Dr Cyclops (Dir: Ernest B Schoedsack, 1939).
Legendary King Kong (1933) co-directors and producers Ernest Schoedsack and Merian C Cooper reunite for this unusual shocker, based on a story by Henry Kuttner. Co produced by Dale Van Every, Dr Cyclops was released through Paramount Pictures.
Fans of mythical beasts will be disappointed to learn that the titular Doctor Cyclops is not an actual cyclops and has two working eyes, although failing sight demands that he wear some rather thick lens spectacles which earns mad scientist Dr Alexander Thorkel (Albert Dekker) his nickname. Thorkel has been in the depths of the Peruvian jungle for some years working on a secret experiment. Fellow scientists Dr Robinson (Janice Rule) and Dr Bullfinch (Charles Halton) are duly dispatched to his remote lab as Thorkel's assistants, teaming up with donkey supplier Bill (Thomas Coley) and Peruvian handyman Pedro (Frank Yaconelli) en route. On arriving, the gang are dismayed when the less than welcoming Doc Thorkel asks them to leave. Eager to learn why the doctor is so secretive, the gang do some snooping and are surprised to learn he has discovered a rich vein of pitchblende ore, containing uranium and radium. The demented doc is using the ore to shrink living creatures and promptly downsizes his curious colleagues. The gang must return to normal size and thwart the doctor's evil plans, but not before battling with oversized jungle foliage and enduring some close calls with enormous crocodile and a kingsized kitty cat.
As the doc, Albert Dekker cuts a particularly imposing figure, especially in comparison to his shrunken co-stars. Token female Janice Logan has the requisite lung capacity for screaming at everything but why Frank Yaconelli, as Pedro, is forced to spend the entirety of the feature in an adult diaper is anybody's guess! The rest of the not exactly starry cast are never less than proficient in a movie which, let’s be honest, is more about thrills and special effects than the performances.
Speaking of which, the 80 year old effects in Dr Cyclops hold up beautiful. Hailing from a pre-digital age they rely mostly on forced perspective and oversized props. This can at times lead to movie feeling a little studio bound but it is a visually impressive spectacle nonetheless. The movie has the distinction of being the first horror flick to utilise the three-strip Technicolor process. The muted colour pallet, which utilises every shade of green imaginable, is eerily atmospheric and lends the movie an off-kilter, almost queasy ambiance.
Produced just prior to the the outbreak of WWII, a sense of the impending world conflict prevails throughout the feature, be it intentional or not. Considering forthcoming events and the race to produced the atom bomb which would eventually bring an end to the War, the narrative is eerily prescient. Notable as an early example of the ‘science gone wrong’ movie, Dr Cyclops addresses the notion of atomic mutation a good decade and a half before the genre classics such as Them! (Gordon Douglas, 1954) and The Incredible Shrinking Man (Jack Arnold, 1957).
Dr Cyclops' lasting influence on popular cinema is undeniable. From The Incredible Shrinking Man through schlock favourite Attack of the Puppet People (Burt I Gordon, 1958) to blockbusters Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (Joe Johnston, 1989) and Marvel’s Ant Man (Peyton Reed, 2015); all owe a debt to this innovative precursor. While not quite in the same league as cinematic masterpiece King Kong, it is still a excellent addition to Schoedsack’s oeuvre. Exciting and at times campily fun, the movie is a weird and wonderful treat from Hollywood’s golden age.
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