Not all of the rampaging monsters of the sci-fi thrillers and horror films of the fifties A-bomb era were mutant insects, oversized lizards or gigantic humans. Some were uniquely original and a credit to their creators such as The Monolith Monsters (1957) – growing towers of meteor crystals that absorbed moisture from humans – and the square-shaped robot with cylindrical legs known as Kronos (1957), a giant alien robot that smashed everything in its path. The Magnetic Monster (1953) belongs in this latter group and is an intriguing and intelligent sci-fi thriller, despite its limited budget, modest production values and the occasional serious scene that plays better as comedy.
The Russian film poster for Gibel Sensatsii (English title: LOSS OF FEELING aka LOSS OF SENSATION, 1935).
When I hear the word robot, I immediately think of Robby, the delightful and super intelligent creation of Dr. Morbius in Forbidden Planet (1956), one of the landmark sci-fi movies of the fifties. His barrel-shaped torso and high-tech design were so popular that he inspired countless toy collectibles for kids but he was a benign example of the form. For the most part, robots in science fiction films are generally viewed as a threat (see 1954’s Target Earth, 1957’s Kronos or 1958’s The Colossus of New York for examples). That was certainly the case in one of the first and most famous depictions of a robot – Fritz Lang’s silent sci-fi masterpiece, Metropolis (1927). Designed as a doppelganger for Maria, a revered female leader of factory workers, the false Maria preaches revolution to the working class, resulting in the sort of chaos that threatens to topple civilization (The False Maria’s robotic metal frame is disguised beneath her human façade).
The mad scientist Rotwing (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) and his robotic creation Maria before he gives her a human form in Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS (1927).
Eight years later, robots were again viewed as a danger to the human race in the Russian film, Gibel Sensatsii (English title: Loss of Feeling aka Loss of Sensation aka Robots of Ripl, 1935) although these looked more like early prototypes of the walking oil can-shaped automatons seen in later serials like The Phantom Empire (1936) and The Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940).
Cinema Sojourns 