Here's my first entry in a series I'm going to call The Directors, where I look through the filmography of a filmmaker I greatly admire. Here's how this series works: I will review many films in a director's track record but, with few exceptions, I usually won't talk about every single, solitary film the person has ever made. This could be because either every single film the person has made isn't available to the public; some of the films are part of a franchise and I've already discussed it; some of the films don't stand out and are rather forgettable; or simply because I just don't like those particular films. That may disappoint some of you but, hey, it's my blog so deal with it! (I hope you know that last part was sarcasm.)
Anyway, let's talk about our first subject in the series: Jack Arnold. While you may not recognize the guy's name, if you're a fan of 1950's sci-fi, you should know his films. He practically invented the genre the way it was during that time period, with classics like It Came from Outer Space, his most well known film, Creature from the Black Lagoon and its first sequel, Revenge of the Creature (which I've already reviewed), Tarantula, one of the best giant bug movies of the time, and The Incredible Shrinking Man, which many consider to be his best film. He was a science fiction fan when he was growing up and his love of the genre comes through in his films. He also tended to inject his films with subtle social commentary, some of which was unheard of at the time (like the subtle environmental message in Creature from the Black Lagoon). Interestingly, Arnold's technique of inserting the commentary into these sci-fi flicks was easy to do because, according to the man himself, William Alland, the producer of many science fiction movies at Universal in the 1950's, was only interested in special effects and whether the movie would sell. (Alland, at the same time, said he liked Arnold because he "never got original ideas"!)
Even before his groundbreaking science fiction, Arnold was already an up-and-coming filmmaker; his first film, the documentary With These Hands, was nominated for an Oscar in 1951 for Best Documentary. in 1959, he directed The Mouse That Roared, one of the earliest films to feature Peter Sellers as well as one of the first to make him popular (Sellers, not surprisingly, played multiple roles in the film). Arnold was also a prolific TV director, helming episodes of such popular shows like Perry Mason, Peter Gunn, Gilligan's Island, and The Brady Bunch. His entire filmography in general is interesting. Besides his sci-fi films, he did a teen exploitation film High School Confidential; No Name on the Bullet, a Western with Audie Murphy; a soft-core sex romp, Sex Play; and even some blaxploitation flicks in the 70's (one of which has a title so outrageous that I don't think I can write it!).
As with most people, I first came to know Arnold when I saw Creature from the Black Lagoon and as I watched more 50's sci-fi flicks, I kept seeing his name pop up. After researching about him, that's when I discovered what an influential and, sadly, vastly underrated director he was. For some reason, after he made Monster on the Campus and The Space Children (both in 1958), he never returned to the genre he excelled in. He never said why. His last feature film was The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West in 1976 and he continued working in television until he retired in the early 80's (he was offered a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon around 1982 by John Landis but the film was never made). He died in 1992 from arteriosclerosis at the age of 75.
My main interest in Jack Arnold is his science fiction from the 1950's and that's what we'll discuss here. Since I've already reviewed the two Creature from the Black Lagoon movies he directed, we'll go through It Came from Outer Space, Tarantula, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and finish up with Monster on the Campus. If you know who Jack Arnold is, I hope you enjoy my personal feelings toward his best films or if you're just getting to know the guy, I hope this will inspire you to find these movies if you've never seen them before. Either way, hope you enjoy this first entry in my Directors series.
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