THE SHE CREATURE

Chester Morris and Marla English

THE SHE-CREATURE (1956). Director: Edward L. Cahn. 

Dr. Carlo Lombardi (Chester Morris) claims he is able to get in touch with the past lives of his subject, Andrea (Marla English of Runaway Daughters), by putting her in a trance. Andrea can give details of her 16th century life as a woman named Elizabeth. Lombardi can not only also regress Andrea to an ancestor from thousands of years ago, but call this ancestor -- a kind of humanoid, prehistoric sea creature -- up from the sea, where it proceeds to kill people. Dr. Ted Erickson (Lance Fuller of This Island Earth) is out to debunk Lombardi, while Timothy Chappel (Tom Conway of Bride of the Gorilla) wants to turn him into a star -- for 50% of the profits. But things get sticky when Red and Andrea fall in love ... 

Lance Fuller with William Hudson in the background

The She-Creature is one weird and nonsensical movie. Chester Morris, in an unusual role for him, gives a good account of himself, but we never learn how he knew that Andrea was once this strange creature nor is it explained why or how he can materialize it from the sea. It simply makes no sense. On the other hand, there simply isn't enough of the creature and its attacks to keep the excitement level up, and the film eventually becomes tedious. The actors, including Fuller and English, do the best they can and are generally more than adequate.

close-up of the She-Creature

Others in the cast include Cathy Downs [Missile to the Moon] and Frieda Inescort (as Conway's daughter and wife), Ron Randell [Captive Women] as a police lieutenant, El Brendel as Conway's comical butler, Frank Jenks as Randell's associate, Jack Mulhall as Lombardi's lawyer, and William Hudson as a tippling party guest who has a thing for Downs. These last two were both in The Amazing Colossal Man while English, Fuller and Conway also appeared in director Cahn's production of Voodoo Woman. The She-Creature, portrayed by Paul Blaisdell, has claws, intense eyes and large breasts.

Verdict: Sounds like fun but really isn't. **. 

CAPTIVE WOMEN

Gloria Saunders and Robert Clarke

CAPTIVE WOMEN (aka 1000 Years from Now/1952). Director: Stuart Gilmore. 

In 3000 A.D. after a nuclear holocaust, mankind has developed into two groups. "Mutates," who are disfigured and can't give birth to normal children, and "Norms" who were spared the ravages of radioactivity. In the shattered ruins of Manhattan, the Norms live in the abandoned subways while the Mutates have a conclave in New Jersey and send raiding parties out through a secret underwater passageway, probably the Holland tunnel. What the mutates are raiding for are "norm" females in the hopes that one will give birth to a normal child, which is strange as the mutates hate the norms and vice versa, so you'd think they'd want their children to be mutates.

Ron Randell

In any case, another problem for this particular tribe of norms is a man named Gordon (Stuart Randall), who leads another norm tribe that resides upstate; Gordon wants to take over the Manhattan tribe. He chooses to do this on the wedding day of Rob (Robert Clarke), son of the Manhattan chief, and Catherine (Gloria Saunders), daughter of the High Priest. Unfortunately, the sluttish Catherine is in league with slimy Jason (Douglas Evans), who is in league with Gordon. One of the best scenes in the movie shows Gordon giving an unsuspected and violent "reward" to Jason for helping him take over the tribe. Rob and his friend Bram (Robert Bice) are taken captive, along with some women, by the mutates, who are led by Riddon (Ron Randell). Not as disfigured as the others, Riddon is hoping for peace between the two groups, as is a lovely norm lady named Ruth (Margaret Field). But will Gordon allow this to happen? 

Saunders with Douglas Evans

Captive Women pre-dates Roger Corman's post-nuclear film Teenage Caveman by several years, but it, unfortunately, doesn't include any monsters, radioactive or otherwise, which it could have used. Instead it's a fairly straightforward, somewhat absorbing, and generally unexciting look at bigotry and jealousy, as well as another rip-off of Stephen Vincent Benet's classic short story "By the Waters of Babylon." On the plus side are some of the performances. Ron Randell, with an inappropriate British accent (the actor was actually born in Australia) that doesn't quite ruin his portrayal but somehow adds to it, comes off best, giving a genuine performance when others might have phoned it in. William Schallert is also notable as another mutate who tries to take leadership away from Randell, and Clarke is fine as the noble Rob. Saunders is zestily nasty betraying everyone right and left, and Margaret Field (Sally Field's mother), Bice, and Evans are perfectly competent. The picture has plenty of atmosphere. The prologue sequence, which makes it all too clear for the atomic age that what follows is a cautionary tale (but is really just the same old schlock with pretensions) is at least well done. The sixties comic book Mighty Samson, which also took place in a ravaged post-nuclear New York City , was a lot more entertaining. 

Verdict: This could have used a big lizard or a giant spider or two. **1/4.