The Monster That Challenged the World *** (1957, Tim Holt, Audrey Dalton, Hans Conried) – Classic Movie Review 3920

Mollusk monsters attack California.

Dr Jess Rogers: ‘We must remember that these creatures can travel over land, too.’

Director Arnold Laven’s junior-league 1957 sci-fi horror movie/ creature feature The Monster That Challenged the World is surprisingly well done and entertaining. It stars Tim Holt as John ‘Twill’ Twillinger, the US lieutenant commander who fights back when giant caterpillary mollusks threaten the Earth’s inhabitants in their search for lunch.

Hans Conried plays Dr Jess Rogers, the boffin who fatefully finds weird eggs in a Californian lake and hatches them, and Audrey Dalton plays Gail MacKenzie.

The one-time good-for-its-day trick work of course looks very tame now but also cute and charming. Lester White photographs it in glorious black and white. Though made by Gramercy Pictures, and produced by Arthur Gardner, Jules V Levy, and Arnold Laven, it had a tiny budget of $250,000, and was filmed in just in 16 days.

Also in the cast are Harlan Warde, Mimi Gibson, Gordon Jones, Milton Parsons, Casey Adams [Max Showalter], Ralph Moody, Marjorie Stapp and Dennis McCarthy.

Underwater scenes were shot at Catalina Island off Los Angeles. The close-ups were later filmed in a tank filled with water and plastic sea-weed.

The story is by David Duncan, who later wrote screenplays for The Time Machine (1960) and Fantastic Voyage (1966).

Audrey Dalton recalled: ‘The monster stuff was fun, crouching behind a desk with a monster breaking down the wall. But you had to play it very straight. Once you start seeing the funny side of it, it doesn’t work. Tim Holt had come out of retirement to do this movie. He was a quiet, very nice man – the most “unactor” actor that I ever worked with.’

The Monster that Challenged the World is directed by Arnold Laven, runs 83 minutes, is made by Levy-Gardner-Laven, is released by United Artists, is written by Pat Fielder, based on a story by David Duncan, is shot in black and white by Lester White, is produced by Arthur Gardner, Jules V Levy, and Arnold Laven, and scored by Heinz Roemheld.

The cast are Tim Holt as Lt. Cmdr. John “Twill” Twillinger, Audrey Dalton as Gail MacKenzie, Mimi Gibson as Sandy MacKenzie, Hans Conried as Dr. Jess Rogers, Harlan Warde as Lt. Robert “Clem” Clemens, Casey Adams [Max Showalter] as Dr Tad Johns, Gordon Jones as Sheriff Josh Peters, Marjorie Stapp as Connie Blake, Dennis McCarthy as George Blake, Barbara Darrow as Jody Simms, Robert Beneveds as Seaman Morty Beatty, Charles Herbert as boy with Morty’s cap, Jody McCrea as Seaman Fred Johnson, and Wallace Earl [Eileen Harvey[ as Sally.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3920

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