THE INVISIBLE BOY / MGM - 1957 / Music by Les Baxter

Boy!!.. Talk about a classic! After FORBIDDEN PLANET was made, and, if you were MGM, why wouldn't you reuse the best movie robot... Ever?!

Dungeon staple Les Baxter does the music tonight. Other postings we've done by Les are: PHARAOH'S CURSE, VOODOO ISLAND, PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO, GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI and more, so check those out! Now, without further delay, here's... THE INVISIBLE BOY, ROBBIE and SUPER COMPUTER! And, notice the 'happy American family' feel in the theme! My dad took me to see this one when it came out, he was really into sci-fi!

Philip Abbott plays Dr. Tom Merrinoe, he's in charge of America's new super computer. He's also the father of Timmie Merrinoe, a kid that is just not the studious type. Kind of an insult to one of the smartest men in the world!!

So, what does dad do?.. Well, he has his son, Timmie, get some tutoring from the super computer. It totally works except that the computer is being controlled by aliens through a satellite! Timmie is hypnotized into being smart, but, also to obey commands from space! After Timmie puts Robbie back together, the computer orders him to bring the robot for an upgrade. Now, Robbie's under it's control too!

Timmie is played by Richard Eyer, who has one hell of a movie and TV resume for a kid! Rich played the genie in THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD, which we've already posted here.

Here's Timmie and Robbie cookin' up trouble for mom and dad! Robbie's explaining how he can make him invisible, in order to do whatever he pleases with immunity!

As the scientists try to figure out what's going wrong with the top-secret project, the super computer is hypnotizing some of them and military officers into preventing progress via sabotage. One of those scientists is Robert H. Harris (in the middle), who played Pete Dumond, the crazy make-up artist in HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER, a personal favorite of ours!

The computer orders Robbie to the rocket, where the invisible Timmie has hid away for a cool trip into space! Anything the Army can dish out, though, Robbie can take!!

Timmie and Robbie blast off into space. The computer orders Robbie to blind Timmie, but Robbie can't do it, of course!! Timmie's parents are watching the drama on that view screen, there! Mom's flippin' out!!

After the boys get back from space, the computer makes one last attempt on Timmie and his dad. Robbie comes into the room where the computer wants him to kill them, but, Robbie goes over and plows through the computer's circuits and finally the link from space is broken and the humans win again!! But, only because of Robbie The Robot!!..

Viva la Robbie!!

20000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA - Kirk Douglas - "A Whale Of A Tale" (1954)

This song is dedicated to Bo and his blushing bride who are getting hitched tonight Disney pirate style! AAAarrrauggghhh!! This is the last of our 'Halloween Submarine' tunes! I guess I just never sat around and thought about how many damn submarine movies were made back in the day until now!

So here's the trick and it goes something like this! Now You see it!!!!

Now you don't!!!

"It must be the monster!!!"

We've already written about a number of other Sub flicks including "Atomic Submarine", "It Came From Beneath The Sea", "The Giant Behemoth" "Terror Beneath The Sea", and "Fantastic Voyage" and one of these days we'll get around to "Mysterious Island" and maybe even "Yellow Submarine" & a couple of others, but for now....

Let's set off to sea with everybody's favorite and probably the happiest music from a submarine movie, Kirk Douglas, strumming & singing like you'd never seen him before or since, with "A Whale Of A Tale", I swear by my tatoo!!

I just think that this is a beautiful portrait of the iconic Peter Lorre! Bask in it's glory! Sorry kids, despite what you think, and I don't really understand it myself, but they just don't make characters like this anymore!!

You always have to wonder what a Jerry Warren or Larry Buchanan would or could have done with a budget like this, and that is exactly what Kirk and Peter are thinking about right here!!

The Sub had so many high tech devices, here you can see how well the electric bar-b-que grill worked!!!

Peter Lorre is right up there with Man-Tan Moreland in the eye-poppin' departamento!! Wow!! You know this was the same year that "Killers From Space" came out!!! Uuummmm!!! Even though he can't compete with Pete, Paul Lukas does a pretty good job himself!

When they have to get out on the deck and start chopping up the giant squid with hatchets and machetes, it gets pretty visceral for a Disney flick!!!! Go rent it again to see for yourself!!!!!

KAITEI GUNKAN (Atragon) - "Manda Will Be Pleased" (1963)

All right, well tonite's "Halloween Submarine" 2008 Countdown feature is yet another Ishirô Honda directed film with music provided by Akira Ifukube, but this one is a little more twisted than your average Godzilla movie, and if you really want to dig deep into the politics of tradition and nationalism in 1963 Japan, then by all means go search "Atragon" on Wikipedia or someplace, but if you just want some cool pics and music, then just hang on and stay right here!!!

I do hope you enjoy the opening dialogue sequence and theme!

We love this theme, I mean, it's dum dum dum, dum dum dum, dum dum dah, dum dum dududa dum, dum dum dah, dum dum dah, or something pretty close to that. Crank it up!!! It'll beat the snot outta you!

There's not much brevity or celebration in "Kaitei Gunkan" but it's a crazy movie worth checking out with a ton of eye candy, like this shot, a cross between "South Pacific" & "Forbidden Planet!"

