MovieChat Forums > The Colossus of New York (1958) Discussion > The Colossus of New York (1958)

The Colossus of New York (1958)

posted 21 years ago by Bruce_Cook
32 replies | jump to latest

Am I the only IMDB user who saw this movie as a kid in 1958 and loved it? Every other person who has seen it and commented on it (whether they liked it or not) saw the film many years later on TV.

"Colossus" was released on a double-bill with "The Space Children", Jack Arnold's self-stated personal favorite film project. Both movies are greatly under appreciated.

I'm both a school teacher and a parent who has shown this movie (and "The Space Children") to dozens of kids over the years, both at school to my students and at home to friends of my two children. The kids always love both movies! What does that say about the quality of these often-criticized films?

I'd like to hear from somebody who saw either of these movies in 1958. Is anybody out there?

[–] moviemisstress 19 years ago

I have Colossus Of New York on dvd and watch it often, and I DO like it.

I must watch Space Children again, I haven't for some time, but as I remember,
I liked this one, too.

What's not to like about Colossus?
Good story, good movie, plain and simple.

[–] Bruce_Cook 19 years ago

Well, at last! A fellow "Colossus" fan -- after two years of waiting. I had forgetten all about the message I posted with "Colossus" back in 2003. Your the first and only person to reply.

By some strange coincidence, just two days ago I received a new (but not much improved) "Colossus" DVD (along with three other movies) from a guy who sells rare movies. The link below is his website, in case you're not familiar with him.

I also purchased "The Space Children", but his DVD of it is somewhat less than perfect (dark picture, flawed sound), so I'm sending it back, along with a DVD of "Beyond the Time Barrier" which looks absolutely aweful. But the DVD of "The 27th Day" looks fine.

My own DVD of "The Space Children" was made from a tape I've had since I recorded it off the USA network in the late 1980s. The tape is begin to show definite signs of wear, but the DVD actually looks better than the old tape, thanks to a wonderful Phillips DVD burner that does something miraculous to the copies it makes.

Is there no man on earth with the wisdom and innocence of a child?

[–] moviemisstress 19 years ago

Hey, a lot of people don't even know this movie exists. lol

I have a VHS copy I recorded from tv many moons ago, not a bad picture, but it is being run on a Canadian movie channel on the 21st of this month, so I hope to get a good dvd recording from it.
I usually get my best dvd recordings from my digital satellite tv channels.
This channel runs all kinds of wierd movies that nobody else likes except me and maybe one or two others like yourself.

They also run Space Children.
I will have to get a new copy on dvd of that, also.
Mine is an old vhs copy, somewhere in my pile of hundreds of vhs movies I am converting to dvd.
Not even half way there.....

I'll let you know how the Colossus turns out after the 21st.

[–] Bruce_Cook 19 years ago

A DVD of "The Space Children" from a digital channel would make me go tingly all over!

If you could make one for yours truly, I'd gladly over-pay you for it. Naturally I'd expect to send the money first and get the DVD afterwards. I'm a trusting soul . . .

A few minutes ago I received an email from Tom Winegar (the guy who runs the site that sells rare movies -- the site I forgot to include in my previous message).

http://www.spookytoms.com/Rare_Movies.html

An hour ago I emailed Tom to offer him a DVD-R of "Visit to a Small Planet" (recorded from a satellite channel) and a tape of "Princess of the Nile" (a rare but wonderful Technicolor sword-and-sandle epic from the early 1950s starring Debra Paget, which I recorded back in the 1980s from the USA network). I also offered my old tape of "The Space Children" from the 1980s, because it looks better than the DVD he's currently selling -- the one I bought and am sending back to him! (I have a DVD copy of it now.)

I suggested a trade for a few of his DVDs of "Science Fiction Theater".

Tom offered 5 DVDs of Science Fiction Theater in trade -- his entire set!

It occurs to me that you've got quite a bit of just what this guy needs -- rare stuff that few other people have. Email him with a list of some of the stuff you've got and I think he'll want do something nice for you -- like have your children!

