Monster Crap Inductee: The Deadly Mantis (1957)

Monster Crap Inductee: The Deadly Mantis
Not Worth Mating With
 

1957
 
Once again, I must tell you that I am very okay for the most part with doing monster movies from the 50s as it is an easy induction as I will at least have some kind of fun with it. I mean when you have films like The Giant Claw, The Giant Behemoth, Beast From Hollow Mountain, and other 50s films, you know exactly what kind of stuff you are going to get. But hey, in the 50s, these movies did make money so they got made. But let’s talk about this film.
 
And unlike many of these movies, this movie is directed by an Academy Award winner in Nathan Juran. I mean, I know it was as Art Director, but he got the damn Oscar. Also, this would be the first of several giant monster movies that he would do.
 
As for the cast, you would get Craig Stevens as our lead and lucky for them, they got him in this movie before he truly would get his big break. They also got William Hopper, who was at the time detective Paul Drake in the hit TV series Perry Mason, although he is also the son of Hedda Hopper, who along with John Wayne were people who were helping accuse people of being communists. They added Pat Conway as well and he was also in a TV series with his role as Sheriff Clay Hollister in Tombstone Territory.  
 
With not much else to talk about, let’s get to inducting this movie.
 
We begin with…
 

Ah Universal….My Old Arch-Nemesis
 
We actually begin with a map of the world followed by a long as talk about how there are reactions for every action like a volcano erupting near Antartica causing glaciers to be melting in the North Pole.
 

This Is Probably What Conservatives Still Thinks Happens As To How To Explain Climate Change
 
And because of that ice glacier melting, we get a giant praying mantis.
 

And Also Our Title Screen
 
I should also mention that this revelation as far as the next diatribe about radar was all director Nathan Juran’s idea. And what do I mean by that, I mean we get bit by bit on what radar fences we have in Canada like the Pine Tree Fence we have in the borders that separate Canada and the US, the Mid-Canada Radar Fence, and the Dew Line.
 

All of this by the way is freaking stock footage of people actually building this stuff. If you didn’t know any better, you would guess that someone replaced your giant monster movie with a documentary about radars as some form of sick joke. This stuff takes about 3 minutes of a 78 minute movie.
 
When we finally get out of that, we finally meet our lead in Colonel Joe Parkman.
 

We then go to an outpost of the Dew Line and two men who are in it, get their building destroyed by something with a buzzing sound.
 

A pilot flying by notices that there building is a wreck and someone tries to contact them, but get no response. We also meet Sergeant Pete Allen.
 

Joe decides that he needs to go investigate, but of course he isn’t going alone as Lieutenant Fred Pizar is coming with him.
 

As You Can Tell By This Picture, The Place Is A Mess And Both Guys Who Were At That Base Are Missing
 
Joe says that it looks like something crashed into it. Pete wonders if the men are heading back on foot and Joe says that in this temperature, they would freeze to death long before they could reach the base and footprints would be around, which there are none. But Joe and Pete find some strange prints.
 

Back at the base, Joe finds out that the last in person contact they had with the destroyed base was 5 days ago when a helicopter gave them supplies. A radar operator is picking up something, but it doesn’t make any sense to him. Joe isn’t taking any chances so he tells them to sound the red alert. That brings us more stock footage of planes taking off in a red alert training exercise. They fly over where the radar bleep was, but find nothing there so they head back to base.
 
A cargo plane flies nearby later and it gets attacked by that same buzzing something.
 

Joe and Pete are sent out to the place where that cargo plane crashed, but like the destroyed weather shack, there are no people there.
 

They also find the same prints in the snow. But they also find something that might have been left by whatever attacked the cargo plane.
 

They of course have no idea what it is although the point is as sharp as a needle. They alert CONAD (Continental Air Defense) command in Colorado Springs, CO. We get diatribes about hot phones that I really don’t care to talk about. We also meet Major General Mark Ford.
 

He’s The One On The Phone
 
He takes a plane ride out to the Pentagon. They talk about the piece found at the crash site and they want to know what it is. Professor Anton Gunther and he basically says this appendage comes from some living creature.
 