Greetings From Beautiful Downtown MU - Wish You were here!!!

The Atragon sub is by far the most advanced submarine in the movies or basically anywhere if you really think about it! Besides all the normal submarine attributes, it is also has a cool drill auger nosepiece capable of boring through the earth, and above all else, it freakin' flies!!! Yeah! Right On!! Go Atragon!!!

So, there's only one basic problem in solving the world's demise, and that's dealing with this guy. Unfortunately, he never got over World War II, he's Jun Tazaki as The Captain of Atragon, and he refuses to compromise his loyalty to Japan in order to save the world! Does the concept ring familiar?? In simple terms, he don't get it!!

Altough quite evil, this is Not the scariest looking group of guys you'll ever meet in your life!!

We're right in the middle of the Big Manda Ceremony when they bring out the Crazy Horse Saloon girls in the blonde wigs! You know, all that traditional stuff!!

Then they throw you in a cell that has big doors and when you open them, Peek-A-Boo!! Here's Manda!!!! What a bunch of jokers!!!

Tetsuko Kobayashi as The Empress of MU is an evil bee that gets stung herself in the end!

And if all that isn't enough to pique your interest, there's always these guys!!!

As Mr. August Ragone so succinctly noted, a few scenes from Atragon were 'cribbed' out and used two years later in the A.I.P. feature, "War Gods Of The Deep," and they did look good enuf to be used more than once. I'll give 'em that credit!!

THE MAN FROM PLANET X / United Artists - 1951 / Music by Charles Koff

Tabonga have 'nother strange 'lil flick offering with THE MAN FROM PLANET X... Okay, it 1951, nobody know nothing about space and what out there! That why '50s sci-fi flick so fun!!! People back then have to use thing call... IMAGINATION!!

Super-duper title card!! Make you think they like rivet a lot out there on Planet X!

Music dude is Charles Koff, he only work from 1946-56. Other 'monster' flick he compose music is CAPTIVE WOMEN. But, he also compose theme for TVs TOPPER and work on 69 episodes!! So, here is spacey music to enjoy from THE 'LIL GUY FROM PLANET X!

Weird thing going on out there, in space!! So, reporter Robert Clarke show up in Scotland to see science geek friend Professor Elliot, and get low-down on new planet he find coming near Earth! And, who there?! William Shallert, that who! But, Robert hate his guts... Long story.

Enid find rocket out on moors. Tabonga want to know why professor set up observatory in foggiest place on planet?!

Second pic show cool rocketship interior. Too bad it look all wrinkly!

Man, William mean SOB here, he want dude's ray gun to make big bucks, so he beat him up and turn off Planet X air and make him choke!.. He actually supposed to be teaching English to 'lil space dude!!

So, as Planet X come close to Earth, making lousy weather... Hey, like US secret weather manipulation program!! Anyway, the Army come out and blast crap outta stupid space rocket! They shoot an' shoot an' shoot an' shoot!!! An' guess what??.. THEY MISS!!!!

When Planet X come whizzing by, what you know, everbloody look up!

HEY, ROBERT!!.. Watch hands!!!

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA - Frankie Avalon - "Theme Song" (1961)

"Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" is an epic film of classic proportions, and just might arguably be the best of all the submarine flicks! You got your Walter Pidgeon, Regis Toomey, Peter Lorre, Michael Ansara, Frankie Avalon, Joan Fontaine, and Barbara Eden all for the price of one single admission!! The bargain of the century and another great 'Submarine Halloween' tale!!!

They say the theme song sung by Frankie Avalon was a hit, but I don't remember it, although I do remember "Venus" quite well!

It's a great song, and the later trumpet playing bit is way too much!!! The song was written by prolific musician and songwriter Russell Faith!! One of the few songs you can actually call nice, and get away with it! The rest of the soundtrack was composed by Dungeon stalwarts Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter, whose names conjure up titles like "Kronos", "Sadist", "She-Devil" and "IT!" I never did figure out exactly who is playing the trumpet!!

The Pre-Jeannie Barbara Eden makes this one fantastic voyage!!

Researching "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" on the Internet or just on IMDB, a person can get totally lost following leads with snippets of information here and there. Stuff like this:

The star of this film, Walter Pidgeon had a career that went all the way back into the silent movies dating back as far as 1926!!!! Can you even imagine? It gets better! In 1928 Walter was in a film entitled "The Gateway Of The Moon" that was directed by one John Griffith Wray who had been directing films since 1913 until his death in 1929. That means he had a career as director way back then for 16 years!!! And what in the Heck was genius Director Irwin Allen thinking when he allowed this shot!! Cut!!!!!

Some of the men on board are getting pretty uptight about the situation, and if you don't know what the situation is, then you must have been living in the Bat-Cave for the last forty years or so, and you really need to go get yourself a copy of this film!!!

It's really fascinating how they smoke inside the sub for the whole movie, the place had to smell like a Las Vegas casino or worse!

And on top of that, The Captain smokes stogies in bed, and damn near sets the whole place on fire!!!

If you rent or buy the DVD, it has some great production stills like this, that show you a bit of what they had to go through to film this Monster!!!! Cranes, water, and Scaffold City!!!!