The Giant Claw (1957)

Director:

Fred F. Sears

Writers:

Paul Gangelin (writer)
Samuel Newman (writer)

Release Date:

June 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Flying beast out of prehistoric skies!

Plot:

Global panic ensues when it is revealed that a mysterious UFO is actually a giant bird that flies at supersonic speed and has no regard for life or architecture.

Plot Keywords:

UFO | Giant Bird | French Canadian | Radar | Supersonic Speed

Cast

Jeff Morrow	...	Mitchell 'Mitch' MacAfee
Mara Corday	...	Sally Caldwell
Morris Ankrum	...	Lt. Gen. Edward Considine
Louis Merrill	...	Pierre Broussard (as Louis D. Merrill)
Edgar Barrier	...	Dr. Karol Noymann
Robert Shayne	...	Gen. Van Buskirk
Frank Griffin	...	Pete, pilot (as Ruell Shayne)
Clark Howat	...	Maj. Bergen
Morgan Jones	...	Lieutenant, Radar Officer

Also Known As:

The Mark of the Claw (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Clover Productions

Trivia:

In 1957, Columbia Pictures theatrically distributed this film on a double bill with The Night the World Exploded (1957).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): While Mitch is setting down the helicopter carrying him, Sally and Pierre, he calls Pierre "Pepe".

Quotes:

Narrator: An electronics engineer, a radar officer, a mathematician and systems analyst, a radar operator, a couple of plotters. People doing a job, well, efficiently, serious, having fun, doing a job. Situation: normal. For the moment...

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Movie Orgy (1968)

Why did they make this movie?

I really cannot understand why this movie was made. At least you get to see some standard 'B' actors such as Jeff Morrow, Morris Ankrum and Mara Corday who is a cute as she can be. Well you guessed it, this thing is about a big bird, what you couldn't have guessed is that it crossed the universe, believe it or not, to build a nest and lay eggs on our 'pale blue dot'(from Carl Sagan). This film has got to win the award for the use of the most stock film shots ever. In more than one sequence, you see folks running in panic in the streets of New York. --Shots taken straight from the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. The special effects were not special, the bird was laughable, and there are so many continuity mistakes. I must have missed the transition from Mara thinking Jeff was a real immature jerk to the heavy romance. (??) Never-the-less I watched the movie wishing it would end yet interested enough to want to know how it would end. It seems to me that considering what a menace this bird was supposed to be, that there would be whole raft of scientists and military types trying to figure out how to kill this thing, there weren't, just a handful. Maybe because of the ridiculously low budget. I am glad however to have a copy to add to my 50's B Monster collection. There is no other film in my collection as bad as this one. I loved it!