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Just wondering if anybody had any, as i am running a LARP at wayfinder based on 50's sci-fi, and thus need the cliches to make it complete. What i have already noticed:

Aliens are communists.

Invasion of the Body Snatcher rippoffs make up at least 30 percent of all 50's sci-fi.

Everything is radioactive.

Aliens are either flamboyant and hammy, or monsters. Or or flamboyant and hammy guys who own monsters, as in this island earth, or plan 9 (sort of).

Alien monsters allways love humans, dispite the creepy zoophila that idea suggests. And they allways carry them in the same way.

Alien Brains can alter all reality, to insane points.

Scientists don't need to be scientists of anything in particular, they just need some colored liqid in some glass beakers. And if they are a scientist of something, then they still have to have colored liqiuds in glass beakers. No matter what kind of scientist they are.

Mutated things. And when something mutates, that almost always means it become giant. And evil.

Those crazy teens and their crazy rock and roll!

The cops don't belive. No matter what.

So far, thats all i have. Also im having some trouble finding movies where the monsters really do have an attraction to the earth-humans. i have seen Robot monster, and i have seen Bride of the atom, but thats it. Otherwise, most of the movies i have the material i need to research it, but any movies that show the cliche that you think i may not have seen, go ahead and mention them. Im mostly looking for more cliches, tho.

Thanks!

Not so sure about specifically 50's sci-fi [not sure about dates for some movies I've seen]

But I've noticed in some movies that I've seen is that there is a fear of the 'other'.  That is, the fear of the outsider, the unknown, whether it be the aliens themselves, or perhaps a character who doesn't fit in properly [eg Homosexual]

Most often this outsider, whether human or not, is often mistaken and judged by a harsh and uncivilised society eg, an outsider from another town comes spouting messages of aliens coming, and they not only disbelieve them [which, of course, is quite realistic] but they go on to discredit this person further, more so than perhaps they deserve.  

But hey, I perhaps need to watch more to be sure of what is pouring out of my fingers.

Lots of 50s movies, of course, especially via sci-fi, made social and political comments about the wrongs of civilisation especially via the nuclear link.  Films like the Day the Earth Stood Still stand out like this for me; a peaceful alien comes and tells us to stop being violent to one another and resolve our differences or else we are to be eradicated.  Kind of a contradiction in ideology [we will kill you for being too violent and unpredictable] but let's continue.  

When politics fails, the alien tries science, but mankind is unwilling or unable to accept this alien's demands, and eventually he is shot.  Bad move by earth one must say...

Sure, the Day the Earth Stood still is an obvious example, and easily read in a number of ways, but since it was such an important movie, and also early in the 50's, you can sort of see patterns of cliches forming from it, such as the fallacy of man, the failure or importance of science etc.

But hey, it's all good.  As long as movies like Plan 9 come about via this ideology, I'm happy.  And entertained.

Another common trait of scientists is that older ones typically have one beautiful, intelligent daughter who is either engaged to the lab assistant, a rock-jawed man of action, or available for any rock-jawed man of action who might come along.

When the army is involved, they are the good guys (with notable exceptions like dean just mentioned in The Day the Earth Stood Still), and generals are likely to take action alongside their enlisted men, fighting fiercely against the monster (The Giant Claw, Them, etc.).

If those darned teenagers and their rock-and-roll music are involved, not only will the authorities not listen, but the teenagers will take care of the problem better than the police ever could (occasionally with the help of one of those beaker-happy scientists). Examples are The Giant Gila Monster and The Blob.

As for examples of movies with "monsters" that fall in love with human women, there's Mighty Joe Young, though that was made in 1949 rather than in the 50s and 20 Million Miles to Earth (sort of). I'll post more if I can think of any.

Squeakmiester 3000 wrote:

> Also im having some trouble finding
> movies where the monsters really do have an attraction to the
> earth-humans.

Here are a few:

I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE
THIS ISLAND EARTH
THE CRAWLING EYE (sorta)

Not aliens, but 50s monsters:

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and its sequels REVENGE OF THE CREATURE and THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US

THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED

CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER

I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN

There are more from the 60s too.

*  Aging scientists always have beautiful daughters who fall in love with military men.  (Pretty much the same as AndyC's observation about the daughter and the lab assistant).

*  The "A-Bomb" is responsible for unleashing most of the monsters that roam the Earth.

*  Beautiful women wear tight dresses and high heels . . . even when they are certain that they will be running away from a monster in the very near future.

*  All aliens have either big heads or tentacles (or both) and they often glow.

*  Most deep space exploration teams include one guy who only wants to have fun and make passes at women.  The guy often plays the ukelele and wears gaudy clothing.

* Even if the woman is scientist or doctor, she will quickly volunteer to get the coffee.

* On space missions the electronics guy (radio or engineering) will have a Brooklyn accent, be great at his job, and totally clueless to everything else. He will also probably get eaten by something unpleasant (Angry Red Planet).

* The high school science teacher is as knowledgable as any of the generic  scientist  types. (Earth vs the Spider).

* A little radiation never hurt anybody!

