AWFULLY WEDDED WIFE

Her husband is distant, distracted, and doesn't listen. Maybe he isn't from outer space after all.

Once again it’s time for some good old fashioned ’50s sci-fi, and of the cheesiest brand too, because what other kind was there? Last night we watched I Married a Monster from Outer Space—which is a top contender in the fun titles sweepstakes—and were well entertained by a tale headlined by Tom Tryon and Gloria Talbot about a bridegroom being parasitically occupied by a mistlike extraterrestrial the night before his wedding.

Because possession never goes off without a hitch, Talbot picks up on a few clues something is amiss with her fiancée. Her betrothed’s thoughts always seem to be somewhere far away. Dogs hate him. He hates dogs (and no wonder, as things develop). He hates cats too. He wanders off in the middle of the night—and not to a bar, which would make him very human. After a year of marriage and, presumably, regular sessions with her husband’s deep space nine, Talbot starts to wonder why she hasn’t gotten pregnant, and what her hubby is doing with his away hours.

Turns out Tryon is just one of many aliens taking over the fictional town of Norrisville, and their purpose is—wang dang sweet poontang! They can no longer reproduce because their females died, thus they hope to match their DNA through experimentation with that of human women and continue to propagate their species. Pretty soon the aliens have taken over everything—the cops, the telegraph office, the soda fountain, everything crucial. The few humans left in town are soon cut off from the outside world.

Though we make it sound silly, this is a much better movie than last week’s The Amazing Colossal Man. It contains many of the same plot beats as the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which came two years earlier, but the fact that it’s derivative doesn’t mean it’s dismissible. It’s reasonably well acted, more than competently shot, and the story works well within its setting. We think it was worth the time and popcorn expended. Try it and see if you don’t think the same. I Married a Monster from Outer Space premiered today in 1958

I just don’t know what’s wrong with him lately.
 
Could he be having an affair?
 
I’ll follow him and catch his cheating ass in the act.
 
Now I’ll finally see this slut he’s been gallivanting around with. And she’s…
 
…an alien?
 

I bet she’s younger than me.

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1924—Dion O'Banion Gunned Down

Dion O’Banion, leader of Chicago’s North Side Gang is assassinated in his flower shop by members of rival Johnny Torrio’s gang, sparking the bloody five-year war between the North Side Gang and the Chicago Outfit that culminates in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

1940—Walt Disney Becomes Informer

Walt Disney begins serving as an informer for the Los Angeles office of the FBI, with instructions to report on Hollywood subversives. He eventually testifies before HUAC, where he fingers several people as Communist agitators. He also accuses the Screen Actors Guild of being a Communist front.

1921—Einstein Wins Nobel

German theoretical physicist Albert Einstein is awarded the Nobel Prize for his work with the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon in which electrons are emitted from matter as a consequence of their absorption of energy from electromagnetic radiation. In practical terms, the phenomenon makes possible such devices as electroscopes, solar cells, and night vision goggles.

1938—Kristallnacht Begins

Nazi Germany’s first large scale act of anti-Jewish violence begins after the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan. The event becomes known as Kristallnacht, and in total the violent rampage destroys more than 250 synagogues, causes the deaths of nearly a hundred Jews, and results in 25,000 to 30,000 more being arrested and sent to concentration camps.

1923—Hitler Stages Revolt

In Munich, Germany, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in the Beer Hall Putsch, an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government. Also known as the Hitlerputsch or the Hitler-Ludendorff-Putsch, the attempted coup was inspired by Benito Mussolini’s successful takeover of the Italian government.

1932—Roosevelt Unveils CWA

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create temporary winter jobs for more than 4 million of the unemployed.

A collection of red paperback covers from Dutch publisher De Vrije Pers.
Uncredited art for Hans Lugar's Line-Up! for Scion American publishing.
Uncredited cover art for Lesbian Gym by Peggy Swenson, who was in reality Richard Geis.

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