Cult Films and the 1950's

1950's

Over past nine weeks we've embarked on a journey spanning seven decades of cult films and also received a brief education of our not so distant past. We've seen the outrageous, the good, the bad and the ugly, the weirdly dramatic, and the just plain weird of the last seven decades of cult films and how in the end somehow find away to incorporate a piece of American culture at the time. However, by far the most intriguing decade to me would have to be the nineteen fifties. There are many reasons why I could say the fifties ranging from great sports moments to political milestones, which gave way to our society now. The nineteen fifties were a time when segregation was ending, people were daring to explore their sexuality, the race to venture in to space, the Korean War, the birth of the New York Yankee Legacy, and Elvis.

However, for my purposes in this paper and in relation to the cult film genre, there are three specific reasons why I chose the era of the fifties. The most important reason would be the taboos of the decade, namely the taboo and paranoia of communism and the Cold War with the then Soviet Union. Second, there were many excellent cult films to come out of the period addressing the taboos of the time, two of which I would like to share. Third, the fifties brought us possibly "the worst director of all time" and "the ultimate cult director" Ed Wood, Jr. It is for these reasons that the 1950's are, to quote Prof. Allan Havis, "the quintessential decade of films."

Entering the nineteen fifties the United States was getting past the bitter memories of World War II only to a brand new threat, Communism. The fear or taboo of communism was every where. Television programs and newspapers ran features on the newest government official, entertainer, and even next door neighbors suspected of communism. Led by Senator John McCarthy citizens left and right stood trial for being a communist or aiding Russians in the "Cold War". Knowing that anyone who stood against McCarthy would be subject persecution themselves many Americans began to fall in to a mass hysteria accusing neighbors and friends of supporting the communist threat and being spies for Russia. Many innocent people were sent to prison based purely on speculation. Also showing the increasing fear of communism were the writers of movies and books, the two top forms of leisure during the decade. In the world of literature no novel conveyed a message of communism more effectively than the Crucible. In the world of cult film making, however, the fear of communism was evident. In at least ninety percent of cult films were metaphors for communism with a science fiction undertone.

Movies in the nineteen fifties were covert, clandestine, and cryptic. One of the movies, viewed in class, was Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was released in February of 1956 and was directed by Tom Siegel. Starring in the film were actor Kevin McCarthy (Dr. Miles Binnell) and actress Dana Wynter (Becky). The film was set in a small town outside the Bay Area of Northern California, Santa Mira. The film begins with Dr. Binnell seeming distraught and almost psychotic shouting madly about alien invaders. "Doctor, will you tell these fools? I'm not crazy. Make them listen to me before it's too late!" he pleads with the doctor. This is where the story begins as Miles begins to explain, in the form of a flashback starting from a few days prior, the take-over of his hometown of Santa Mira by the alien invaders. It begins as he is returning from a medical convention and encounters a rash of people claiming that friends and family members were not themselves. Through the course of the film and interactions with various friends and patients of his Miles comes to believe that the people have been taken control of by aliens becoming "pod people" and he is next. After realizing what is happening Miles must escape town with his old flame Becky Driscoll who would also be copied by the "pod people".

This movie poses the viewer with the question: What if everyone you knew had suddenly changed and they wanted you to join them in their evil plot? At one point Miles described the situation to Becky as the souls of humans are being taken by aliens and that some how the people are allowing their humanity to be drained away. While the story features the bodies possessed by alien "pods" and copied, it also loosely resembles the paranoia of the "cold war" and the belief of communism in the U.S. The "pod people" are seen as being emotionless, conforming drones unable to think for themselves. I believe that this was an attack on the craze of communism and the McCarthy trials during this time. Since, in this time, writers and actors who spoke out against all the speculation of communism were black listed and labeled communist sympathizers, any protest or statement would have to be made subtly within the lines of the film.

Communism was not the only taboo of the fifties. Although being the most publicized, communism shared the spotlight in the cult film world of taboo with sexual Puritanism. The nineteen fifties was a time when a topic like cross dressing was never spoken of and those who participated in such acts were looked at as deviants of the societal norms. It was said that then director of the FBI J. Edgar