The Wild One (1953, USA)
The first outlaw biker movie does to the 1950s what Marlon Brando’s gang does to the town they terrorize: Enter it noisily, jeering and taunting, and leave everyone less innocent than they were before. There’s no turning back now. Watched it all.
Magnetic Monster (1953, USA)
Radioactivity! Magneticism! Computers! Mumbo-jumbo! Yes, the bad science fiction movie has arrived, and I sure hope it’s here to stay for a while. Watched: 20 minutes.
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953, USA)
Locked in a surreal castle, young Patrick McGoohan is forced to conform to the strict piano discipline of Dr T and the new Number Two, his own mother. Watched it all. Although Dr Seuss more or less disowned it, this may be the first good children’s movie that takes children seriously, by being absolutely, utterly ridiculous. And the message it imparts to the kids of the 50s is that sometimes your parents are stupid and you shouldn’t listen to them. I wonder how that will play out.
Dance Hall Racket (1953, USA)
The only nice thing I can say about this is that I have no idea what they’re trying to do here. There’s a dance hall. With crime. And everyone just stumbles lazily through a script that is like a sketch show without jokes. And it’s written by and stars Lenny Bruce?! Watched: 9 minutes.
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