How many science fiction films were made in color before 1940? Unless we include 'color tinted' films from the silent era, the answer is ONE -- the recently released two-strip version of 'Dr. X' (1932). 'Dr. Cyclops' is an 'A' list SF film, it's in gorgeous Technicolor, and has state of the art special effects. It is highly recommended for those three reasons.
Dr. Thorkel (Albert Dekker) has been using radium extracted from a rich underground vein to miniaturize animals. We see the shrinking room and machine (the 'condenser'), the deep welled vein and a strange looking extracting device-- and the green glow of them in operation, all nicely done. He invites three scientists to confirm some mysterious part of his work, and then after their having done so, dismisses them the same day. Outraged, they stick around, until finally Dr. Thorkel locks them in the shrinking room and miniaturizes them. They spend the rest of the film escaping and then trying to kill him.
I first saw this in black and white on TV over 40 years ago, when few programs were shown in color. I didn't know it was filmed in color! While the movie had a great premise and effects, I was a little underwhelmed by the acting, and it didn't seem particularly exciting. Watching it today, it still has those weaknesses. Though Albert Dekker does a fine villainous job, as do Charles Halton (Rupert Bulfinch*), veteran of 186 bit parts in movies and TV, and Victor Kilian (Steve) with 139 to his credit, the rest of the small cast is flat, colorless, and uninteresting. (Paul Fix does get one great scene at the beginning.)The pacing is fine and the shrunken heroes are placed in a number of perilous situations. My 8 and 10 year old grandchildren were transfixed during those parts. You do enjoy watching the entire film; you just wish that Janice Logan, Thomas Colley, and Frank Yaconelli could have had a wider range of facial expressions and acting skills as well as better and richer dialog.
Charles Halton had a long career playing professors, judges, lawyers and other 'stiff' types; Victor Kilian can be seen as the (uncredited) professor leading a crew inside the Earth in 'Unknown World' (1951), and as a featured player in the great TV 'soap' 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman' (1976-1977).
The film has great Technicolor photography, matte shots, with mostly sharp rear projection that makes it seem as if the 13 inch shrunken humans are actually in the same room with Dr. Thorkel. We get the heroes filmed in giant sets, something done in other films such as the fantastic 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' (1957) with Grant William's great tortured face.
We have to be grateful for large favors. The amazing Technicolor and effects place this one up high. Some less than scary music (for example, flighty flutes and staccato violins during running sequences) and 'B' list actors in an 'A' level production reduce my score down to a 6 and a half.
* This presumably is a little joke reference to 'Bulfinch's Mythology' the standard work of the time on ancient mythology that included the story of Ulysses and Cyclops.
Dr. Thorkel (Albert Dekker) has been using radium extracted from a rich underground vein to miniaturize animals. We see the shrinking room and machine (the 'condenser'), the deep welled vein and a strange looking extracting device-- and the green glow of them in operation, all nicely done. He invites three scientists to confirm some mysterious part of his work, and then after their having done so, dismisses them the same day. Outraged, they stick around, until finally Dr. Thorkel locks them in the shrinking room and miniaturizes them. They spend the rest of the film escaping and then trying to kill him.
I first saw this in black and white on TV over 40 years ago, when few programs were shown in color. I didn't know it was filmed in color! While the movie had a great premise and effects, I was a little underwhelmed by the acting, and it didn't seem particularly exciting. Watching it today, it still has those weaknesses. Though Albert Dekker does a fine villainous job, as do Charles Halton (Rupert Bulfinch*), veteran of 186 bit parts in movies and TV, and Victor Kilian (Steve) with 139 to his credit, the rest of the small cast is flat, colorless, and uninteresting. (Paul Fix does get one great scene at the beginning.)The pacing is fine and the shrunken heroes are placed in a number of perilous situations. My 8 and 10 year old grandchildren were transfixed during those parts. You do enjoy watching the entire film; you just wish that Janice Logan, Thomas Colley, and Frank Yaconelli could have had a wider range of facial expressions and acting skills as well as better and richer dialog.
Charles Halton had a long career playing professors, judges, lawyers and other 'stiff' types; Victor Kilian can be seen as the (uncredited) professor leading a crew inside the Earth in 'Unknown World' (1951), and as a featured player in the great TV 'soap' 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman' (1976-1977).
The film has great Technicolor photography, matte shots, with mostly sharp rear projection that makes it seem as if the 13 inch shrunken humans are actually in the same room with Dr. Thorkel. We get the heroes filmed in giant sets, something done in other films such as the fantastic 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' (1957) with Grant William's great tortured face.
We have to be grateful for large favors. The amazing Technicolor and effects place this one up high. Some less than scary music (for example, flighty flutes and staccato violins during running sequences) and 'B' list actors in an 'A' level production reduce my score down to a 6 and a half.
* This presumably is a little joke reference to 'Bulfinch's Mythology' the standard work of the time on ancient mythology that included the story of Ulysses and Cyclops.