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''Robot Monster'' (or ''Monster from Mars'')"Robot Monster."
''United States Copyright Office Public Catalog''. Retrieved: January 15, 2016.
is a 1953 independently made American
black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
3D
science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...
, remembered in later decades as one of the
worst movies ever made The films listed below have been cited by a variety of notable critics in varying media sources as being among the worst films ever made. Examples of such sources include Metacritic, Roger Ebert's list of most-hated films, ''The Golden Turkey ...
. It was produced and directed by
Phil Tucker Phil Tucker (May 22, 1927 – November 30, 1985) was an American film director, producer, writer, and editor. While Tucker directed his first six feature films in the span of two years (while still in his mid-20s), he is best known for his first ...
, written by Wyott Ordung, and stars
George Nader George Garfield Nader, Jr. (October 19, 1921 – February 4, 2002) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in a variety of films from 1950 to 1974, including ''Sins of Jezebel'' (1953), ''Congo Crossing'' (1956), and ''The Female Animal'' ...
,
Claudia Barrett Claudia Barrett (born Imagene Williams; November 3, 1929 – April 30, 2021) was an American television and film actress. Early life Barrett was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. I. J. Williams. She began takin ...
, and
George Barrows George D. Barrows (New York, February 7, 1914 – Oxnard, October 17, 1994) was an American actor known for playing Ro-Man in the film ''Robot Monster''. He was the son of actor Henry A. Barrows. He often wore a gorilla suit for his film ...
. The production company was Three Dimensional Pictures, Inc. The film was distributed by
Astor Pictures Astor Pictures was a motion picture distribution company in the United States from 1930 to 1963. It was founded by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 – 29 April 1956). Astor specialized in film re-releases. It later released independently m ...
. ''Robot Monster'' tells the story of the alien robot Ro-Man's mission to Earth to destroy humanity. He manages to kill all but eight survivors, who have become immune to his
death ray The death ray or death beam was a theoretical particle beam or electromagnetic weapon first theorized around the 1920s and 1930s. Around that time, notable inventors such as Guglielmo Marconi, Nikola Tesla, Harry Grindell Matthews, Edwin R. Scot ...
. Ro-Man runs afoul of the Great Guidance, his leader, when he becomes attracted to the human Alice. She is the eldest daughter of a surviving scientist, and he refuses to harm her. The Great Guidance must now come to Earth and finish what the Moon robot started.Warren 1982, pp. 146–147.


Plot

Ro-Man Extension XJ-2 referred to as just Ro-Man (a creature with an ape-like body and an antenna-equipped helmet covering its head and emits electric flashes), has destroyed all human life on Earth with a Calcinator death ray to prevent Humanity from challenging his race, except for eight humans who remain alive in a protected facility. The survivors are a professor, whose name is never mentioned; his wife; their two daughters, Alice and Carla; their young son, Johnny; the professor's assistant, Roy; and space pilots Jason and McCloud (neither of whom is seen or heard). Both pilots depart in a rocket ship for an orbiting space platform. All eight have developed an immunity to Ro-Man's death ray, having received an experimental antibiotic serum developed by the professor intended to cure all diseases. Ro-Man must complete the destruction of all humans, even if it means his physically killing them one by one, before his mission to subjugate the Earth is complete. After fruitless negotiations, Ro-Man destroys Jason and McCloud's spaceship that had been sent into space to escape, along with the space platform. The Professor uses the machine intended to contact Jason and McCloud to instead contact Ro-Man, pleading for him to let them go as they pose no threat to him. Ro-Man instead demands to talk to Alice alone, who agrees despite her family's protests. When Johnny leaves to find Ro-Man, Alice ventures out with Roy to find him. Johnny confronts Ro-Man and reveals his immunity to the death ray, causing Ro-Man to begin planning a method to counteract this immunity. Alice and Roy find Johnny, and after inexplicably kissing each other while still in danger, return to the facility. Alice and Roy announce to the professor their desire to marry. The Professor then declares it the biggest event of the year. Ro-Man contacts Great Guidance (referred to as "The Great One"), leader of the Ro-Man Empire, to announce his plan, and is told that he must complete this goal before the Earth finishes revolving. The marriage is conducted, with the Professor asking the Lord for a victory in Mankind's struggle, Ro-Man discovers Carla outside the facility and strangles her. Ro-Man's mission is waylaid, however, when he develops an illogical attraction to Alice and cannot bring himself to eliminate her, asking the Great One if he may keep one human but is demanded to continue the mission. Ro-Man rediscovers Alice and Roy, and throws Roy off a cliff. He explains to Alice that the source of his energy lies in his cave, where he takes her and attempts to woo her before being interrupted by the Professor's broadcast. They ask for a quick death at the ravine, and Ro-Man agrees. Immediately after this, the Great One contacts him, angry at him for rejecting the plan to keep the girl and accusing him of bearing free will in violation of Ro-Man law. He gives Ro-Man one last chance to destroy the girl, which Ro-Man refuses to. Johnny distracts him, allowing the family to save Alice. Both Johnny and Ro-Man are suddenly killed by the Great One with a Calcinator blast. The Great One continues the genocide with Cosmic June Rays, which cause prehistoric reptiles to appear; and psychotronic vibrations, which "smash the planet Earth out of the universe". But Johnny is alive, having just awakened from a concussion-induced fever dream. Up to now, all that has happened has just been his nightmare. His sisters, their mother, and the two scientists, whom the family met while picnicking in
Bronson Canyon Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles that has become known as a filming location for many films and television series, especially Westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to the ...
, rejoice at finding him. Johnny and his family invite the scientists home for dinner; they accept. Suddenly, Ro-Man, his arms raised in a threatening manner after having just arrived on Earth, walks out of his cave directly ''toward'' the audience.


