Jack H. Harris Presents The Blob 1958!

Jack H. Harris kicked off his long career in and around movies with this bonafide hit. Despite its many flaws, this low-rent monster flick has captured the imaginations of countless folks across the decades. It certainly is inscrutably a favorite of mine. The movie was made by a group which specialized in Christian movies, the star was a unknown who acted like a diva and drove like maniac, the screenplay is credited to a woman who only worked on the movie for two days, and Harris had to mortgage his house to get some of the money to make it. It's working title was The Molten Meteor.

The Blob starring "Steven McQueen" is a movie I've seen many times over, and each time I'm somewhat at a loss to understand the appeal of this sometimes dreadfully slow, arguably lumbering, 1958 monster flick. But nonetheless a few years later there I am watching it again. There's clearly something about this movie which draws you in, not perhaps unlike the pulsing red blob from space which gives the film its title.

One of the things which always jumps out at me when I view this movie is the rather crude production quality. It's an independent movie and it's in color, a downright novelty for a movie of this kind and vintage, but it nonetheless acts like a home movie in many places. The editing is suspect as we move awkwardly from interior set to countryside especially in the opening shots. And the sound mixing is downright wretched -- I noticed that the background noises are so prominent in most of the scenes it distracts from the dialogue. The characters sound like they are walking on glass in many scenes.

(McQueen makes his Case)

The story for the few who might not know is a simple one. A meteor falls to Earth and unleashes a small amorphous mass of pulsing tissue which upon contact with flesh absorbs that flesh and increases its mass. The "blob" (never called that in the movie) is found by an old man who quickly succumbs, and he is in turn found by uber-whitebread "teenagers" Steve Andrews (McQueen) and Jane Martin (Aneta Corsault - who grew up to be "Miss Crump" on The Andy Griffith Show) who take him to the local doctor who through a series of bumbling maneuvers eventually also falls victim. The blob is unleashed on the town and only the teenagers believe while the police dither away, concerned to distraction with the menace of teenage delinquency. The blob rolls through the night absorbing first this bar full of patrons and then that garage mechanic until finally it lands in the local theater full of midnight-movie fans. It has a weakness, but it takes the ingenuity of the teenagers to discover and exploit it.

(The Blob takes in a Movie)

The movie rarely achieves anything one could dub as pace, as it will follow a scene of violence and tension with a limp scene chatting about innocuous teenage concerns such as dodging the cops or treating your girl with proper respect or overweening concern for some bewildered mutt. The teenagers in this movie all look a little suspect too, most seeming to be in their twenties at least. McQueen looks like he actually might be thirty in some scenes which it turns out he almost was at the time.

(Teens and Cops United)

Looking at The Blob as a basket of movie elements there's no way you'd call this movie successful, but somehow despite the abundant evident flaws it hangs together, sometimes just barely to deliver a most memorable monster and a very remarkable ending.

If you perchance have never seen The Blob by all means do so, but stay patient with it, because like its titular monster it sneaks up on you.

Next time it's more Jack Harris with 4-D Man starring Robert Lansing and Patti Duke. 

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Dojo Classics - The Blob!

The Blob starring "Steven McQueen" is a movie I've seen many times over, and each time I'm somewhat at a loss to understand the appeal of this sometimes dreadfully slow, arguably lumbering, 1958 monster flick. But nonetheless a few later there I am watching it again. There's clearly something about this movie which draws you in, not perhaps unlike the pulsing red blob from space which gives the film its title.

One of the things which always jumps out at me when I view this movie is the rather crude production quality. It's an independent movie and it's in color, a downright novelty for a movie of this kind and vintage, but it nonetheless acts like a home movie in many places. The editing is suspect as we move awkwardly from interior set to countryside especially in the opening shots. And the sound mixing is downright wretched -- I noticed that especially on the dvd I used to view the film this time, the background noises are so prominent in most of the scenes it distracts from the dialogue. The characters sound like they are walking on glass in many scenes.

