It came from the drive-in! The al fresco movie theater, a rage of the 1950s and '60s, spawned a new type of film -- the creature feature aimed at Atomic Age teenagers. These youngsters found their own parked car a perfect place to fall into each other's arms while being scared silly by B-movie monsters, often representing the anxieties of the age, such as threats of nuclear war or science run amok. What could be more nostalgic, or more fun, than reliving those warm summer nights of dreamy dates and dread-inducing double features?
TCM presents a summertime festival spotlighting some of the most sensational monsters to have graced those drive-in movie screens that once dotted the American landscape. No less than 15 of the films are TCM premieres, including four examples of the Golden Age of Japanese movie monsters. Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956) is the Americanized version of the 1954 Japanese film Gojira, introducing the giant monster to U.S. audiences with re-dubbing and inserted scenes featuring Raymond Burr as a reporter who helps fight the menace. Also screening: Rodan (1957), Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (1965), and Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1970).Other campy creatures making their TCM debuts include Tarantula (1955), a spider that grows to the size of large buildings; The Cyclops (1957), a one-eyed terror who's 25 feet tall; The Giant Behemoth (1959), a once-dormant dinosaur that rises from a polluted ocean emitting deadly radiation; and The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (1955), another radioactive monster from the deep.
On the distaff side, we have Susan Cabot as The Wasp Woman (1959); Attack of the 50-Foot Woman (1958), starring Allison Hayes; and Queen of Outer Space (1958), which includes the great Zsa Zsa Gabor!
(all times Eastern)
JUNE 2ND
8:00 PM - Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)
9:45 PM - Rodan (1957)
11:15 PM - Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
1:00 AM - Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero (1970)
2:45 AM - Dinosaurus! (1960)
4:15 AM - The Valley of Gwangi (1969)
JUNE 9TH
8:00 PM - Them! (1954)
9:45 PM - The Cosmic Monsters (1958)
11:15 PM - Tarantula (1955)
12:45 AM - The Black Scorpion (1957)
2:30 AM - The Giant Claw (1957)
3:00 AM - The Wasp Woman (1959)
JUNE 16TH
8:00 PM - Attack of the 50-Foot Woman (1958)
9:30 PM - Village of the Giants (1965)
11:00 PM - Queen of Outer Space (1958)
12:30 AM - Mars Needs Women (1968)
2:00 AM - Cyclops (1957)
3:30 AM - The Manster (1962)
4:45 AM - The Killer Shrews (1959)
JUNE 23RD
8:00 PM - It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955)
9:30 PM - The Monster that Challenged the World (1957)
11:00 PM - The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
12:30 AM - The Giant Behemoth (1959)
2:00 AM - The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues (1955)
3:30 AM - Creature From the Haunted Sea (1961)
JUNE 30TH
8:00 PM - The Blob (1958)
9:30 PM - The H-Man (1958)
11:00 PM - The Magnetic Monster (1953)
12:30 AM - X The Unknown (1956)
2:00 AM - The Thing From Another World (1951)
3:30 AM - It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958)
