Attack of the Puppet People
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| Attack of the Puppet People | |
|---|---|
 Official Movie Poster |
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| Directed by | Bert I. Gordon Assistant director Jack R. Berne |
| Produced by | Bert I. Gordon Executive Producers Samuel Z. Arkoff James H. Nicholson |
| Written by | Bert I. Gordon George Worthing Yates |
| Starring | John Agar John Hoyt |
| Music by | Don A. Ferris Henry Schrage |
| Cinematography | Ernest Laszlo |
| Editing by | Ronald Sinclair |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 1958 |
| Running time | 79 mins |
| Country |  |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Attack of the Puppet People (also known as I Was a Teenage Doll (working title), Six Inches Tall (UK) and The Fantastic Puppet People) is a 1958 Black-and-white science fiction Horror film directed, produced and written by Bert I. Gordon. It stars John Agar and was produced by Alta Vista Productions and distributed by American International Pictures.
The film follows the life of Mr Franz a doll maker who is desperately afraid of being alone. In a bid to prevent this he invents a machine that can shrink people down to only a few centimetres in size. He uses this machine and soon builds up a troupe of miniature prisoners. When he miniaturises Sally and her fiancé Bob however they set about attempting to escape and find a way to return themselves to their original size.
The film was rushed into production by American International Pictures and Bert I. Gordon to capitalise on the success of The Incredible Shrinking Man which had been released in 1957 by Universal International.
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[edit] Plot
The film begins with a Brownie troop visiting a doll manufacturing company called Dolls Inc. owned and operated by the seemingly kindly gentleman Mr Franz (John Hoyt). As the girls tour the factory they see a number of very lifelike dolls held in glass canisters which are locked in a display case on the wall. These are part of Mr Franz’s special collection.
Sally Reynolds (June Kenney) is then introduced as a secretary answering an advert Franz has placed in the newspaper requesting a replacement for his former secretary who has vanished in mysterious circumstances. Although she seems to be slightly concerned about his obsession with his dolls she agrees to accept the job and meets a travelling salesman Bob Westley (John Agar) who introduces himself as the best salesman in the Universe and immediately sets about attempting to seduce her.
As Sally and Bob begin to plan their life together Bob suddenly disappears and Franz informs Sally that he has gone back home to take care of business and that she should forget him. She however is unwilling to accept this and goes to the police with a theory of what Franz has done to him. When they don’t accept this she decides to leave her job. What she hasn’t realised though is that Franz suffers from a phobia of being left alone. He has developed a machine allows him to shrink people down to only a few centimetres in size. He then uses this machine on anyone who tries to leave him so that he can keep them close to him. When he finds that Sally plans to leave he uses this machine on her reducing her to the size of one of his dolls.
It turns out that Franz has a reasonable size collection of "friends" (the same ones which he keeps on display in his office). After a reunion between Sally and Bob, Franz reveals how the process works and why he has chosen to miniaturize people (It seems that Mr Franz developed a phobia of being alone after his wife left him). Once miniaturized the prisoners are made to throw parties, sing and perform in bizarre marionette shows or face being placed in suspended animation by another machine which has been developed. Once frozen the prisoners are placed in glass jars.
It isn’t long before the prisoners begin to plot their escape. The police however have been investigating Franz as everyone he knows seem to be going missing. He decides to kill himself and his prisoners before the police work out what is happening and he takes his troupe to an old theatre. With the pressure on Franz begins to panic a throws one last party with his friends making them sing and dance for his own amusement.
During this performance Bob and Sally are able to escape from the theatre and make it back to the lab where they return themselves to normal size. They decide to go to the police and the movie ends with Franz discovering them in his office. The outcome of this encounter or the fate of the other prisoners who have been frozen is never revealed.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| John Agar | Bob Westley |
| John Hoyt | Mr. Franz |
| June Kenney | Sally Reynolds |
| Michael Mark | Emil |
| Jack Kosslyn | Sergeant Paterson |
| Marlene Willis | Laurie/Themesong Vocalist |
| Ken Miller | Stan |
| Laurie Mitchell | Georgia Lane |
| Scott Peters | Mac |
| Susan Gordon | Agnes |
| June Jocelyn | Brownie Leader |
| Jean Moorhead | Janet |
| Hank Patterson | Janitor |
| Hal Bogart | Special Delivery Man |
| Troy Patterson | Elevator Operator |
| Bill Giorgio | Delivery Man |
| George Diestel | Police Receptionist |
| Jamie Forster | Ernie Larson |
| Mark Lowell | Salesman |
[edit] Reaction
Attack of the Puppet People has had a generally poor reception amongst critcs and as of April 2007 was receiving a user rating of only 2.8 on IMDb. Originally released as part of a double bill for the drive-in theater market, it was made for an undisclosed sum and box office receipts are not available. The film although much criticised for its weak plot and poor special effects has gained somewhat of a cult status among fans of the B movie genre and this led to its ultimate release by MGM on DVD as part of their Midnite Movies collection.
Clips have featured on a number of compilation videos including It Came From Hollywood (1982) (a compilation of clips from some of the worst movies of all time) , Horrible Horror (1986) and Creepy Classics (1987).
[edit] Reference
- Wingrove, David. Science Fiction Film Source Book (Longman Group Limited, 1985)
- Attack of the Puppet People at the Internet Movie Database
