C I N E B E A T S :: The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen :: July

FEATURED POSTS

10 Questions with Shane Briant

The talented British' born actor Shane Briant made his screen debut in the Hammer horror film Demons of the Mind. Since then he's gone on to appear in over 60 films and television productions including Straight On Till Morning (1972), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973), The Mackintosh Man (1973), Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974), The Naked Civil Servant (1975) and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981). Currently Briant is focusing his attention on writing fiction and he has recently completed a psychological thriller called Worst Nightmares that will be released May 12th. I've admired his film work for many years so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to ask Shane Briant a few questions about his early movies and current writing projects. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

The Girl On a Motorcycle (1968)

The talented director and cinematographer Jack Cardiff has passed away at the age of 94. As the tributes start to roll out from various news sites and film blogs its become clear to me that most people regard Jack Cardiff as a great cinematographer and have little regard or knowledge of his directing contributions, which is a shame. Cardiff was a brilliant photographer and his groundbreaking contributions to cinematography are well worth celebrating. But his impressive work as a director on films like the wonderful D.H. Lawrence adaptation Sons and Lovers (1960), the entertaining spy thriller The Liquidator (1965), the excellent erotic drama The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968) and the effective horror film The Mutations (1974) is also worthy of applause. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Favorite DVD Releases of 2008

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but overall 2008 was somewhat of a lackluster year for new Region 1 DVD releases of '60s and '70s era films when compared to the previous two years (See: 2006 and 2007). Some of my favorite DVD companies such as BCI Eclipse and most recently New Yorker Films have folded. Boutique DVD companies are releasing fewer products and what is being released is often of questionable quality. With the failing economy and the rise in popularity of Blu-ray discs, it seems like the number of new worthwhile DVD releases might continue to drop dramatically in 2009. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Resurrecting Yusaku Matsuda

Toru Murakawa's Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (aka Yomigaeru kinrô; 1979) is a wildly uneven Japanese crime film that left me wishing it had been helmed by another director. The film's script was adapted from a popular novel by Haruhiko Ooyabu and directors like Seijun Suzuki have had great success turning Ooyabu's hard-boiled fiction into films, but Toru Murakawa doesn't have Suzuki's eye for detail or his pop art sensibility. Resurrection of the Golden Wolf runs much too long and the dramatic filler weighs down the action, but even with its flaws the movie still keeps your attention thanks to the star performance of Yusaku Matsuda. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

We Are Controlling Transmission

This year analog broadcasting is coming to an end. On June 12th 2009 television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch permanently to digital. Digital broadcasting promises to provide viewers with a sharper picture and more diverse programming options, but this unavoidable change is forcing millions of people to buy new television sets or opt for getting a converter box that will often cost them $40 or more. I feel for these people because I didn't have complete cable TV Access or a digital television myself until 2007. READ MORE

The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen

by Kimberly Lindbergs | July 30, 2007

Categories | Television, Science Fiction

Last week 20th Century Fox released their impressive Land of the Giants - The Full Series (The Giant Collection) (1968) DVD box set and it will undoubtedly be one of the best DVD sets to come out this year. With a list price of $229.00 (currently available from Amazon for $169.99) it’s a very pricey release, but besides getting all 51 episodes of the television show, you also get lots of DVD extras and even reproductions of the original Land of the Giants comic books, plus a booklet with cast interviews and photos, a set of Land of the Giants trading cards, a key chain and even an iron-on patch, which are all contained in an impressively designed carrying case.

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about this DVD release! Irwin Allen has been one of my favorite television show creators since I was a kid and the Land of the Giants is undoubtedly one of his grooviest shows. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to afford this new DVD set myself, but if I had the extra money I would snatch it up in a second. At least I can now finally see all the episodes of this terrific show and I’m really happy about that. Hopefully DVD rental places won’t shy away from the high price and make the show available to those of us who can’t afford to buy it right away.

When I was growing up in the seventies I would catch random episodes of Irwin Allen’s shows like Lost in Space (1965), The Time Tunnel (1966), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964) and Land of the Giants (1968) playing on TV and I always loved them. Thanks to the recent DVD releases of Irwin Allen’s television shows from 20th century Fox I’ve been able to finally see all the episodes I’ve missed and enjoy them without commercials.

The casts of Lost in Space and Land of the Giants

This year I’ve watched the entire Time Tunnel series and I’ve recently started watching Voyage to the Bottom of Sea, but I’ve only managed to get through season one so far. I really enjoyed The Time Tunnel series since I find the concept of the show fascinating and it stars the super cute one time teen idol James “Moondoggie” Darrin. What can I say, except like many red-blooded American girls, I have a bad crush on James Darrin. In The Time Tunnel series James Darrin plays a scientist named Tony Newman, who helps run a billion dollar government time travel project deep beneath the Arizona desert with fellow scientists Dr. Doug Phillips (Robert Colbert) and Dr. Ann MacGregor (Lee Meriwether). Together they’ve invented a “time tunnel” that allows people to travel through time and space, but while testing the tunnel Dr. Newman and Dr. Phillips become trapped in time. They find themselves landing in the middle of important historic events such as the sinking of the Titanic and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but they also end up encountering space aliens and unusual characters like Merlin the Magician.

If you enjoy fantasy and science fiction from the sixties I can’t recommend The Time Tunnel series enough. It’s really entertaining and just an all-around fun all-ages show. If you’re looking for high-minded serious drama, look elsewhere. Unfortunately like Irwin Allen’s Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel series was canceled before a final episode was shot which makes the show a little disappointing to watch in the end.

