Short: (1945) A newsreel spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of winter sports, (including “she-ing” and “she-horing.”)
Movie: (1956) With the aid of a deluded Earth scientist, a Venusian pickle creature uses bat thingies to take control of humanity.
First shown: 8/24/91
Opening: Joel tries his hand at ventriloquism, with Crow as his dummy
Invention exchange: The Mads show off their hanged man costumes; Joel has invented the “Sony Sea-man”
Host segment 1: Tom narrates “The Winter Cavalcade of Fun”
Host segment 2: J&tB share sarcastic banter over dinner
Host segment 3: With time to kill, J&tB sing a song about celebrity siblings with the same last names
End: J&tB rewatch Peter Graves’ speech, Crow, Tom and Gypsy each read a letter, the Mads rewatch Peter Graves’ speech
Stinger: “He learned too late that a man is a feeling creature…”
(128 votes, average: 4.61 out of 5)
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• I’ll start with the good news. The short is great fun, with great riffing. All the host segments, even the oddball song in segment three, are entertaining. And the movie is, well, what can you say? It’s classic Corman. Now the bad news: the riffing just kind of limps along, with only occasional bright spots. State park jokes abound. As with “Amazing Colossal Man,” I think they kind of got caught up in the movie a little. So there’s fun to be had in this episode, just not as much as I would have liked.
• This episode is not yet on commercial DVD.
• For you younger folks, “Star Search” was sort of the ’90s version of “America’s Got Talent.” Amusingly, Geechy Guy (a repeat contestant on “Star Search”), STILL seeking fame, also appeared on AGT.
• Joel’s mannerisms as the ventriloquist are classic. The random movements are done to distract you from looking at the ventriloquist’s lips.
• In Googling around, I actually found a reliable site that gave me a definitive year–1945–for “Snow Thrills,” one of the few shorts we hadn’t been able to put a date on.
• Callback: “That’s not half bad!” “She’s givin’ it back to you!” (a paraphrase from Sidehackers) “Chili peppers burn his gut.” (Sidehackers.)
• Triple callback: “Thong? Ator? Puma?” (Cave Dwellers and Ring of Terror) I half-expected to hear “Chief?” next.
• Naughty line: Announcer: “It’s the biggest one-man thrill in Jack Frost’s show.” Joel: “I know a better one…”
• As previously noted, this movie is our first taste of oeuvre of one Roger Corman. Dr. F. introduces it as one of his best and that may be true. But he also says “it’s really really really bad,” and I don’t think that’s true. It’s not a “good” movie, of course, but it’s not really bad one either. Its chief defect is that it was clearly made on a very low budget. But, despite that, Corman coaxes some really pretty good performances out of people who would go on to be known as pretty good actors. In addition, the story, while silly in some places, is almost gripping in others. We’ll see many worse movies, including some from Corman, is I guess what I’m saying.
• Then-current reference: “I’d rather watch ‘thirtysomething’.” (And the second “thirtysomething” reference in two or three episodes.)
• Joel again warns Tom about Anthony Newly impressions.
• They again do a “Helloooo baaaaaaby…” joke during a plane crash. Two episodes ago somebody called it “mean.” I’m not sure I’d go that far, but I’ll grant you it’s a little dark.
• My copy is from Turkey Day ’94, and includes a commercial for the video game “Burn Cycle,” for Magnavox’s cd-i game platform. Remember THAT vaporware?
• During the song in segment 3, Tom again does his Tom Waits impression.
• Also, about the song: The joke is that they claim to naming celebrity siblings with the same last name, but they are actually naming people with the same last name who AREN’T actually siblings (i.e. Mary Tyler and Roger Moore). I hate to break it to whoever wrote the lyrics (the credits do not specifically name the person), but Julia and Eric Roberts ARE siblings.
• Somewhat obscure riff: “Not the craw, the craw!” (A “Get Smart” running gag.)
• The closing repetition of the speech can be explained by Joel’s earlier admission that the show was a bit short that week.
• Bot stuff: Is this the first time they’ve used the word “hoverskirt”? Also: In the final segment Joel, also takes a moment to explain Gypsy and her role again.
• Backstage stuff: The Venusian costume was lobster red. It was nicknamed “Big Beulah” by its creator, Paul Blaisdell, and “Denny Dimwit” by the screenwriters. Other names given by the cast and crew were the “Tee-Pee Terror,” “the Cucumber Critter” and “The Carrot Monster.” When she was a guest at an MST3K convention, Beverly Garland recalled that she kept telling herself that it wasn’t finished, that they were still working on it, that it would get better. But of course, it never did. Chocolate syrup served as the Venusian’s blood. Always ready to reuse props, Corman used the bat-thingies again the following year in “The Undead.”
