The Cyclops (1957)

An expedition to Mexico finds and does battle with a mutated 25-foot man with one big eye.

Director:

Bert I. Gordon

Writer:

Bert I. Gordon

Stars:

James Craig, Gloria Talbott, Lon Chaney Jr.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James Craig	...	Russ Bradford
Gloria Talbott	...	Susan Winter
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Martin 'Marty' Melville (as Lon Chaney)
Tom Drake	...	Lee Brand
Duncan 'Dean' Parkin	...	The Cyclops (Bruce Barton) (as Duncan Parkin)
Vicente Padula	...	The Governor (as Vincent Padula)
Marlene Kloss	...	The Salesgirl
Manuel López	...	The Policeman (as Manuel Lopez)

Storyline

Susan Winter undertakes an expedition to a remote area of Mexico, hoping to find her fiance, Bruce Barton, whos plane-crashed there some time ago. The area is suspected to have a good supply of uranium, so Susan has promoted this to wealthy Martin Melville to get money for her expenses. In addition to Melville, she is accompanied by guide Russ Bradford and pilot Lee Brand in his small-engine craft. But the plane crashes, stranding the four in an isolated valley, which they soon discover is highly radioactive and inhabited by mutated life forms - giant insects, enormous lizards, and a 25-foot-tall human male with a deformed face, just one eye, and only brute animal instincts to feed and protect its turf...

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Plot Keywords:

kaiju | psychotronic film | actual animal killed | mexico | creature feature | 

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Taglines:

50 FT. HIGH MAN-THING in a land of NATURE GONE MAD! (original ad - mostly caps)

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Voice specialist Paul Frees is given credit for special voice effects. His contributions included the vocal sounds of the cyclops, the breathing sound of the giant lizard and the "Mexican" voice heard on the plane's radio.

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Goofs

In the ground shots the plane has registration number N6647M and a V antenna. In the airborne shots it's N8228K, with a loop antenna.

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Connections

Featured in Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: Robot Monster (2010)

User Reviews

Typical 50's B scifi; goofy and fun!

Another great 50's Bert I. Gordon offering. Woman sets out in remote South American jungle area to try and find missing fiance. Hires rough, gruff, alcoholic Lon Chaney Jr. as her reluctant pilot. Crashes in remote area. Something is watching...big time. Seems her fiance has grown to gigantic proportions due to high radiation content of area; also had the misfortune to lose an eye along the way (hence the title). Interesting factoid is that the same actor (Dean Parkins) who played the fiance/cyclops was in the previous Bert I. Gordon film War of the Colossal Beast, using essentially the same makeup. Great rainy Saturday afternoon fair. Fun watching a (probably really) tanked up Lon Chaney Jr.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 July 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Cyclops

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

B&H Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

66 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1