On the set of The Time Tunnel

Land of the Giants is also a really fascinating show and even a little subversive. It involves a group of travelers who crash land on an alternative version of planet earth that is run by giant humans and controlled by a totalitarian government. Our little heroes spend most of the series trying to avoid being captured or killed. I haven’t seen the show in years but I thought the cast was good and I especially liked the two female leads Deanna Lund and Heather Young, as well as the handsome actor Don Marshall. I’m really looking forward to finally seeing all the episodes of Land of the Giants and getting more familiar with the show.

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A few of Irwin Allen’s creative creatures

Today Irwin Allen is mostly remembered as being “The Master of Disaster” after making numerous disaster films in the seventies such as The Poseidon Adventure (1972) Towering Inferno (1974), but I think he was really a master at making great low-budget science fiction and fantasy television shows. He worked with some talented people who really gave their all to his productions such as composer John Williams, costume designer Paul Zastupnevich, cinematographer Winton C. Hoch, makeup supervisor Ben Nye, art director Jack Martin Smith and talented special effects experts like L.B. Abbott and Art Cruickshank among others. Allen also shamelessly used stock footage from other films, shot episodes on forgotten 20th Century Fox sets, and reused similar props and costumes in many of his productions, but his shows often contained enough imagination, excitement and humor to still keep them interesting and entertaining.

He may have won the infamous Razzie Award for “Worst Career Achievement” in 1984, but I think modern independent filmmakers interested in making fantasy and science fiction films today could probably learn a lot from the amazing Irwin Allen (pictured above directing a monster on the set of The Time Tunnel).

To learn more about Allen I recommend watching The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen, which is a lighthearted look at Irwin Allen’s career featuring interviews with the casts and crews of his most popular productions. I watched it myself this weekend and really enjoyed it.

I also recommend visiting the website The Irwin Allen News Network.

If you want to see more images and eye-candy from Irwin Allen’s shows check out the Cinebeats Flickr gallery:
- The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen Gallery

8 Comments »

Keith says; July 30, 2007 @ 7:13 am

Wow! This sounds great, Kimberly. I’m a huge fan of Irwin Allen too. I especially loved “Land of Giants” and “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.” His shows were so cool and fascinating. I always loved the awesome looking creatues that appeared on his shows. I do remember the “Time Tunnel.” I had a crush on Lee Meriwether. Plus she was Catwoman in the “Batman” movie. Allen’s shows had some interesting premises and storylines. As a kid and still now as an adult, I love these shows. I would love to get this myself. Not sure I’ll have the dough for it or not, but it would be wonderful to have.
Bob Turnbull says; July 30, 2007 @ 8:15 am

I think you’ve just convinced me to pick up “The Time Tunnel”. It was already on my radar, but you’ve pushed me over the edge.

I remember “Land Of The Giants” from the occasional Sunday afternoon viewing with my brother in the 70s. I can’t really recall any specifics except that we just sat back and smiled throughout each show.

Oh, and I love “The Towering Inferno”. No CGI, just miniatures, real fire and the possibility of Allen actually drowning his actors…B-)
Joe Valdez says; July 30, 2007 @ 11:22 am

Terrific article, Kimberly. These shows were over a decade before my time, with the exception of Lost In Space which I ate up in reruns. The plot summaries and photos you ran however seem to hold up really well. If this was low budget TV, what would you call Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. Now that was low budget!
Jeremy Richey says; July 30, 2007 @ 12:39 pm

I’ve always really admired him and his work from the television stuff I have seen to his films in the seventies. I grew up with “Lost In Space” and still have very warm feelings for it. Great post and that box set is incredible looking….
cinebeats says; July 30, 2007 @ 1:13 pm

Keith - Isn’t that Land of the Giants DVD set amazing! I hope you get the chance to get it sometime too. I’m hoping I find it on sale somewhere for 50% off. Or maybe I’ll win the lottery? ;)

Bob - I hope you’ll enjoy The Time Tunnel series if you get the chance to watch it! I think it’s a lot of fun, but I’m also sure my crush on James Darrin probably clouds my opinion a little so you’ve been warned. In that great Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen doc that I watched, there is some great behind-the-scenes footage of Allen making The Towering Inferno. Steve McQueen seems to be the only actor really enjoying himself on the set.

Joe - The shows do show their age, but I think they’re really a lot of fun! They always seemed to rerun them randomly in the seventies but I can hardly remember them much being on regularly except for Lost in Space. It’s amazing what Allen could do with the money he had. I assumed he had more money to work with a lot in many of his productions since the shows always look so good but he really had to be extra creative a lot of the time. These days Sigmund and the Sea Monsters would probably qualify as a no-budget show! ;) I should add that not all of Allen’s shows were low-budget productions as far as sixties television went (Land of the Giants had some of the most expensive sets of its day), but he really knew how to get the most bang for his buck once the money ran out, and he made great use of stock footage and old film sets and props like I mentioned above.

Jeremy - Allen was a pretty impressive guy. He seems like a real interesting character right out of old Hollywood in many ways. I love the fact that he would carry around a gun and shoot of off on set. Crazy!
Keith says; July 30, 2007 @ 10:30 pm

Hey Kimberly! I know I hope I find it somewhere on sale. I would love to win the lottery. This would definitely be something I would be getting. I definitely need a lot more money for all the cool flicks, tunes, etc. that I wanna buy.
Vincent says; July 30, 2007 @ 11:24 pm

Beautiful post, Kimberly. I did not know te land of the giant, dont think we get it in France but i was a great fan of Time tunnel when i was a child. Thanks for the memories !
cinebeats says; August 1, 2007 @ 1:55 am

Thanks again for the comments Keith & Vincent!

I had no idea that any of Irwin Allen’s shows played outside of the US, but in The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen there was a brief mention about how some European countries were very upset when Land of the Giants was canceled. People sent in many letters of protest from around the world which I thought was really interesting.

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