Free Documentary: Hollywood in the Atomic Age

[@jamesalexander3530]

A pity nothing was discussed about the music score. No doubt hundreds of music writers and musicians worked overtime to keep up with the demand for so many schlocky films. The music score is the heart of the film. With few exceptions, the score enhanced visualization thus unifying visuals and sound into art. I also agree that the 50s and the early 60s were the best of times for Americans. The Red Scare and A-bomb actually compelled us to close ranks and become tightly united making our nation fearless and promising. Thank you for posting this documentary. Baltimore (home of Edgar Allan Poe) MD, 2024

[@dmk7700]

Exactly. The opening score to KRONOS is the perfect example. You just know that this flick is going to be intense. The soundtrack from the 50's SUPERMAN TV series is another great example. BTW: No screen siren screamed better than Phyllis Coates.

[@hertzair1186]

Especially the Theramin device, which made that unique sci-fi sound…

[@annalisamandell3581]

@@hertzair1186I love that theremin sound!!!! It gives it a whole new feel! I wish they featured it more nowadays…

[@johndavis6119]

I just love these movies. 50s SCI-Fi horror films were sometimes campy but always entertaining.

[@brianhiles8164]

_Some_ times?

[@johndavis6119]

@@brianhiles8164 you are right. I should have said usually campy

[@bradleybarnhart4188]

​@johndavis6119 Yes, they were so much sillier than the Marvel/comic book movies we have now. I can't wait for the Archie and Jughead superhero movie!

[@phylliselizahb1041]

Thanks for finding the actors in these movies!

[@AllanGonnella]

I'm 74 so I grew up in the "atomic" 50's. I saw all these Sci-Fi's at our local kiddie matinee on Saturday afternoons for 15 cents to see a double feature. Now I collect Sci-Fi, monster and horror films from 1931 thru the mid-60's. I probably have around 550 on either VHS or DVD's. I remember our "duck & cover" drills in grammar school like that was really going to save you. On the 4th Friday of every month around 9:00 AM the air raid sirens went off for 5 minutes to check them. It was an eerie feeling. We were from 5 to 9 so try explaining all this to a kid. We'd rather throw our empty popcorn boxes at the screen during a crummy sci-fi movie during the kiddie matinee rather than thinking of a nuclear holocaust.

[@AllanGonnella]

@Fzane-mn8fh Our local kiddie matinees were at the Garmar Theater in Montebello, Ca. They were usually on Saturday afternoons around 1:00PM and we were usually out by 5:30PM. In the mid-to -late 50's it cost 15 cents to get in and another 15 cents for a combo of a popcorn, soda and a candy bar (my choice was either Milk Duds or a Sugar Daddy). They started us off with the "Do's and Don'ts" on how to act while attending the matinee. That was usually met with several "boo's" and popcorn boxes hitting the screen. We then saw coming attractions for the next kiddie matinee, a cartoon (usually a "Looney Tune" with Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, etc.) and then the first feature. It was usually the crummier of the two movies. The double feature would be a combination of sci-fi, monster, horror, westerns, war movies or comedies. They never showed any movie over the intelligence of a 10 year old. During intermission it was a race to the snack bar to get out goodies for the next feature. After intermission they would show either a Laurel & Hardy or 3 Stooges short ot whatever other short that was available like a short with Abbott & Costello. The second feature was usually the "better" movie. If they showed a sci-fi double feature the first would be a crummy film like "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and the second feature would be like "The Day The Earth Stood Still." When the kiddie matinee was over we'd hop on our bikes and head for home. Around 1960 they raised the admission to 25 cents and 25 cents for the combo snack bar special. TALK ABOUT INFLATION!! I had to beg my father for an increase in my allowance which meant I had to do more work. We kept going to the kiddie matinee (if the movies were decent) until I was about 12. After that they wouldn't let us in. "You're too old. Get lost!" That's ok. We no longer wanted to hang around with all those stupid young kids anyway!

[@Robert-nf9fi]

I enjoyed that description of Maternies too thanks guys

[@Ease54]

Find Joe Dante's "Matinee" if you've never seen it. You'll love it!

[@glennso47]

@Fzane-mn8fhI remember that one double feature was the movie MARY POPPINS and double featured with.THE 4-D MAN . I don’t know why the theater put those two films together.🤷‍♂️

[@glennso47]

I Was A Teenage Werewolf was horror movie that introduced Michael Landon . I can’t imagine that he would be in a horror movie.

[@pamelacurl8342]

I love some of these old films.

[@garycolton6522]

Boy did I watch trash as a kid….loved every moment of it!.

[@aldunlop4622]

I don't think it's trash, it's inspirational and makes you think. The next step is to get an actual education to understand things and know the facts from the trash.

