"Questor" Searches For Answers

Gene Roddenberry is best known for creating Star Trek, the enduring science-fiction franchise that’s been part of the pop culture landscape for over 50 years now. But back in the 1970s, the original series had been cancelled, and its fandom was just starting to gain momentum. As Trek was finding a second life in syndication. Roddenberry was trying to get a new series off the ground. His first attempt was Genesis II, a story about a 20^th century scientist named Dylan Hunt (played by Alex Cord) who gets trapped in suspended animation, and is then revived in the 22^nd century. The movie aired on CBS in 1973. The network didn’t go forward with a series, and Roddenberry re-worked the concept in 1974 for ABC as Planet Earth, with John Saxon taking over the role of Hunt. That version also didn’t get green-lit to series. ABC tried re-tooling the idea yet again in 1975, as Strange New World, also starring Saxon. That attempt was once again unsuccessful.

One of Roddenberry’s most intriguing television films is the telefilm The Questor Tapes, which was originally broadcast by NBC in 1974. The story concerns Project Questor, a government team that is trying to create a super-intelligent, self-sufficient android. The guiding force of the project, Dr. Vaslovik, has disappeared, and the rest of the group is trying to complete the project in his absence. They’re having issues activating the android, and decide to abandon the unfinished programming left by Vaslovik, and substitute their own. Jerry Robinson, a team member who is loyal to Vaslovik, objects, but Geoffrey Darrow, the director of the project, overrules him. When they try using their own programming, nothing happens.

Robinson argues for re-instating Vaslovik’s programming, even though it’s incomplete. Darrow agrees, and the android still doesn’t work. When the team leaves the facility for the night, the Questor android comes to life, and makes himself look more human. Questor seeks out Jerry, and explains he needs help to find his “creator,” Vaslovik. There’s a nuclear device inside his android body that is set to explode, and only Vaslovik can disarm it. A race against the clock begins, as Questor and Jerry search for Vaslovik, with Darrow and the military in hot pursuit of the duo.

Robert Foxworth as Questor

Jerry Robinson teaches Questor about humanity, and there’s a bit of humor in the film mined from the android’s attempts to understand humans. Questor’s endeavor to understand human behavior and his search for his creator will probably bring to mind a later Roddenberry character: Data, from Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are two moments in the film that pre-figure scenes in a pair of Next Generation episodes. First, Questor uses his superior knowledge to win some money at a casino, which is similar to a scene with Data in the TNG entry “The Royale.” Later, Questor offers to seduce a woman with information on Vaslovik, stating that he’s “fully functional” which is what Data says to Tasha Yar in the episode “The Naked Now.”

Questor is definitely an inspiration for Data, given the explanation for his origins in the film, which will be familiar to fans of the themes found in the work of Roddenberry and co-writer Gene L. Coon, another veteran of the original Star Trek. It seems that a benevolent alien race has left a series of androids on Earth to help mankind, and Questor is the last of his kind. Questor was created by Vaslovik (who turns out to be an android) to succeed him. Based on the edicts set down by the aliens, the robots can aid mankind, but not interfere directly in their development. If you’re looking for evil robots (akin to films such as The Terminator) out to destroy humans, you won’t find them in The Questor Tapes. The film is very much in line with Roddenberry’s peaceful vision of the future.

The Questor Tapes is part science fiction tale, part chase thriller, and part fish out of water story. The film benefits from Robert Foxworth’s performance as Questor; he does a nice job portraying the android’s development over the course of the story.  Foxworth and Mike Farrell, who portrays Jerry Robinson have excellent chemistry together. The movie also features veteran character actor John Vernon (aka Dean Wormer in Animal House) as Darrow, Lew Ayres as Vaslovik, and Dana Wynter (from the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers) in a small role. Richard A. Colla, who went on to helm the pilot for the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series, “Saga of a Star World”, directed the film. Sharp-eyed viewers will spot Trek veterans Majel Barrett (aka Mrs. Roddenberry) and Walter Koenig in small roles. You might also recognize part of composer Gil Melle's score; it was later used as the theme for the Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV series.

