The Giant Claw
Directed by Fred F. Sears
Written by Samuel Newman and Paul Gangelin
1957/USA
Clover Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Mitch MacAfee: Now if this thing of mine works, and we can get close, real close, and bombard that bird’s anti-matter energy shield with a stream of mesic atoms, I think we can destroy that shield. The bird would defenseless then except for beak, claws, and wings. You could hit it with everything but the kitchen sink.
Gen. Van Buskirk: We’ve got kitchen sinks to spare, son![/box]
Only a mother could love this movie’s monster. And only if the mother were Big Bird or Gonzo …
Once again we are at a missile defense station in the Arctic. Test pilot Mitch MacAfee (Jeff Morrow) sees something like a giant battleship moving at supersonic speed through his airspace. But the mysterious flying object is not picked up on radar and jets sent to intercept it fail to encounter it. Mitch, a civilian, is treated as a practical joker and ordered home. Before he can leave, other planes report seeing the same phenomenon and are destroyed.
All too soon, we learn that the phenomenon is a gigantic Muppet. Mitch and beautiful mathematics whiz Sally Caldwell (Mara Corday) are sent to Washington to help strategize the destruction of the creature, which turns out to be protected by an anti-matter shield that is impervious to bullets and undetectable on radar.
This is about average quality for giant creature films but might be worth seeing for laughs. Each time the monster appears, you just can’t help smiling. Not only is its appearance ludicrous but it is very obviously a marionette moving by strings. The complete film is currently available on YouTube.
IMDb trivia: In an interview, star Jeff Morrow said that neither he nor anyone on the film saw the title “monster” until they went to the film’s premiere in Morrow’s home town. It turned out that producer Sam Katzman had contracted with a low-budget model-maker in Mexico City to construct the “Giant Claw” and no one in the cast or crew had any idea it would come out looking as bizarre and, frankly, laughable as it did. Morrow said that the audience roared with laughter every time the “monster” made an appearance, and he wound up slinking in embarrassment out of the theater before the film was over so that no one who knew him would recognize him.
Trailer
