The Cyclops (film)


The Cyclops is a science fiction horror film written, produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, starring James Craig, Lon Chaney Jr. and Gloria Talbott.
The theme of a monster created as a result of radioactivity was a common one in the 1950s. Typical of the "B" film features of the period, a modicum of production values was involved.

Plot

Test pilot Bruce Barton is missing and his girlfriend, Susan Winter organizes a search party, sent out in the jungles of Mexico.
The team of scientist Russ Bradford, mining expert Martin "Marty" Melville and pilot Lee Brand fly into an unknown territory.
While searching the area, however, they uncover giant mutated earth animals such as giant snakes, lizards, behemoth bugs and oversized mammals.
More importantly, they encounter a mutated 25-ft tall, one-eyed human monster who became disfigured due to an exposure to radioactivity from massive radium deposits in the area. He kills Melville but appears to recognize the girl.
When the cyclops tries to prevent the rest of the group from flying to safety, he is wounded and presumably dies.

Cast

As appearing in The Cyclops :
The main leads, Craig, Drake and Talbott signed up for the independent production, which was initially going to be a RKO production, but financing fell through. The producer/director worked feverishly to complete the film before money ran out, with only five or six days allotted to shooting. Not making things any easier was having to contend with Lon Chaney Jr. who was habitually drunk. Duncan Parkin also played Col. Manning in the War of the Colossal Beast, the sequel to The Amazing Colossal Man, basically playing the same disfigured giant in both films.
Production effects in The Cyclops were limited to backscreen projection, rudimentary matte work, and incorporating large images into the scenes. In the film, there is a scene in which the creature grabs Susan, but he also grabs the background as well, revealing the black color behind it. The discovery of the test pilot's aircraft involves dissimilar and haphazard debris scattered about in the form of a light aircraft wing, a P-51 Mustang canopy and a radial engine.

Reception

The Cyclops was released as a double-feature with Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, which also starred Gloria Talbott. Film critic Leonard Maltin in Leonard Maltin's 2012 Movie Guide dismissed the film as, "Nothing much in this cheapie."

Citations