They don’t know what creature it is and recommend they talk to Dr. Nedrick Jackson from the Museum of Natural History in Washington DC as he is the chief paleontologist and is very good at looking at past life with fossils. We then go to the Museum of Natural History to see Nedrick and Marge Blaine, who works on the museum’s magazine.
 

As they are talking about the magazine, Nedrick gets a call on his phone.
 

Yes, Mom….Those People You Just Mentioned Are Definitely Communists.
 
He really gets a call about the creature from the Pentagon so he heads there immediately. He looks it over and says that it looks more like cartilage than bone. He says it can’t be from an animal and then immediately says it is probably from an insect. Yeah…last I checked, insects are animals. Nedrick has Anton test the fluid they got from the piece to figure out if it is an insect.
 
Nedrick heads back to the museum and doesn’t seem happy with the newspaper. Marge looks at the headline and sees this.
 

New Petitions Against Taxes…The Fiends!!!!
 
Marge is easily able to deduce that this story is why he was at the Pentagon. Marge also wants in on this story about whatever it is that is causing these polar tragedies. Nedrick reluctantly agrees to let her tag along as he gets a phone call telling him that it is definitely an insect. In a conversation between Nedrick and Anton (with Marge there as well), Nedrick thinks that it is a giant praying mantis.
 

We then go to an Inuit village in upper Greenland.
 

With Stock Footage From 1933’s S.O.S. Eisberg
 
The Inuit people here the buzzing and start getting on their kayaks and rowing away. One Inuit is not so lucky and gets killed by the creature as it is a giant praying mantis.
 

The Deadly Mantis….In All Its Paper Mache Glory. No, Seriously….They Made A 200 Foot By 40 Foot Paper Mache Praying Mantis. Looks Pretty Good, If You Ask Me.
 
Of course, this news travels fast and the authorities are still not willing to say to the press what is going on, other than they have theories. So Nedrick and Marge (who snuck her way on this little expedition by saying she is Nedrick’s photographer) head out to upper Canada to meet with Joe and the team up at the radar base. Marge is immediately ogled by most of the men because they don’t get many women up where they work.
 

Typical Male Gaze….
 
Joe takes Nedrick and Marge to the plane crash from earlier and they look into the prints left in the snow. Nedrick reveals that the width of the creature must be 8 and a half feet. They go back at the base and we see men dancing with each other until Marge comes in, at which point they all want to dance with her.
 

Watching These Knuckleheads Having Trouble Asking A Woman To Dance Is Extreme Cringe
 
That night, the Deadly Mantis decides to head to the base.
 

Hey, Maybe I Can Catch A Dance With Marge Too
 

Errrrr….I Don’t Know….
 
While everyone else is having fun, Nedrick is looking over notes, trying to figure out how big this creature is. Marge and Joe come in to talk and when the Deadly Mantis comes up to the window, Marge sees it and screams.
 

Oh Come On, Marge….The Creature Was Just Getting To “What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks”
 
Joe and Nedrick hear the screams and they all see the creature, which in turn starts attacking the building they are all in.
 

Okay…Why Would You Have Two Doors To The Same Hallway Right Next To Each Other
 
They alert the rest of the crew to get in their planes to attack the creature while they get their guns and flamethrowers to shoot at it. They of course do almost nothing, but at some point the Deadly Mantis decides to fly away.
 

I’ll Ask For That Dance With Marge Later…..And No, Guy Reviewing This Film, I Don’t Mean Marge Simpson!!!!
 
The pilots finally get in their planes and fly, but they lose the damn mantis immediately. Coffee is offered and only Marge accepts as they look on radar for the creature. Unfortunately, the creature is no longer in that icy area as it attacks a boat out in the ocean, stealing two crew members away with the captain left standing.
 

Joe gets a report from a guy at the Mid-Canada Radar Fence that they had a ping come and go, which may be that bug they are looking for. They get the same call about it being over Newfoundland and Joe, Marge, and Nedrick decide they need to head to Washington as they believe the creature is going completely south. We then get headlines as the mantis is flying over the seas like sightings in Bangor, curfews ordered in New Orleans, and the congressman calling the whole mantis thing a hoax.

