The Full-Figured Flight Suit
Beyond the Time Barrier (1960)
directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
watched on Netflix Instant
Ulmer's biography is an interesting one but Beyond the Time Barrier came right at the end. I thought at first that this would be a science fiction movie filmed in unmodified real-world locations, both for budgetary reasons and because it's a good idea. A Texas producer paid to make it, and reportedly insisted that Ulmer shoot outside Fort Worth. He did, at an abandoned Marine Corps air station, the then-active Carswell Air Force Base, and the Texas Centennial Exhibition Fair Park.
But you can read that on Wikipedia, and Ulmer didn't leave well enough alone. Art director Ernst Fegté modified some rooms in a triangular state of mind, and while I'm certainly sympathetic to everyone's best efforts, the story just isn't there. I hoped that time travel would prove crucial to the plot, instead of simply providing the narrative means to dress actors like spacemen. I hoped that the well-meaning protagonist would ultimately be the cause of the plague he stumbles upon in 2024 (La Jetée appeared two years later).
Instead, time travel is used chiefly to let petty scientists bicker about power. The tone is right - pessimistic - and the ten-gallon hats holding the bankroll let Ulmer cast the blonde he wanted to (Darlene Tompkins), but whatever happened, happened. No one can prevent the plague. No one gets to go back and change a thing. All a hero can do is watch, and follow his instincts, and blame his bad decisions on a circle that looks a lot like a fate he doesn't want to believe in - a circle that inevitably leads back to Darlene.
PS - Stop the presses! The more I think about it, I'm not sure that the pilot actually changes anyone's mind (or anyone's decisions). Motion to strike the picture from the Bill and Ted Time Travel Club rescinded.
directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
watched on Netflix Instant
Ulmer's biography is an interesting one but Beyond the Time Barrier came right at the end. I thought at first that this would be a science fiction movie filmed in unmodified real-world locations, both for budgetary reasons and because it's a good idea. A Texas producer paid to make it, and reportedly insisted that Ulmer shoot outside Fort Worth. He did, at an abandoned Marine Corps air station, the then-active Carswell Air Force Base, and the Texas Centennial Exhibition Fair Park.
But you can read that on Wikipedia, and Ulmer didn't leave well enough alone. Art director Ernst Fegté modified some rooms in a triangular state of mind, and while I'm certainly sympathetic to everyone's best efforts, the story just isn't there. I hoped that time travel would prove crucial to the plot, instead of simply providing the narrative means to dress actors like spacemen. I hoped that the well-meaning protagonist would ultimately be the cause of the plague he stumbles upon in 2024 (La Jetée appeared two years later).
Instead, time travel is used chiefly to let petty scientists bicker about power. The tone is right - pessimistic - and the ten-gallon hats holding the bankroll let Ulmer cast the blonde he wanted to (Darlene Tompkins), but whatever happened, happened. No one can prevent the plague. No one gets to go back and change a thing. All a hero can do is watch, and follow his instincts, and blame his bad decisions on a circle that looks a lot like a fate he doesn't want to believe in - a circle that inevitably leads back to Darlene.
PS - Stop the presses! The more I think about it, I'm not sure that the pilot actually changes anyone's mind (or anyone's decisions). Motion to strike the picture from the Bill and Ted Time Travel Club rescinded.
posted by NPK at 3:14 PM
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