Thanks everyone. I'll try to incorperate those cliches that i missed, (though the ones involving space expeditions can't be incorperated into my game, as it is entirely earth-bound).  Also, I'll get to veiwing that list. From what I've read, The day the world ended will be most usefull, as it is most like the monster I have, and Caltiki will be the most disturbing, cause it's a giant blob thing, and it falls in love with a human......weird..... Anyhow, I'll have some trouble incorperateing the scientist daughter one, as the scientist i have instead has an unrespected though very intelligent female assistant/sex slave, not a daughter.  Hmmmmm........maybe two scientist? but that may be over doing it.

How about uncivilized animal hide clad alien cave women shave their legs, pluck their eyebrows and wear makeup -

Vampire Men of the Lost Planet,
Rocketship X-O,
and just about anything with the word "Amazon" in it.

Hm, true, and good point that actually extends to all amazon movies, ever. They also wear eyeliner. And ofen mini-skirts. But what im mostly looking for here is earth-bound 50's sci-fi, not space exploration 50's sci-fi

Oh, should clarify that the beautiful daughter rule only applies to older scientists. Young scientists are all ruggedly handsome outdoor types, and often single.

It should also be noted that scientists in the 50s were much smarter than those of today, as they could usually come up with surprisingly accurate theories about any previously unknown phenomenon, based on virtually no evidence. And they could do it fast.

Unfortunately, they also tended to put sensitive equipment, such as the self-destruct button or the control that keeps the monster frozen, where it can be easily bumped or played with.



Post Edited (08-16-05 13:48)

Master Blaster wrote:

> How about uncivilized animal hide clad alien cave women shave
> their legs, pluck their eyebrows and wear makeup -
>
> Vampire Men of the Lost Planet,
> Rocketship X-O,
> and just about anything with the word "Amazon" in it.

Not to mention Wild Women of Wongo, Prehistoric Women, Teenage Cave Man, and any other dinosaur movie from the 50s (or the 80s).

Yeah the flamboyant "Odious Comic Relief", whom you WISH would die a horrible death early on, but is usually the penultimate victim.  

You know, these tropes sorta hold for "Alien " too!
-Ed

Don't forget the boxy, slow-moving robot that is strangely terrifying to everyone in the movie.  
_Ed

Your right, though i'll have a bit of trouble putting the robot in. Justr one one of the aliens slaves, along with the mutant. I'm also debateing either chosing the old scientist cliche or the old scientist clice, or just having both.

Mustn't forget that atomic power works much like electricity, only it's more powerful. You can store it, transmit it, use it to soup up things like radar. The energy comes straight from the reactor, with no need to make steam or drive turbines.

Radioactivity, meanwhile, has an assortment of abilities, from reanimating the dead to giving people special powers. Usually, it just makes things really big, or sometimes really small.

Ed wrote:

> Don't forget the boxy, slow-moving robot that is strangely
> terrifying to everyone in the movie.  

You mean this one?

(http://www.hermancohen.com/targetearth/targearth-still-sm.jpg) (http://www.hermancohen.com/targetearth/index.html)

Perfect!  
-Ed

Good point, that mysterious power of radioactivity was used even in good pictures, like night of the living dead (i was thinking that Plan 9 had it, then i remmembered it was long distance electrodes fired into the brain. Dispite the non-existance of long distance electrodes, and the fact that were there any long-distance electrodes, you would most likely only be able to fire them into the brain by loading them into a rifle, and shooting someone with them, it makes more sense than radiation).

On the note of the robot, that is an AMAZING robot! Epitomizes 50's movie robots better than torg himself! What movie is it from?



Post Edited (08-16-05 20:01)

1.   Male heroes may wear no shirt, or failing that, may wear a white tanktop that can become artfully soiled and ripped.  (My wife's, that one.)

2.   Decisive and educated women will scream uncontrollably at the sight of aliens and become useless for the duration.

3.   There are no decisive and educated women.

4.   Aliens, when slain, will disgorge large quantities of reddish gelatin all over the floor, particularly if they died by a blow to the head.

5.   Giant things always move in s l o w  m o t i o n.

A good movie for the "old scientist has a hot daughter" would be "Them!"
Also has the radiation mutation (nice ring) thrown in as well as the Brig General who fights the monsters in the sewers(!).
Also, the scientist's daughter has no problem with wearing a dress (and possible heels) in the desert.
You might be able to say that the scientist was fairly inteligent with his prediction with the little info they had. Although, if I found a crushed corpse full of formic acid and vasts quantities of sugar stolen from a train car, I would have a hunch at least cow ants were involved.

Not only giant things move in slow motion. Any monster that looks like a guy in a really heavy rubber suit moves at an excruciatingly slow pace. Remember the witch doctor in From Hell It Came walking away from the monster - backwards! Elaborate plot devices are needed to have the monster actually catch something.

The army has contingency plans for alien invasion. Apparently if the alarm is given, preferably by a small boy or the daughter of a professor and a lab assistant, an armoured division can be mobilised withing hours.

