Paramount 1940

Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack

Screenplay by Tom Kilpatrick

Staring Albert Dekker

Nineteen forty brought yet another "first" to the Sci-Fi film history: the first Technicolour production, Dr Cyclops (Paramount). The colour was still not perfect, but it was a long way from the primitive efforts of The Mysterious Island 1929. Once again played primarily for the horror effects, Dr Cyclops was directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack of King Kong fame from a screen play by Tom Kilpatrick, and carried the ingenious idea of human miniaturisation a step beyond its debut in Te Devil Doll 1936. Our story starts in the mountains in Peru, near a deposit of radioactive ore, we see four scientists arrive to study and do research on the ore. Here we meet Dr. Alexander Thorkel (Albert Dekker), Dekker adds a tall, bald-domed, myopic Dr Thorkel to the screen's distinguished roster of mad scientists. In his laboratory the other scientists can hear a strange hum and see a brilliant glow, when asked what he is researching, the others are told to mind there own business. As the weeks roll on the scientists get more and more curious to what the evil Dr is up to, and some try to take a peek at what he is up to, only to be shunned away by Dr Thorkel. Its now that we are given a look at what the villain is up to, Thorkel is conducting experiments in size reduction and has been succeeding with small animals. He decides that its time to go onto the next step in his research, namely human subjects, and now he has been given an opportunity with the four scientists.

Thorkel waits till the right moment for the others to once again ask him what is his research about, he invites them into his laboratory and they agree with enthusiasm. Once inside he lures them into a vast chamber and slams the door shut, now he dons a really outrageous suit and helmet (looks like something from Ned Kelly), with the flick of a switch there is a blinding light and a hideous sound. Snap, Crackle, Pop our heroes are instantly shrunken, but left unconscious from the ordeal. Upon awakening they can not believe what has happened to them, and try to think of a way to escape this mad mans laboratory. In a daring plan they finally escape, but find their suddenly enormous world a terrifying place.

They are faced with such horrors as a cat, a chicken, an alligator, and a rainstorm that threatens to drown them, and if that wasn't enough the mad Dr himself trying to recapture his Tom Thumb prey. The crazy Dr does catch them again and starts to experiment on one of them, and finally kills the poor little guy. On seeing this the others start to think of a plan to destroy Thorkel. The little people use all their ingenuity in an attempt to shoot the doctor with his own shot gun, but fail. From here there is a bit of a panic and there looks no end in site of there torment, but they suddenly come up with another plan, this time it is aimed at the doctor's coke-bottle glasses, without which he is almost blind. while the doctor is asleep the small commando's sneak into his room, and begin there mission impossible, this time they succeed, but unfortunately for them he had a spare pair "drat".

Lucky for them it only has one lens but this is enough for the now crazy doctor to chase them for their little lives. The furious doctor rages after them, killing one, but this time the mad doctor's luck has run out and he falls to his death down the mine shaft. A few days later, the effects of the treatment wear off, and the survivors regain their normal size. Dr Cyclops was not a success in 1940, but later exposure on television has shown that it is a much better than average example of the Sci-Fi horror film. Albert Dekker's portrayal of Alexander Thorkel is properly cold and sadistic, tormenting his tiny victims as a cat plays with a mouse; the special effects are considerably advanced beyond those in Devil Doll; and the parallel between the Cyclops in the Odyssey and the one eyed Thorkel is well handled. Dr Cyclops remains the only really outstanding Sci-Fi film produced during the 1940s, as the more realistic horrors of war replaced the cinematic thrills of Hollywood filmmakers. The movie was novelised later that same year by top Sci-Fi writer Henry Kuttner under the pen name "Will Garth."