Village of the Giants (1965)

Delinquent teens ingest a substance and grow to 30 ft tall, then proceed to take over a small town.

Director:

Bert I. Gordon

Writers:

H.G. Wells (novel), Bert I. Gordon (story),

Stars:

Tommy Kirk, Johnny Crawford, Ron Howard

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tommy Kirk	...	Mike
Johnny Crawford	...	Horsey
Ron Howard	...	Genius (as Ronny Howard)
Joe Turkel	...	Sheriff (as Joseph Turkel)
Beau Bridges	...	Fred
Joy Harmon	...	Merrie
Robert Random	...	Rick (as Bob Random)
Gail Gilmore	...	Elsa
Tisha Sterling	...	Jean
Tim Rooney	...	Pete
Kevin O'Neal	...	Harry
Charla Doherty	...	Nancy
Toni Basil	...	Red
Hank Jones	...	Chuck
Jim Begg	...	Fatso

Storyline

Mike thinks he's hit the jackpot when his girlfriend Nancy's kid brother, who they call Genius, creates a growth compound that results in animals growing to huge proportions. A group of delinquents led by Fred has come to town and when they get their hands the goo, as Genius calls it, their giant size make them unstoppable. While Genius tries to recreate the formula, Mike and other teenagers in town, serve the giants. Genius simply can't reproduce the formula but fortunately comes up with the next best thing.

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Plot Keywords:

giant | growing | teen | duck | kidnapping | 

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Taglines:

See... a girl 200"-100"-200" swing a boy 6' small!

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Genres:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

The Unofficial Fanpage of Village of the Giants [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 October 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Cidade dos Gigantes

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Berkeley Productions, Embassy Pictures Corporation, Joseph E. Levine Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vicki London was originally cast with a larger role, but declined to disrobe in preproduction, so her part was changed with Joy Harmon's, and much of London's subsequent screen time was cut. Her agent kept her in the movie at full pay, while London didn't seem to object to what happened, since she saw the whole thing as forgettable.

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Goofs

Visible wires attached to the giant ducks in the nightclub making them jump into the air.

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Quotes

Horsey: How do you like those ducks?
Red: Barbecued. That's how I like them.

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Connections

References War of the Colossal Beast (1958)

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Soundtracks

"Little Bitty Corrine"
by Frank Slay and Freddy Cannon (as Fredrick A. Picariello)
Performed by Freddy Cannon

User Reviews

The Silly Side Of A Land Of Giants

Fun! Fun! Fun! Great Casting! Great Music! Before this film, we had other "Giant Movies", such as The Incredible Shrinking Man, but a recent YouTube viewing of Village Of The Giants has made me wonder if "Village" is the best of the lot. It has a sense of B-Grade fun that is hard to capture on film...without looking too stupid that is. The dance scene alone, with the little boy grabbing the giant girl, makes the film a winner. And note the music for the dance scene...brainwashing music!

Story elements and character names (Genius) and Ron Howard were all shifted into a Land Of The Giants (1968,ABC) episode called...Genius At Work. However, LOTG played it out in a straight faced way that was demanded by producer Irwin Allen. You could say that LOTG is the best straight Giants show ever and "Village" is the best silly/sexy Giants show ever. Both have a place.

Interestingly, probably like other corners of the world, in 1970s Australia, this film was replayed on network TV every year (at midday), but now it is gone from TV, thank god for the DVD release! Attention Hollywood: Don't remake this film today, "Village" is a product of the 1960s, it is about the 1960s mentality and 1960s music, it would not fit in this century.