I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)

[moira finnie]

What? No one's posted a thread devoted to I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958) starring Tom Tryon and Gloria Talbott? After two TCM broadcasts of this doozie within the last month, you'd think that others might have just a few comments on this tale of intergalactic sexual politics, no?

Okay, let's get this ball rolling.

Was this an elaborate metaphor for the way that marriage makes men and women feel? All the women in this movie appear to be hell-bent on marriage while all the men seem to feel that marriage is a living death. Sure, women are from Venus and men are from Mars, but this is ridiculous.

Was this movie about male or female oppression? I vote for both! See above photo for an example of torpedo shaped '50s oppressive garment that, apparently based on some union rules for females, was almost always commonly worn in monster movies of the period. However, in this film, the men are just as trapped psychologically and physically as the women, though they get to scamper around more, and "run things", such as insurance offices, police departments, and Western Union.

What's the story with the one guy who was a souse eluding marriage with his battleaxe girl, but who, once he's overtaken by an alien, finds himself identifying, and even enjoying being human, even if it does lead to his being led down the aisle by his desperate girlfriend.

And what about the town's one good time gal! Not married, and not looking to be married, hanging around a bar, and the only guy she can try to get some action out of is staring into a toy store window. Oh, so her demise occurs because she's not looking for a wedding ring??

Why do only men get to drink and commiserate with one another about their feelings--even after they've been overtaken by the aliens?

The only person Gloria Talbott gets to talk to about her troubles is the local doctor, played--for cryin' out loud--by Ken Lynch, a man with one of the most untrustworthy faces I've ever seen. Besides, everyone knows he usually plays a corrupt cop, not a concerned medico, ready to do battle to save mankind.


Is it possible that this entire movie was meant to suppress the desire of its target audience of teens by making love and marriage pretty grim?

[knitwit45]

Moira, I only got to see the last few minutes of the movie, but that was enough .
The Ken Lynch character was a DOCTOR???? of WHAT??? the small amount of time I watched, it sounded like he was an alien expert, unplugging bodies right and left...and the demise of the aliens was YUCKY... watching goo pour out of collars.....ick!

Gloria Talbot always struck me as a bad girl trying hard to be good, and not being very successful....

My 2nd grade teacher wore those rocketship bras, and all the little boys followed her around like puppies!! All the little girls wanted to be just like her....little did we know.......

[klondike]

Was this movie about male or female oppression? I vote for both! See above photo for an example of torpedo shaped '50s oppressive garment that, apparently based on some union rules for females, was almost always commonly worn in monster movies of the period.

I thought the purpose of wearing those cashmere-tunneling dagmars had something to do with exploding male egos.
Or did I just miss the point? And why do I keep hearing Huntz Hall squeaking out: "I'll see your pair & raise?"
There are days it just don't pay to come down outta the treehouse!

[knitwit45]

There are days it just don't pay to come down outta the treehouse!

SHOO!

[moira finnie]

Wow, this is great--a response from two members!

Klon,
The male ego involved may have been that of an engineer, but believe me, no nature-made part of the human female ever found this comfortable.

Yeah Nance,
Ken Lynch wasn't just a doctor, I had the impression he may have been an ob/gyn. He did, however suggest that Gloria get her stony-faced husband into the office to rotate his tires and see why he wasn't the babymaker his little honey thought he should be after 12 whole months of wedded bliss.

Btw, this may be the only time when poor Tom Tryon's lack of expression stood him in good stead. He's never been better than when he stared off into space while listening to Gloria prattle on. The man had to learn the hard way from autocratic Otto Preminger during The Cardinal that he wasn't cut out to be an actor, but someone should have told him after viewing this movie. Good thing he took up the pen.

[klondike]

Klon,
The male ego involved may have been that of an engineer, but believe me, no nature-made part of the human female ever found this comfortable.

M, I'm gonna take your word on this, 'cause you have a well-earned rep as a straight-shooter, but just for the record, that is not what Mamie Van Doren told me, out back of the Snack Bar!

[knitwit45]

Hey Klonnie, think wire reinforced male "form support".........YEOUCH!!!!!!!

[jdb1]

Hey -- I've been touting this movie since our glorious TCM boards days, and I've pointed it out to you all on the "Coming Up" thread. Finally, you start listening to me!

I've always thought of this one as a reaction to the "Commies Under the Bed" threat: come on over Commie invaders, and you'll find that you like it here in the Good Ol' Eisenhower USA.

One thing I paid more attention to at the last airing was Francine the Hooker. Played by Valerie Allen -- didn't she look an awful lot like Annette Funicello? Allen was married briefly to Troy Donahue, right after his very short marriage to Suzanne Pleshette. Looks like he was in his pert brunette stage then.

Max Rosenbloom was wasted in this one -- he was very good in his movies, and who knows what ended up on the cutting room floor?

[moira finnie]

Hey -- I've been touting this movie since our glorious TCM boards days, and I've pointed it out to you all on the "Coming Up" thread. Finally, you start listening to me!

