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| Original Poster by Reynold Brown |
'
Attack of the 50-Foot Woman' is the second film in the
Blind Spot Series with
TheMatinee.Ca. You can see my Blind Spot movies list in my right hand side bar. Blind Spot movies are films that I've never seen before and are posted on the last Tuesday of the month. The first film on my list was '
Quest for Fire.' My next Blind Spot film will be
Fahrenheit 451 (1966).
ATTACK OF THE 50-FOOT WOMAN
Directed by NATHAN JURAN
Starring ALLISON HAYES, WILLIAM HUDSON, and YVETTE VICKERS
Written by MARK HANNA
'
Attack of the 50-Foot Woman' is a poster that I've always loved. It's been parodied and copied a million times for good reason. The poster is pulpy, tacky, and beautiful. The poster depicts a giant woman towering over a highway overpass in a white tankini (which is actually a set of bed sheets) as she throws cars and steps on power lines. The proportions are completely off. The 50-foot woman is drawn more like a 500-foot woman, but there's something exciting about this poster. Everyone who has been through a bad breakup can relate to her. Watching a statuesque woman throw cars around after her husband leaves her is satisfying. Who wouldn't want to throw a few cars around after that? She's certainly more lively than the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
The poster was drawn by famous 50's movie poster artist,
Reynold Brown. Brown's other posters included '
The Time Machine,' '
Tarantuala,' '
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,' '
Ben-Hur,' and '
Creature from the Black Lagoon.' Brown had a fantastical style and his posters have stood the test of time, especially the '
Attack of the 50-Foot Woman.'
I was a little embarrassed that I had a copy of this poster in my house, but I had never seen the film. Now that I've seen the film, I am no longer embarrassed. This film should only be watched after a few glasses of wine or with a fast forward button. I can handle most 50's pulp, but this is truly the B-movies of all B-movies. The best thing about this movie is the poster. Thankfully the movie is only 65 minutes. The film was done during the same time period as other size-shifting human movies, like '
The Incredible Shrinking Man' and '
The Amazing Colossal Man.'
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| Allison Hayes is Nancy Archer, the 50-Foot Woman |
Plot: Nancy Archer (played by 50's bombshell
Allison Hayes) is a wealthy heiress with a drinking problem and a no good cheating husband--bad combination. While driving home to the no good cheating husband, Harry Archer (
William Hudson), she has a close encounter of the third kind. Nancy sees a UFO and a giant alien to go along with it. As Nancy has just been released from the "booby hatch" (mental hospital), as her husband's mistress calls it, no one believes her. So Harry and his mistress, appropriately named Honey Parker (
Yvette Vickers) concoct a scheme to drive Nancy over the edge.
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| Nancy sees a UFO |
Desperately trying to hold onto her sanity and her marriage, Nancy tries to show her husband the area that she saw the giant alien. Her husband soon believes her as Nancy is abducted by the alien creature who we now see resembles a deranged
Mister Clean. The giant alien whammy's Nancy and kidnaps her for a little while. The prince that he is, Harry Archer abandons his wife, runs to his mistresses house, and tries to skip town.
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| Scary Mister Clean/Alien (Mike Ross). He also played Tony the Bartender |
As Nancy has mysteriously reappears alive, but unconscious, the police start to suspect the dastardly duo of foul play. Instead of taking her to a hospital with a guard, the police take Nancy to her home in close proximity of the man they suspect of harming her? The police wait for Nancy to regain consciousness. Despite his disdain for her, Harry doesn't want to divorce Nancy because she's loaded and she's his meal ticket. As Nancy lies helpless and unconscious, Honey comes up with the idea to kill poor Nancy by overdosing her with morphine.
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| Honey Parker (Yvette Vickers) and Harry Archer (Willaim Hudson) |
Before Harry can kill his long-suffering wife, she is transformed. Nancy is no longer Harry's fool. Nancy is now a 50-foot giantess bent on revenge. What is so amazing is that the doctors seem to take this in stride. When they have to operate on Nancy they simply order larger doses of medicaiton. They must deal with this kind of stuff all the time. The hapless police find the UFO and come across the giant Mister Clean, bolstering Nancy's story because Nancy becoming a giant was not enough.
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| Nancy ravages the town |
The special effects are a product of their time. It wouldn't have been so bad if they just made miniature sets with a normal sized person walking through them (like '
Godzilla'), but for some reason the filmmakers tried to superimpose the giant people, which caused a strange translucent effect.
Anywhoo, once Nancy regains consciousness, it's on. She finds her lowdown husband and his trashy mistress in their regular watering hole and takes no prisoners. She's on a rampage and no one can stop her. She is a woman scorned and she ain't no joke. I know why this movie (and poster) have stood the test of time. It's the ultimate female revenge flick.
Kill sleazy mistress
Kill cheating husband
Go out in a blaze of glory
End of movie
Enjoy the pretty pictures.
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| Don't trust him Nancy. |
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| Seriously don't trust him |
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| There's always time to dance |
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| Nancy versus the giant alien hand |
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| Giant alien bartender |
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| Where's Harry? |
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| No one can hide |
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| Bed sheet chic |
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| Really Harry? |
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| All shall know her and despair. |
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| Nancy grabs Harry. No mercy. |
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| Nancy dies the way she lives, hard and fast |
Oh yeah, it was a cheesy B-flick. I think over the years, the idea of the movie, coupled with the poster, have become far greater than the film itself. At least you can cross it off your list now.
ReplyDeleteI've never gotten around to watching this one but I might have to now. It's interesting that this film has had such a lasting impact on pop culture since it's not a very good film haha
ReplyDeleteGiantism must be common in medical school. I'm surprised that I've never seen it, but it sounds like I'm better off just enjoying the poster.
ReplyDeleteI have only seen the poster I never saw the movie. one day maybe.
ReplyDeleteAlex-- It was soooo cheesy. You're right. Now I've seen it. It's off the list.
ReplyDeleteA-- It's true. It's iconic. That's why I wanted to watch it.
Maurice-- Yes, I think the poster is way more glamorous then it would be in real life. You know we haven't had a good human size movie since 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids.' I remember seeing that when I was a preteen.
David-- You should watch, if only to say that you did!
I've never watched this film, but I've seen the remake with Daryl Hannah, believe it or not. I just remember her having the world's most insulting boyfriend (played by one of the Baldwin brothers, I think) and her talking to him about how they could still have a sexual relationship even though she was, shall we say, not exactly compatible size-wise. It was pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteChip-- Hi, I've seen the remake you're referring to. I think it was on HBO or something and I I thought the same thing. Great minds!
DeleteLordy, your selections are making ME feel pretty damned blind! For the second month in a row, I have nuthin for ya since I haven't seen the film before! Perhaps I'll toss it on late one night and recall the days when such kooky films were the late late movies on my local TV station.
ReplyDeleteRyan-- It's a total guilty pleasure! If only Mystery Science Theater 3000 were still around. This would be a great candidate.
DeleteMST3K is now practicing under the name RiffTrax and they are great. BTW, everyone was okay with the transparent giant still being in the desert at the end of the movie?
Delete