NBC was reportedly interested in moving forward with a series, but wanted to make significant alterations to the concept, including removing the Jerry Robinson character, and ignoring the revelation about Questor’s origins. Roddenberry ended up clashing with the network regarding these changes, and the series never materialized. A novelization of the film, authored by another Trek veteran, D.C. Fontana, was published at the time of the film’s original broadcast. Roddenberry did produce another pilot for the network, the supernatural thriller Spectre (1977), starring Robert Culp, but that film also did not generate a series. The Questor Tapes is available on DVD from Universal Home Video. This post is part of The “Robots in Film” Blogathon, hosted by The Midnite Drive-in and Hamlette’s Soliloquy. I’d like to thank them for having me participate! You can follow this link to view the posts, and find out more: https://midnitedrive-in.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-robot-blogathon-starts-up.html.

Two Visions of the End of the World

John Krasinski & Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place

Apocalyptic tales have been a staple of movies since the 1950s. When Worlds Collide, Fail-Safe, The Omega Man, Deep Impact and The Core are just a few of the many “end of the world” stories that have exploded across the screen. Recently, two films, A Quiet Place and Bird Box, have continued this tradition. A Quiet Place was directed and co-written by John Krasinksi, of The Office and Amazon’s Jack Ryan series. The film tells the story of a couple (played by Krasinksi and his real-life wife Emily Blunt) trying to survive and keep their family together in the aftermath of an invasion of Earth by mysterious creatures. These monsters are blind, but can track their prey by sound and are lightning fast. They have killed much of Earth’s population, and the few survivors have been driven into hiding.

Lee Abbot (Krasinski) and his family struggle to live in this dangerous world, where silence is your ally, and noise is your enemy. One of the unique aspects of the story is that the characters must communicate using sign language. In the film, one of Lee’s children, his daughter Regan, is deaf and wears a cochlear implant. She is portrayed by Millicent Simonds, who is deaf in real life. She adds a layer of verisimilitude to the film, and gives a strong performance. The rest of the cast also does a nice job, mastering the difficult job of conveying much of their characters thoughts and emotions without the use of dialogue.

As a director, Krasinki manages to both use and upend the conventions of this type of tale, subverting our expectations throughout the course of the film. The backstory of the invasion is effectively illustrated by using newspaper clippings posted on the wall of the family’s hideaway, and briefly whispered conversations. There are also a couple of thrilling and suspenseful action sequences where the family must survive attacks by the creatures, using their wits and the few tools at hand. A Quiet Place is as much a story about the Abbot family and their own dynamics, as it is about surviving the invasion. While it has it's darker aspects, it does ultimately celebrate the strong spirit of humanity. A Quiet Place is a well-crafted, intelligent and often unsettling thriller.

Sandra Bullock in Bird Box

Bird Box is an original Netflix film that offers a different version of the apocalypse. Sandra Bullock stars as Malorie, a woman who gets caught up in an invasion of Earth by entities that, when you look at them, manifest as your worst fears, then drive you to suicide. As film opens, she’s with two children, telling them they’re about to begin a dangerous journey. We then flash back five years, to when the creatures first appeared. One of the first victims is Malorie’s sister, Jessica, who is driving her home from an appointment. Chaos ensues around the world as large numbers of people begin wreaking havoc, and killing themselves.

Malorie takes refuge in a house that is sheltering a small group of survivors. As with many end of the world stories, there’s a cross section of personality types in the home. There’s a cynical, acerbic older man (played by John Malkovich) whose wife dies helping Malorie; a naïve young woman, who like Malorie, is pregnant; a supermarket employee named Charlie and Tom, a construction worker, who has assumed de facto leadership of the group. Everyone helps to board up or blackout the windows so that no one can see outside. Charlie thinks he’s figured out how the creatures operate, and theorizes that as long as you don’t look at them, you’ll be fine. The creatures also aren't able to come indoors.

