Tonight's Movie: Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

The atomic era sci-fi film ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN (1958) was released on Blu-ray last month by the Warner Archive.

I've only been watching '50s sci-fi films for the last dozen years or so, and this was a title on my "watch" list I'd not yet caught up with -- and what better way than on a pristine widescreen Blu-ray?

The film is somewhat less sensational than its famous publicity poster, seen on the Blu-ray case, but it's still a fairly compelling 65 minutes.

Unhappily married Nancy Fowler Archer (Allison Hayes) is driving on a remote road when a "satellite" blocks her path and she's threatened by a giant hand extending toward her. (As an aside, this kind of scene would have given me nightmares as a child and is a reason I didn't start watch sci-fi until relatively recently!)

Given Nancy's past alcoholism and mental issues, no one believes her story, including her unfaithful husband Harry (William Hudson), who Nancy continues to love despite his infidelity with roadhouse floozy Honey Parker (Yvette Vickers). Harry wants to run off with Honey but first there's the matter of Nancy's fortune...

Harry sees the possibility of being able to lock Nancy up in a sanitarium and decides to return to the desert with her, thinking he can prove she's nuts, only for them to have a run-in with the "satellite." Harry runs away, so shaken he wants to flee town immediately, while Nancy mysteriously ends up on top of her mansion pool house. She's diagnosed with possible radioactive contamination and next thing you know, she's a 50-foot woman, who's hunting for Harry and Honey...

While ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN isn't on a par with my favorite '50s sci-fi films, in terms of either story or special effects, it's still an interesting little movie. An Allied Artists film which appears to have been done on a fairly small budget, it moves quickly and has a sympathetic lead in Hayes' Nancy, whose money hasn't bought her happiness.

Hudson is appropriately sleazy as Harry, while Vickers comes close to stealing the show as the bubbly, openly greedy Honey, who might be willing to contemplate murder in order to have access to Nancy's millions. George Douglas and Frank Chase are also memorable as the sheriff and his deputy.

Some of the story aspects are pretty silly, but in an endearing way, such as two doctors consulting each other and planning to carry out some kind of surgery to save giant Nancy, but without bringing in anyone else to help with this most unusual problem. The nurse (Eileen Stevens) accepting a delivery of supplies including an "elephant syringe" is pretty amusing as well.

The movie picks up speed as it goes, though curiously, Nancy's long-awaited rampage is but a brief section at the end of the movie. A couple of the shots, including giant Nancy looking for her hubby through the roadhouse window, are classic.

The movie was directed by Nathan Juran from a script by Mark Hanna. The widescreen black and white photography by Jacques R. Marquette is fairly pedestrian, but the print couldn't be better.

The Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray disc extras consist of the trailer and an older commentary track by Tom Weaver and Yvette Vickers; Vickers passed away in 2010 or 2011, which is kind of a wild story in itself...

While not top-drawer '50s sci-fi, ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN is nonetheless memorable, and fans of the genre will doubtless want to add this new release to their collections.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection Amazon Store or from any online retailers where Blu-rays are sold.

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