Sci-Fi Saturday! :)

Howdy!

With Forbidden Planet airing in the US on TCM tomorrow (5/22 at 4:30 pm ET), I thought it would be a great time to share some of the FP items in the Kellection.

Since it's one of the most popular sci-fi films of the past 60 years, it's hard to find images and items from FP which everyone hasn't seen 500 times already. But, I'm gonna give it a try. :)

First off, here's an original ad for the film with the now iconic image of Robby the Robot from a 1956 movie magazine:

This next item is in bad shape so it didn't scan very well, but I wanted to include it because it shows Jack Kelly twice as "Lt. Jerry Farman". It's the cover of the April 12, 1956, issue of Junior Scholastic, a "national magazine for junior high and upper elementary grades published monthly during the school year". The funny thing is, they call the robot "Bobby" in the photo captions.  

"Anywhere in the galaxy this is a nightmare." Doc (Warren Stevens) grimly sums it up for Lt. Farman and Commander Adams (Leslie Nielsen) in this still as they examine a plaster cast of enormous tracks left by a mysterious monster:

Now, let's flash forward to 1992. That's when a company called Innovation Comics published a series of four graphic novels officially adapted from Forbidden Planet:

As the series' author, David Campiti (who also founded Innovation), explains in his introduction, "The Forbidden Planet you see before you isn't a strict adaptation of the film. Beyond the hindsight of 36 years since the movie's creation, we have been given access to set designs, the original screenplay, background details, and more. As a result, fans will be treated to scenes and snippets of dialogue they never got to see in the finished film. Even when scenes were identical from screenplay to celluloid, actual dialogue sometimes changed; we've tended to select what seemed to be the more interesting wording. From an artistic standpoint, [artist Daerick Gross, Sr.] decided to keep things as fresh as possible; his pacing is based more on the screenplay than the finished film, and his staging of scenes is his personal brand of storytelling, for the most part. Daerick also wanted to 'open up' the story and show more of the planet, so his visual device of displaying it in a series of double-page-spread backgrounds presents, perhaps, for the first time such an approach has been carried this far, through so many pages."

In other words, this is Forbidden Planet presented as a dream-like epic on a canvas of glossy paper.

Because of the adaptation's stylized approach, the drawn characters don't strictly resemble the actors in the film, but Lt. Farman still looks a lot like JK:

 

Many of Farman's scenes in Forbidden Planet are also in the adaptation, including his famous kissing scene with the ethereal Altaira:

And, his untimely demise caused by the "Id" monster:

Finally, did you know there was a different theme for Forbidden Planet, written by famed composer David Rose? The film's innovative electronic score was created by Bebe and Louis Barron, and Rose's otherworldly theme wasn't used. I have it on a 45, and here it is from YouTube:

The Lighter Side of "Terror" :)

Hi!

In 1955, Jack Kelly starred in the film The Night Holds Terror, portraying a young husband and father who's abducted and then held for ransom in his own home. It's an intense story.

Between "takes" on Terror, however, JK was relaxed and even playful, as (most of) the photos below reveal.

I know: JK looks pretty serious here. But this vintage original still was way too cool to ignore:

 

Now, here's a more laid-back shot. The snipe on the reverse of this original Columbia Pictures still (which references the film's working title) says, "REFRESHMENT - Jack Kelly takes time off from Columbia's Terror In the Night for a drink of water".

Look--another grimace! :) JK checks out the water in his swimming pool and finds it a little too chilly for his liking. As the snipe says, "OUCH! - Jack Kelly tests the temperature in his swimming pool, on a cold day off from working in Columbia's Terror In the Night."

Finally, here's my favorite poolside pic of JK. "JACK KELLY - the young actor plays the role of the hero in Columbia's Terror In The Night," says the snipe.

BTW, I think it's always great to see a sharp-dressed man such as JK. Even without a tie, he manages to look sartorially splendid.

Can you imagine if these photos were taken of a modern male celebrity? They'd probably be slouching in a T-shirt and jeans, while staring at a cellphone. (Although, I wouldn't mind seeing JK in jeans, or maybe a bathing suit, since he's near a pool... ;>)

Well, I'd better stop here, but stay tuned...you never know what you'll see next in TDS!

Submarine Sunday! :)

Ahoy Everyone!

Look what I found on YouTube:

It's the action-packed 1951 film Submarine Command, starring William Holden, William Bendix, and Nancy Olson. The picture quality isn't the best, but you can still see Jack Kelly in a small role as "Lt. Paul Barton".

You can see JK a little better (and in color!) on this vintage lobby card for the film. That's him on the right:

Here's a closer look at Lt. Barton (hey, I could have used this picture in my "grimace" post, too):

Well, I wish you all smooth sailing as a new week begins! :)