Hoey, and starring Mamie Van Doren, Anthony Eisley, Billy Gray, Bobby Van and Pamela Mason. It was distributed by Realart Pictures Inc. A group of scientists with Operation Deep Freeze discover frozen prehistoric trees and other specimens in the Antarctic dating back to the first Ice Age. They collect samples of each for further study and load them aboard their C- 4. The dull, workaday life at the Navy weather station base on Gow Island in the South Pacific is interrupted by that very same C- 4. On a routine approach for refueling, the transport experiences unusual trouble and suddenly crash lands on the island's single airstrip, destroying its control tower and the island's only two- way radio. The stricken aircraft also blocks the runway, preventing its further use. Lieutenant Charles Brown (Eisley) is in command of Gow's weather station. He, Navy nurse Nora Hall (Van Doren), and biologist Arthur Beecham (Walter Sande) reach the wreck only to find that seven scientists and crew aboard the cargo aircraft when it left Antarctica are now mysteriously missing. The only one found aboard is the transport's pilot, who is traumatized and in a state of shock, unable to speak. Unloading the prehistoric cargo from the crashed C- 4. Dr. Beecham recommends planting the trees to ensure their survival in the island's tropical conditions. Somewhat later, Gow Island's bird population becomes disturbed by something unknown. At the same time, the weather station's scientists try to figure out a connection between this event and a corrosive residue that begins turning up at various island locations. It slowly becomes clear that the planted prehistoric trees have quickly grown into acid- secreting, carnivorous monsters that move about Gow Island at night, at will. They reproduce fast and eventually cut off the island with their growing numbers and nocturnal assaults on Gow's native islanders. Brown has to hold together his dwindling Navy personnel and the coterie of scientists and civilians while figuing out a way to stop this prehistoric menace. The Navy personnel's only available weapons prove largely ineffective against the tree monsters. Eventually, the weather station is able to restore radio contact with the mainland and ask for help. In response, the military sends in multiple aircraft strikes from their nearest base. Mothra I (1964) First off, there are two movies in the series by this name. I'll call the one made in 1964 Godzilla vs. Mothra I and the one made in. Fighter jets drop both napalm and fire air- to- ground missiles at the slow- moving night monsters, blowing then up or setting them ablaze. As a result, the prehistoric threat to Gow Island's surviving personnel is quickly eliminated. Production. Hoey read Leinster's novel and thought it could make a good science fiction film along the lines of The Thing From Another World (1. He optioned it and wrote a screenplay, originally titled The Nightcrawlers. Producer George Edwards read it and agreed to finance the film; because of the limited amount of money available, Hoey was hired to direct. He later stated that he was paid $1. Leinster for the film rights, $2,0. Directors Guild of America and another $1,0. Hoey said that during rehearsal, Broder announced the film's new title would be The Navy vs. Hoey thought highly of Edwards, claiming . And at the same time make creative decisions that made sense, which was the antithesis of what Jack Broder did. Shooting took ten days. So they made an offer and he accepted. Her casting resulted in Hoey turning her character into a civilian. Referring to the latter, Hoey said, . Broder hired some guy who did them for $1. When they showed up on the set the first day, I refused to film them, I was so upset. A lot of what happened at the back end of the movie, like the little stumps walking around in the sand, was stuff that Jon Hall shot. I had nothing to do with it.. Yes, the famous Jon Hall from The Hurricane . In later years he had a production company, and apparently he made a deal with Broder and went out and shot more stuff.
