“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be jumping for joy for his big broadcast of a classic mammoth Columbia Pictures sci-fi/fantasy masterpiece production.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956)

Rare/original Columbia Pictures teaser trailer for the original theatrical release of “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956), the original Columbia teaser trailer was seen on local television stations from coast-to-coast at the time of the original theatrical release.

“Calling all ‘Flying Saucers’!” “This is a ‘Space Message’!” And for Sven: “Calling all stations!” Original Columbia Pictures poster art for “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956).

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based sci-fi/fantasy film host will present his big broadcast of “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956), this Sat., Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

“Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956) was directed by veteran actor-turned-director Fred F. Sears. Sears also worked on Columbia’s smash rock-and-roll revue feature, “Rock Around the Clock” (1956) with legends The Platters, Bill Haley and his Comets, disc jockey Alan Freed and the Ernie Freeman Combo; “Don’t Knock the Rock” (1956); with legends Little Richard, Bill Haley’s Comets and Alan Freed, “Calypso Heat Wave” (1957); with legends Maya Angelou, Joel Grey and Johnny Desmond, “The Giant Claw” (1957) with Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday and “The Night the World Exploded” (1957); with Kathryn Grant and William Leslie.

Legendary stop-motion visual effects supervisor Ray Harryhausen worked on the stop-motion effects for Sears’ classic mammoth Columbia sci-fi masterpiece production of  “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.”  The classic mammoth 1956 sci-fi/fantasy masterpiece marked Harryhausen’s second visual effects feature for Columbia Pictures. Harryhausen’s first and previous classic Columbia sci-fi/fantasy masterpiece production that he was involved with for the stop-motion/visual effects sequences was for Robert Gordon’s classic mammoth sci-fi/fantasy feature film masterpiece production of  “It Came from Beneath the Sea” (1955) with Faith Domergue  and Kenneth Tobey.

Veteran science fiction author/screenwriter Curt Siodmak wrote the original story treatment for the classic mammoth 1956 Sears-Harryhausen-Columbia sci-fi/fantasy masterpiece production, according to the American Film Institute. Siodmak also wrote the screenplay for George Waggner‘s classic mammoth Universal Studios monster masterpiece production of “The Wolf Man” (1941) with Lon Chaney Jr., Evelyn Ankers,  Claude Rains, Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaya, Ralph Bellamy, Warren William and Patric Knowles.  Siodmak’s other script/story and screenplay treatments include “The Invisible Man Returns” (1940), “The Invisible Woman” (1940), “Invisible Agent” (1942), “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” (1943), “Son of Dracula” (1943), “The Beast with Five Fingers” (1946, for Warner Bros.) and the Universal production of  “Curucu, Beast of the Amazon” (1956).  Siodmak’s story treatment was inspired by an account from United States Marine Corps Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe’s 1953 recollections on flying saucers, titled “Flying Saucers from Outer Space.”  Bernard Gordon and George Worthing Yates wrote the screenplay adaptation of Siodmak’s story treatment of Keyhoe’s accounts for the classic mammoth Harryhausen-Sears-Columbia sci-fi production of “Earth vs. the Flying Sacuers” (1956).   Bernard Gordon also received screen credit for the production of “Earth vs. the Flying Saucer” (1956) under the pseudonym of Raymond T. Marcus due to Gordon’s name being blacklisted, according to IMDB’s trivia section on the film.

The classic mammoth Harryhausen-Sears production of “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956) was co-produced by veteran producer/Columbia Pictures production official Sam Katzman under the moniker of Clover Productions  with co-producer and longtime Harryhausen production collaborator Charles H. Schneer.

This will mark Sven’s second big coast-to-coast broadcast of “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers’ (1956) on Me-TV.  He previously showcased the classic mammoth 1956 Sears-Harryhausen-Columbia sci-fi/fantasy/stop-motion masterpiece production as a coast-to-coast big broadcast premiere back in May 2018.  In his home area of Berwyn/Chicago, Illinois; Sven previously showcased “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956) as a Berwyn/Chicago big broadcast premiere on his hometown TV station, WCIU-TV 26 back in Oct. 2008, according to IMDB.

Who was in “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956)?

