:59:01
that gave the people inside
a little freedom, but not a lot,
:59:04
and it was a lot of trouble getting
the actors in and out of the costume.
:59:08
At lunchtime, Ben Chapman would take
off the helmet, boots and gloves,
:59:12
and they had for him a stand-up chair.
:59:14
It looked like a chaise lounge, except that
it stood straight up and had armrests.
:59:18
He'd get into that, and there would be
a high table for him to eat off of.
:59:22
Ben Chapman also played
the creature on TV in 1954.
:59:25
He had a gag-cameo appearance in an
episode of The Colgate Comedy Hour,
:59:29
with Abbott and Costello, and, as the
Frankenstein monster, Glenn Strange.
:59:33
Universal considered TV a threat, the way
most every other studio in Hollywood did,
:59:37
but they used it to promote
the movie anyway.
:59:39
They let Chapman go on
The Colgate Comedy Hour.
:59:42
Julie Adams made
some promotional appearances,
:59:44
and they even had a trailer for the movie
on TV, which caused a bit of a squawk.
:59:48
A couple of TV stations refused to run it,
:59:50
but one person at Universal took that
as a compliment to the movie, and wrote
:59:54
"I can't think of higher praise for
what we have to sell on TV for Creature,
:59:59
than to have a station refuse a spot
because the material was too scary."
1:00:03
"We have had two such incidents locally,
one with KTTV, a DuMont affiliate,
1:00:08
and KNBH, the NBC station.
In both instances, it related primarily
1:00:13
to placement between programmes
with juvenile followings."
1:00:16
"We finally won our point with KNBH,
but it took considerable haranguing."
1:00:24
Creature had the same producer,
director, and some writers,
1:00:27
as It Came from Outer Space,
so it isn't surprising that a few echoes
1:00:30
from that plot should turn up.
In It Came from Outer Space,
1:00:32
Carlson was an egghead and a peacenik
who wants the xenomorphs left alone,
1:00:36
and he clashes with the hard-headed
sheriff, culminating in a fistfight.
1:00:41
The relationship between
Carlson and Denning in Creature
1:00:43
develops pretty much the same way,
and they too come to blows,
1:00:46
at almost precisely
the same spot in the picture.
1:00:49
The New York Times,
in their review, complained
1:00:52
"It's an expedition that is necessary only
if a viewer has lost all his comic books."
1:00:56
"The proceedings above and
underwater were filmed in 3-D
1:00:59
to impart an illusion of depth when
viewed through polarised glasses."