The Creation of the Humanoids (1962)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Wesley Barry

Writer:

Jay Simms (writer)

Release Date:

3 July 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Man's Own Creation! Can He Control Machines That Produce People?

Plot:

The survivors of a nuclear holocaust fuse man with machine, creating cyborgs to assist in the rebuilding of civilization...

Plot Keywords:

Android | Cyborg | Post Nuclear War | Electronic Music Score | Human Machine Relation

Cast

Don Megowan	...	Capt. Kenneth Cragis
Erica Elliott	...	Maxine Megan
Don Doolittle	...	Dr. Raven
George Milan	...	Acto, a clicker
Dudley Manlove	...	Lagan, a clicker
Frances McCann	...	Esme Cragis Milos
David Cross	...	Pax, a clicker
Malcolm Smith	...	Court
Richard Vath	...	Mark, a clicker
Reid Hammond	...	Hart, Chairman of Surveillance Committee
Pat Bradley	...	Dr. Moffitt
William Hunter	...	Ward, Surveillance Committee Member
Gil Frye	...	Orus, a clicker
Alton Tabor	...	Kelly's Duplicate
Paul Sheriff	...	Policeman

Also Known As:

Revolt of the Humanoids

Runtime:

75 min | USA:84 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (Certificate #19468)

Company:

Genie Productions Inc.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the doctor is testing the robotic arm, the space directly under the table is covered (presumably by a box or a panel with a hidden actor). However as the robotic arm is removed from the table, the space beneath it becomes empty and transparent.

Quotes:

Capt. Kenneth Cragis: How do you apologize to someone for killing them?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Son of Svengoolie: The Creation of the Humanoids (1962) (#1.42)" (1980)

A low-budget gem with strong ties to 1950s sci-fi films.

This one is enjoyable IF the viewer is prepared for the movie's distinctly odd nature and low budget. According to the story, World War III has depleted the Earth's population, but reconstruction efforts are progressing rapidly with the help of a newly developed race of `humanoids' (hairless, green-skinned androids who possess high intelligence and who serve with total faithfulness).

In fact, the androids are so intelligent and sensitive that many people want to have them destroyed, because they fear the androids will overthrow mankind. A few sympathetic humans have sided with the androids -- including the sister of the most outspoken anti-android activist. She actual MARRIES one of the androids. One rebel scientist conspires with the android members of a secret group who strives to perfect the androids and make them even more human.

Shot on a shoestring budget, the sets are fairly simple (although reasonably imaginative), and the acting is sometimes pretty bad. The soundtrack music is a kind o low-rent version of the `Forbidden Planet' tonalities. Oddly enough, all these apparent flaws somehow endear it to the more forgiving viewers, perhaps because the film works so hard to put across some very strange and imaginative concepts, including a nifty little surprise ending.

Watch for several recognizable props and costumes from classic science fiction movies, such as the glass tubes and the gray, one-piece uniforms from `This Island Earth'. One of the `early prototype robots' seen during the film's opening prologue is actually one of the armored alien space suits from `Earth versus the Flying Saucers' -- and it was spray painted silver!

There was, a few years ago, a prerecorded tape of this little gem available for rent at video stores. It you can find one, you're lucky. It's a nutty little cult classic from a by-gone age.