Just a thought. Here's his official email. [email protected]

Later, Bruce

Is there no man on earth with the wisdom and innocence of a child?

[–] Miss_October 19 years ago

I saw this movie on TV several times as a little girl; do people really hate it? Why? It was wonderful!

I always used to cry at the end, though...

Woman is the Earth and Man is the Sky.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Miss_October 19 years ago

I looked at the synopsis for The Space Children and it sounds familiar; I think I saw it on TNT once. But I don't remember it that clearly, I'm afraid. Wasn't it about the kids of scientists who are working on a moon rocket project, or something like that?

As to Colossus, though, I had forgotten until I looked at the IMDB page that the protagonist was played by the wonderful Ross Martin, one of my favorite TV actors of the period. He gives one of the most incredible performances I have ever seen, hands down, in a 4th season episode of The Twilight Zone called "Death Ship", also starring Jack Klugman (in one of his rare non-typecast roles) as a starship captain. If you are a fan of Twilight Zone, Martin, Klugman, Richard Matheson (who wrote the episode) OR 50s scifi, you MUST see this episode! It's one of those haunting ones that tend to stay with you long after you've seen it...

Woman is the Earth and Man is the Sky.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 18 years ago

A fun pic, but no masterpiece. Would like to see it on dvd with "Tobor the Great."

Nothing exists more beautifully than nothing.

[–] silentxerox 15 years ago

Colossus of New York was great!! In the game Resident Evil 2, Mr.X (the Tyrant) resembles the Colossus.It's great to see other fans of this movie!!!

If you believe in Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it put this as your signature

[–] Munecatriste 18 years ago

I would love to get a copy of this movie on dvd. Where did you purchase it? Your input is greatly appreciated.

[–] bigal_a 18 years ago

I got it from Amazon

[–] rwoodlan1735-1 17 years ago

You are not alone, my friend. I also saw the movie as a child in 1958 and was thrilled by it. As a matter of fact, it was the basis of a game we inner-city kids delighted in. We would gather in bunches, and one of us would be The Colossus. We would flee in terror, as The Colossus stared at us, bug-eyed, one at a time, and “did us in” with its death rays. If caught by the stare, we had to drop dead, flat in the street. It was sort of like "stoop tag." I remembered that movie for years. I was particularly traumatized by the scene when he walks across the bottom of the river. I managed to tape the movie off cable in New York in the 1980s. It didn't stand up to the test of time, but I still remember it fondly. Must be a teacher thing, amigo. Never showed it to a class, though.

[–] tgemberl 11 years ago

I don't know if rwoodlan is around anymore to read my response, but I found his comment really interesting. You might have noticed that I started another topic about this movie that no one responded to. I suppose my perspective seems odd to most people.

Rwoodlan mentions that he and his friends played a game where one of them would be the colossus. Well, what if you felt like you really were the colossus! This film felt "too close to home" for me when I first watched it. I was an oddball kid who couldn't play well with other kids. That's a lot like the colossus, because he is only a brain and sort of cut off from the physical world. I was a brainy kid who couldn't play sports or otherwise bond with other kids my age. I think the game he and his friends played enabled them to blunt the real scariness of the film. If the colossus is only a role that anyone can play, it's not scary.

I've noticed several comments that the scenes where he walks across the bottom of the river were scary. That's funny: though I found the film scary in some parts, I never found those scenes scary in the least. What do people find so scary about him walking under the water?

"Extremism in the pursuit of moderation is no vice."

[–] k-firmin 16 years ago

Hello,

I'm K. in New Orleans, very interested in getting a copy of the colossus of new york.

I remember watching it back in the late 60's. I was 'bout ten years old and it scared me. I remember the "colossus" creature with these eyes that shot out some type ray energy.

I've searched high and low but can't seem to find a copy anywhere. Can you help?

Many Thanks,

K.