• Once again, the exterior shots were done at Bronson Canyon, which was also used for exterior shots in the filming of seven other MSTed movies.
• Crow and Joel get out of the way so Tom can read the number off the side of the jeep.
• This movie was remade for television by director Larry “Attack of the the Eye Creatures” Buchanan as “Zontar, The Thing from Venus.”
• Cast and crew roundup: LOTS of folks we will meet again in this one, so strap in: Executive producers Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson performed the same roles for “Earth Vs. the Spider,” “Teenage Caveman,” “Viking Women and the Sea Serpent,” “War of the Colossal Beast,” “Night of the Blood Beast, “The Undead,” “Terror from the Year 5000,” “The She-Creature,” “I Was A Teenage Werewolf” and “The Screaming Skull.” Writer Lou Rusoff also helped write “The She Creature.” Writer Charles Griffith also helped write “Terror from the Year 5000” and “Gunslinger.” Cinematographer Frederick West also worked on “Gunslinger,” “The She Creature” and “Swamp Diamonds. Editor Charles Gross also worked on “Gunslinger.” Prop Master Karl Brainard also worked on “Teenage Caveman,” “Night of the Blood Beast” and “The She Creature.” Score composer Ronald Stein also did the scores for “Gunslinger,” “The Undead,” “The She Creature,” Attack of the the Eye Creatures” and “The Girl in Lovers Lane.” And, of course, Roger Corman, in addition to this movie, directed “Teenage Caveman,” “Viking Women and the Sea Serpent,” “Swamp Diamonds,” “Gunslinger,” and “The Undead.” Corman also produced “Attack of the Giant Leeches,” “High School Big Shot” and “Night of the Blood Beast.”
In front of the camera, Peter Graves is one the actors most seen in MST3K movies: he also appears in “Beginning of the End,” “SST Death Flight,”and “Parts: The Clonus Horror.” He also provided the uncredited narration for “Attack of the the the Eye Creatures. Beverly Garland also appeared in “Swamp Diamonds” and “Gunslinger.” Lee Van Cleef also appeared in “Master Ninja I” and “Master Ninja 2.” Sally Frasier also appears in “War of the Colossal Beast” and “Earth Vs. the Spider. Dick Miller also appears in “Gunslinger” and “The Undead.” Another actor with a lot of MST3K appearances is Jonathan Haze, who was in this, “Viking Women and the Sea Serpent,” “Swamp Diamonds,” “Teenage Caveman” and “Gunslinger.” Karyne Kadler was also in “The Beatniks.” Marshall Bradford was also in “Teenage Caveman” and David McMahon was also in “The Deadly Mantis.”
• CreditsWatch: Karen Lindsey is back in the credits as online editor. Clayton James does the first of 11 stints as hair and makeup person. Additional contributing writers for this episode were Jef Maynard, Jann Johnson, Alexandra Carr and Timothy Scott. I suspect that credit happens when one of them wanders into the writing room and says something funny and they keep it. Trace and Frank are still “guest villians” (misspelled) and Dr. F’s last name is again spelled “Forrestor.”
• Fave riff from the short: “Get in, old man, you’ve seen enough.” Honorable mention: “Yeah, well, you’re full of skit.”
• Fave riff: “Venus? You know: no arms, nice rack…” Honorable mention: “She’s just going to slip into something a little more clinical.”
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I LOVE VLASIC VENUSIAN PICKLE SPEARS !
The opening bit is fun but it does go on a bit long. Who wins? I’ll give the nod to Crow as the better ventriloquist. Neither made a great dummy.
Invention exchange: Even though Dr. Forrester tells Joel that his invention is almost as lame as theirs, I liked the Mads’ and thought Joel’s was the lame one. Those nooses do look convincing.
Wisconsin tourist trap reference: The House on the Rock
The first host segment based on the short is fun. I liked the ice fishing bit and the sports were fun. I can’t wait till next winter so I can try frozen pole frenching as well. Also, did Tom’s delivery of this segment remind anyone else of the Gamera monster set from 304?
While not greatly memorable the dinner banter host segment still is fun. “you know half way through my dinner my filet got up and beat the hell out of my coffee and the coffee was too weak to defend itself.” This segment reminded me a lot (in tone) of my favorite KTMA segment. That being the courtroom/gameshow/goofy stream of consciousness sketch from K18.
