The Blob
It crawls. It creeps. It eats you alive!
The Blob (1958)
Budget
$110 000
Revenue
$4 000 000
Director
Scenario
Theodore Simonson
Composer
Ralph Carmichael
Producer
Jack H. Harris
Actors
Steve McQueen
Steve Andrews
Aneta Corsaut
Jane Martin
Earl Rowe
Lt. Dave
Olin Howland
The Old Man
Stephen Chase
Dr. T. Hallen
John Benson
Sgt. Jim Bert
George Karas
Officer Ritchie
Lee Payton
Kate
Short description
A meteorite lands near a small Pennsylvania town and brings with it a gelatinous alien life form that absorbs everything it touches and grows larger with each victim. Teenagers Steve Andrews and his girlfriend Jane Martin are the first to see the creature, watching as it consumes an elderly man, but when they try to warn the town, the police dismiss them for lack of proof. Steve and his friends set out to convince the authorities before the mass can spread any further.
The Blob is a 1958 science fiction horror film, the first feature directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., who followed it with 4D Man and Dinosaurus! Steve McQueen, early in his career, plays Steve Andrews, with Aneta Corsaut as Jane, Earl Rowe as Lt. Dave, Olin Howland as the old man and Stephen Chase as Dr. Hallen. Theodore Simonson and Kay Linaker wrote the screenplay, and Jack H. Harris produced.
It was released in September 1958 and runs 82 minutes. On IMDb it holds a 6.3 rating from around 32,000 votes, and on TMDB a 6.2 from roughly 689 votes; a critics' rating of 6.5 from 31 reviews places it close to those audience scores. It grossed about 4 million dollars worldwide.
What's left behind the scenes
- The old man's cabin and the crater were filmed on a studio soundstage. Two cabins were built: one full-scale and a second model about one meter high, which was used for panoramic shots utilizing forced perspective.
- Before the Blob attacks the movie theater, the main characters, played by Steve McQueen and Aneta Corsaut, stand in front of the entrance. Across the street, the dark windows and turned-off sign of a shoe store called 'The Bootery' are visible. On the evening this scene was filmed, the store owner happened to be staying late. Seeing that filming was taking place nearby, he decided to take advantage of the opportunity. This is why, when the terrified moviegoers run out of the theater, the windows and displays of the shoe store are brightly lit, with sale signs visible behind the glass.
- The plot of the film 'The Blob' was based on the 1950 discovery of so-called 'star jelly' (also known as astromyxin or astral jelly) by four police officers in Pennsylvania. They attempted to pick it up, but the gelatinous material disintegrated. It was mistaken for a byproduct of industrial production or waste disposal.
- Initially, Paramount Pictures intended to show the movie as a double feature with Gene Fowler Jr.'s sci-fi film 'I Married a Monster from Outer Space' (1958). Market research and ticket-purchase surveys showed that audiences primarily chose 'The Blob.' Consequently, the advertising campaign focused mainly on this film.
- The substance was created by special effects artists from Valley Forge Films. It consisted of silicone mixed with vegetable dye. Almost all scenes featuring the Blob were filmed in miniature on tilted sets. The Blob would occasionally grow in size or shrink. This effect was achieved by spreading the colored silicone over balloons. Dye was added to the silicone from time to time because, according to the script, the Blob became increasingly red as it absorbed more and more victims.
- In one of the film's episodes (the reverse car race), it is noticeable that the gases are being sucked into the exhaust pipe rather than coming out of it.
- The so-called 'star jelly' found in Pennsylvania in 1950 still exists. It remains in the container in which it was placed for delivery to the filmmakers in 1958. Over time, it has become a permanent fixture of 'Blobfest,' an annual three-day festival held every summer in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, where the movie was filmed. The festival showcases the miniatures used during filming and features reenactments of some of the movie's scenes.
- The scene in which the Blob devours the doctor was significantly cut during editing. At the time, it was considered too gruesome.
- In the siren scene, when the character wakes up and gets dressed, the sound of the siren changes from an air raid warning to a fire alarm. You can even hear the director prompting the actor with the word "Fire!" a split second before the actor says it.
- When the crowd of viewers runs out of the cinema, the same man is shown three times (wearing a short-sleeved plaid shirt and sunglasses). Similarly, a woman runs out of the cinema three times (an African American woman in a blue dress with a gold handbag). She can be spotted closer to the right edge of the screen.
- Steve McQueen is never shown smoking in the film, but during filming, he was never without a lit cigarette. In one of the scenes, a wisp of smoke can be seen rising from behind McQueen's figure. The actor was holding a lit cigarette behind his back.
- The actual filming took only a month, whereas creating the special effects took between six and nine months.
- The film was originally intended to be titled 'The Glob,' but it turned out that the name already belonged to comic book artist Walt Kelly. According to producer Jack H. Harris, the film's script was titled 'Molten Meteorite'.
- For the dining scene, a photo of the building was placed on a table equipped with gyroscopes, and the camera was set up there as well. The table was shaken, causing the Blob to slide off. The negatives were then developed in reverse, making it appear as though the substance was crawling onto the building.
- The alien substance is never actually referred to as a 'blob' in the film. In the script, it is designated as 'the mass'.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