Cast

*
George Nader George Garfield Nader, Jr. (October 19, 1921 – February 4, 2002) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in a variety of films from 1950 to 1974, including ''Sins of Jezebel'' (1953), ''Congo Crossing'' (1956), and ''The Female Animal'' ...
as Roy *
Claudia Barrett Claudia Barrett (born Imagene Williams; November 3, 1929 – April 30, 2021) was an American television and film actress. Early life Barrett was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. I. J. Williams. She began takin ...
as Alice *
Selena Royle Selena Royle (November 6, 1904 – April 23, 1983) was an American actress (of stage, radio, television and film), and later, an author. Early life and career Actress Royle was born in New York City to playwright Edwin Milton Royle and actress ...
(credited as Selena Royale) as Mother *
John Mylong John Mylong (September 27, 1892 – September 8, 1975), also known as Jack Mylong-Münz, born Adolf Heinrich Münz, was an Austrian actor who later settled in the United States. Selected filmography * ''Der heilige Hass, 1. Teil'' (1921) - Rabo ...
as The Professor *
Gregory Moffett Gregory Moffett is an American former child actor who appeared in several films and television series in the 1950s. His older sister, Sharyn Moffett, was a child actress. Their parents were also in the entertainment business. In 1949, he signed a ...
as Johnny * Pamela Paulson as Carla *
George Barrows George D. Barrows (New York, February 7, 1914 – Oxnard, October 17, 1994) was an American actor known for playing Ro-Man in the film ''Robot Monster''. He was the son of actor Henry A. Barrows. He often wore a gorilla suit for his film ...
as Ro-Man/Great Guidance *
John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
as Voice of Ro-Man/Great Guidance


Production

Twenty-five-year-old writer/director Tucker made ''Robot Monster'' in four days for an estimated $16,000. Except for a few scenes at a house in Los Angeles and a building site near
Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...
, most footage was filmed outdoors in
Bronson Canyon Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles that has become known as a filming location for many films and television series, especially Westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to the ...
, the site of innumerable motion pictures and TV settings. Principal photography on ''Robot Monster'' wrapped on March 23, 1953. ''Robot Monster''s very low budget did not allow for a robot costume as first intended, so Tucker hired his friend Barrows, who had made his own
gorilla suit Gorilla suits are a type of creature suit resembling a gorilla. The gorilla suit is a popular Halloween and costume party costume, and is also used as a source of humour, while more realistic suits have been used both to represent real gorillas i ...
, to play Ro-Man; Tucker then added a space helmet similar to those used in Republic serials such as ''Radar Men from the Moon''. ''Robot Monster'' is similar in its plot to '' Invaders from Mars'', released a month earlier by
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
. Both films contain a young boy, stumbling upon an alien invasion, who is captured 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. Barrett recalled in an interview that the film's original screenplay was designed as reality, but director Tucker changed his mind and then shot a new twist ending that showed the film's story has been a boy's dream that is about to come true. In ''Robot Monster''s opening credits, "N. A. Fischer Chemical Products" is given prominent credit for the "Billion Bubble Machine", used as part of Ro-Man's communication device for reporting to his superior, the Great Guidance. The film was preceded in theatres by '' Stardust in Your Eyes'', a one-reel 3D monologue by comic/impressionist Trustin Howard, performing under his stage name "Slick Slavin.""Movieland briefs." ''Los Angeles Times'', April 1, 1953, p. B8.