[@kenlegare9630]

Great Documentary- very informative - Thanks

[@aadamtx]

Love the interviews throughout, and great to hear so many stories about what happened behind the scenes. Grant Williams starred in one of my favorite sci-fi films from the period, MONOLITH MONSTERS, and later also was a regular in the tv series HAWAIIAN EYE. He was also a talented classical pianist and sang for five seasons with the New York Opera.

[@gorymarty56]

Audio is out of sync towards the end of this

[@justicewokeisutterbs8641]

I really enjoyed this documentary. It's rreally well made. I was too young to experience the 1950s teen movie scene in theaters and drive-ins. Instead, those films were the Saturday afternoon TV fare of my childhood. I don't recall any kids actually being frightened by those films. Athough we did duck and cover drills in schools, knew the "civil defense" signage that indicated that a bomb shelter was in a public building and knew about the threat of nuclear war, I guess I was too young to worry about it. I was blessed with really good parents and was confident that the grown-ups had everything under control. 🤣 Anyway, it was fun to see clips from those old films and get the stories behind the movies. Thanks for making this. 😎👍

[@john-brady]

This was just plain great. Thanks one million times for posting. Good job!

[@ewaf88]

I love 50s science fiction films and books as , back then, they thought anything was possible.

[@tolfan4438]

They all had the scene were a couple would stand at a desk and explain what foolishness was going on like it was the real science for this movie

[@thejoejacksoninterviews4207]

Out of sync, and inconsistent sound levels but absolute fun to watch

[@richierugs6544]

Bob Burns, so cool, he let me sit in that time machine and put the crystal key in my pocket just the way Rod Taylor did, incredible treasures in Bob's garage and basement

[@audreyrose3394]

Great documentary thank you

[@randallpetersen9164]

I have a collection of vintage movie posters. I've sold most of it now, but have kept my 50s and 60s SF paper because those movies hold the most vivid memories from my childhood. I have every single poster shown in this movie. Theaters had to have eye-popping graphics out front because much of their business was based on foot traffic and impulse decisions to stop in for the show. Reynold Brown is my favorite poster illustrator from that era, but Albert Kallis runs a close second. :)

[@westernnoir4808]

The Day The Earth Stood Still. Someone comes with a message of peace and hope for humanity. He is killed by soldiers trying to deliver his message. Then resurrected a few days later. Sound familiar?

[@kensmith2839]

No

[@NoName-zm1ks]

Yup, the dude is an extraterrestrial passing as human. He winds up leaving Earth to return home but promises to come back.

[@garyfrancis6193]

The alien also passed himself off as a Mr. Carpenter.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

@@garyfrancis6193 Great point!...Not being religious, it had not occurred to me about that "Jesus" connection!..Very interesting observation!

[@kevingossett8881]

What a great point!! 😮

[@jonnywyattgreengreen3301]

Brilliant Documentary. I love 1950s science fiction movies more l can say ❤❤

[@synchead124]

This was great but it goes out of sync with the audio at the end

[@DamoBloggs]

I remember buying those monster mags. I used to smother my bedroom walls with pages and posters. Even made the Aurora monster plastic kits too. Talk about mania... 😆

[@gorymarty56]

So sad some of these actors are gone now.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

I mean...so sad that some of the kids watching these movies are now gone!..I am 78Yo, and several of my movie-going chums are dead.

[@drhkleinert8241]

The Actors were adults and its 70 yrs ago.

[@howardfischer7429]

The MST3K tore "The Killer Shrews" to pieces.

[@jollyjohnthepirate3168]

The amount of hype in the adds for these films is completely over the top.

[@drhkleinert8241]

Every cheap production is the most terriffic, most awesome, most whatever you ever saw. Every movie with rubber monster Masks and screaming girl is greater than Ben Hur.

[@peace-yv4qd]

I grew up in the 50's. Remember going to the movies and seeing many classic sci-fi films as a kid. Great time to grow up in Souther California. Stood next to one of the actors who got zapped in War of the Worlds. I was about ten years old at the time and camping up in Big Bear California. His name was Paul Birch. He also made a number of sci-fi films back then.

[@stevensica5918]

The studios DID NOT sell their theatres because of economic necessity. They were compelled to do so for anti-trust reasons based on a Supreme Court decisoion invovling Paramount. They likely would have hung on to their chains until the end of the studio system.

[@rochelleiscanadian]

Fabulous documentary. Really enjoyed it. ✌❤🇨🇦

[@gorymarty56]

I love these films

[@Merylstreep1949]

Sounds at the last 29 minutes was all out of synchronisation Otherwise it was really good ❤

[@wpankey57]

A fun documentary until the sound got screwed up. It was hard to watch it but I was determined to see it to the bitter end.

[@lindacecile5647]

Would encourage all to watch the Goodman movie,Matinee. It's about a flim-flam man uses atomic age fear to sell his monster movie. Hilariously shows this particular time with great insight.