How does Frank hold so still during the Peter Graves speech at the end. I wasn’t sure if he was still alive or not.
You know I think we saw that speech a couple too many times at the end there. (Yes I know they were short and filling time.) We ended up with more repeats of that speach than a Sandy Frank Japanese film has Kens.
Favorite Riffs:
(the Castle logo is on screen) Crow “Order me a dozen sliders will you.”
(during ski jumping scenes) Joel “It’s the agony of defeat auditions.”
Crow “Jeepers he holds the world’s fate in his hands and he can’t drive a stick.”
(a plane is crashing) Tom “Hello Baby! There goes another pop star.”
Joel “Paul never used to make deals with the devil at home.”
Crow “Oh the Ming vase.” Tom “It’s okay it was old anyway.”
Crow “Gotham City 14 miles”
Paul kills two scientists and a General. Tom “You were all bad guys right?”
Good, but not great. Other than segment 2 which is brilliant, the hosts segs didn’t do much for me. But the movie is very watchable, so I didn’t really notice so much if the riffs were lacking. Peter Graves and Beverly Garland do their best with the material. It’s interesting that Joel mentions that the show is short this week, but the song is sloppy and not much fun to sit through. And I wanted to throw something at the screen when they launched into the “feeling creature” speech for the third time.
BURN CYCLE: USE YOUR BRAIN OR LOSE YOUR MIND!!!!
I like this episode, when I was younger it got a lot of play. I memorized Peter Graves’ speech at the end and would leave it on people’s answering machines. I thought it was HILARIOUS every time they repeated it, especially over the end credits. Very FAMILY GUY-like humor.
Samuel Fuller was in the army before becoming a director, and he made THE BIG RED ONE.
You mentioned ZONTAR, Larry Buchanan is a director I wish CineTit or Rifftrax would take on again.
Dick Miller is in this movie.
As the narrator said, the ice skating footage in Snow Thrills was filmed in Newburgh, New York, my hometown. It’s so strange to see Downing Park that way: not that it froze over thick enough to skate on – my grandparents told me some winters you could walk across the frozen Hudson River in those days – but that there was a time when the park was used for something other than dealing drugs and hosting race riots. If you’d like to hear the sad tale of how the most historic city in the state (after NYC, of course) fell into decay and poverty, the Wikipedia page is a good place to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newburgh_(city),_New_York :-(
Zee hit it right on the head. “The Big Red One” has been lauded as one of the best WW2 movies of its time. Remember, this was pre-“Saving Private Ryan” and “Band of Brothers”.
Samuel Fuller was in the army before becoming a director, and he made THE BIG RED ONE.
To follow up on Zee, aside from Big Red One, Sam Fuller also directed The Steel Helmet, Fixed Bayonets, and Merrill’s Marauders, in which soldiers feature prominently. (Me, I’m partial to Underworld USA and The Naked Kiss.)
Having watched the un-riffed “It Conquered the World” at Blob-fest this past year, I’d say it was a fairly decent film on it’s own.
I feel like this is an episode that merits a Shout! Factory release. Is it being held up because it’s a Corman film?
“It’s perfect for your next necktie party!”
With all the early-season talk of ‘hat parties,’ I don’t think that line even registered with me until I heard the term necktie party in context many years later, thanks to some other favorite comedians of mine, Bob & Ray. And presto! Newly funny line! Aside: I’ve also learned it’s a term that will generally only get a laugh from people over the age of sixty or so. Perhaps it’s best known by people who grew up when Westerns dominated the airwaves.
I’m not sure how incredibly hilarious I’d find this episode were I to discover it today. It certainly contains a lot of references that are now, uh… slightly dated. The ‘Huh?’ factor would probably be pretty high for newcomers. (But thanks for the Geechy Guy update, Sampo! I remember seeing a clip of his comedic stylings back in the day and being stunned by the raw unfunniness of it. That made the Brains’ scorn especially tasty.) T.J. Cinnamon, which figures so heavily in the opening segments, was sort of a less-appalling precursor to ‘Cinnabon’ that was all the rage for a while, then seemed to just vanish. Perhaps they sort of lacked the American ingenuity and vision that says “Dammit, I CAN make a 3,000-calorie airport snack!”
Another thing about this episode is the whole Roger Corman concept. For a young would-be trash cinema buff, it was nice to finally see some ‘legendary’ films pop up, and in an extremely palatable format. Pre-Internet, these movies could be really difficult to find outside of ‘hip’ video rental shops in decent-sized cities, or maybe late-night showings on low-grade cable channels buried in the depths of the TV listings. And seeing them on MST did away with the vague sense of shame and guilt that can come with giving 90 minutes of your life to actually sitting down and watching something like Teenage Caveman. Everybody wins!