 

Oh, The Terrible Congressman I Could Choose From To Accurately Make A Joke About Them Traveling Through Time Or I Could Make A Joke About Them Being Related To The Last President Since They All Do Seem To Know About Calling Things That Kill Many People Being Hoaxes.
 
A news radio announces that people of the Civilian Ground Observer Corp are gathered to learn more about this fantastic creature. General Ford talks a bit about the creature and says that it is a real and dangerous creature, despite some news headlines. He then hands time over to Joe, who says he saw the creature attack our base and they believe it will be one of the Civilian Ground Observer Corp who will spot it next. He then hands it over to Nedrick, who shows the piece of the creature that they have. Joe comes back on to show them what a mantis looks like and to basically look out for a giant version of that creature, as well be on the understanding that they may hear a buzzing first. He says that the Civilian Ground Observer Corp should take no chances and to report any sight of unidentified flying objects.
 
We then see a montage of people and ships looking out for the monster. One of the aircraft carriers gets an alert about a sighting and planes are sent to deal with it. All of it is of course, stock footage from a 1953 short called One Plane, One Bomb.
 

No Stock Audio Of Edward R. Murrow Who Narrated That Short (Seriously, He Did).
 
The planes find and attack the creature. All it does is scare the creature into going below the clouds. The planes cannot confirm the kill, but they do say the target is down. Of course, we immediately see on a beach that the creature is not dead as it flies over it.
 
Back in Washington, Nedrick gets plenty of alerts from places like Minneapolis, MN to Richmond, VA to Fresno, CA. Joe and Mark come in and Marge tells them that she and Nedrick are charting any unknown occurrence all around the country. Mark then dismisses both Nedrick and Marge for the night since it is late and they need to get some sleep. Joe then volunteers to be the one who takes Marge home. As they are driving, they get an alert about a train wreck in Laurel, Maryland so the two decide to have a look since it isn’t far from where they are. They get there and no news about what happened as the engineer is still unconscious. They then go away, thinking it was just an accident and not a work of the Deadly Mantis. But an obvious print in the ground means it was the mantis.
 

At a traffic stop, Marge and Joe talk and eventually as with many 50s Sci-Fi movies, they kiss because the girl always has to get with a man in one of these films.
 

Meanwhile, a lady gets off a bus with a package in this heavy fog, which may be a good thing as the mantis attacks the bus, much to her horror.
 

It's Me, Assholes!!! It Was Me, All Along!!!
 
Marge and Joe hear about the accident on the radio and after finding out that this and the train wreck means there were seven accidents in the area, they both know this must be the work of that Deadly Mantis.
 
At the scene, they find out that there are no bodies and then an announcement is broadcast that the Deadly Mantis has been spotted over DC. They both go and we get more stock footage of the military getting ready. We then see the mantis fly over the Capital.
 

Where Is That Damn Congressman Who Called Me A Hoax????
 
The monster then crawls on top of the Washington Monument.
 

Look, Ma…..I’m Having My King Kong Moment!!!! By The Way, Normal Size Mantis On A Miniature Washington Monument.
 
At Andrews Air Base in the Anacostia section of Washington DC, people get in their planes to go and combat the giant bug. Once they believe they have found the monster, Mark tells everyone to open fire. They eventually force the creature to go low and drop off the radar map again. Thanks to the civilian ground force, they have been able to pinpoint the creature over Newark. The planes find the Deadly Mantis and attack.
 

The mantis does though destroy one of the planes.
 

But as you saw, the pilot ejected and unlike say The Giant Claw, the monster does not go after an easy pray on a parachute. We find out that the monster had decided to hide in the Manhattan Tunnel.
 

Which Has Never Existed
 
The authorities seal off the tunnel and a special team led by Joe goes into the tunnel to deal with the bug. By the way, all of that is done through talking exposition as we never see it enter the tunnel or be as they say…mortally wounded. They quickly find it in the tunnel after a few minutes.
 

The team is armed with guns and chemical mines so they start shooting and throwing the chemical mines at the creature. At first, it doesn’t seem to work as the monster keeps advancing and the team has to fall back a bit. But as we have mentioned the creature is mortally wounded and all of that firepower as well as chemical mines does the job and the Deadly Mantis has died.
 

