Story of movie Attack Of The Puppet People : Attack of the Puppet People (also known as The Fantastic Puppet People, I Was a Teenage Doll (working titles), and as Six Inches Tall (in the UK)) is a 1958 American black-and-white science fiction horror film directed, produced and written by Bert I. Gordon, who also worked on the special effects. It stars John Hoyt as an eccentric doll maker. It was produced by Alta Vista Productions and distributed by American International Pictures as a double feature with War of the Colossal Beast.
| Attack of the Puppet People | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster by Reynold Brown | |
| Directed by | Bert I. Gordon |
| Produced by | Bert I. Gordon |
| Written by | Bert I. Gordon George Worthing Yates |
| Starring | June Kenney John Agar John Hoyt |
| Music by | Don A. Ferris Henry Schrage |
| Cinematography | Ernest Laszlo |
| Edited by | Ronald Sinclair |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 79 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The film was rushed into production by American International Pictures and Bert I. Gordon to capitalize on the success of The Incredible Shrinking Man, which had been released in 1957.
Screenplay
The film begins with a Brownie troop visiting a doll manufacturing company called Dolls Inc., owned and operated by the seemingly kindly Mr. Franz (John Hoyt). As the girls tour the factory, they see a number of very lifelike dolls stored in glass canisters locked in a display case on the wall. These are part of Mr. Franz’s special collection.
Sally Reynolds (June Kenney) answers a newspaper advertisement for a secretary; Franz's previous one has mysteriously vanished. Although she is concerned about his obsession with his dolls, she reluctantly agrees to take the job.
A traveling salesman, Bob Westley (John Agar), comes to the office and he and Sally soon develop a relationship. After working at the doll factory for several weeks, Bob asks Sally to marry him and persuades her to quit her job, promising to break the news to Franz.
The next day however, Franz informs Sally that Bob has returned home to take care of business and advises her to forget him. She sees a new doll that looks just like Bob. Frightened, she goes to the police claiming that Franz has somehow shrunk Bob, but Sergeant Paterson (Jack Kosslyn) is skeptical. He investigates, but Franz convinces him that the dolls are just dolls.
When Franz finds that Sally plans to quit, he locks Sally in his lab. It is revealed that he has developed a machine which can shrink people down to a sixth of their original size. He uses it on anyone who tries to leave him; the "dolls" in the glass case are former "friends" stored in suspended animation (which he has also invented). Sally becomes his latest victim.
After a reunion between Sally and Bob, Franz reveals how the process works and why he miniaturizes people (it seems that he developed a strong phobia against being alone after his wife left him). Periodically, Franz awakens his captives to enjoy parties he throws for them.
During a welcoming party for the two newcomers, Franz has to deal with full-size friend and customer Emil (Michael Mark). The prisoners try, but fail to call for help. However, Sergeant Paterson begins investigating Franz, as many people he knows seems to be missing. After Franz is questioned by Paterson, he panics, announcing to his miniature prisoners that he plans to kill them and himself before he can be caught. He takes his troupe to an old theatre, supposedly to test his repairs on Emil's marionette. There, he throws one last party, making his captives act out Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for him.
Bob and Sally manage to escape and make it back to Franz's workshop. Franz tracks them down, but not before they are able to return themselves to normal size. They leave to fetch the police, despite his feeble pleas. The fates of the other prisoners still miniaturized and frozen are not revealed.
Director Gordon's daughter Susan Gordon appears as a young girl, and another of Gordon's films is referenced when a scene from The Amazing Colossal Man is shown at a drive-in.
- June Kenney as Sally Reynolds
- John Agar as Bob Westley
- John Hoyt as Mr. Franz
- Michael Mark as Emil
- Jack Kosslyn as Sergeant Paterson
- Marlene Willis as Laurie/Theme song vocalist
- Ken Miller as Stan
- Laurie Mitchell as Georgia Lane
- Scott Peters as Mac
- Susan Gordon as Agnes
- June Jocelyn as Brownie Leader
The film was shot under the title The Fantastic Puppet People. Director Bert I. Gordon's daughter, Susan Gordon, was a last-minute substitute for another actress who was ill and unable to work. Because of the size-changing aspects of the plot, the film made extensive use of special effects. Sci-fi film historian Tom Weaver and Dr. Robert J. Kiss talk about the making and distribution of the movie on the audio commentary of the 2017 Shout! Factory Blu-ray.
The film received mediocre reviews at the time; It has gained somewhat of a cult status among fans of the B movie genre, and its plotline was reused for the French film Le Manteau de Glace. It was later released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on DVD as part of the "Midnite Movies" collection.
The Donald Barthelme 1961 short story The Hiding Fan features two characters viewing the film.
- List of American films of 1958
- List of films featuring miniature people
- Dr. Shrinker
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