The players who appeared in the Sears/Harryhausen Columbia sci-fi feature were Joan Taylor (as Carol Marvin), Hugh Marlowe (as Dr. Russell A. Marvin),  Morris Ankrum (as Brig. Gen. John Hanley), Donald Curtis (as Maj. Huglin),  John Zaremba (as Prof. Kanter), Grandon Rhodes (as Gen. Edmunds), Tom Browne Henry (as Vice Adm. Enright), Larry J. Blake (as a motorcycle cop), Fred Aldrich (in three uncredited roles as an airline passenger, an Air Command intelligence officer and a man in the saucer attack) and veteran voice-over artist Paul Frees (in dual uncredited roles as the narrator and the voice of the alien).

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow super Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be jumping for joy for his big broadcast of a classic Columbia Pictures creature/sci-fi/fantasy feature film masterpiece.

“Svengoolie” to present his big broadcast of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961)

Original 1961 Columbia Pictures theatrical trailer for Edward Bernds’ production of “Valley of the Dragons,” with added Italian subtitles for the title sequences for the YouTube upload.

“They go a million years back in time.. and land a million miles out in space!”  Original 1961 Columbia Pictures theatrical poster artwork for “Valley of the Dragons.”

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based sci-fi/creature feature film host will present his big broadcast of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961), this Sat.; Dec. 26 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

The 1961 Columbia classic sci-fi/creature/fantasy production was directed by veteran director Edward Bernds.  Before going into directing, Bernds worked as a sound engineer for Columbia Pictures; notably on Frank Capra’s cirtically-acclaimed classic masterpiece productions of “It Happened One Night” (1934) with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” (1936) with Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939) with James Stewart, Arthur and Claude Rains.    Bernds also directed numerous Columbia comedy short subjects with “The Three Stooges” (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Jerry “Curly” Howard from 1945 until Curly suffered a stroke in 1947 and the Stooges’ 1947–1952 Columbia comedy short subjects with Shemp Howard).   Bernds also worked on two latter Columbia “Stooge” feature-length productions with “Curly Joe” DeRita, “The Three Stooges Meet Hercules” and “The Three Stooges in Orbit” (both produced and released in 1962; the two aforementioned feature-length Columbia “Stooge” comedies were co-produced by Norman Maurer’s Normandy Productions; Maurer was the son-in-law of Moe Howard).  Bernds’ non-Columbia feature productions include Allied Artists’ “Queen of Outer Space” (1958) with Zsa Zsa Gabor and the Twentieth Century Fox (Twentieth Century Studios) sequel to 1958’s “The Fly,” “Return of the Fly” (1959) with Vincent Price.

Bernds wrote the screenplay for his 1961 production, which was adapted from Donald Zimbalist’s story treatment.   Zimbalist was inspired by Jules Verne’s novel, “Career of a Comet” (a.k.a., “Off on a Comet” and “Hector Servadac”).  Veteran production executive Byron Roberts co-produced Bernds’ 1961 Columbia sci-fi/fantasy creature entry.  Roberts later served as a unit production manager for Michael Anderson’s Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer futuristic sci-fi thriller with Michael York, “Logan’s Run” (1976).  For the production of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961), Roberts co-produced the Columbia sci-fi/creature/fantasy production with veteran executive producer Al Zimbalist, the real-life father of Donald Zimbalist.   The senior Zimablist previously produced Eugene Frenke’s production of “Miss Robin Crusoe” (1954) with a pre-“Gunsmoke” Amanda Blake.   The 1961 production of “Valley of the Dragons” was produced under the “ZRB Productions” (Zimbalist, Roberts and Bernds) moniker for Columbia, according to details from the American Film Institute.

This will mark Sven’s third big broadcast of Bernds’ 1961 classic Columbia sci-fi/creature/fantasy feature film masterpiece production on Me-TV.  He previously showcased “Valley of the Dragons” (1961) as a big broadcast premiere back in April 2019 and as a Dec. 2019 big broadcast, which was presented as a tribute to Joan Staley, she died in Nov. 2019.

Who was in Bernds’ Columbia production of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961)?

The players who appeared in Edward Bernds’ Columbia production of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961) were Joan Staley (as Deena), Cesare Danova (as Hector Servadac), Danielle De Metz (as Nateeta), Sean McClory (as Michael Denning), Gregg Martell (as Od-Loo), Dolly Grey (as Mara), Gil Perkins (in the dual roles of Tarn and a Doctor), Mike Lane (as Anoka), I. Stanford Jolley (as Patoo), Jerry Sunshine (as LeClerc), Mark Dempsey (as Andrews) and Roger Til (as Vidal).