[@tolfan4438]

under rated and under remembered , great movie

[@gorymarty56]

I miss the charm of the poster art and ads

[@garyabbott3861]

At The Randolph Theater in Maine (a few miles down river from the capitol) in my 1950s childhood Saturdays were special - They had a double feature of science fiction or western or one of each, plus five cartoons. My dad piled all the kids in the neighborhood into the back of the truck and took us to the movies. I don't think people do that sort of thing anymore.

[@gaminawulfsdottir3253]

A shame about the audio syncing, It's a big problem.

[@2nostromo]

Good show. I wish they'd dug up some stuff about my favorite: "Dr. Cyclops".

[@charlesheck6812]

that was 1940s not exactly the theme of the documentary

[@atleeriksen8514]

Fantastic documentary. Too bad the sound/picture was out of sync from around 1.23 and out.

[@ThomasTiernan]

Who is the wonderful narrator? His voice is so familiar.

[@NoName-zm1ks]

That was a gorgeous car in Man From Planet X! What make & model & where is it right now!

[@kennethreed2186]

A blast From my Past😊

[@northernlight4evah]

In third grade, we all went into the 'cloak room', scrunched up on the floor and put our arms over our heads. We felt so safe!

[@toshiojohnston3732]

Does anyone know the name of the movie where the navy guy killed the giant something with steam and the mom and little girl were trapped in the closet.

[@phylliselizahb1041]

Paul Blaisdell is his She Creature in Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow & gets unmasked in a dance scene.

[@robmclaughjr]

Duck and cover was a sensible idea for schoolchildren. US authorities were very aware of the huge number of Hiroshima civilians had their skin shredded by flying glass.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Ann Francis!...I was 11 years old, and when I saw her sexy self prancing around in that movie, I realized that from then on, "girls" were going to be working a certain magic on me!. Ms Francis was incredibly beautiful, and held her beauty well into her 50s...She died at age 80, from lung cancer.

[@toshiojohnston3732]

Yes girls when you're that young can do no wrong they of all ages were intoxicating.

[@angelbabysqueaky3985]

I hope that we never use these weapons again. Over 200,000 died and more from the after effects. Now, they are so much more powerful . It's a terrible weapon.

[@davidelder756]

I have many fond memories of The Ackermonster's wonderful magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. 1:49:52

[@curbozerboomer1773]

I laugh when I see vids and advertisements from survivalist websites, I mean, if a nuclear blast happens within ten miles of you, forget about living!...You would not want to live after the explosion.

[@MalachiWhite-tw7hl]

Oh, come on now. Did the survivors of Dresden, Hiroshime, and Nagasaki want to live afterward? Of course they did.​@@curbozerboomer1773

[@BDot-dv7lq]

We all did the "duck and cover" drills throughout the 60s. 😂😂

[@termsofusepolice]

They lasted into the early 1970's. I remember them through 1st grade.

[@ricwatt]

The Amazing colossal man prelude to The Incredible Hulk, Plutonium Bomb radiation turns man who tired to save man in plane that landed in groud zero test site into 60 foot man, Gamma Bomb radiation turns man who tired to save teenage who wander into ground zero test site into Hulk

[@davidvanhorn3340]

I want to know, is the opening narrator trying to sound like John Huston, or Walter Cronkite?

[@marcdelente2456]

Même avec des petits budjets ces films sont formidables et bien supérieures à ces films d aujourd'hui de sciences fictions . Je suis collectionneur de ce genre de films ces le moyen de s évadé très loin de ce mondes de dingues de 2024 et 2025 qui arrive. Une chose que j aurait voulut faire remarqué il ne parle du formidable film le choc des mondes qui est aussi un classique dans le genre science fiction. Merci infiniment pour ce document exceptionnel ces Noël avant l heure.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Whoa!...Phyllis Coates...she played Clark Kent's office partner, Lois Lane, in the first season of the superman TV series...Noelle Neil took over after Ms. Coates had taken a chance, and left to do a movie. Phyllis was much sexier than Noelle!...There was a scene, in the more violent first season of Superman, where Ms Coates missed her mark, while faking a fight with some thug...she got hit on the jaw, and actually was knocked to the floor! Coates had been a pin-up model towards the end of the 2nd World War, and gave movies, and eventually, TV, a shot. She retired around the age of 35, to be a mom. She may have returned later on, in bit parts/cameos, etc. She lived a long life, making it into her 90s.

[@richierugs6544]

im gonna nominate this for a Rondo Hatton Award!

[@phylliselizahb1041]

You know that the flag on the Moon is now bleached white. Do aliens think we surrendered?

[@johnrudy9404]

Flag on the moon, who pit it there,the progress. A monster who kills, just for killing. Dr Jaworsky, melted scientist.