[email protected]

[–] mojo2004 15 years ago

I saw this movie twice eons ago as a kid. Both times on one of those afternoon movie channels that used a gimick to attract viewers.During a commercial break the station would put a number on the screen from the phonebook and that person had 5 mins to call the station and win a prize.(lol) I liked the film and looked for it on tv for the longest with no luck. Now I have tons of cable channels that show crap! I never saw it again on tv. Two others I looked for were "The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake" & "Mr Sardonicus". To my surprise TCM showed Mr Sardonicus in Oct and I happen to catch it. I hadn't seen it in years! I was finally able to watch it without being scared to death of his face! (lol)

[–] FallingOffTheEdgeOfTheWorld 15 years ago

Dialing for Dollars with Bob Dale in San Diego in the 60's. :) That's where I saw this and others. This one always made me cry tho'.

Cheers!

[–] jquirk-1 15 years ago

This film can be found on DVD on ebay.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Xcalat3 14 years ago

I saw it today for the first time and I liked it, good 50's sci-fi

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] babettegillette 14 years ago

It's alright. Not enough humor, bad effects, and hilarious dialogue. Took itself too seriously and was not good enough to do so. Not an upper echelon genre film such as It Came From Outer Space.

[–] Dejael 14 years ago

Yes, I saw this movie as an 11-year-old kid in the summer of 1958 at the Ritz movie theater in Inglewood, California, on a double-feature bill with THE SPACE CHILDREN. I loved both of these classic sci-fi B-movies as a kid, and would love to see them both again, but Paramount has never released them on video or DVD.

I have seen COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK recently on TV, but I haven't seen THE SPACE CHILDREN since it was first released. I recall that it had child star Johnny Crawford (in TV's "The Rifleman") in it, probably his first role.

I think the reason both of these B-movies were so interesting and well done, is that they were produced by William Alland, who produced all of the classic Universal sci-fi movies of the 1950s, and directed by Jack Arnold. Bill Alland formed a partnership with his favorite director, Jack Arnold, and the two of them went to Paramount in 1958 when their contracts at Universal were completed in 1957.

When I went to see these movies in 1958, I took my younger 8-year-old brother to see them, and he was so scared by the COLOSSUS robot (which you have to admit is a rather frightening-looking Frankenstein-monster creature) he screamed and hid under the theater seats!

Dejael

[–] Dejael 14 years ago

I also wanted to comment on the film. *SPOILERS* may be present here.

I loved the scenes involving the monster robot and the boy, played by Charles Herbert (also in THE FLY, 1958). There was this "boy and his robot" thing going on in it, like in TOBOR THE GREAT (1954) and THE INVISIBLE BOY (1957). The stylized monster robot with the white laser-beam eyes was a creepy, frightening creation which was big and intimidating, and probably not what you would see if this were a more realistic film. (If this were a real life situation, the robot probably would have been human-sized and not at all intimidating looking.)
The scenes of the robot walking underwater are creepy, and of course the scenes at the United Nations building are spectacular.

One thing that I never liked about this movie, is the irritating piano-music score by Van Cleave. It was both not appropriate for, and did not work for, this movie. It belonged in some silly soap opera love drama, but not here.

Dejael

[–] RondoHatton 13 years ago

I saw this in the summer of 1958 at the age of six, and I loved it. Six years later, my home room teacher asked if I was interested in picking our lunchtime movies at our junior high. "Colossus Of New York" was my first choice....and it took MONTHS before I could live it down. Even in 1963-64 we were too "sophisticated" for this movie, and it's scenes of the Colossus climbing up a building came rushing back when the TV series "Batman" hit the airwaves. I subsequently chose "The Blob", Jason & The Argonauts", and the Hammer Films "Dracula", with Christopher Lee. "Colossus Of New York" was the most memorable movie of my summer of '58, but the next year brought "Battle In Outer Space", and then the William Castle Poe spoofs with Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Beverly Hills, Joyce Jameson, and an incredibly aged Karloff hit the not-very-big screen at our local theatre, and "Colossus Of New York" faded into well-deserved obscurity, along with gems like "I Led Three Lives", and "Red Invasion".

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