“Svengoolie” presents his big coast-to-coast broadcast premiere of “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be jumping for joy for his big broadcast premiere of a classic Columbia Pictures stop-motion animated fantasy-adventure masterpiece.

“Svengoolie” presents his big coast-to-coast broadcast premiere of “The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958)

Original 1958 Columbia Pictures theatrical trailer for the Ray Harryhausen–Nathan H. Juran Dynamation production of “The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad,” introduced by Kathryn Grant.

“8th wonder of the screen!” Original 1958 Columbia Pictures theatrical poster artwork for the Ray Harryhausen–Nathan H. Juran Dynamation production of “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.”

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based classic creature/fantasy film host will present his big coast-to-coast broadcast premiere of “The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958), this Sat.; June 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

The 1958 Columbia classic fantasy/adventure masterpiece was directed by veteran director Nathan Hertz Juran. Juran’s other fantasy masterpiece productions include “The Deadly Mantis” (1957), “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” (1958) and “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf” (1973).  The stop-motion creature/visual effects were done by veteran pioneering stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen with his “Dynamation” stop-motion effects process.

Harryhausen’s other classic stop-motion visual effect feature masterpieces include “The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms” (1953), “It Came From Beneath the Sea” (1955), “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956), “20 Million Miles to Earth” (1957), “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963), “First Men in the Moon” (1964), “The Valley of Gwangi” (1969) and “Clash of the Titans” (1981).  Harryhausen co-wrote the screenplay with veteran film and TV screenwriter Kenneth Kolb.

“The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad” was produced by veteran producer Charles H. Schneer, who frequently collaborated with Harryhausen’s features.

In Sven’s home area of Berwyn/Chicago, he previously aired “The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958) as a Berwyn/Chicago big broadcast premiere on his hometown television station, WCIU-TV 26/”The U” back in March 2010, according to information from IMDB and in Jan. 2011 as a WCIU big broadcast; according to fellow super Svengoolie SvenPal David Fuentes’ official “Terror From Beyond the Dave” YouTube channel.

Who was in “The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958)?

The players who appeared in the Ray Harryhausen-Nathan H. Juran Columbia classic Dynamation masterpiece production of “The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad” (1958) were Kerwin Mathews (as Sinbad), Kathryn Grant (as Princess Parisa), Richard Eyer (as Baronni the Genie), Torin Thatcher (as Sokurah the Magician), Virgilio Teixeira (as Ali), Harold Kasket (as Sultan), Nana DeHerrera (as Sadi), Alec Mango (as Caliph), Luis Guedes (as a crewman), Nino Falanga (as a gaunt sailor), Alfred Brown (as Harufa) and Danny Green (as Karim).

“Svengoolie” to present his big broadcast of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals from coast-to-coast will be jumping for joy for his big broadcast of a classic Columbia Pictures sci-fi creature adventure/fantasy masterpiece.

Original 1961 Columbia Pictures tinted lobby card for Edward Bernds‘ “Valley of the Dragons.”

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961)

“They go a million years in time and land a million miles out in space!” Original 1961 Columbia Pictures theatrical poster artwork element for Edward Bernds‘ “Valley of the Dragons.”

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based sci-fi/creature feature host will present his big broadcast of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961), this Sat.; Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

“Valley of the Dragons” (1961) was directed by veteran studio director Edward Bernds.  Bernds also directed various Columbia short subject comedies with “The Three Stooges” (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Jerome “Curly” Howard from 1945 until Curly’s 1947 stroke and the Stooges’ 1947–1952 Columbia shorts with Shemp Howard). Bernds also worked on two latter Columbia “Stooge” feature-length productions with “Curly Joe” DeRita, “The Three Stooges Meet Hercules” and “The Three Stooges in Orbit” (both 1962). Bernds’ non-Columbia features include Allied Artists’ “Queen of Outer Space” (1958), with Zsa Zsa Gabor and the Twentieth Century Fox sequel to 1958’s “The Fly,” “Return of the Fly” (1959); with Vincent Price.