3D

''Robot Monster'' was shot and projected in dual-strip, polarized 3D. The stereoscopic photography in the film is considered by many critics to be high quality, especially for a film whose crew had little experience with the newly developed camera rig.Hayes 1998, p. 295. Producer Al Zimbalist later told ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' that shooting the film in 3D (which involved using another camera) added an extra $4,510.54 to the budget.


Special effects

''Robot Monster''s special effects include
stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...
from ''
One Million B.C. ''One Million B.C.'' is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles ''Cave Man'', ''Man and His Mate'' and ''Tumak''. The film stars Victor Mature as protagonist ...
'' (1940), ''
Lost Continent Lost lands are islands or continents believed by some to have existed during pre-history, but to have since disappeared as a result of catastrophic geological phenomena. Legends of lost lands often originated as scholarly or scientific theor ...
'' (1951), and '' Flight to Mars'' (1951); a brief appearance of the ''
Rocketship X-M ''Rocketship X-M'' (a.k.a. ''Expedition Moon'' and originally ''Rocketship Expedition Moon'') is a 1950 American black-and-white science fiction film from Robert L. Lippert, Lippert Pictures, the first outer space adventure of the post-World War ...
'' (1950) spaceship boarding; and a matte painting of the ruins of New York City from ''
Captive Women ''Captive Women'' is a 1952 American black-and-white post-apocalyptic science-fiction film. It stars Robert Clarke and Margaret Field. The film has a running time of 64 minutes. It deals with the effects of a nuclear war and how life would be af ...
'' (1952).


Film score

''Robot Monster''s music score was composed by
Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...
, who also composed ''
Cat Women of the Moon ''Cat-Women of the Moon'' is an independently made 1953 American black-and-white three-dimensional science-fiction film, produced by Jack Rabin and Al Zimbalist, directed by Arthur Hilton, that stars Sonny Tufts, Victor Jory, and Marie Windsor ...
'' the same year, and later, the more prestigious '' The Great Escape'', ''
The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself initially relea ...
'', ''
The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
'',
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
's '' Thriller'' music video, and ''
Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...
''. Bernstein recalled he was stuck in a period where he was " greylisted" because of his left-wing politics and only offered minor films, but said he enjoyed the challenge of trying to help a film. Ordung stated that Bernstein scored the film with an eight-piece orchestra, and
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
expressed interest in producing an album. One critic told how he had watched the film as a teenager when it was first shown on television in 1954 and said it was "one of Elmer Bernstein's best very early scores."


Release

''Robot Monster'' was released by Astor Pictures on June 24, 1953, at a runtime of 62 minutes. It was originally released with the Three Dimension Pictures short '' Stardust in Your Eyes'', starring nightclub comedian Trustin Howard as Slick Slaven. It grossed $1,000,000 during its initial theatrical release, more than 62 times its original investment."How to Make a Monster."
''Everything2.com''. Retrieved: January 8, 2007.


Reception


Contemporary

The December 1952 review in ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' noted, "Judged on the basis of novelty, as a showcase for the Tru-Stereo Process, ''Robot Monster'' comes off surprisingly well, considering the extremely limited budget ($50,000) and schedule on which the film was shot"."Review: Robot Monster."
''Variety'', December 31, 1952.
In June 1953, the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' called it "a crazy mixed up movie ... even children may be a little bored by it all" and ''
Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...
'', the following month, called it "the poorest 3-D picture that asbeen made so far." Adding, "the story is completely illogical, and the supposed monsters from another planet are laughable. Even the acting, at times, is ridiculous". In December 1953, the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' reported that "theater men" considered the film "one of the top turkeys of the year.""Movie director's death try balked: Letter sent to newspaper results in his being found unconscious in room at hotel." ''Los Angeles Times'', December 16, 1953, p. 18.


Legacy

The film holds a 36% approval rating at the film
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 4.15/10. The film is frequently considered one of the worst movies ever made, with film historian
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...
writing in his 2009 Movie Guide, " obot Monster isone of the genuine legends of Hollywoodembarrassingly, hilariously awful ..just dig that bubble-machine with the TV antenna."