Most importantly, any mutated thing that comes out of the Arizona desert is impervious to a 3030 cartridge. Stands to reason really,  otherwise you'd have a very short movie.

- Ensalada mista, baby!-

Squeakmiester 3000 wrote:

> On the note of the robot, that is an AMAZING robot! Epitomizes
> 50's movie robots better than torg himself! What movie is it
> from?

TARGET EARTH (1954) from producer Herman (I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF) Cohen.

Trailer, posters, stills, interview here:   (yet another shameless self promotion).  The trailer is a classic of 50s schlock BTW (as is the entire movie).

1. All monsters move slower than an old lady in the checkout line, yet people stand stock still in TERROR! (screaming is optional, depending upon the oral fixation of the director)

2. Anything radioactive= future plotpoint (even a radioactive dollar bill can mutate into a monster capable of destroying Chicago!)

3. Scientists are either brainy jocks or scene-chewing madmen often played by some german guy with a moustache.

4. Women are a higher species of animal incapable of rational thought and are best relegated to menial labor. Are also deviod of the "fight or flight" reflex common in most lower animal species...

5. All monsters are horny (and implicitly male, yet they never engage in homosexual behaviours, despite that this would obviously be easier than risking certain death by trying to mate with a human female)

6. Act with lethal force first and seek to understand afterwards is the general rule of thumb (Suddenly, Jesus realized there was absolutely no other alternative...)

7. Cigarettes are the greatest harbinger of health and well-being known to mankind.

Lesser known rules:

Screaming can be used to convey complex messages in a fraction of the time and over amazing distances in unlikely situations- even if there are louder noises present that would seemingly hinder such communication possible.

Insects are evil incarnate (Ironically, spiders are arachnids, and are therefore neutral)

All aliens speak English, which has managed to penetrate the universe further than any ultraviolet ray.

Space travel is easier to achieve than self-awareness- probably even easier than getting a pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less...

The Nazi's, despite their ever-shrinking ranks and provisions, had plenty of resources available to delve into every avenue of alchemy, black magic, pseudoscience, propoganda and method of cheating death that could be conceivably explored during the last days of the Third Reich. (They should have worked harder on the concept of long-range missles and less on keeping Hitler's brain alive)

Thanks for the extra sci-fi cliches, and I'll try to see target earth. Before i started this project, i used to not really like 50's sci-fi, and greatl;y prefered 80's post-apocalyptic or dystopian movies. Now, however, they have grown on me.

By the way, i recently saw the cars that eat people. I am less able to enjoy anything now.

We must also remember the standard features available on spacecraft of the 50s. This, of course, refers to spacecraft of the future, when we're all travelling among the stars - around 1975 or so.

- A single-stage, reusable design. Lands tail-first.

- A door at ground level, putting the control room where the engine should be.

- A control room that is large and rectangular, in spite of the ship's small, cylindrical shape.

- No room for fuel.

- Enough fuel for a round trip to another planet.

- Glassware and bottles of chemicals sitting loose on shelves.

- Ashtrays.

- A rear-view screen that shows the Earth receding behind the ship, but otherwise isn't used much.

- An analog clock.

- Several floors on the ship, with ladders between, oriented so that 'up' is toward the nose (which must be comfortable during takeoff).

- Lots of blinking lights and pipes and pressure gauges, analog meters and buttons and crap that nobody even looks at.

- No bathroom.

A few of the later models (90s ships of the 60s) also come equipped with a shape-shifting feature, allowing them to turn into a Redstone or a Saturn 1B while taking off and landing. You might recall that those models landed by sucking flames into their engines as they backed out of the sky.



Post Edited (08-18-05 12:49)

Nice, Andy. I would also like to add a coffee maker and swivel office chairs on the list of things found on a space ship

During Project Orion, essentially a space ship propelled by nuclear bombs, they were actually planning to build a ship more or less like in the movies. It would have been huge and constructed with sturdy steel girders. Some scientists even thought of bringing their familiy along on an expedition to Jupiter, just like Lost in Space.

Let's not forget that it has to be like the TARDIS, bigger on the inside than the outside.

It also has to be of sturdy enough construction to survive the mandantory barrage of flaming meteors (never have figured out how the meteors were burning while still in space).

trek_geezer wrote:
> (never have figured out
> how the meteors were burning while still in space).
>

Or why the smoke and flames were going "up."

AndyC wrote:

> Another common trait of scientists is that older ones typically
> have one beautiful, intelligent daughter who is either engaged
> to the lab assistant, a rock-jawed man of action, or available
> for any rock-jawed man of action who might come along.
>

So...when are they going to make a female scientest with a hansome son the female action her can fall for? Just for the sake of equality, natch...

One that I did not see, but may have missed:

The monster will always be impervious to the humans' advanced ray guns.  However, shooting the ceiling will still kill the creature.

Speaking of weapons, we cannot forget the best one for dealing with any monster - a CO2 fire extinguisher.

I thought the best all-purpose weapon was a handgun...thrown

No, thats a handgun used while ON the throne. Ever see a guy attacked while in mid-poop? I think even monsters are put off by that.