| Description |
Attack of the Puppet People (1958)
Deranged doll-maker Mr. Franz is deathly afraid of being left alone, so he creates a machine that can shrink humans down to only a few inches tall. He soon accumulates a troupe of shrunken prisoners whom he forces to perform for him and keep him company. When he shrinks his secretary Sally and her fiance Bob, the pair decide against spending their days as pint-sized playthings and try to find a way to escape and re-enlarge themselves.
John Agar ... Bob Westley
John Hoyt ... Mr. Franz
June Kenney ... Sally Reynolds
Michael Mark ... Emil
Jack Kosslyn ... Sergeant Paterson
Marlene Willis ... Laurie / Themesong Vocalist
Ken Miller ... Stan
Laurie Mitchell ... Georgia Lane
Scott Peters ... Mac
Susan Gordon ... Agnes
June Jocelyn ... Brownie Leader
Jean Moorhead ... Janet
Hank Patterson ... Janitor
Hal Bogart ... Special Delivery Man
Troy Patterson ... Elevator Operator
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Runtime: 79 mins
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051381/
Codecs:
Video : 644 MB, 1135 Kbps, 29.970 fps, 512*368 (4:3), DX50 = DivXNetworks Divx v5,
Audio : 55 MB, 97 Kbps, 48000 Hz, 2 channels, 0x55 = MPEG Layer-3, CBR,
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This was your typical low (I mean low!) budget sci-fi film and the film really doesn\'t build to an exciting climax.
The story starts with a pretty young woman named Sally (June Kenney) who applies for an office job at a small company that makes dolls. She is hired by the kindly owner Mr. Franz (John Hoyt) who keeps losing his office workers. While working for Franz she meets a business associate named Bob Westley (John Agar) and of course he is smitten by her immediately and it doesn\'t take long for them to start dating and eventually he proposes and wants her to move to St. Louis with him. Franz discovers this and Bob disappears. Sally thinks he is making people into dolls and she goes to the cops and talks to Sgt. Paterson (Jack Kosslyn) who is interested because others have disappeared who been in contact with Franz.
Finally Franz gets Sally alone and \"Poof\"! She wakes up and she\'s shrunken! Franz brings out Bob and a bunch of others that he has shrunk. Franz is able to shrink people with a machine that uses audio waves to break things down into energy matter. Franz is a lonely old man and he wants company!
This film was directed by veteran Bert I. Gordon who would end up directing one of my favorite films of all time \"Village of the Giants\". Gordon usually made his films about people either growing or shrinking. Hoyt gives a convincing performance as Franz and if he\'s not just irritating then he\'s aggravating but thats what you would come to expect from an old kook. Kenney is very attractive and its easy to see why she was used in several of these types of films.
Agar had already begun his slump into \"Z\" movie stardom and its very amusing to watch him get angry and tear apart the marionette. The film has an ending that is somewhat inconclusive but maybe Gordon wanted it that way just in case! Very silly film has lousy special effects but thats the charm to these movies. Several of the actors from \"Earth vs. The Spider\" appear in this film as Gordon liked using actors that he was comfortable with. Gordon\'s daughter Susan appears as the little blond girl. If you love these cheap sci-fi films of the 50\'s like I do, then you want to check this out!
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Reasonably entertaining entry into the 50s sci fi/horror genre.
Star John Hoyt was always interesting to watch (check out his brief but commanding performance as antique shop proprietor Nils Dryer in \"The Big Combo\").
The basic theme of this film had, in fact, already been tried out the year before in the vastly superior \"Incredible Shrinking Man\". However, the \'puppet twist\' (good name for a song!) was certainly an original touch.
Co-star John Agar is smoothly competent and does his best against the odds.
Strictly for those whose tastes lean towards the ultra-cheesy variety of midnight movie fare.
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This is the only review for this film? Well I better milk it for everything it\'s worth! This movie is truly one of the best 50s sci-fi movies. Bert I. Gordon does it again; he really did his best work in the 50s. The story is quite simple: a dollmaker shrinks people so he can keep the people he loves close to him. The effects are above average considering the age of the film and the acting is pretty good. But what do you really look for in a 50s sci-fi movie? Special effects and monsters, of course. Now monsters aren\'t present (unless you count a giant cat and a giant rat), but the special effects are great! The best scene: John Agar and June Kenney are forced to be a part of a puppet show, Agar gets annoyed and beats his marionette \"co-star\" to a pulp!
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* In the scene at the drive-in, Bob and Sally see an earlier Bert I. Gordon film, The Amazing Colossal Man (1957).
* British release title \"Six Inches Tall\". Shooting title: \"I Was A Teenage Doll\".
* The giant phone prop was supplied by the phone company.
* This film was rushed into production by American International and Bert I. Gordon to ride the success of Universal-International\'s The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
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