Horror has been a staple of Hollywood since its inception. From monsters such as those that come from the sea to werewolves to vampires to mummies and later to zombies, scaring folks has been at the core of the business of cinema since the start. Today I’m looking at “The Blob” from 1958 and it stars superstar-to-be Steve McQueen and its monster is a “blob” from a meteorite and the film looks to the popularity across the globe in that year as the space race shaped up between the United States and Russia. All-in-all, “The Blob” is not at all scary by today’s standards and its “special effects” appear pretty amateurish by today’s CGI.
‘The Blob’
(1958; 86 minutes; rated ‘Approved;’ directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. and Russell S. Doughten Jr. and starring Steve McQueen, Aneta Corsaut and Earl Rowe)
A MASS MAKES A MESS OUT OF A TOWN
I’ll point out that the classic horror flick “The Blob” from 1958 starring Steve McQueen isn’t really that scary, but I also have to note that it does many things well in the horror genre … namely some good tension in the dark; the routine of someone knowing “it” is out there and few believe you; and the most-often missing piece to the horror movie puzzle with actual character development.
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McQueen is in his first headliner role in a movie after just over a dozen minor roles on TV series and a couple of films and does a solid job as the quiet, solid “kid” who knows a monster has entered the picture and things are gonna get rough pretty quickly. After McQueen, there’s not much in the way of acting that’s notable, but the character development such as a police officer playing chess with another via radio is interesting for such a “fluff” film of its day (or in any day in Hollywierd these days).
In “The Blob,” McQueen as “Steve Andrews” is out smooching with his girlfriend “Jane Martin,” played by Aneta Corseaut, after having stopped on a dark mountain road for the couple to better be able to see “shooting stars” from his convertible. As McQueen finishes promising her that he’s never taken a girl up the mountain before, they both see what they believe at first is a shooting star, but it is actually a meteorite.
Well, this sets off the series of events of the story of film. An old man (the character is actually titled “Old Man”) lives near the meteorite landing site, pokes around it and gets it on his hand – it’s just a ball of goo, but, well, “Hello, monster!”
Of course, the monster slowly consumes the “Old Man” and then does in the doctor to whom McQueen and his girlfriend brought the man for treatment. It’s then off to the races, but no one will believe McQueen except his peers – the “kids” in town. Of course again and naturally, the “blob” continues to grow and consume people and ultimately “attacks” a crowded movie theater (is there any legal concept of yelling “blob” in a crowded theater? 😊).
The issue of McQueen being ignored and how the “kids” were thought to be pulling a prank by a straitlaced officer who didn’t take it seriously until the “blob” came oozing out of the theater is handled in a low-key way and its quaint to see parents come take 18-year-olds home from the police station and the “kids” then sneak out to save the town.
Here’s a look at as much of the cast as I care to note individually …
An Oscar nominee and a two-time Golden Globe winner and four-time nominee (not for this one), McQueen works hard at conveying being endearing early when he convinces his girlfriend he just didn’t take her for a drive to smooch under the shooting stars to being the teen on a mission to alert his hometown to the danger of the “blob.” In this one, I didn’t see any indication that McQueen would become a major star in the future, but success in entertainment isn’t always easy to see early in someone’s career. I believe McQueen did his best work in Sam Peckinpah’s “The Getaway” with Ali MacGraw (click here to read my review), “Papillon” with Dustin Hoffman and the poker classic “The Cincinnati Kid” with Ann-Margaret and screen legend Edward G. Robinson (click here to read my review). He was also solid in the World War II classic “The Great Escape” (click here to read my review). He was nominated for an Oscar as well as a Globe for “The Sand Pebbles” and his other Globe nominations were for “The Reivers” and “Love With the Proper Stranger” with Natalie Wood. He was awarded Globes as World Film Favorite in 1967 and 1970. For all his excellent work, McQueen could spin out a stinker as he did with his final film in 1980: “The Hunter” (click here to read my review). McQueen had a very thin resume considering his era and his popularity. He notched only 44 acting credits from the first in 1952 and then spanning four decades. Sadly, he died at 50 in Mexico in 1980 of a heart attack following cardiac surgery (he was recovering in Mexico when he died).
Corseaut, who would later spell her last name Corsaut, is like most female characters of films of that day: subservient and quiet. Yet, Corseaut managed to convey some strength in her support of McQueen as he was being doubted by so many. She was in her first movie with “The Blob” and would have a modest acting career of 44 credits before the last in an episode of TV’s “Matlock” in 1987 and spanning four decades since the first in 1955. I would say Corsaut’s peak was an uncredited role in the incredible and classic comedy “Blazing Saddles” (click here to read my review). She died of cancer at 62 in 1995.- Earl Rowe plays “Lt. Dave Barton” and he’s the “cop with a heart” and doesn’t want to jump to any conclusions … one way or the other. Rowe plays this character similar to the rest of the cast: Somewhat solemn and always ready to listen. He’s especially lenient with the town’s “kids” whom he knows, while a fellow officer comes off as just plain paranoid as he believes all teens are out to get him. Overall, Rowe does the second-best acting job in “The Blob” behind McQueen. He had a limited career in tee-vee and movies, with only having notched 13 acting credits. His first was in 1951 and the final on a soap opera in 1985. All his work with the exception of B was on TV. Rowe died at 81 in 2002 of complications from Parkinson’s Disease.