Hey, Judith,
I noticed and appreciated those blurbs you posted in the Coming Up thread, but believed this movie certainly deserves our full attention, at least for a short span. I kept waiting for you or someone else to tout this movie in its own thread after it aired.

I've always thought of this one as a reaction to the "Commies Under the Bed" threat: come on over Commie invaders, and you'll find that you like it here in the Good Ol' Eisenhower USA.

I guess all aliens could be interpreted as Commies, huh? Though somehow, aliens were more glamourous than run of the mill Marxist-Leninists, don't you think?

One thing I paid more attention to at the last airing was Francine the Hooker. Played by Valerie Allen -- didn't she look an awful lot like Annette Funicello? Allen was married briefly to Troy Donahue, right after his very short marriage to Suzanne Pleshette. Looks like he was in his pert brunette stage then.

Thanks for identifying the floozie and giving us some backstory on Francine the Hooker, aka Valerie Allen's real life adventures on her career path to obscurity. Others might enjoy seeing her file over on the always amusing "Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen" site. I love the little details unearthed there about Valerie's stints as "Miss Bowling" and "Queen of the Seebees", not to mention her visit to Spain with her friend Fay Spain. I see what you mean about looking a bit like Annette Funicello too, though others seem to think she looked like Ava Gardner, (in her dreams!). My, she was one more thespian who took up the pen.

Hey, even Gloria Talbott made it onto that site. Good to know that she had a few roles besides the murderer's girlfriend she usually played on those old Perry Masons and as Jane Wyman's snippy daughter in All That Heaven Allows.

Max Rosenbloom was wasted in this one -- he was very good in his movies, and who knows what ended up on the cutting room floor?

I have the impression, perhaps wrongly, that dear Maxie was struggling to make a living in those days after his boxing and film career had petered out and his nightclub*(featured in the link to the large cartoon below) hung on for a time. I do think those stiffs from outer space should have broken down and bought a second drink as long as they were taking up space in Maxie's place!
_______________________________________________________
*Though opened in 1943 to great fanfare (and reportedly with the financial backing of Mickey Cohen), he and later partner, comic actor Ben Blue, operated it for a time in LA at least until the early '50s on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, where the Wilshire Bowl once stood. Perhaps our West Coast members know more about it? You might enjoy this LA Times article about Maxie's checkered career--I love the fact that as a true New York boy, he never learned to drive even though he lived in LA for decades.

Cartoon about Slapsy Maxie's nightclub (too big to post here)

[mrsl]

Moira:

Unfortunately as a kid of 14, I remember thinking this was a dumb movie, so I didn't bother to watch it this time around. As I've said before, your gift of seeing more than is apparent in any film is amazing. Like I said, it was just a dumb movie, I would never be able to see any kind of sub-intent in the psyche of the characters like you do. I envy you for your imagination.

Anne

[moira finnie]

Gee, Anne, I think this movie was dumb too--in an entertaining way! It will probably be on again, so maybe you can get a smile or two out of it when it comes on. It's definitely likely to give you a chuckle or two.

[Ollie]

Moira, thanks for these discussions points. Roger Corman interviews often make me believe he couldn't care less about a film's content as he, yawn, approved a title or a poster, and that was good enough. But I wonder how many of these filmmakers have re-watched their work and if they've distilled hidden meanings like their audiences have, over the decades. It's entirely possible that the writer had all of your original points in mind, at least subconsciously, and this tale let him put them out for everyone to see. Maybe before he even realized it. Sounds like a heckuva divorce case-!

I've always been dubious of centuries of interpreting writers' meanings - maybe it was their subconscious, unconscious or their conscious attempts at hidden meanings. Maybe not.

But it's a lot of fun looking for these. I've suspected cast and crew might always playfully consider sticking something in beyond the attention of the director. Pay off the script girl, have her reaffirm that this WAS the line, and the director's thinking he's either gotta stop drinking or gotta start drinking a lot more...

[MikeBSG]

I feel I have to speak up for Roger Corman, given the comment in Ollie's last post.

I think Corman comes off as not caring about the content of his films, but I think had he openly said "Hey, I want to make a movie about the nature of good and evil," AIP would have said "Not with our money you aren't." So Corman would have to say: "Hey, I want to make a movie about a depraved nobleman, and we could have a nifty poster with naked girls across Vincent Price's face."

And thus "Masque of the Red Death."

I haven't really hunted down Corman's sci-fi films, but I think the Poe films are very well done. (Except for "The Raven.")

[Bronxgirl48]

moira! You knew I'd gravitate toward this forum soon enough after coming aboard, didn't you, LOL? Nothing could keep me away.
I made a few comments in TCM City about this movie. I always thought it was the science fiction version of MARTY. Everyone is lonely, even the aliens.

[klondike]

Everyone is lonely, even the aliens.

Could that be the rationale for Jeff Goldblum & Geena Davis in Earth Girls Are Easy?