Dr. Cyclops.

[Svengoolie 3]

Ok this was on svengoolie tonight and i'm gonna say it was a good bad movie. 

The color was really excellent for the day.  The prints have held up very well. The cinematography was very well done to handle the "mini people" effect.

Also it was a pre nuclear war or flying saucer sci fi movie.  That makes it notable.

Sure it was a hokey mad scientist movie, the acting ranges ffom flat to "Want some eggs with all that ham? " there were  the usual racial stereotypes,  with a character named Pedro complete weeth rideeculous accent and beef moustache to the main character with a big bald head and thick glasses making him look like a stereotypical Japanese villain.

But hey, it was 1940. Stepping Fetchit and Charlie Cham were  still big. "Woke" hadn't happened yet.

As far as filming and color goes it really was a 10 in its day,  much better than many if the other "giant or mini peolle" movies that featured thick black matte on lines around the abnormally sized characters or people.

I'm amazed this little jewel has never been reviewed here.

[Pacman000]

This movie pre-dated blue screens by maybe 3-5 years. While traveling matte processes existed, they only worked with black & white film. No traveling mattes=no black lines. (The black lines were caused by poorly-aligned mattes.)

[Allhallowsday]

ALBERT DEKKER is great as the DOC...

[316zombie]

i love this movie and albert dekker. sure, he was cheesy, but SCARY cheesy for me.

[RCMerchant]

The theme had been done before with the Tod Browning's the DEVIL DOLL, and later in AIP's ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE, but yeah- this was the best, due to Albert Dekker's Coke bottle-bespectacled mad doc.

[316zombie]

devil doll is another big fave, as is puppet people, but albert was SCARY! what the heck is the name of the tv show with tiny people? i watched it as kid, and i just can't think of the name!

[WingedSerpent]

My favorite scene is on that has a certain unintentional hilarity to it.  Its the scene where the good doctor is about to shrink his victims.  He does this by basically asking if they want to see the machine that gives strange power rays and tells them to get a close look at it while he darts out of the room.  Leaving everyone else gawking down the barrel of a loaded gun.

It being a pre-atomic movie really shows else where , when characters are handling uranium without protection, and the lab itself is built over an open mine of isotopes.  Its really noticeable now a days, but during a trip to Oak Ridge I learned that there was a time when this kind of understanding was common place. (Early nuclear technicians worked in reactors without a lot of protective gear).

But still, this is an enjoyable movie. 

[RCMerchant]

devil doll is another big fave, as is puppet people, but albert was SCARY! what the heck is the name of the tv show with tiny people? i watched it as kid, and i just can't think of the name!

Land of the Giants!
Made by the same guy who gave us Lost in Space and the Towering Inferno!

http://youtu.be/nHQ_r8ZwPOw

[Svengoolie 3]

The cold way cyclops murders the one man is a moment of quiet terror. 

When he shot the Mexican stereotype with the shotgun he should have exploded at his size.

[316zombie]

thank you ronny!