Gog (1954)

A security agent investigates sabotage and murder at a secret underground laboratory, home of two experimental robots.

Director:

Herbert L. Strock

Writers:

Tom Taggart (screenplay), Richard G. Taylor (additional dialogue)

Stars:

Richard Egan, Constance Dowling, Herbert Marshall

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Egan	...	Dr. David Sheppard
Constance Dowling	...	Joanna Merritt
Herbert Marshall	...	Dr. Van Ness
John Wengraf	...	Dr. Zeitman
Philip Van Zandt	...	Dr. Pierre Elzevir
Valerie Vernon	...	Mme. Elzevir
Stephen Roberts	...	Maj. Howard (as Steve Roberts)
Byron Kane	...	Dr. Carter
David Alpert	...	Dr. Peter Burden
Michael Fox	...	Dr. Hubertus
William Schallert	...	Engle
Marian Richman	...	Helen
Jean Dean	...	Marna Roberts (as Jeanne Dean)
Tom Daly	...	Senator

Storyline

Scientists working on induced hibernation for space travel are killed, apparently by machines acting independently. Security agent Sheppard arrives at the secret underground space research base to investigate possible sabotage. He finds that the whole base is coordinated by supercomputer NOVAC and its robots Gog and Magog; and a strange aircraft is detected high overhead.

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Plot Keywords:

soda | soda machine | flamethrower | freezing to death | gunfire | 

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Taglines:

THE CREATURE OF TOMORROW! (original ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Herbert L. Strock had very poor vision in one eye and consequently was unable to properly gauge how the 3-D effects were, and had to rely on others to tell him. Coincidentially, André De Toth, who directed House of Wax (1953), arguably the most famous 3-D film, only had one eye and could not see the 3-D effects at all.

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Goofs

The location of the base is supposed to be so secret that even the pilots bringing people to it don't know exactly where it is; the computer guides the helicopter in the last leg of the journey. But there is a Coca-Cola machine on the base. Who refills it and collects the money? There are also Hinkley-Smith water dispensers and a cigarette machine.

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Quotes

Dr. Van Ness: Can you hold off the robots until we get there?

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Alternate Versions

Most TV prints in the US are in black & white.

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Connections

Featured in Chopping Mall: Creating the Killbots (2004)

User Reviews

Tense undercurrent..

Saw this film when I was about 10 years old. I loved Sci-Fi movies so naturally saw this one. But something was different. There was some unusually tense undercurrent in the story. Actually scared me. Years later I realized the nervous tension was due to the underlying theme of the 'cold war'. The Cold War was very real back in the 50's and as a kid you would hear, now and then, things that would scare the pants off of you. What came first? The chicken or the egg? Was this a sci-fi flick that used the cold war tension or was it overwhelmed by the omnipresent tensions of said war? Don't know but it scare the heck out of me back then.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Space Station USA

Filming Locations:

George Air Force Base, Victorville, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ivan Tors Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (as Color Corp. of America) Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1