ATTACK
OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE (1958)Director: Bert I. Gordon
MGM
ATTACK
OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE (1958)During the 1950s, director Bert I. Gordon, or "Mr. BIG" if you will, dealt a lot with giant monsters of all types with films like THE CYCLOPS (1957), THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN (1957), and EARTH VS. THE SPIDER. With this effort, Mr. BIG set his sights on miniaturizing people (ala DR. CYCLOPS, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN), and acted as producer, director, co-screenwriter, and even concocted the special effects. Gordon was truly a Renaissance man, the likes of which you'll never see again in the overblown Hollywood movies of today!
John Hoyt is great as an old and lonely doll manufacturer, working in an office building. Advertising for a new secretary, he immediately takes a liking to sweet June Kenney (TEENAGE DOLL, SORORITY GIRL) and gives her the job. Turns out that he's shrinking people with a giant projection ray mechanism. One of Hoyt's business associates is 50s B-movie staple John Agar. He falls in love with Kenney and asks for her hand in marriage while viewing THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN at a drive-in.
The next day Agar mysteriously disappears and Kenney suspects Hoyt of turning her fiancé into a tiny doll. The police don't believe her, even though several other missing persons have wandered into Hoyt's place of business. Soon Kenney is shrunken and reunited with Agar and a group of other little people including a jolly marine, a rockin' and rollin' couple of teens, and a blond floozy. All seem content with being small until Agar and his future wife lead a rebellion against the mad toymaker to regain their normal height.
There is no "attack" in ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE, but it's still grand fun. The special effects are pretty good and the camerawork is clever enough to convince us that these people are really little. Like a lot of Gordon's films, there are some unintentional laughs, including the part where Agar participates in a puppet show, throws a tantrum and beats up a Dr. Jekyll marionette! You'll also get a chuckle when you see a case full of casually attired John Agar dolls in plastic tubes, or seeing Hoyt throw on a record and forcing one of the girls to sing a pop tune!
MGM's DVD of ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE looks superb, so much so that you'll clearly recognize the phony mattes when Agar and Kenney are siting at the drive-in. The full frame, black & white transfer is very sharp and well detailed, and the mono sound is fine. There are optional French and Spanish subtitles and the original theatrical trailer is also included ("SEE: A baby doll take a bubble bath in a coffee can!") (George R. Reis)