309 - THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN
(October 1957; NR; 81m)

a.k.a. THE AMAZING NTH MAN (working)
a.k.a. I GIGANTI INVADONO LA TERRA (Italy)

prequel to 319-WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST

Ad: "Amazing! Colossal! Growing! Growing! Growing! To a Giant! To a Monster! To a Behemoth! When Will It Stop?"
Video Ad: "A Seventy Foot Giant Is Terrorizing Las Vegas..."
Video Ad: "Not even the U.S. Army can keep her away from the man she loved--but only the U.S. Army can save her from the monster he became!"

Plot: Radiation from an atomic blast causes an army colonel to grow to sixty feet tall, so he attacks Las Vegas.

Exec Prod: Samuel Z. Arkoff* and James H. Nicholson* for American International Pictures
Prod/Dir: Bert I. Gordon (*210-King Dinosaur; 313-Earth Vs. The Spider; 319-War of the Colossal Beast; 411-The Magic Sword; 414-Tormented; 517-Beginning of the End; 523-Village of the Giants)
Asst Dir: Jack Berne
(809-I Was A Teenage Werewolf)
Scr: Bert I. Gordon (319/411/523)
Scr: Mark Hanna (511-Gunslinger;
806-The Undead; pcoor/807-Terror from the Year 5,000)
Cin: Joseph Biroc (615-Kitten With A Whip;
K13-SST Death Flight; won Oscar for The Towering Inferno)
Ed: Ronald Sinclair (313/319; 317-Viking Women; 503-Swamp Diamonds; 808-The She-Creature; H01-Day the World Ended)
SFX: Bert I. Gordon and Flora Gordon (both/313/319/414/517/523)
SFX/Props: Paul Blaisdell
(313/808/H01; 311-It Conquered the World; 315-Teenage Caveman)
Cos: Bob Richards (I Bury the Living)
M/U: Bob Schiffer (Cleopatra; Auntie Mame)
Hair: Joan St. Oegger (801-Revenge of the Creature;
803-The Mole People; L02-This Island Earth; Tarantula)
Prod Asst: Henry Schrage (313/319; Attack of the Puppet People)
PDes: Bill Glasgow (Curse of the Faceless Man; Vice Raid)
Set: Glen Daniels (China Gate; Vanishing Point)
Prop Master: James Harris (The Cyclops; pmgr/517)
Sound: Jack Solomon (won Oscar/Hello, Dolly!)
Sound: Josef von Stroheim (Mutiny in Outer Space)
Music Ed: W. Lloyd Young (Apache; Man with the Gun)
Score: Albert Glasser*

Lt. Col. Glenn Manning / Glenn Langan
(104-Women of the Prehistoric Planet; not in 319)
Carol Forrest / Cathy Downs (808; Missile to the Moon)
Colonel Hallock / James Seay (517; The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Dr. Eric Coulter / Larry Thor (Portland Expose)
Dr. Paul Lindstrom / William Hudson (808; Mister Roberts)
Richard Kingman / Russ Bender*
Henry / Hank Patterson*
Sergeant Taylor / Lynn Osborn (Invasion of the Saucer Men)
Robert Allen / Judd Holdren (201-Rocketship X-M)
army guard at gate / Harry Raybould (The Girl in the Woods)
attendant / Paul Hahn (The Angry Red Planet; The Desparate Woman)
Captain Thomas / Myron Cook (The Silencers; Chicago Confidential)
Control Officer / William Hughes (Good Morning, Miss Dove)
deliveryman / Frank Jenks (808; Zombies on Broadway)
Dr. McDermott / Edmond Cobb (Dragstrip Girl; His Girl Friday)
lieutenant in briefing room / Jack Kosslyn (*313/319/411)
Lt. Kline / Stanley Lachman
Lt. Peterson / Bill Cassady (Peggy)
Nurse Wilson / June Jocelyn (313/319/*315)
sergeant at reception desk / Jimmy Cross (North by Northwest)
Sergeant Hanson / Dick Nelson (Follow the Boys; Wink of an Eye)
Sergeant Lee Carter / Scott Peters (Invasion of the Saucer Men)
Police Lt. Keller / Michael Harris (Flesh and the Spur; The 27th Day)
typist / Diana Darrin (Unwed Mother; High School Confidential)
woman in tub / Jean Moorehead (*610-The Violent Years)
na / Keith Heatherington (He Ran All The Way)

Trivia: Born in 1908, entertainment attorney SAMUEL Z. ARKOFF was hired in 1954 at American International Pictures (AIP), originally American Releasing Corporation, founded by JAMES H. NICHOLSON and with one director on staff...ROGER CORMAN. Arkoff was pleased how Corman could complete a film on time and under budget, ready for the drive-ins and the teenager market he felt the big name studios were neglecting. (They were...in a big way!). Each little film made money, and all three men put the profits into the next pictures. (Corman frequently used some of his profits to produce his own films independently of AIP). In 1955, AIP released one film, The Beast With A Million Eyes. In 1956, AIP released 10 movies, many of them Corman's. 1957 saw 13 films, 1958 had 22...and pal Jim Nicholson would be the one responsible for making up most of the unusual and catchy titles. The title and poster would be the first things done for a possible AIP film. If they sounded and looked good, the script and casting was next, etc. Besides Corman, Arkoff gave other directors their first access to film distribution and financing, including BERT I. GORDON, and under AIP's logo, released not only 309-THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, but also its sequel, 319-WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST. After some 500 movies, Arkoff still has interest in the film world. You can read more about his amazing life story in his autobiography, "Flying Through Hollywood by the Seat of My Pants."

ALBERT GLASSER, described by Tom Servo as "the man who holds you down and pummels you with music," was one of Hollywood's most prolific movie score composers. Of the some 200 movies he scored, 11 were MSTed: 201-ROCKETSHIP X-M (arrangement only); 309-THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN; 313-EARTH VS. THE SPIDER; 315-TEENAGE CAVEMAN; 317-VIKING WOMEN AND THE SEA SERPENT; 319-WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST; 409-THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN; 414-TORMENTED; 517-BEGINNING OF THE END; 602-INVASION USA; and 611-LAST OF THE WILD HORSES. Some other cheesy movies which he scored are: Gordon's The Cyclops and Attack of the Puppet People; and The Giant from the Unknown.

RUSS BENDER, who plays Richard Kingman here, also appears as Dr. Carmichael in 319-WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST; and dodged bat thingies as General Patrick in 311-IT CONQUERED THE WORLD. You can see him in several turkeys including Dragstrip Girl; The Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow; and Invasion of the Saucer Men.

Wrinkled HANK PATTERSON, best known for his portrayal of Fred Ziffel on TV's Green Acres, made a career of playing moonshine-addled hillbillies, as he does here as Henry, and as Dave in 517-BEGINNING OF THE END. He was also memorable as janitor Hugo in 313-EARTH VS. THE SPIDER. Besides many Westerns, Patterson's other films include: 1955's Tarantula; 1958's Attack of the Puppet People; and Monster on the Campus.

Last Updated: 6/21/1999