Still, there’s a lot to love here, from the anarchic (and genuinely clever) wordplay in the Snow Thrills sketch on through the “old-school” feel of the closing credits gag. I absolutely love the anti-comedy moments where the cast takes a gag that feels decades old to begin with and just lets it run on and on and on. Because of all that, this episode strikes me as– if not one of the funniest in the show’s history– at least an excellent distillation of where they were coming from and what their brand of comedy was all about during the show’s Golden Age.
Thanks for the info on Fuller, folks. Guess I didn’t know who he was after all. :-/
Just wanted to throw in that Jonathan Haze was also in Viking Women Vs. The Sea Serpent. How could you forget “I am a Grimwald warrior!” :-D
This is one of those episodes where the movie, while bad, is still entertaining on it’s own. The riffs don’t need to be top notch in an episode like this, it’s more like watching a bad movie with some old pals.
I give it 5 stars
Good catch, Patti! Thanks!
For me, there are several directors (Coleman Francis, Ed Wood, Bert I. Gordon) who always brought out the best in Best Brains, and Roger Corman definitely ranks among them, and this first offering is, in my opinion, one of the best episodes of Season Three. Granted, the opening host segment is dated (but of course, as it’s roughly twenty years old now!), but still wasn’t bad, and I really enjoyed segments 1 and 2.
The short is very funny, and I was always surprised that it never turned up in their “Shorts” collections. I especially liked the bit where the narrator says skiing is actually pronounced “sheeing”, to which Joel responds, “You’re full of skit!” Brilliant! As is Tom’s lengthy bit where he then swaps every “sk” and “sh” sounds in the brief written blurb on ski jumping. “Cross country sheeing amidst skenes of winter magnifiskense in Sanada’s Shnow-Sovered playgroudsh”. That isn’t easy to say, and Joel compliments Kevin (“Well done”) immediately afterward.
The main feature, as Sampo suggests, isn’t as bad as Forrester claims it is, but it’s still very funny, especially when the alien is revealed to be what actress Beverly Garland called “a giant pickle”. As a side note, I loved hearing Beverly’s story about Corman revealing what the alien would look like, and her classic response that she didn’t know what an alien from Venus would look like, but she doubted they would look like that. Loved her performance in this, by the way, which actually made it watchable, despite the silly alien and the gaping plot holes. Overall, this rates a solid four out of five stars for me.
Thanks to Sharktopus for making MST educational! That’s a sad, but fascinating, story that really lends some poignancy to the short. (And this being the Internet and all, I should probably point out that no, I don’t mean that in any racial context.)
Roger Corman’s “It Conquered the World” got only a passing mention in his book, “How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime”. Page 37:
I approached [It] Conquered [the World] with the same loose spirit as “Not of This Earth”. Lee Van Cleef is a scientist trying to communicate with intelligent forces from the planet Venus. Beverly Garland, as his wife, questions the entire project with some very funny dialogue written by Lou Rusoff and Chuck Griffith [who played Pete, the scientist/technician with the dark hair and glasses]. Before shooting, Beverly ad-libbed a few sharp lines of her own. From my engineering and physics background, I’d reasoned that a being from a planet with a powerful field of gravity would sit very low to the ground, so with my effects man, Paul Blaisdell, I’d designed a rather squat creature. But just before we were to shot the climatic showdown with Beverly and the monster, she stood over it and stared it down, hands on her hips. “So,” she said with a derisive snarl, making sure I heard her, “you’ve come to conquer the world, have you? Well, take that!” And she kicked the monster in the head. I got the point immediately, by that afternoon the monster was rebuilt ten feet high. Lesson one: Always make the monster bigger than your leading lady.
“It Conquered the World” was filmed in 1956, in and around Beechwood Drive in the Hollywood Hills, and just a block east in Griffith Park (including Bronson Cave). By the way, the Beechwood Market is still there, and pretty much still looks exactly the way it did in 1956. Dr. Forrester introduces the movie “as probably Roger Corman’s finest to date…and it’s really, really, really, quite bad.”
The movie is preceeded by a short: Snow Thrills. Some of my favorite lines from that:
Where I come from they arrest Flashing Blades.
Yes, even people with one foot in the grave like it.
Here, Gertrude Stein shows her moves.
…and Sheeing is the correct pronunciation they tell us…Yeah, well you’re full of skit.
