M." which might stand for 'Inspired by Famous Monsters'!!! 

 

A warm spot for a cold heart!! 

 

Don McGowan is another one of those characters that is the epitome of 1950's and 60's TV and movies, but beyond all that, he has the distinction of being the guy who wore the "gill man" suit when the creature was on land in "The Creature Walks Among Us." So now, you've got a reason to see two movies!! 

 

Director Wesley Barry was an interesting guy, having been an actor since a stint in a 1916 film entitled "Maybe Moonshine." He acted in over 60 films before deciding to go to the other side of the camera as director and producer. "Creation Of The Humanoids" was the last film he produced! Unfortunately, nobody lives forever, and Mr. Barry passed away in 1994 in Fresno, Calif, but his massive body of work will live on forever thanks to modern technology like in this movie!! See it on Monsters HD!!

TORMENTED - Albert Glasser/Calvin Jackson/ Margie Rayburn - "Tormented Trilogy" (1960)

Albert Glasser did most of the music for this Bert I. Gordon classic, but as the credits state, there are "additional modern jazz sequences" by Calvin Jackson, and the "Tormented" song is sung by Margie Rayburn! Born in Madera, Calif., Margie is generally considered a one hit wonder, because she had a pop single, "I'm Available" go to #9 in the Billboard charts in 1957. The songs "I'm Available" and "Tormented" have nothing in common at all, which proves Margie had a number of styles at her disposal! 

 

If you haven't seen this movie, the problem is Juli Reding as Vi, the singer of "Tormented" in the movie, is dead, and she and her music just won't go away and stop bothering poor Richard Carlson! I mean it's not like he pushed her! 

 

How ironic that she recorded a song called "Tormented" and that's just what she's doing to him. What are the odds of that? Bad luck on his part I'd say! 

 

Like one Vi wasn't bad enough!!! I don't think this is the kind of three way he was dreaming about!! 

 

I don't really get what the big deal is, I think anybody could get used to Vi setting around after awhile. Maybe he should just drill a hole in her head and stick some flowers in there, she might make a pretty good talking vase! Here's what we call the "Tormented Trilogy"!! Music from at least three scenes, and it really does sound like it was recorded in a lighthouse with some bad acoustics!! SOUNDCLIP NOT AVAILABLE