The Blob (1958)

The Blob
Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.
Written by Theodore Simonson and Kay Linaker from an original idea by Irvine H. Millgate
1958/USA
Tonylyn Productions Inc./Valley Forge Films/Fairview Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Lieutenant Dave: Just because some kid smacks into your wife on the turnpike doesn’t make it a crime to be 17 years old.[/box]

A ton of campy fun featuring a star-making performance for the world’s oldest, and coolest, teenager – Steve McQueen.

During a make-out session with girlfriend Jane, earnest Steve Andrews (McQueen) spots a star falling close by.  They go to investigate but fail to find it.  An old hermit, does, however and is promptly attacked by the molten center of the rock.  The teenagers hear his screams and take him to the doctor.

Soon hermit, doctor, and nurse are no more.  It turns out the alien being feeds on warm-blooded creatures and grows exponentially.

[box] Beware of the blob, it creeps/ And leaps and glides and slides/ Across the floor/ Right through the door/ And all around the wall/ A splotch, a blotch/ Be careful of the blob — Lyrics by Mac David[/box]

Steve goes for the police, but they think this is a prank.  He does manage to convince his fellow teenagers though.  They try to protect their small town from certain destruction.

This has everything one could possibly ask for in one of these things.  It is tame by today’s standards perhaps but I think this is one of its charms.

The production history is as interesting as the film itself.  The Criterion Collection DVD contains two commentaries, one by the producer and a film historian and the other by the director and one of the actors.  The producer was a local distributor of B films who believed he could do better.  He thought sci-fi and juvenile deliquent films did best and found a religious and educational film studio to help him realize his vision.  It succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams when Paramount picked it up as part of a double feature with I Married a Monster from Outer Space.  The theme song cracked the Billboard Top 40.

Trailer

Burt Bacharach theme song