Ski Joring (J&TB pronounce it She Whoring)…Next on Sally Jessie Raphael (boy, does that date this episode) She Whoring. It’s a safe and fun way to blow a Saturday, or a knee.
When I first saw this episode I was struck with how clever and literate the writing staff was, and that their college educations hadn’t gone to waste—when seeing a man in a crown and king’s robe, what did they come up with—the opening line from Shakespeare’s Richard III—“Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious…”
It Conquered the World is one of my favorites from Season 3. Some of my favorite lines from that:
Oh, they’re giving away the ending.
Paul Harbor, December 7th, 1941, a date that will live in infamy.
The world’s full of fat heads…that’s why I invented diet shampoo.
Paul Nelson here…Gunsmoke, naw it’ll never work, call my brother…well that’s impossible…Mission Impossible that sounds great.
Oh, I understand now, Ronald Reagan would make a great President [after the Chief of Police is possessed]. I understand now, Galagher is funny [When General Paddock is possessed]. This line delivered by Joel has a special significance for Joel, as the story goes he had a run in with Gallagher while performing on the road. Gallagher was caught pawing through Joel’s props—a major league no-no in the business.
…A personal friend of yours. Real Chums. The days when people make fun of me are over girl(s). You will bow down before me.
So, Mom still dressing you alike, huh?
I won’t love a monster…I won’t. That’s what Ivana (Trump) said.
Listen, do you know that in the last 24 hours, men have had their minds, their personalities, their moral standards imprisoned. The whole population has been herded like cattle into the desert. That men have been murdered for failing to obey the new master. Yeah, I hate the 700-Club too.
The Crow and Servo exchange, with Trace’s best Richard Burton imitation, a scene from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. “Don’t start with me Martha”. “You laughed your ass off, George.”
I brought this can of nuts in case we get hungry.
When seeing Beulah (the monster from Venus) face to face: It’s Carol Channing. It’s the Kool-Aid guy gone wrong. It’s a safety cone gone horribly wrong. She should eat that with drawn butter.
When Tom Anderson (Lee Van Cleef) dispatches the chief of police with his blow torch: How about a little fire, scarecrow? Chili Peppers burn his gut. Kingsford Cops, light quickly.
A final observation—how many characters did Corman kill off in this one? Well lets name them: The newspaper editor, Joan, the Chief of Police, General Paddock, Tom, Claire, a couple of soldiers, Pete, Ellen and the other scientist at the installation–quite a body count for a 1956. And Beulah done in with a blow-torch—a nice touch.
I just watched this one last Sunday. I agree that the movie, aside from the lame monster, is actually pretty good. Beverly Garland and Peter Graves each give good performances, and Graves’ final speech is memorable in a good way. The short is one of the better ones, too.
Though I’ve never seen it, I dimly remember “Chu Chu and the Philly Flash”. During its initial release, it played at a three-screen theater near Somerville Circle. The other two movies: “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Superman II”. Thus, the reason the movie is somewhat obscure.
Lee van Cleef was the good, the bad and helped “the ugly” try to conquer the world. This means nothing.
Glad to have the Samuel Fuller riff pointed out to me, don’t think I ever noticed it before. The Big Red One is one of my fav films war or otherwise. Mark “Luke Skywalker” Hamill IS Griff!(The Big Red One, not Red vs Blue).
The sarcastic dinner sequence IS one of my favorite low-key skits.
I like to capitalize the word IS.
#12(Patti)–Just to clarify, Jay Sayer played Senya (who whines, “but I’m a Prince”). Jonathan Haze played Ottar–the curly haired blonde “kid” who stows away on the women’s boat, and frequently gets his a@@ kicked.
I remember the CD-i because after Nintendo cancelled their deal with Phillips to create a CD-ROM accessory for the Super Nintendo, they gave them permission to make some VERY low budget Mario and Zelda games. Those rare games are sought out by some Nintendo collectors as a kind of forbidden fruit.
Ah, the famous Peter Graves quote episode. This looks like a really cheesey film with that stupid monster. Oh well. Riffing is good and host segments are well.
I recall Star Search existing in the 80s as well as the 90s.
I felt the riffing for the main experiment was great on this one, but then, I also felt “Colossal Man” was tremendously funny too.
I actually find this movie quite forgettable. It certainly has little of the absurd charm that permeates some of the other Corman films that would be riffed (like “The Undead”). And Sampo’s right that the movie sort of limps along.
