Starring: George Nader, Claudia Barrett, Selena Royle, John Mylong, Gregory Moffett, Pamela Paulson, George Barrows. Writer: Wyott Ordung. Producer and Director: Phil Tucker. Released in 1953.
Commando Cody – Starring: George Wallace, Aline Towne, Roy Barcroft, William Bakewell. Writer: Ronald Davidson. Producer: Franklin Adreon. Director: Fred C. Bannon. Released in 1952.
Original air date: January 2, 1990
I don’t know what to even say about a movie where the monster is a dude wearing a gorilla suit with an astronaut helmet. The monster emerging from the cave is so intensely stupefying, I wondered what audiences thought back in the 1950s when this premiered. The flimsy plot and the “surprise” ending are equally horrendous and even makes Tom Servo scream “What!!!” at one point. This is easily one of the top 10 worst films featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, and that’s saying something.
And it’s also one of the goofiest with a bizarre sort of appeal. Joel is correct in the third sketch where he describes how surreal the film is to the robots – the gorilla suit, the billion bubble machine, the random dinosaur scene. Just one random thing keeps happening after another. But when the ending is revealed, dare I say the film kind of makes sense? Should I give it any credit? I’ll reveal more below.
The good thing about this episode is the writers are continuing to become more familiar with the movie-riffing medium. Like in the previous show, “The Crawling Hand,” the jokes are tighter, funnier and more often. But it takes a little longer to get into the groove than it did in “Hand.” Problem being the double shot of the Republic serial, “Commando Cody and the Radar Men from the Moon.” Like in previous “Cody” episodes, viewers are treated a cheap cop out when it becomes obvious how our heroes escaped certain death in the cliffhanger endings. Then there’s a scene of expository dialogue, a lame fight sequence, and then another predictable cliffhanger. I can see how this might be entertaining to a seven-year-old in 1953, but after a while it’s become repetitive. The writers are feeling it, too. “Seen it!” Joel says at the beginning of the serials. The robots even try walking out in the fifth chapter.
“Cody’s” chapter four, “Flight to Destruction,” has Cody (George Wallace) escaping the exploding bridge from chapter three (big surprise) and the informing the authorities about the Moon Men’s evil plot. The Moon Men’s henchmen abduct Joan (Aline Towne) and Cody flies off in his jetpack to rescue her from a crashing plane. Of course, the plane crashes presumably with our heroes inside. But one commercial break later, we see a missing scene where Cody and Joan escape, which Joel and the bots see as too convenient. Chapter five, “Murder Car,” is more of the same, with another car chase and another impossible situation Cody and his cohorts will undoubtedly escape from. “I’m beginning to think these endings are rigged,” Joel says at one point.
While the riffing on the serials is on par with previous “Cody” installments, it improves with “Robot Monster.” The movie starts with a family picnic and a little boy (Gregory Moffett) playing aliens with his little sister (Pamela Paulson). Something happens, he gets zapped, and suddenly he’s in the future as one of eight people left on Earth. There are also a few brief scenes where we see dinosaurs duke it out from another film, apparently for the excitement factor, not because it’s random.
Who is responsible for all of this? Apparently it’s half ape, half motorcycle helmet Ro-Man (George Barrows), who is on the planet to exterminate hu-mans (as he calls them) for an invasion. Thus commences many shots of Ro-Man and his ape suit casually walking on trails around Bronson Canyon outside L.A., picking up a damsel in distress because he has a crush on her, and hanging out in a cave. Joel has a good point about that: “You know, you'd think if he was going to rule the world he'd choose a better spot than a cave.”
Now I’m going to clue you in on the big secret at the end of the film – it’s all a dream. The little boy passed out and dreamt the whole thing up. Which means he has a really disturbing imagination. Not only does he dream of the extermination of humanity, he also dreams up the monster strangling his little sister to death and later tying up his beautiful older sister and tearing away at her dress in some strange bondage scene. This kid needs some serious help!
According to the sources involved in this movie, the idea for the dream came towards the end of filming. Someone must have seen the dailies and said something, because the dream allows the filmmakers free reign in the bizarre department. Still, My God this is bad!
The riffs on the monster are classic. When the gorilla emerges from the cave the first time, Joel says “That, ladies and gentlemen, is the destroyer of the universe. I rest my case.” Crow adds: “He comes from a planet where apes evolved from water coolers.” The scene where the little boy gets in an argument with Ro-Man is oddly placed and perfect for Joel and bots. But my favorite is the “artsy scene” where the oldest sister, Alice (Claudia Barrett), confesses her love to scientist Roy (George Nader). No words are used, only hand gestures and bad acting, like it’s some sort of mime routine. Joel helpfully translates everything that occurs in hilarious fashion. He even uses several Alice Cooper song lyrics to help the situation, which somehow makes sense. The episode is worth this moment alone.
Apparently, “Robot Monster” was filmed on the very limited budget of $16,000 over a couple of days. Barrows, a veteran of ape movies, was asked by the director to bring his own gorilla suit to the shoot, with the helmet being added later. Surprisingly, this film did really well at the box office, and it could be because of the amazing accompanying movie poster. Just by looking at the artwork, even I’d be tempted to check this film out.
This movie is also popular for the immortal words said by Ro-Man pleading to his superiors in stilted, overacted delivery: “To live like the hu-man, to be like the hu-man!” The writers will reference this in many, many more episodes.
As for the episode itself, it’s on par with other first season episodes. There are lots of missed opportunities and joke-less stretches, but they’re getting the hang of it. I actually think the riffing was better in “The Crawling Hand,” but the skits in this episode are improved. Once again, Joel explains the premise to the viewers before the invention exchange. We get the flame-filled methane whoopee cushion from the Mads and the cumber-bubble-bun from Joel, no doubt an idea hatched from the bubble machine in the feature. Other sketches have Joel and the robots discussing the impossible physics of Commando Cody and, through a roundabout conversation, bumblebees, which causes the bots’ heads to explode. Servo later impersonates Ro-Man on the Satellite of Love, scaring Joel enough to hit him over the head with a breakaway chair. The last sketch in the film has Joel and the bots discusses the surreal nature of “Robot Monster.” This is the first truly classic sketch of the show. At the end of the episode, Joel and the bots all hail Ro-Man, a surprising development for Drs. Forrester and Erhardt.
Overall, “Robot Monster” is one of the better Season One offerings, although still not on the sharper level of future shows.
Rating: **1/2
Sidenote: This episode will be released in November in Shout! Factory’s upcoming box set, Volume XIX.
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