The only tree that I worked with was the one that had the guy in it manipulating the limbs, which is the one that has the fight with the . We shot it in pretty low- key light, to try to hide as much of it as we possibly could. When Hoey left the film, Broder hired Arthur Pierce, director of Women of the Prehistoric Planet, to shoot additional scenes. Hoey later claimed these scenes would . It completely ruined the premise of what I had in mind. First of all, you never saw those trees in explicit detail; you had a sense of mystery about what was killing these people on this island. As originally shot, the island radio tower was destroyed by a plane crash and there was no contact between the island and the outside world. I, as executive officer of the military Army base, was not prepared to assume command, and I had nobody I could turn to. So we played it at a level of fear and panic that wouldn't exist if we could contact some base on the outside. Then, months after the picture was shut down, the producer put in this stupid stock footage of bombers blowing up the island at the end and shot these monotonous talking scenes of generals on the telephone that were not at all germane to the original story. As a consequence, in the final cut, we actors are playing at a level that the situation didn't call for at all! That was very, very upsetting. Be aware that the plot involves omnivorous trees. Don't say you weren't warned. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2. New York: New American Library, 2. TV Movies, then Leonard Maltin. Michael Moore Reveals Surprise Donald Trump Film, Opening In New York City Tomorrow 21 hours ago; Liberty Global to Acquire Polish Cable Operator.ISBN 9. 78- 0- 4. Pym, John, ed. London: Time Out Guides Limited, 2. ISBN 9. 78- 0- 1. Strick, Philip. Science Fiction Movies. London: Octopus Books Limited, 1. ISBN 0- 7. 06. 4- 0. X. Weaver, Tom. Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, Moguls and Makeup. Jefferson, North Carolina: Mc. Farland & Company, 2. ISBN 9. 78- 0- 7. The Bone Orchard: S through T. Visit the George Sanders page. Tura Satana (1. 93. Born in Japan in 1. Tura Satana was raised in Chicago. After a brief marriage at age 1. Satana kept her husband's last name and became a burlesque dancer in Chicago clubs as a young teenager, keeping her age a secret. In the late 1. 95. After another brief marriage, Satana relocated to Los Angeles, Satana embarked on an acting career and soon nabbed a small role in Irma la Douce (1. Jack Lemmon and Shirley Mac. Laine) and was cast in guest spots on Burke's Law and The Man from U. N. C. L. E. Her most famous role, as Varla, came in Russ Meyer's groundbreaking Faster, Pussycat! Afterward, she acted in the Ted V. Mikels films The Astro- Zombies (1. Wendell Corey and John Carradine and The Doll Squad (1. Francine York and Anthony Eisley). In 1. 97. 3, Satana was shot by a jealous boyfriend; in addition, a serious auto accident broke her back and sidelined her acting career. After working as a nurse and police dispatcher, Satana moved to Nevada and worked security for casinos. Sadly, Tura Satana died of heart failure on February 4, 2. Reno at the age of 7. She was survived by her two daughters. When he entered films in the 1. In the late 1. 95. One of his last films, Sixteen Candles (1. Molly Ringwald) was one of his best. Showalter passed away at age 8. Born in France in April 1. Simon worked as a model before entering films in her native country in the early 1. She became quite popular in Europe and was brought to Hollywood in the mid 1. Signing with 2. 0th Century Fox, Simon appeared in a handful of films including Ladies in Love (1. Janet Gaynor and Constance Bennett) and Love and Hisses (1. Joan Davis and Bert Lahr). However, Simon's career was going nowhere fast, so she left Hollywood for France to reestablish herself in European cinema. Not long after her return, the outbreak of World War II drove Simon back to Hollywood, where she stayed for the duration of the war and starred in her biggest film, Cat People. Her other films from this period include Tahiti Honey (1. Dennis O'Keefe) and Mademoiselle Fifi (1. John Emery). Following the end of World War II, Simon headed back to France, but her career never rebounded. Simon passed away in February 2. As with most other starlets, Smith started with bit parts for a year or so. However, barely 1. Warner Bros., she was given starring roles in Dive Bomber (1. Steel Against the Sky (1. She met handsome fellow Warner contract player Craig Stevens on the set of the latter film; three years later, the couple married. Unlike many starlets, marriage and motherhood didn't slow Smith's career, which remained active through the late 1. By this time Stevens was enjoying success with his series Peter Gunn (1. Smith went on a long hiatus, resurfacing in the 1. Broadway, in films, and on television. Sadly, Smith passed away from brain cancer at the age of 7. By the early 1. 96. Wild Guitar (1. 96. Arch Hall, Jr. Steckler also appeared in several of his films as an actor, using the stage name . With a production budget of $3. Zombies actually did well at the box office and was resurrected in the late 1. Mystery Science Theater 3. He followed up with The Thrill Killers (1. Liz Renay and Carolyn Brandt). After the births of his daughters in the mid 1. Steckler lensed a couple of films aimed at children, including the homage to the Bowery Boys films Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters (1. Carolyn Brandt and Coleman Francis) and his Batman spoof Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1. Carolyn Brandt). After a few more horror films, such as Body Fever (1. Carolyn Brandt and Gary Kent) and Blood Shack (1. Carolyn Brandt and Ron Haydock), Steckler began producing soft- core adult films, with the occasional return to horror films in the late 1. Steckler and Brandt divorced in 1. Plagued by heart disease during his final years, Ray Dennis Steckler passed away on January 7, 2. He is survived by his second wife, four daughters, and two grandchildren. He had more success in the 1. Reunion in Reno (1. Frances Dee and Leif Erickson) and Jack Slade (1. Dorothy Malone). He moved on to television series work in the mid 1. Martin Kane, Private Eye and Big Town. His career began to lose momentum in the late 1. Spain and did several films there before retiring. In the 1. 