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| Robot Monster | |
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| Directed by | Phil Tucker |
| Produced by | Producer: Phil Tucker Executive Producer: Al Zimbalist |
| Written by | Wyott Ordung |
| Starring | George Nader Claudia Barrett Selena Royle John Mylong Gregory Moffett Pamela Paulson George Barrows |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography | Jack Greenhalgh |
| Editing by | Bruce Schoengarth Merrill White |
| Distributed by | Astor Pictures Corporation |
| Release date(s) | June 10, 1953 |
| Running time | 66 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $16,000 (estimated) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Robot Monster is a 1953 science fiction B-movie made in 3-D by Phil Tucker. Like the more famous "Plan 9 from Outer Space" it is known in bad-film fandom for being "so bad, it's good" and has the dubious honor of being considered one of the "Worst films ever". Its laughable plot line and cheesy special effects has helped it attain status as a cult film.
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The evil alien "Ro-Man" has destroyed all but eight humans on Earth with his death ray, the "Calcinator". Survivors include a family of five, a scientist, and two unseen assistants to the scientist in a spacecraft bound for an orbiting space platform carrying a garrison of human soldiers. All eight have developed an immunity to the death ray as a side effect of an antibiotic serum developed by the scientist. Ro-Man must destroy these survivors before his invasion of earth is complete. He is waylaid in his mission after developing an attraction towards Alice, the eldest daughter of the family. He refuses to eliminate her, forcing "The Great Guidance", leader of the aliens, to personally finish the unsavory task.
Twenty-five-year-old writer/director Phil Tucker made Robot Monster in four days for an estimated $16,000. The film is similar in plot to Invaders from Mars, released a month earlier by Fox. Both pictures contain a young boy stumbling upon an alien invasion and is captured by the alien as he struggles to save his family and himself. As the alien commences the final destruction of earth the boy awakens to find it was all a dream. The film grossed $1,000,000 in its initial release.[1]. It was filmed in Bronson Canyon, the site of innumerable motion pictures and TV settings.[2]. The soundtrack was composed by Elmer Bernstein, who also composed the music for Cat Women of the Moon the same year[3] The film's special effects include stock footage from the 1940 picture One Million B.C., 1951's Lost Continent, and Flight to Mars spliced into the film.[1]
The film was shot and projected in dual-strip, polarized 3-D. The stereoscopic photography in the film is considered by many critics to be of a high quality, and is an extra honor in favor to the crew, who had no experience with the previously unused camera rig.[4]
In the film's opening credits, "N. A. Fischer Chemical Products" is given prominent credit for the "Billion Bubble Machine", used in the film as part of Ro-Man's communication device for reporting to his superior.
Robot Monster was originally released with the 3 Dimensional Pictures short "Stardust in Your Eyes", starring nightclub comedian Trustin Howard as Slick Slaven.[4]
The poor quality of the movie gave rise to a long-lived rumor within the film industry that the poor reception from audiences caused director Phil Tucker to attempt suicide. According to Keep Watching the Skies!, a comprehensive history of 1950s American science fiction films, author Bill Warren claims Tucker's attempted suicide was actually due to depression and a dispute with the film's distributor, who had allegedly refused to pay Tucker his contracted percentage of the film's profits.
George Nader won the Golden Globe award in 1954 as most promising male newcomer of the year. He signed with Universal Studios where he starred in secondary features while other male stars like Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson were assigned the major film roles.
Selena Royle, MGM stock player, had a durable film career starting 1941 until 1951 when she was branded a Communist sympathizer during the McCarthy-era hysteria. She refused to appear before the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities and eventually cleared her name but the damage had already been done. She made only two additional films - Robot Monster was her last. [5].
The budget didn't allow for a robot costume as intended so director Phil Tucker used his friend George Barrows who had his own gorilla suit to play Ro-Man. Phil Tucker added the space helmet. George Barrows had a long run in films and television playing simians. Among his gorilla credits are:
Although Ro-Man was played by George Barrows, the voice was credited to John Brown.