Before he went into the field of directing, Bernds started out as a Columbia Pictures sound engineer for Frank Capra’s acclaimed productions of “It Happened One Night” (1934) with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” (1936) with Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939), with James Stewart, Arthur and Claude Rains.

Screenwriter Donald Zimbalist wrote the screen treatment for “Valley of the Dragons” and was inspired by Jules Verne’s novel, “Career of a Comet” (a.k.a., “Off on a Comet” and “Hector Servadac”) and the Hal Roach–Hal Roach Jr. production of  “One Million B.C.” (1940, with Lon Chaney Jr., Victor Mature, Carole Landis and Conrad Nagel), according to Clive Hirschhorn’s passage on “Valley of the Dragons” in “The Columbia Story.”  Veteran production executive Byron Roberts co-produced Bernds’ 1961 Columbia sci-fi/fantasy creature entry with Donald Zimbalist’s real-life father, executive producer Al Zimbalist.

This will mark Sven’s second big broadcast of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961) on Me-TV.  He previously showcased Bernds’ 1961 Columbia production as a big broadcast premiere back in April 2019.

Who was in Bernds’ 1961 Columbia sci-fi/creature/fantasy feature?

The players who appeared in “Valley of the Dragons” (1961) were Joan Staley (as Deena; Staley later went on to greater fame for her role of Alma Parker in Alan Rafkin’s 1966 Universal ghost comedy with Don Knotts, “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken;” she also appeared as the villain “Annie Okie” alongside Cliff Robertson as the villain “Shame” in two episodes of the Adam West–Burt Ward “Batman” live action TV series in 1966, Staley later became a talent agent with her husband according to Mike Barnes’ tribute article on Joan Staley in The Hollywood Reporter), Cesare Danova (as Hector Servadac; apart from his various roles in film and TV, Danova went onto greater fame for his role of Mayor Carmine DePasto in John Landis’ 1978 Universal-National Lampoon mammoth campus comedy, “National Lampoon’s Animal House” with John Belushi, Karen Allen, Tim Matheson, Bruce McGill, Donald Sutherland, Martha Smith, Kevin Bacon and John Vernon), Sean McClory (as Michael Denning, McClory previously appeared in the role of Maj. Kibbee in Gordon Douglas’ 1954 Warner Bros. sci-fi creature thriller, “Them!” with Edmund Gwynn, James Whitmore, Fess Parker, James Arness and young Leonard Nimoy), Danielle De Metz (as Nateeta), Gil Perkins (in the dual roles of Tarn and a Doctor), Gregg Martell (as Od-Loo), Dolly Grey (as Mara), Mike Lane (as Anoka), Jerry Sunshine (as LeClerc), I. Stanford Jolley (as Patoo), Roger Til (as Vidal) and Mark Dempsey (as Andrews).

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “The Giant Claw” (1957), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals from coast-to-coast will be jumping for joy for his big broadcast of a Columbia Pictures cult sci-fi creature feature classic.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “The Giant Claw” (1957)

“Big as a battleship!” “Flies four times the speed of sound!” “Atomic weapons can’t hurt it!” Original 1957 Columbia Pictures lobby card/concept artwork for “The Giant Claw.”

Original 1957 Columbia Pictures poster artwork element for “The Giant Claw.”

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based sci-fi/creature film host will present his big broadcast of “The Giant Claw” (1957), this Sat.; Aug. 31 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

The 1957 Columbia sci-fi creature production was directed by veteran studio actor-turned-director Fred F. Sears and was produced by veteran studio production executive Sam Katzman.

Both Katzman and Sears were known for their Columbia productions throughout the 1950s, including “The Werewolf” (1956); with Steven Ritch, Joyce Holden and Don Megowan, “Rock Around the Clock” (1956); with The Platters, Bill Haley’s Comets and disc jockey Alan Freed, the Ray Harryhausen–Dynamation production of “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956); with Joan Taylor and Hugh Marlowe, “Don’t Knock the Rock” (1956); with Little Richard, Alan Freed and Bill Haley’s Comets, “Calypso Heat Wave” (1957); with Maya Angelou, Joel Grey and Johnny Desmond and  “The Night the World Exploded” (1957); with Kathryn Grant and William Leslie.

“The Giant Claw” was originally released as a double-feature presentation in most theatrical venues with the additional 1957 Columbia sci-fi production from Katzman and Sears, “The Night the World Exploded;” according to the original 1957 Columbia Pictures exhibitors’ trade ad that was featured in BoxOffice Magazine.