98. 0s, he returned to acting and did some guest spots on television series. Stevens passed away in 1. Born Robert Bradbury, Steele was the son of vaudevillian- turned- western- film director Robert Bradbury Sr., who put his Bob and his brother to work in the early 1. The Adventures of Bill and Bob. In the late 1. 92. FBO and changed his name to Bob Steele. FBO churned out B movies primarily for southern audiences, with a particular emphasis on westerns. By the early 1. 93. Steele was heavily identified with western films, and in the 1. Three Mesquiteers series of films. While he headlined in B westerns, Steele also had supporting roles in some A films, including Of Mice and Men (1. By the early 1. 95. B westerns faded due to the rise of westerns on television, but Steele worked steadily through the early 1. His final film was the 1. Nightmare Honeymoon. Steele died in 1. After working his way up by acting on stage and appearing in short subjects, Sullivan got his big break in the 1. The Woman of the Town, paving the way for many western films to come for him. Throughout the 1. Sullivan appeared in numerous A and B films, including Getting Gertie's Garter (1. Marie Mc. Donald), The Great Gatsby (1. Alan Ladd), Queen Bee (1. Joan Crawford and Fay Wray), and Another Time, Another Place (1. Lana Turner). In 1. Sullivan went to the small screen to star in the series The Man Called X, which was short lived but Sullivan landed another series, the following year, Harbourmaster. By the 1. 96. 0s, Sullivan's film career had begun to slide in such films as Planet of the Vampires (1. My Blood Runs Cold (1. Troy Donahue), but he worked regularly in television throughout the late 1. Sullivan died in 1. Lyle Talbot (1. 90. Born in February 1. Pittsburgh, veteran actor Lyle Talbot worked extensively in both television and film. Talbot was prolific from the 1. For a time in the early to mid 1. Talbot was the president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Ironically, at the very same time he was president of SAG, he was acting in Ed Wood's non- union cut- rate films, thereby violating SAG's labor policies. Avid TV viewers can catch Talbot as Ozzie and Harriet Nelson's neighbor from their 1. Thanks to Michael Geigenfeind for the above photo. Terry's acting career never really took off, despite being in films for about 3. Many of his early roles were small and often uncredited. He did better in the early 1. The Monster and the Girl (1. Ellen Drew) and To Each His Own (1. Olivia de Havilland). For a few years in the early 1. Paramount and later to RKO. After his 1. 94. 6 divorce from Crawford, Terry's film career began to slide. He focused his attentions on real estate instead, and became quite successful in this endeavor, accumulating a good deal of wealth. He remarried, this time successfully as well. Throughout the 1. Terry took on occasional roles in film and television; some of his best B's from this period include The Leech Woman (1. Coleen Gray and Grant Williams) and The Navy vs. He retired in the early 1. He passed away in 1. Carlos Thompson (1. Argentina- born actor Carlos Thompson starred in many international film productions from the 1. He got in his start in films in his native Argentina in the mid 1. Hollywood films in the 1. Fort Algiers (1. 95. Yvonne De Carlo) and The Flame and the Flesh (1. Lana Turner). On the set of Between Time and Eternity (1. Thompson met actress Lilli Palmer; following her divorce from Rex Harrison in 1. Thompson and Palmer married. The couple starred in two other international productions in the early 1. Palmer passed away in 1. Thompson died in 1. The above photo is from the Jeff Chandler and Esther Williams potboiler Raw Wind in Eden (1. Universal- International. Visit the Marshall Thompson page. Lawrence Tierney (1. The older brother of actor Scott Brady, Lawrence Tierney got his start in Hollywood playing bit parts in the early 1. RKO. A couple of years later, Tierney landed his breakthrough role as gangster John Dillinger in Dillinger (1. Anne Jeffreys), but this role led to his typecasting as a villian. Despite his bad guy image, well- publicized barroom brawls hurt Tierney's career; by the mid 1. Hollywood. He attempted several comebacks in the 1. In the early 1. 98. Tierney cleaned up his act and finally was able to enjoy a well- deserved comeback in such films as Prizzi's Honor (1. Tough Guys Don't Dance (1. Reservoir Dogs (1. Tierney died in his sleep in late February 2. The photo above is from The Hoodlum (1. Thelma Todd (1. 90. Beautiful Thelma Todd made a name for herself as a gifted comedienne in a series of Hal Roach comedies in the early 1. Todd was part of a comedy team, first with Za. Su Pitts and later with Patsy Kelly. Todd made numerous short comedies; two of her best are Done in Oil (1. Patsy Kelly) and Top Flat (1. Patsy Kelly). The team of Todd and Kelly was a sort of female counterpart to Laurel and Hardy. Todd had less success in full- length films, although her two features with the Marx Brothers Monkey Business and Horse Feathers proved successful. Todd was found dead in her garage in December 1. Her death remains a mystery. Mel Torme (1. 92. Although Mel Torme is better known for his velvety singing voice, he also made a number of B movies, mostly in the late 1. Some of his film include Girls Town (1. Mamie Van Doren) and The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1. Mamie Van Doren and Fay Spain). In the late 1. 98. Torme made numerous appearances on the TV series Night Court, as the star of the show, Harry Anderson, was a huge Mel Torme fan. Sadly, Torme passed away in 1. One of Torme's wives was scream queen Janette Scott . Beforehand, he had concentrated on a singing career. Tufts made a big splash in his first big film, So Proudly We Hail!
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