Kind Of A Letdown
 
Moments after the battle via a scene jump, Mark, Joe, Marge, Nedrick, and someone else look over the fallen creature.
 

Nedrick tells Marge that this shot should be the next cover for the museum magazine. Marge immediately goes to takes the picture. Of course, they soon notice that the creature is still moving his arm. Joe rushes to protect Marge and gets her out of the way before the arm falls on top of them.
 

Nedrick deduces that that was just merely an automatic reflex and the creature is surely dead. The two kiss and the film ends.
 

The Deadly Mantis was released as a double feature with a spy film called The Girl In The Kremlin (so I don’t have any results on how it did) and it was mostly negatively received by critics who really thought Them was a better movie. Even future critics in retrospective are split on the film with some liking it and some still saying it was bad. It even was spotlighted on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is where I first saw the film and I’m sure it was a place many of my readers first saw the film.
 
The director though would go on to make better giant monster movies like 20 Million Miles To Earth and even mixed them in with sword fantasy in his most known film, The 7^th Voyage Of Sinbad. He also made the extremely cheesy Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, so it cant be all roses. Craig Stevens (who played Col. Joe Parkman) would one year later make it big as the titular lead in Peter Gunn. William Hopper (who played Dr. Nedrick Jackson) would continue to be Detective Paul Drake in Perry Mason until 1966, when that was cancelled and then, he stopped working until he made just one last film appearance in 1970’s disaster of a film Myra Breckinridge. Also, while I did make jokes about his mom, he was not happy with what she stood for in accusing people of being communists, but didn’t truly hate his mother because that is mostly too hard of a step to take for most people. Pat Conway (who played Sgt. Pete Allen) continued with Tombstone Territory and did guest spots in other shows, but mostly stayed under the radar as well. Floyd Simmons (who played an Army Sgt.) was one year later in South Pacific, which you all know me referencing a lot because of a certain cheesy song that well, wouldn’t work in today’s society…which is why I reference it all the time to make me laugh and hell, I’ll do it right now.
 

Unfortunately as with many 50s films, every actor and the director had sadly left this mortal coil. Florenz Ames (who played Prof. Anton Gunther) died in one year after this movie at the age of 75. William Hopper (who played Dr. Nedrick Jackson) left us all at the age of 55 in 1970 due to pneumonia that happed after a stroke. Pat Conway (who played Sgt. Pete Allen) left this world in 1981 at the age of 50 from renal failure and dehydration. Helen Jay (who played Mrs. Farley) passes away in 1989 at the age of 63. Alix Talton (who played Marge Blaine) died in 1992 at the age of 71 from lung cancer. Donald Randolph (who played Maj. Gen. Mark Ford) passed away in 1993 at the age of 87 from pneumonia. Paul Campbell (who played Lt. Fred Pizer) died in 1999 at the age of 76. Craig Stevens (who played Sgt. Joe Parkman) passed away in 2000 at the age of 81 from cancer. Paul Smith (who played Corporal) passed away in 2006 at the age of the age of 77. Floyd Simmons (who played Army Sgt.) left us in 2009 at the age of 84. Nathan Juran (the director) died in 2009 at the age of 95 from natural causes. Phil Harvey (who played Lou) was the last to die in January of this year at the age of 99.
 
Now for my final thoughts and compared to certain other films, this one is definitely a huge disappointment. Every kill in this movie is done off screen (much like a PG-13 slasher film) and even then, the mantis really is not that much of a threat. I had to mention that guy on a parachute not being killed as even bad films like The Giant Claw would have an easy kill like that taken care of. And so much “Oh, the mantis is here now” like the Manhattan Tunnel where he went in off-screen and you hear he is mortally wounded (as if there were scenes missing that would show this). The acting wasn’t that great and the whole crap about radars (the director’s idea by the way) was just a slog. But despite all of this, I still can easily watch this movie. It’s just the way these 50s Sci-Fi films are mostly made.
 
Now with that done and this terrible year nearly at its merciful end for me, I still am going to wish those of you still here a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
 

You Filthy Animals