This will mark Sven’s second big coast-to-coast broadcast of “The Giant Claw” (1957) on Me-TV.  He previously showcased the 1957 Sears-Katzman-Columbia sci-fi creature as a big coast-to-coast broadcast premiere back in Feb. 2019.

Who was in the 1957 Sears-Katzman-Columbia sci-fi creature feature classic?

The players who appeared in “The Giant Claw” (1957) were Jeff Morrow (as Mitch MacAfee; Morrow also appeared in two Universal Studios sci-fi/monster/creature productions, including 1955’s “This Island Earth” and 1957’s “The Creature Walks Among Us”), Mara Corday (as Sally Caldwell; Corday previously appeared in the 1955 Universal production of “Tarantula” and in the 1957 Warner Bros. production of “The Black Scorpion”), Morris Ankrum (as Lt. Gen. Edward Considine, Ankrum also appeared in the 1957 Harryhausen-Katzman-Sears-Columbia production of “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers”), Robert Shayne (as Gen. Van Buskirk), Clark Howat (as Maj. Bergen), Louis Merrill (as Pierre Broussard), Edgar Barrier (as Dr. Karol Noymann),  Frank Griffin (as Pete, the actor was credited under the pseudonym name of Ruell Shayne in the film)*,  Morgan Jones (as a lieutenant) George Cisar (in an uncredited role as an airplane passenger, Cisar previously appeared in the 1956 Katzman-Sears Columbia production of “The Werewolf”), an uncredited cameo vocal appearance by Fred F. Sears (as the narrator) and Robert B. Williams (in an uncredited role as a state trooper).

“Svengoolie” to present his big broadcast premiere of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be excited for his big broadcast premiere of a classic Columbia Pictures sci-fi/fantasy creature feature.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast premiere of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961)

Original 1961 Columbia Pictures theatrical trailer for “Valley of the Dragons,” with added Italian subtitles.

Original 1961 Columbia Pictures poster artwork for “Valley of the Dragons.”

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based sci-fi/fantasy film host will present his big broadcast premiere of “Valley of the Dragons” (1961), this Sat., April 20 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

The 1961 sci-fi/fantasy creature feature was directed by Columbia veteran Edward Bernds.  Bernds started out as a sound engineer for the studio, notably for his work on Frank Capra’s acclaimed Columbia features; including “It Happened One Night” (1934, with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert), “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” (1936, with Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur) and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939, with James Stewart, Arthur and Claude Rains).

Bernds later directed numerous Columbia short comedies featuring The Three Stooges (with Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Jerome “Curly” Howard from 1945 until Curly’s stroke in 1947 and the Stooges’ shorts with Shemp Howard from 1947–1952).  Bernds would later direct two feature-length Columbia “Stooge” productions with “Curly Joe” DeRita, “The Three Stooges Meet Hercules” and “The Three Stooges in Orbit” (both 1962).

Some of Bernds’ non-Columbia features that he directed were “Queen of Outer Space” (1958, for Allied Artists) with Zsa Zsa Gabor and the Twentieth Century Fox sequel to 1958’s “The Fly,” “Return of the Fly” (1959) with Vincent Price.

According to Clive Hirschorn’s retrospective book on Columbia Pictures, “The Columbia Story;” Bernds also wrote the screenplay for “Valley of the Dragons,” which was adapted from Donald Zimbalist ‘s story treatment.  Bernds and Zimbalist’s work was loosely inspired by Jules Verne’s novel, “Career of a Comet” (a.k.a., “Off on a Comet” and “Hector Servadac”).

Who was in “Valley of the Dragons” (1961)?

The players who appeared in Bernds’ 1961 Columbia sci-fi/fantasy creature feature were Cesare Danova (as Hector Servadac), Sean McClory (as Michael Denning), Joan Staley (as Deena), Danielle De Metz (as Nateeta), Gregg Martell (as Od-Loo), Gil Perkins (in the dual roles of Tarn and a Doctor), I. Stanford Jolley (as Patoo), Mike Lane (as Anoka), Roger Til (as Vidal), Mark Dempsey (as Andrews), Jerry Sunshine (as LeClerc) and Dolly Grey (as Mara).