The Monolith Monsters
| The Monolith Monsters | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | John Sherwood |
| Produced by | Howard Christie |
| Screenplay by | Norman Jolley Robert M. Fresco |
| Story by |
Jack Arnold Robert M. Fresco |
| Starring |
Grant Williams Lola Albright Les Tremayne William Schallert |
| Narrated by | Paul Frees (uncredited) |
| Music by |
Uncredited: Henry Mancini Irving Getz Herman Stein |
| Cinematography | Ellis W. Carter |
| Edited by | Patrick McCormack |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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December 18, 1957 (LA) |
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Running time
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77 minutes |
| Country | United States |
The Monolith Monsters (working title Monolith) is a 1957 American black-and-white science fiction film from Universal-International, produced by Howard Christie, directed by John Sherwood, that stars Grant Williams and Lola Albright. The film is based on a story by Jack Arnold and Robert M. Fresco, with a screenplay by Fresco and Norman Jolley.
The Monolith Monsters tells the story of a large meteorite that crashes in a Southern California desert and explodes into hundreds of black fragments with strange properties. When those fragments are exposed to water, they grow very large and tall. The fragments also begin to slowly petrify some of the inhabitants of a nearby small town. The story that unfolds becomes one of human survival against an encroaching unnatural disaster, that if not stopped, could become a national ecological nightmare that could pose a possible threat to all of humanity.
In the desert outside of San Angelo, California, a huge meteorite crashes and explodes, scattering hundreds of black fragments over a wide area. The next day, Federal geologist Ben Gilbert (Phil Harvey) brings one of the fragments to his office, where he and local newspaper publisher Martin Cochrane (Les Tremayne) examine it. That night, a strong wind blows over a full water container onto the black rock, starting a chemical reaction.
When Dave Miller (Grant Williams), the head of San Angelo's district geological office, returns from a business trip, he finds Ben's corpse in a rock-hard, petrified state and the office's lab damaged by large rock fragments. Dave's girlfriend, teacher Cathy Barrett (Lola Albright), takes her students on a desert field trip; young Ginny Simpson (Linda Scheley) pockets a piece of the black meteorite rock, later washing it in a large tub outside her family's farmhouse. In town Dr. E. J. Reynolds (Richard H. Cutting) performs Ben's autopsy and cannot explain the body's condition; he informs Dave and Police Chief Dan Corey (William Flaherty) the body is being sent to a specialist. Martin returns to the wrecked office with Dave where he recognizes the large fragments as the same type of black rock Ben had been examining.
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Wikipedia