Let me start by saying I own a lot of really bad grade Z sci-fi flicks because I grew up watching them. These days I pop 'em in the VCR or DVD to get a good laugh. Unfortunately, while I see them as harmless fun, the actors in them and audiences watching them were almost always trying to be serious which ultimately makes the films the duds that they became.
That said, let's talk about "The Giant Claw." Reputedly, actor Jeff Morrow ("This Island Earth"), Mara Corday ("Tarantula," "Black Scorpion") and others signed on for what was supposed to be a sci-fi thriller. The bad part of sci-fi flicks is that a good deal of them depend heavily on special effects and they have to be added after the actors are finished. Thus, as with Morrow and Corday, they don't see how much a film can change. Morrow reportedly walked out of the theater during the opening night of the film, went to a bar and got drunk. Corday supposedly had her head buried in her hands during the showing.
Apparently the producers wanted to save money on the effects and outsourced the work to a studio in Mexico City. What we got was a giant wooden marionette puppet with a stupid squawk and with the strings clearly visible. Half the time, we only see an outline of the bird which makes it even more laughable.
They tried to add in stock footage of planes exploding as if attacked by the Giant Claw, but it was too little too late. Low-budget films of the 1950's tended to toss in stock footage just anywhere and in this film, it showed.
The story itself deals with a giant bird from outer space that comes from a galaxy made of anti-matter. It's looking for a place to lay its eggs. It isn't anti-matter itself, but can project an energy shield of anti-matter which causes missiles, rockets, bullets and shells to explode harmlessly.
Morrow is civilian fly-boy Mitchell McAfee, the first to see the bird. At first, the Air Force, for whom is doing test pilot work up at the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line in Canada, disbelieve. Even a pretty scientist played by former Playboy Playmate Mara Corday laughs at him until planes start falling out of the sky like flies, including a transporter carrying Morrow and Corday.
Morrow isn't the greatest actor, but he carries his load well enough. Corday was an okay actress, but she's so gorgeous you could forgive the sometimes wooden acting (see the scene where an office door blows open after a small explosion). Morris Ankrum, who made his whole career playing grade B and Z dreck (when not playing a judge on "Perry Mason"), is tolerable except for his silly comments that sounds like some kid's grandpa talking to a five-year old. Robert Shayne is also good until he bemoans the fact that modern weapons can't kill the bird.
The plot and script are credible, save for two important things. It may be a spoiler alert, so watch out. In one scene, Morrow and Corday have to return to a French Canadian's farm to find the bird's egg. They have .30-08 rifles (though they look like .22's). To this day, I still can't figure out why the producers couldn't get a couple of extras to dress up as army guys to do the scene. The other thing is in the end. Morrow's character creates a weapon that may destroy the bird's shield. It may take hundreds of shots to penetrate the bird's shield, but the gun fires about four times.
As I mentioned before, the producers added in stock footage in the editing room with no regards to common sense and continuity. In one scene, near the end, the army tracks the bird with radar and shoots at the bird with radar-directed anti-aircraft artillery. Somehow they forgot that the bird's shield made it invisible to radar.
And would somebody confirm if Jeff Morrow is also the narrator of this film. The narrator has a thick Brooklyn accent and sounds like Morrow, especially when he says words ending in "er." Also, listen for the infamous "01815 hours" slip-up.
Overall, it's another good schlock film ruined by incredibly bad special effects.
That said, let's talk about "The Giant Claw." Reputedly, actor Jeff Morrow ("This Island Earth"), Mara Corday ("Tarantula," "Black Scorpion") and others signed on for what was supposed to be a sci-fi thriller. The bad part of sci-fi flicks is that a good deal of them depend heavily on special effects and they have to be added after the actors are finished. Thus, as with Morrow and Corday, they don't see how much a film can change. Morrow reportedly walked out of the theater during the opening night of the film, went to a bar and got drunk. Corday supposedly had her head buried in her hands during the showing.
Apparently the producers wanted to save money on the effects and outsourced the work to a studio in Mexico City. What we got was a giant wooden marionette puppet with a stupid squawk and with the strings clearly visible. Half the time, we only see an outline of the bird which makes it even more laughable.
They tried to add in stock footage of planes exploding as if attacked by the Giant Claw, but it was too little too late. Low-budget films of the 1950's tended to toss in stock footage just anywhere and in this film, it showed.
The story itself deals with a giant bird from outer space that comes from a galaxy made of anti-matter. It's looking for a place to lay its eggs. It isn't anti-matter itself, but can project an energy shield of anti-matter which causes missiles, rockets, bullets and shells to explode harmlessly.
Morrow is civilian fly-boy Mitchell McAfee, the first to see the bird. At first, the Air Force, for whom is doing test pilot work up at the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line in Canada, disbelieve. Even a pretty scientist played by former Playboy Playmate Mara Corday laughs at him until planes start falling out of the sky like flies, including a transporter carrying Morrow and Corday.
Morrow isn't the greatest actor, but he carries his load well enough. Corday was an okay actress, but she's so gorgeous you could forgive the sometimes wooden acting (see the scene where an office door blows open after a small explosion). Morris Ankrum, who made his whole career playing grade B and Z dreck (when not playing a judge on "Perry Mason"), is tolerable except for his silly comments that sounds like some kid's grandpa talking to a five-year old. Robert Shayne is also good until he bemoans the fact that modern weapons can't kill the bird.
The plot and script are credible, save for two important things. It may be a spoiler alert, so watch out. In one scene, Morrow and Corday have to return to a French Canadian's farm to find the bird's egg. They have .30-08 rifles (though they look like .22's). To this day, I still can't figure out why the producers couldn't get a couple of extras to dress up as army guys to do the scene. The other thing is in the end. Morrow's character creates a weapon that may destroy the bird's shield. It may take hundreds of shots to penetrate the bird's shield, but the gun fires about four times.
As I mentioned before, the producers added in stock footage in the editing room with no regards to common sense and continuity. In one scene, near the end, the army tracks the bird with radar and shoots at the bird with radar-directed anti-aircraft artillery. Somehow they forgot that the bird's shield made it invisible to radar.
And would somebody confirm if Jeff Morrow is also the narrator of this film. The narrator has a thick Brooklyn accent and sounds like Morrow, especially when he says words ending in "er." Also, listen for the infamous "01815 hours" slip-up.
Overall, it's another good schlock film ruined by incredibly bad special effects.