The opener is stupid, as the skit is just another variation of the hey-we’re-going-to-do-a-skit-but-oops-it-isn’t-working premise that they had been doing since “The Crawling Hand” and would do many more times during the Joel era (and occasionally afterwards, although not NEARLY as frequently). If you’ve seen one of these skits, you’ve seen them all.
And the short doesn’t do much for me. The riffs just don’t take off (except for blood splatter on the ice) and the short doesn’t DO anything interesting. It’s a snoozer.
Overall, a very forgettable episode.
Watching Frank eat is the best part. I think he brings the fork up to his mouth and then it drops at the last minute twice.
“He learned that man is a caring being. . .”
I can’t get enough of that!
The “dinner banter” segment is one of my all time favorites.
All I can add is…after seeing Larry Buchanan’s absolutely attrocious “Zontar” remake, viewing “It Conquered The World” feels like watching “Citizen Kane”.
Whether we like it or not, truth be told most of us would LOVE to have it on a Shout DVD set, but as with all AIP titles they are pretty much RIP with Susan Hart…
This is a great episode to me with the finale Man is a Feeling Creature
Corman movies were not really that bad, just hampered by his budget, but if you listen to his interviews for his movies, you can tell he is a good filmmaker in the low budget genre and has become great at showing more when in reality, its less…
Watch his Poe films with Vincent Price…
Next time you watch this episode, quietly hum Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” during the “Feeling Creature” speech. It adds to the emotional impact.
You know this is Science Fiction: Beverly Garland is married to Lee Van Cleef!
He learned, almost too late, that man is a feeling creature and, because of it, the greatest in the universe. He learned, too late for himself, that men have to make their own way, to make their own mistakes. There can’t be any gift of perfection from outside ourselves. And, when men seek such perfection, they find there’s only death, fire, loss, disillusionment, the end of everything that’s gone forward. Men have always sought an end to toil and misery. It can’t be given; it has to be achieved. There is hope, but it has to come from inside, from man himself.
Sampo, I must correct you on the following comment:
“My copy is from Turkey Day ’94, and includes a commercial for the video game “Burn Cycle,” for Magnavox’s cd-i game platform. Remember THAT vaporware?”
Burn: Cycle is most definitely NOT vaporware (a term which indicates that the game in question is announced and talked about, but in the final analysis never materializes). The game was published. The CDi itself was a big dud, though.
#20 Tom. Thanks for the heads up! I had always assumed that Haze was the prince. Never even occurred to me that he was Todd. Now I have to watch it again. :-)
Peter Graves just didn’t seem to like anything comedy related. He hated Airplane (despite the put-on he gave in interviews, those close to him revealed that he really DID NOT like being in that film). So that’s probably why he didn’t like MST3K, because they made fun of his “serious” work. Although, as I state in my review down below, I think the James Arness jokes might have got to him too.
Fun Fact about graves before I start my review. Graves’ last film appearance was in Looney Tunes Back in Action. What most people don’t know, is Graves was NOT informed ahead of time that his cameo was for a Looney Tunes film. When he found out, he was PISSED.
Anyhoo, here’s my review.
311- It Conquered the World
Opening: Joel uses Crow as a ventriloquist dummy.
Invention exchange: Hanged man costumes, the “Sony Seaman.”
Host segment 1: Tom narrates “The Winter Cavalcade of Fun.”
Host segment 2: Sarcastic banter over dinner.
Host segment 3: J&TB discuss how James Arness and Peter Graves were able to get along in Hollywood, then sing of celebrity siblings with different last names.
End: J&TB rewatch Peter Graves’ speech, letters, the Mads are watching it too.
Stinger: “He learned too late that a man is a feeling creature…”
Memorable Riffs from Short:
Joel: “From where I come from they arrest flashing blades.”
Narrator: “Beauty, grace, and rhythm…”
Servo: “You won’t find them here.”
Servo: “I smell a class action suit around the corner!”
Memorable riffs from movie:
[Title “It Conquered the World” appears]
Servo: “They’re giving away the ending!”
Joel: “Honey, would you get that crow out of the fridge? I’m gonna make them eat it.”
Crow: “What?”
Crow: “I’ll just bury you for a little snack later.”
Servo: “It thinks I’m Teppi Hedren!”
Crow: “Oh, just get a pair of scissors and cut the sting!”
[Peter Graves shoots his possessed wife]
Crow: “I was kidding!”
Joel: “That’s a mighty big chicken, isn’t it, Corky?”
[Graves finds dead female scientist on the ground, in her nightgown]
Crow: “Darn! I always miss the good parties!”
[Graves shoots the three possessed scientists]
Servo: “Um, you all were bad guys, weren’t you?”