For the most part, the supporting cast from the doctor to the “Old Man” to the “kids” and to the other police officers, they do a solid job by not being a drag on the film, as is all too common in cinema. All manage to make the film watchable and you simply cannot ask any more from any supporting case.
As for the most intense scenes, after seeing the “Old Man” being consumed by the “blob” at the doctor’s office and then the doctor being consumed, is from the diner where McQueen and others, including his girlfriend and her little brother, went to hide and tried to escape the “blob” and wound up finding the answer as to how to successfully stop it.
Still, while not very scary, “The Blob” is more than worth your time.
“The Blob” was the victim of being “rebooted” in 1988 and it turned out to be a loser (naturally and of course as most “reboots” turn out), but there is one interesting note – the “blob” was defeated by cold and it was taken to the Arctic and dropped (don’t let John Carpenter’s “The Thing” come to mind since it is set on Antarctica) with a question mark coming onto the ending screen as the “blob” lands on the ice. Question mark? I guess filmmakers saw climate change coming, right?
OK, here’s my boilerplate explanation about the “approved” rating: It comes from Hollywood’s rating system known as the “Hays Code” from the name of its chief censor, according to Wiki. From 1938 through 1968, films were evaluated and either deemed approved or disapproved (“moral” or “immoral”). Although officially abandoned in 1968 in favor of the start of the initial version of the rating system you see today, the “Hays Code” had pretty much disappeared in the 1960s due to the influence of television, edgy directors and U.S. Supreme Court rulings, according to Wiki.
“The Blob” was outside the Top 10 of movies at the U.S. box office in 1958, according to Wiki. In fact, what fans it did draw was enough for the studio to order additional prints to send out to interested theaters. At No. 1 in 1958 was “South Pacific” with $16.3 million (it won a “sound” Oscar and was nominated for two others), followed at No. 3 by “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” with Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman at $7.6 million and at No. 5 was “Gigi” with Leslie Caron and its NINE Oscars and $6.5 million at the box office. One report had the producer saying “The Blob” earned $4 million (that would have put it in the Top 10), but you know how notorious Hollywood producers have always been about the truth in financial accounting of films.
“The Blob” is, on today’s posting of this review, the only film from 1958 that I’ve reviewed for my blog.
Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):
- Although he was billed in “The Blob” as “Steven McQueen,” Steve’s full name was Terrence Stephen McQueen (note the “ph” spelling in Stephen). “The Blob” is the final acting credit where McQueen was billed as “Steven.” He had a couple of acting credits as Steven McQueen and one as Stephen McQueen. He was born in Beech Grove, Ind.; died in Mexico; and his nicknames were “Bandito,” “King Of Cool,” “Mac” and “McQ.”
- What was it with the spelling of Stephen or Steven in this movie? In addition to McQueen, Stephen Chase, who played the doomed doctor character, spelled his first name “Steven” in the credits for “The Blob” and later went to “Stephen.” His birth name was Guy Alden Chase and he died at 79 in 1982 (only 10 days short of his 80th birthday).
- “The Blob” did earn an award nomination … for Best Movie to Watch at the Drive-In from the TV Land Awards in 2008.
- At the time of his death, McQueen had a poster from “The Blob” on the wall of his bedroom, although he was said to have disliked it so much that for years he did not speak about it.
- Directly from IMDb.com: “The buckle-in-the-back pants worn by most of the younger male members of the cast were a popular fashion trend of 1957-1958 and were most likely selected from their own personal wardrobes.”
- The fire department personnel and equipment in the film were from the Alert fire company in Saint Clair, Schuykill County, Penn.
- McQueen was said to have taken $2,500 for “The Blob” instead of an offer of 10-percent of the “profits.” Well, I’d say he did OK because, as I noted earlier, Hollywood and accounting of “profits” doesn’t always work out well for the recipient who signs such a contract.
- Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “The actual Blob, a mixture of red dye and silicone, has never dried out and is still kept in the original five-gallon pail in which it was shipped to the production company in 1958 from Union Carbide. It was put on display over the years as a part of the annual Blobfest, held over a three-day period each summer in Phoenixville, PA, which provided a number of the shooting locales for the film. In addition to displaying The Blob and miniatures used in the shooting, the event features a reenactment of the famous scene in which panicked theatergoers rush to exit the town’s still-functioning Colonial Theater, as well as several showings of the film.”
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