As time goes on, two things become apparent; not everyone in the house is what they seem, and not everyone who looks at the monsters kills himself or herself immediately. The creatures use some people as pawns to force others to look at them. The movie flashes back and forth between “five years ago” when the invasion first happens, and a current timeframe, when Malorie and two children (all wearing blindfolds) make a perilous journey to locate another group of survivors. Bullock is excellent in her role, but too many of the supporting characters have underwritten parts that aren’t fleshed out, despite the cast’s solid performances. The film fails to explore some of its most interesting ideas. Just how are the creatures able to use some people as lackeys? Why are birds able to sense when the creatures are nearby?

One effective idea is that we never actually see the creatures, as they appear as different things to different people. But Bird Box (based on a novel by Josh Malerman) looks to have its cake and eat it too; it wants to be a meaningful, big budget thriller, and a rock your socks B flick. The movie ends up not really succeeding at either. It’s not a bad film, and it’s watchable, just not very memorable. There’s none of the emotional resonance or intensity of A Quiet Place. Both films are ultimately worth seeing, but if you have to choose one, I’d go with the more subtle terrors of A Quiet Place. Here are links to the trailers for A Quiet Place; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2bR7NhCf_A, which is now available for streaming, and on DVD and Blu-ray and Bird Box; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2AsIXSh2xo, which is currently streaming on Netflix.

A Monster, A Girl and Multiple Genres

Have you ever seen a movie that's part courtroom drama, part gangster story, part noir tale, and part mad scientist thriller? If the answer is no, then you obviously haven't checked out 1941's The Monster and the Girl, which just might be the oddest mix of genres ever put together. The film opens with Susan Webster (played by Ellen Drew) facing the camera and telling her story in flashback. We begin in a big city courtroom where a man is on trial for murder. Susan is in the audience, and we learn that the defendant is her brother, Scot. He had traveled to the city to save her from the clutches of a gangster named Bruhl, who's forced her to work as a "bar hostess" aka prostitute. It turns out that the dead man is one of Bruhl's men, and Scot (Phillip Terry) was at the scene (where he ended up holding the murder weapon) when the thug was killed. Scot is found guilty, and sentenced to die, despite Susan's heartfelt appeal to the judge.

Paul Lukas & Ellen Drew

A reporter named Sam, who has been covering the trial, takes pity on Susan and tries to help her. Meanwhile, a scientist named Dr. Parry visits Scot in prison. He asks permission to use Scot's brain, after his death, for an experiment. A despondent Scot agrees, and is executed shortly thereafter. The doctor then transplants Scot's brain into a gorilla! What Parry doesn't count on is that the gorilla now has Scot's memories. The "monster" escapes and starts knocking off the members of Bruhl's gang, one by one. The police are baffled by these mysterious killings, in which all the victims are crushed to death. As the gorilla continues his murder spree, Scot's dog, who senses that the monster is Scot, loyally follows him around! Yes, folks, it's a boy and his dog story, too!

Sam and Susan investigate the killings. As the gang members continue to be eliminated, Bruhl suspects someone is targeting him. When Susan goes to confront the gang boss, will she be sealing her own fate? Can the gorilla/Scot complete his final revenge by killing those responsible for his death? It all comes together in the film's climax, which despite the numerous plot threads on display, runs barely over an hour. The solid cast features dependable character actors such as Paul Lukas, who portrays Bruhl, and George Zucco, as...(who else?)..the "mad" scientist, Dr. Parry. Onslow Stevens (House of Dracula), Joseph Calleia (Touch of Evil) and Robert Paige (Son of Dracula) also turn up in supporting roles.

This enjoyable movie, with its delightfully daffy patchwork of genres, features some effective cinematography by Victor Milner and solid direction by Stuart Heisler. The Monster and the Girl was recently celebrated on Turner Classic Movies by John Landis, who selected the film as one of his choices when he acted as a Guest Programmer for an evening last December. Writer-director Landis was very enthusiastic regarding his appreciation of the film, and had a lively conversation with host Ben Mankiewicz about the movie. Alas, the film is currently unavailable on home video, but it does occasionally turn up on some cable movie channels. If you're looking for something a little different in your movie diet, give The Monster and the Girl a try.