Crow: “Woah! Never put a bazooka on your crotch like that!”
Fav Riff from Short:
Crow: “Let’s talk about shrinkage shall we?”
Fav. Riff from Movie:
Servo: “Boy, it was a mission impossible for him to drive that stick!”
Comments:
-Doesn’t Joel realize that when or if he gets down to Earth, and were to use Crow as a puppet, he could not move his lips at all while Crow talks, since he can talk on his own? It’d be cheating, but still.
-Frank mentions “Mannequin” during the Invention Exchange. At least one of the Brains was really obsessed with this movie at this point.
-During the bob sledding scene from the short, Joel channels the Wizard of Oz again with “Help us! We don’t know how it works!”
-Is Joel’s riff, “Say, whose line is that, anyway?” supposed to be a shout out to “Whose Line is it, Anyway?’ Around this time Comedy Central was only running the Series 1 episodes, so I guess the Brains would have been aware of it by now.
-“Hey, that’s James Arness!” “No, that’s Peter Graves.” I’m sure it was that riff alone that got Graves steamed at MST3K.
-Note Servo’s riff “Which results in creativity.” A reference to something Joel said in an interview about being weird. They didn’t do self-referential riffs like that often.
-A gross but funny riff. When the monster is shooting out flying… things from the bottom of it’s body, Servo makes grunting and sighing noises.
-When we first see Dick Miller, is his voice dubbed over by another actor? That sure doesn’t sound like his voice. It isn’t until after Graves shoots his wife, that Miller’s voice actually sounds like it usually does with that thick New York accent.
-A joke about Scientology? Wow, MST3K got away with just about everything didn’t they?
-Am I the only person that was actually exposed to Peter Graves first, and didn’t know who James Arness was for many years? Then again, I never watched Gunsmoke until just a couple years ago.
-I like how Joel just openly admits that the movie is short, and they need to pad the experiment out. They should have used love. : P
-Crow calls Linda Evans a vixen. I think his opinion will change after seeing “Mitchell”.
-Did Corman really think no one would notice that shot of Beverly Garland walking through the cave being used twice?
Best Segment: I think Segment 1, with the Winter Cavalcade of Fun was the funniest.
Worst Segment: Hm. Tough call. None of the host segments stood out for me. I want to say Segment 3. The song is one of the weaker ones they’ve done. Plus the lead-in with the Arness/Graves comparison is pretty cringeworthy and not really funny (especially since Graves recently passed away).
Overall: Although most of the host segments aren’t very good IMO, the riffing in the theater is top-notch. One of the best out of Season 3. ***1/2
This is one of those rare episodes that has not gotten better or funnier with repeated viewings. Where once I swore by this episode, it now rests down near the bottom of must view as it is just too hard to get through now.
The short fell falt for me, the host segments are fair to middling at best, and the movie drraaaaaaaaaaggggggsssssssss. Peter Graves’ speech is not that interesting to listen to. A rarity in deed and dips ever so closer to the bottom of the list.
Schippers–you’re right, and I’m sure all three people who bought a cd-i enjoyed it. :-)
I love this ep to death. For some reason it’s a perfect MST3K storm: Corman, Graves & a pickle monster.
I’m sure I can’t be the only one here who’s a fan of the anime “Cowboy Bebop.” In one of the songs from the soundtrack, “Chicken Bone,” there is a sample of a man saying “Proceed with the operation.” I was quite surprised to find that the clip actually comes from this movie. Guess Corman’s just everywhere like that.
Stupendous, incredible, extraordinary episode! “It Conquered The World” conquered my heart.
Back in my younger days, I used to play softball in Newburgh, NY, and used to drive to the malls and stores in that area a lot. I don’t head down that way as much since I don’t live as close to there as I did before. Besides, I’m still practicing my chops to become a professional shut-in.
I can’t agree with anyone who thinks this movie was any good. I think it was silly, stupid and is one of those that should be riffed– and it was… and very well, in my opinion, I think. I’ve watched this episode many, many times and I laugh and laugh.
SCTV did a spoof of “Zontar” as a running story-line in one of their episodes.
I like SCTV… a lot.
“So there’s fun to be had in this episode, just not as much as I would have liked.”
This is a classic episode in my opinion. Then again, I think season 3 may be the best season of the show. Still can’t help but find it strange someone who’s made a website devoted to the show is lukewarm on all these great episodes. Doesn’t make much sense. Did you base your fandom on the later seasons when they were running out of steam?
If you have ever seen “ZONTAR’ then you know what a truly horrible film it is. That is one I vow never to watch again.