Aftermath

In December 1953, it was reported that Tucker tried to commit suicide at the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel. He was only saved because he had written a suicide letter and sent it to a newspaper, which sent a reporter and some detectives to the hotel. He was discovered with a pass in his pocket from the psychopathic ward of a veteran's hospital. In the letter, Tucker said he had not been paid for ''Robot Monster'' and was unable to get a job. "When I was refused a jobeven as an usher", Tucker wrote, "I finally realized my future in the film industry was bleak." It was revealed that Tucker and the producer had quarreled, and film exhibitors had instructions not to let Tucker in to see the film unless he paid admission. In ''Keep Watching the Skies!'', a comprehensive history of 1950s and early 1960s American science-fiction films, author Bill Warren claimed that Tucker's attempted suicide was 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. The actors connected to ''Robot Monster'' included George Nader, who won the
Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
in 1955 as "Most Promising Male Newcomer of the Year" (although his award was not tied to his ''Robot Monster'' performance). He signed with
Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
, where he starred only in secondary features. Selena Royle, an
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
stock player, had a durable film career beginning in 1941, but it ended in 1951 when she was branded a
Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
sympathizer. She refused to appear before the
House Committee on Un-American Activities The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
and eventually cleared her name. By then, the damage to her reputation had already been done; she made only two additional films, ''Robot Monster'' being her last.


In popular culture

* A scene from the film was used by The Cars in their music video for the song "You Might Think". * In the ''
Rocko's Modern Life ''Rocko's Modern Life'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an anthropomorphic Australian immigrant wallaby named Rocko and his friends: the eccentric steer ...
'' episode "Popcorn Pandemonium", Rocko and Heffer watch an old monster movie on Ed Bighead's television (from his driveway); the monster in the film is a creature with an antennae-topped space helmet for a head and an ape body, a clear homage to Ro-Man. * The film was featured in a 1986 episode of the ''
Canned Film Festival The ''Canned Film Festival'' is a comedy-based motion picture television series that was nationally syndicated during the late night hours in the United States for a single season in the summer of 1986. With only a one-letter difference in the ...
''. * Ro-Man is seen in the 2003 film '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action''. * In the 2010 animated film ''
Megamind ''Megamind'' is a 2010 American computer-animated superhero comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, the film stars the ...
'', the character Minion (voiced by
David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...
) resembles Ro-Man, with the body of a gorilla and a transparent head with a fish in it. * It was the feature film of the 1989 episode 107 of ''
Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. ...
''. * SCP-2006, a creature from the
SCP Foundation The SCP Foundation is a fictional secret organization documented by the collaborative-writing wiki project of the same name. Within the website's shared universe, the Foundation is responsible for capturing, containing, and studying various p ...
, prefers to take the form of Ro-Man. * In the 2012 series ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', the Kraang operate gorilla bodies which are based on Ro-Man. * In the Disney cartoon ''
Milo Murphy's Law ''Milo Murphy's Law'' is an American animated television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series premiered on October 3, 2016 on Disney XD. It revolves around the title character, Milo ...
'', Milo and Sarah's favorite sci-fi series, ''Dr. Zone'' has two characters. One is Dr. Zone and the other is Time Ape, whose body is similar to Ro-Man but wears boxer shorts and his head is a time clock. * In 2022,
Rifftrax RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''M ...
released their own riffed version of the movie.


See also

*
List of 3D films pre-2005 A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of films considered the worst The films listed below have been cited by a variety of notable critics in varying media sources as being among the worst films ever made. Examples of such sources include Metacritic, Roger Ebert's list of most-hated films, ''The Golden Turkey ...


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* Hayes, R. M. ''3-D Movies: "A History and Filmography of Stereoscopic Cinema''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Classics, 1998. . * Mitchell, Charles P. ''A Guide to Apocalyptic Cinema''. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. . * Parla, Paul and Charles P. Mitchell. "Claudia Barrett interview". ''Screen Sirens Scream!: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Science Fiction, Horror, Film Noir and Mystery Movies, 1930s to 1960s''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009. . * Rux, Bruce. ''Hollywood Vs. the Aliens: The Motion Picture Industry's Participation in UFO Disinformation''. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books/Frog, Ltd., 1997. . * Spencer, Kristopher. ''Film And Television Scores, 1950-1979: A Critical Survey by Genre''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2008. . * Strick, Philip. ''Science Fiction Movies''. London: Octopus Books Limited, 1976. . * Warren, Bill. ''Keep Watching The Skies, American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties'', Vol I: 1950–1957. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1982. . * Zone, Ray. ''3-D Revolution: The History of Modern Stereoscopic Cinema''. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2012. .


External links

* * * *


Mystery Science Theater 3000

*
Episode guide: 107- Robot Monster (with shorts: Radar Men from the Moon, episode 4-Flight to Destruction and episode 5-Murder Car)
{{Phil Tucker 1950s science fiction films 1953 horror films 1953 films American black-and-white films American independent films American dystopian films 1950s English-language films Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films directed by Phil Tucker American post-apocalyptic films American robot films American science fiction horror films American monster movies 1953 3D films American 3D films Articles containing video clips Films about nightmares 1950s monster movies 1953 directorial debut films Films shot in Los Angeles American exploitation films 1950s American films