[@brianhiles8164]

I optimistically hope that a white flag says to aliens, _Nothing to see here. Move on._

[@Merylstreep1949]

We are still going to attack, puny earthlings

[@kevingossett8881]

​@@johnrudy9404 Huh?

[@kevingossett8881]

​@@johnrudy9404could you explain please? Thanks

[@augustoocampo2126]

Fascinacion

[@johneyon5257]

1:11 - speaks dismissively about the "duck and cover" training during a nuclear warhead strike - then claiming it wouldn't keep you from dying in a nuclear explosion - - my next door neighbor was going to school in Hiroshima (she was american-born but sent there for some education - and got stuck there) - her class was about 9 miles away from the explosion - her class were told to hide beneath their desks - she must not have protected her neck very well - cuz she had a scar on her neck the result of flying glass - otherwise she survived and lived a long life back in the US - but she lost a sister who was probably very close to the explosion - - duck & cover is about the only thing a person can do - don't overthink it as the warhead approaches

[@unclefart5527]

Does anyone remember a BW film that was about a cosmic ray monster? It used to creep me out as a kid and I've never been able to find it.

[@misterx8325]

Maybe Cosmic Monsters aka The Strange World of Planet X (1958)

[@PaulHillery]

Yes, the music was crucial. The early New Age music, lots of Russian and Eastern Europe composers, come to the US to flee Nazis and 'Commies'. Early electronic music. A new voice to angst. Here is a different take, done by my old friend, abd pretty good. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYHRh3uYn9l6Z5I

[@mayanksingh6663]

Why they dont make movies like in 50s , i feel it was much better than todays too much CGI with no real storyline

[@stevencarlson7853]

Ah, good old hammer head horror.

[@Christina-ge3xr]

Man from Planet X looks suspiciously like Mr. Potato Head 😅

[@marcdelente2456]

Behemoth est excellent petit série b et sur le thème du nucléaire mais ils y en a beaucoups. Sinon que Behemoth est le dernier film animé par le grand Willis Obrien.

[@bhartley868]

I was there then and I disagree. Life is always uncertain and will be forever. How about they were just movies to entertain and make a buck. Old hollywood actors trying to say they were a part of something special when they were just trying to stay employed as an actor. One step from unemployment and sleeping on a friends couch, until the next gig.

[@drhkleinert8241]

Yes, in fact most of this movies were cheap and fast made films to make fast money by kids. 99 % of these movies are forgotten and in most cases its better that way. I was very interested in this kind of movies when i was a kid, like my elder brother but i never heard about of most of this, there are just a few really speacial ones that survived as classics, like Them, Tarantula, the Fly. Some others are only known in US (Teenage Werewolf), but all this cheap "out of space" things or "Horror" with screaming Girls and guys wearing funny halloween masks...nah, come on.

[@bhartley868]

@@drhkleinert8241 Svengoolie has made a living showing all these old fast made scarem movies...

[@charlesheck6812]

so glad you chimed in with your sunny input 😂

[@charlesheck6812]

@@drhkleinert8241 yes they’re so forgotten, they’re still appreciated, written about and conventions held for these films.

[@annalisamandell3581]

@@charlesheck6812Right! Mr. Smiley face over here…He must be sleeping on a friend’s couch…

[@JustanOlGuy]

[@louishamilton9648]

War of the Worlds was a great movie even if the design was 😑 wrong

[@donearl6675]

[@JackKrei]

Who knew that woman from "War of Worlds" would be a communist? H.G.Wells wrote the story worried about the USSR and WW1.

[@stevensica5918]

Not quite. There was NO USSR in the 1890s when Wells wrote the novel. It was still Imperial Russia ruled by the Czar.

[@JackKrei]

@@stevensica5918 ‎History of Russia (1894-1917)

[@PatrickNthedesert]

But there were the book teachings of Karl Marx who was of the time of H.G Wells and Jules Verne writtings

[@stevensica5918]

@@PatrickNthedesert Wells was a socialist, unlikely to be troubled al that much by Marx and his writings.

[@annhenry6893]

And now can the u.s. save it from itself.

[@drhkleinert8241]

Maybe the shrinking man meets Ant Man in the Quantum space Only thing wemen are good for in this movies: be paralysed, shaking head, screaming (but no defense or real running away)

[@MikeMiasuki-vy3xx]

We were safer under MAD. Duck and cover was always BS.

[@ussstropicana]

I miss women screaming. Nowadays, you have woke screaming.

[@richardwarner3705]

What an informative, unique, documentarey.🎭🎬 And, that photo of Kathleen Hughs , "It Came From Space", is total pop art, classic.🎨⭐👍 @TheHollywoodCollection I am banned from comments eplies indefinitely, again. I still watch & hit👍likes. Seems I can still edit(1,643 comments denied so far, 12-1-2024, since 'August'). Good luck friends🖖🤞👍