Somewhat obscure riff: “Not the craw, the craw!”
It’s from Get Smart – KAOS villain The Claw (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Smart#KAOS)
I find it odd that someone who considers the later seasons “ran out of steam” would have “Rowsdower” as part of their handle. *grin*
#42 – And “Beardsley” which I assume is a “Squirm” reference. MR. BEARDSLEY!!!
#33 – I was born in the 80’s and I was a never a fan of Westerns so I probably never knew who James Arness was until MST3k. Of course Peter Graves was all over the place with the Airplane movies, BIOGRAPHY and Mission Impossible repeats (which I didn’t watch as a kid but I loved the theme song).
As for this episode, movie riffing is OK, short is great. Frank in the opening segment freezes for a long time, it’s pretty impressive.
My copy was from the same Turkey Day, and yes, they were pushing Burn Cycle as “the ultimate cinematic adventure game” or some such nonsense. I had just discovered the show the previous weekend with “Teenagers from Outer Space” and set the VCR up to record as many T-Day episodes as I could (I only got Teanage Caveman, followed by this, then the first 2/3 of Swamp Diamonds before the tape ran out.) I’ve always loved the line “Yeah, well you’re full of skit” from the short.
It Conquered The World (with short: The Sport Parade–Snow Thrills) is a fantastic episode and just the kind of material that shows the writers at their best. The movie itself is a low-budget SF classic with such a good cast and a classic “Bodysnatchers” type aliens take over the minds of people plot. The short is lively fun and the riffing was at its best there. This one really deserves a commercial DVD release.
Zontar is worth watching to then watch the SCTV parody of it. Great sketch comedy. If you’ve never seen it, there are bits of it on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAMIwTaItSk). You’ll never look at cabbage the same way again.
“the Venusian costume….was nicknamed “Big Beulah” by its creator, Paul Blaisdell”
That’s why I was kind of expecting some sort of “Somebody bawl for Beulah?!” riff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beulah_(series)
Hey, they’ve made obscurer references than that…
After what, for me, is a long dry spell, I can finally stop apologizing for not liking Season Three all that much, and say “Here’s one I really like!”
I’m sure you’re all relieved beyond measure.
(But S3 really does leave me cold. So far, only “Daddy-O” and “Amazing Colossal Man” really light my fire. I can’t help it.)
I agree that the Winter Cavalcade of Fun is a hoot! And I also really like the Sarcastic Dinner Sketch.
Any time Joel does his “housewife” voice it’s a winner for me. (In the short “Home Economics Story,” when the girl asks ‘what are you gonna take, Alice?’ and Joel says in a girly voice, ‘I’m gonna take Bob for all he’s got!’ it just kills me. And in “Girl in Lover’s Lane” when Joel makes some crack about ‘always wanted to be nuzzled by a hobo’ I have to rewind and hear it again.)
Like some others, I’m not mad about the abortive Ventriloquist Sketch. Somebody else said they did a lot of “this sketch isn’t working” sketches in the Joel years, and I have to agree. Some of them are more okay than others.
Onward!
I know I’m just filling up time and space here with a repeat of the movie’s best quote but I’m going ahead with it any way.
“He learned almost too late that,
man is a feeling creature,
and because of it the greatest in the universe.
He learned too late for himself that,
men have to find their own way,
to make their own mistakes.
There can’t be any gift of perfection from outside ourselves.
And when men seek such perfection,
they find only death,
fire,
loss,
disillusionment,
boredom,
and the end of everything that’s gone forward.
Men have always sought an end to toil and misery.
It can’t be given, it has to be achieved.
There is hope,
but it has to come from inside,
from man himself.
HEAVV-VY
#39 Mitchell Rowsdower Beardsley–First of all, I’ve raved about about a bunch of episodes in this season and will rave about many more. There’s a lot to like in this episode, I just didn’t think the movie riffing was that strong. As I’ve said before, even a bad MST3K episode (and this one isn’t bad) is better than most other TV. I’m comparing it with other episode of the show that I like better. Tastes differ. Sorry.
I hadn’t seen this episode for 15 years and might not watch it for another 15. I love most Corman episodes but this one just seems kind of average so I give it 3 stars. High points: Frank dropping his fork at the very end and the sarcastic dinner speech. This was a great way of making fun of the movie’s having everyone talk in one liners instead of regular sentences. It’s almost like this movie’s not quite bad enough to be great riffing material but it’s certainly not good. Was this the first Beverly Garland sighting, she does as much as she can and it was good to hear she had a good sense of humor about these movies.