The Monolith Monsters (1957)

Rocks from a meteor which grow when in contact with water threaten a sleepy Southwestern desert community.

Director:

John Sherwood

Writers:

Norman Jolley (screenplay), Robert M. Fresco (screenplay)

Stars:

Grant Williams, Lola Albright, Les Tremayne

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Grant Williams	...	Dave Miller
Lola Albright	...	Cathy Barrett
Les Tremayne	...	Martin Cochrane
Trevor Bardette	...	Prof. Arthur Flanders
Phil Harvey	...	Ben Gilbert
William Flaherty	...	Police Chief Dan Corey
Harry Jackson	...	Dr. Steve Hendricks
Richard H. Cutting	...	Dr. E.J. Reynolds (as Richard Cutting)
Linda Scheley	...	Ginny Simpson
Dean Cromer	...	Highway Patrolman
Steve Darrell	...	Joe Higgins

Storyline

A strange black meteor crashes near the town of San Angelo and litters the countryside with fragments. When a storm exposes these fragments to water, they grow into skyscraper-sized monoliths which then topple and shatter into thousands of pieces that grow into monoliths themselves and repeat the process. Any humans in the way are crushed or turned into human statues. The citizens of San Angelo desperately try to save themselves and the world from the spreading doom.

---

Plot Keywords:

field trip | rock | water | monolith | meteor | 

---

Taglines:

Now The Amazing Monolith Monsters Reveal Powers Shocking Beyond Belief!

---

Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Monolith

Filming Locations:

Morris Dam, Azusa, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Released in the UK in December 1957 as supporting film to The Lady Takes a Flyer (1958).

---

Goofs

The autopsy reveals that Ben's petrified body has been "welded into a solid mass" (as if the silicon, in exiting straight out the body, smearing adjacent atoms against each other in the process, diminishing differentiation). This does not account for how Ginny or the farmer's wife regain the use of their hands. Once "welded," the limbs should never have recovered, with the mineral appendage (dead limb) to be amputated in future.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: From time immemorial the Earth has been bombarded by objects from outer space, bits and pieces of the universe piercing our atmosphere in an invasion that never ends. Meteors, the shooting stars on which so many earthly wishes have been born - of the thousands that plummet toward us, the greater part are destroyed in a fiery flash as they strike the layers of air that encircle us. Only a small percentage survives. Most of these fall into the water which covers two-thirds of our ...
[...]

---

Connections

Featured in Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us (2005)

User Reviews

An intelligent concept, well presented.

Famed director Jack Arnold penned the original story on which this stand-out sci-fi film was based, directed with style and competence by John Sherwood from a screenplay by Norman Jolley and Robert M. Fresco.

The concept is quite original. The fragments of a meteorite which falls near a desert town begin to grow into hugh black crystals when they come in contract with water. When people pick up the smaller fragments, the fragments draw the water out of their bodies and turn them to stone. A sudden thunderstorm accelerates the growth of the skyscraper-size crystals, and they threaten to overrun the Earth. Great special effects created under the supervision of Clifford Stine.

Grant Williams (star of `The Incredible Shrinking Man') plays a geologist who struggles to solve the mystery of the strange growing crystals. Lola Albright is his gorgeous fiancé'. Les Tremayne (the general from `War of the Worlds' and the opening narrator of `Forbidden Planet') is good as the local newspaper man. Watch for a funny scene with William Schallert as a meteorologist.