The Incredible Petrified World * (1959, John Carradine, Phyllis Coates, Robert Clarke, Allen Windsor) – Classic Movie Review 12,738

Jerry Warren’s amusingly silly and entertainingly horrid 1959 sci-fi-horror film The Incredible Petrified World stars down-on-their-luck actors John Carradine, Phyllis Coates, Robert Clarke and Allen Windsor. Great title, shame about the film. 

Producer/ director Jerry Warren’s amusingly silly and entertainingly horrid 1959 sci-fi-horror film The Incredible Petrified World stars down-on-their-luck actors John Carradine, Phyllis Coates, Robert Clarke and Allen Windsor. Great title, shame about the film. Robert Clarke starred in a series of cult classic science fiction films of the 1950s, but this is not one of them.

The story follows four explorers who travel down into the depths of the sea and get stranded in an underwater cavern after a technical problem during the launch when the cable breaks on their diving bell.

John Carradine stars as elder scientist Professor Millard Wyman, who sends a crew of four – Craig Randall (Robert Clarke), Dale Marshall (Phyllis Coates), Paul Whitmore (Allen Windsor) and Lauri Talbott (Sheila Noonan) – down to ocean depths never before explored. ‘A Nightmare of Terror’ follows!

The ad line promises ‘A Nightmare of Terror in the Center of the Earth with Forgotten Men, Monsters, Earthquakes and Boiling Volcanos!’. Alas the expected monster does not turn up. Apparently Warren had a monster suit created but it ended up looking so bad that it was scrapped. So there is very little action or excitement, though stock footage shows a shark battling an octopus, which at least looks good on the poster.

The cavern sequences were shot at Colossal Cave in Tucson, Arizona.

Phyllis Coates was especially down-on-her-luck as she was apparently never paid for her work. She only agreed to play the role of Dale Marshall as a favour to Jerry Warren, a former boyfriend, after the originally cast actress dropped out at the last minute.

Jerry Warren makes a director cameo as man on the plane.

It was of course extremely cheaply and quickly filmed, probably done in only a week, with Carradine’s role shot in a day.

The film was shot by Warren in 1957 but not released until 12 November 1959, with a wider release on 16 April 1960 as the lower half of a double bill with Warren’s Teenage Zombies.

The cast are John Carradine as Dr Millard Wyman, Robert Clarke as Craig Randall, Allen Windsor as Paul Whitmore, Phyllis Coates as Dale Marshall, George Skaff as crazy old sailor Metheny, Lloyd Nelson as Sonar man Wilson, Sheila Noonan [Sheila Carol] as Lauri Talbott, Maurice Bernard, Joe Maierhauser as Dr Wyman’s brother Jim Wyman, Harry Raven as Captain, Jack Haffner as reporter Jimmy, Jerry Warren as man on the plane, Milt Collion as Hank, and Robert Carroll.

The Incredible Petrified World is directed by Jerry Warren, runs 67 minutes, is made by G.B.M. productions, is distributed by Governor Films, is written by John W Steiner, is shot by Victor Fisher, is produced by Jerry Warren, and is scored by by Josef Zimanich.

Robert Clarke said that the cinematographer was not the credited Victor Fisher but a well-known Hollywood cameraman who used the pseudonym for a non-union film.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,738

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