Yeah, that was a great line -- like saying, "I've brought the mustard, where are the hot dogs?" I lean toward the "cycnical" explanation for the final line myself, but in view of everyone's (apparently including the space crew's) placid acceptance of A-bombs as a fact of life in the 50s, I still wonder a little.
I don't think that H'wood was always anti-war and -weapon, though. How many movies, and how much money, have the studios made from war films, or films with new weapons in them? They may often take the pious stance that "nobody likes war", but that hasn't stopped them from grinding out thousands of war or war-related pictures for over a century. (Like Cecil B. deMille's pre-Code Biblical epics: he condemns sin, nudity, violence, etc., but makes sure to show us plenty of them for the first 80% of each film!)
By the way, why does one bring an atomic bomb to a new planet?
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The_Dying_Flutchman
17 years ago
To trade it for furs and trinkets.
Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.
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DJMan-51
16 years ago
One learns to expect dumb stuff in 1950s sf, but . . . good grief!
They nuked that island why? So that the "dinosaurs" wouldn't go on fighting and eating each other? To prevent them from spreading to the mainland and eating the cute deer and bears and lemurs and normal-sized alligators? Just in case other humans came here without warning? Were they afraid that the big lizards would somehow escape to earth?
It really is xenophobia run wild. Dinosaurs! Blow 'em up!
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guanche
15 years ago
The cute little animal "Joe" wasn't a lemur. He was a kinkajou, a small arboreal Central American animal related to raccoons. Some were marketed as pets in this country in the 50s and 60s. Although intelligent and tamable (not to mention cute) they were subject to periodic "freakouts" which made them unpredictable and even dangerous. The fact that their paws are actually primitive "hands" enable them to open doors and cabinets, increasing their destructive potential.
I recall a few years ago Paris Hilton temporarily exchanging her omnipresent chihuahuas for one of these. It apparently bit her and was never seen again. I guess it was dispatched to kinkajou heaven---or, since this was a Jet Set kinkajou---back to Nova. Maybe the nuclear radiation from the last Earth visit turned it into a giant kinkajou. Meaning it may come back in a mood for revenge.
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DJMan-51
13 years ago
>> I recall a few years ago Paris Hilton temporarily exchanging her omnipresent chihuahuas for one of these. It apparently bit her ... <<
Hurrah for the kinkajou! I wouldn't be surprised if he'd outsmarted Ms. Hilton.
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Forgotten_Hero
12 years ago
I think it was a form of double talk. The line seems inherently cynical, but it was spoken with a straight forward delivery. To those who supported the bomb, it was a triumphant declaration spoken sincerely. To those who opposed the bomb, it was a grim admittance that this is what humanity had come to. If that's the case, then I think that they were leaning toward the cynical, but might have been concerned about openly stating it. After all, this was the era of McCarthyism and denouncing the bomb could potentially be construed as un-American.
Alternatively, it was an openly cynical line and faulty acting or miscommunication lead to something of a mix up. I'm leaning toward the latter. The screenwriter probably intended for it to be cynical, but the actors just didn't care. Nobody else working on this picture did.
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