McQueen makes his Case

The story for the few who might not know is a simple one. A meteor falls to Earth and unleashes a small amorphous mass of pulsing tissue which upon contact with flesh absorbs that flesh and increases its mass. The "blob" (never called that in the movie) is found by an old man who quickly succumbs and he is in turn found by uber-whitebread "teenagers" Steve Andrews ( McQueen) and Jane Martin (Aneta Corsault) who take him to the local doctor who through a series of bumbling maneuvers eventually also falls victim. The blob is unleashed on the town and only the teenagers believe while the police dither away, concerned to distraction with the menace of  teenage delinquency. The blob rolls through the night absorbing first this bar full of patrons and then that garage mechanic until finally it lands in the local theater full of midnight-movie fans. It has a weakness but it takes the ingenuity of the teenagers to discover and exploit it.

The Blob takes in a Movie

The movie rarely achieves anything one could dub pace, as it will follow a scene of violence and tension with a limp scene chatting about innocuous teenage concerns such as dodging the cops or treating your girl with proper respect or overweening concern for some bewildered mutt. The teenagers in this movie all look a little suspect too, most seeming to be in their twenties at least. McQueen looks like he actually might be thirty in some scenes which it turns out he almost was at the time.

Teens and Cops United

Looking at The Blob as a basket of movie elements there's no way you'd call this movie successful, but somehow despite the abundant evident flaws it hangs together, sometimes just barely to deliver a most memorable monster and a very remarkable ending.

If you perchance have never seen The Blob by all means do so, but stay patient with it, because like its titular monster it sneaks up on you.

UPDATE: Took time to represent this review from a few years ago because tomorrow the Dojo will review the wacky sequel to The Blob and there's other Blob adjacent material this week. Stay tuned.

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Mustang Rally!

I doubt I'm alone when I sing the praises of the 1968 cop drama Bullitt. Steve McQueen in the title role of Frank Bullitt is endlessly fascinating and while the story sort of doesn't make complete sense when you evaluate it at the end, it has a grip which tightens relentlessly as the cool and cleverly made movie unfolds somberly before our eyes.

And "cool" seems to be the word of the day, as Frank is always under control and always seemingly in command. We get to see as the tension mounts that he is perhaps bubbling underneath with a mixture of anger and frustration at the violent world with which he grapples daily, but rarely does a glimmer of that leak out of the always resolute face which calmly interacts with person after person, almost always politely but with a firm hand.

Based on the novel Mute Witness by Robert L. Pike (which I've never read alas), the story here of organized crime trying to...ahem...police itself makes for a most ironic story. The movie talks a great deal of the distinction between the violent underworld inhabited by criminals and cops, and the rest of society where folks have dinner, listen to jazz, eat breakfast, and plot out humdrum architectural plans. Bullitt and his girlfriend Cathy (Jacqueline Bisset) come from different worlds and that clash helps shape the theme.

Opposite  our "hero" Frank Bullitt is the positively oily politician Walter Chalmers played exquisitely by Robert Vaughn. As true and trustworthy as Bullitt is, that's just how devious and unreliable Chalmers is. The movie is set up so that always Chalmers tries to either bribe or threaten Bullitt into doing what he wants, which is almost never the right thing, but always and with relatively aplomb Frank refuses. Frank is assisted in his ability to resist Chalmers by the defense of a his boss Captain Bennett (Simon Oakland) who comes across as a stalwart policeman himself.

And now we come to my favorite parts of Bullitt, the enigmatic hitmen "Mike" and "Phil". Lord only knows what their real names are, but that's what they are called in the credits. One, the gray-haired Mike (Paul Genge) is the shooter and the other, the somber Phil is the driver as they roll through much of the film trying (often with limited success) to kill their target. These are resolute straightforward executioners who ply their trade with little evident emotion.  Only Mike ever speaks and that is but briefly.

Phil is played by veteran stunt driver Bill Hickman, and he is in fact under the wheel of the black Ford Galaxy which plays cat and mouse then goes to war against Bullitt's Mustang. But as properly famous as the car chase is, I've always liked the build up to the event much better. We wouldn't care about these rambling cars if there hadn't been a capable story leading to their combat. The competition between the police and the criminals comes to a head here in the close of the act, though not the mystery itself.

The ending of Bullitt has always been a bit of a strange one, quitting more than ending, but quitting at a very interesting point. Certainly there's no suggestion of sentimentality about the nature of the work the cops do here, though there is a hint of pure adventure. If you've never seen Bullitt I envy you, but not that much really since it is, for me anyway, a movie which stands up to many repeated viewings.

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