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    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1950s
    Movies - 1950s Movies - D 2 Mins Read

    Deadly Mantis, The (1957)

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    A catastrophic volcanic eruption in the South Pacific creates a chain reaction that causes icebergs to crumble at the North Pole, freeing a gigantic praying mantis that has been in deep freeze for millions of years.

    It finds its way to a US military base in northern Canada and destroys it then makes its way to the States, pursued by Colonel Joe Parkman (Craig Stevens), Professor Anton Gunther (Florenz Ames), Dr Nedrick Jackson (William Hopper) and magazine editor Marge Blaine (Alix Talton).

    After attacking an Eskimo village it becomes clear that the mantis preys on human flesh and is heading straight towards Washington DC to terrorise some well-known national landmarks.

    Despite the obviously meagre budget (overuse of stock footage and cheap sets), the mantis itself is quite impressive (it’s sometimes played by a 200-foot-long, 40-foot-high papier-mâché model). There are also moments of unintentional humour, such as when our baffled heroes discuss their inability to locate the mantis while it passes silently past a window behind them.

    The Mantis eventually makes it to New York, fighting off some jet fighters along the way. The climax comes in the Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River (called the Manhattan Tunnel in the film).

    Col. Joe Parkman
    Craig Stevens
    Dr Nedrick Jackson
    William Hopper
    Marge Blaine
    Alix Talton
    Maj. Gen. Mark Ford
    Donald Randolph
    Sgt. Pete Allen
    Pat Conway
    Prof. Anton Gunther
    Florenz Ames
    Lou
    Phil Harvey
    Lt. Fred Pizar
    Paul Campbell
    Mrs Farley
    Helen Jay
    Group Captain Hawkins
    Tom Cound
    Col. Harvey
    James Lanphier
    Capt. Frank Carver
    David McMahon
    Narrator
    Marvin Miller

    Director
    Nathan Juran

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    Put some beefiness into your mid-week menu with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the Radio Times on 30 September 1965.

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    They were awful. An overpowering savoury flavour that lingered in your mouth for hours. Heaven knows what unmentionable parts of a bull went into making them 😳

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    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened? 

All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .

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    I thought we would have moving pavements by now when I was a kid 😂

    Totally agree!!!

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