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An undemanding over-padded but enjoyable low-budget sci-fi film
Directed by Franklin Adreon
Written by Arthur C. Pierce
Produced by Earle Lyon
Edited by Frank P. Keller
Music by Paul Dunlap
Production company: Harold Goldman Associates
Distributed by United Pictures Corporation
Running time: 86 minutes
Cat
Karen Steele as Dr. Sharon Mason
Wendell Corey as the sheriff
Warren Stevens as Dr. Zeller
Eduard Franz as Professor Sigmund Marx
Harry Carey, Jr. as Jay C
Dale Van Sickel as Tracer #1
Troy Melton as Tracer #2
John Beck as Skinny
Trailer
We have already witnessed a possible future in which humanity in the year 2029 faced the possibility of extinction in a war with machines. In order to prevent human beings from triumphing in that war, a cyborg - the T-800 TERMINATOR - was sent back to the year 1984 to kill the mother of the human resistance leader, John Connor.
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Read on form more.....
Spoilers follow below....
“Find Professor Sigmund Marx…..if he resists destroy him”
“…. programmed destination in the year 1966. Previous briefing of all technology of that time sphere is in effect. Final instructions will now be transmitted:
Proceed to nearby desert City.Locate Future Industries Incorporated.Find Professor Sigmund Marx.Bring the professor to this command.If he resists destroy him.”“The trouble with this younger generation, they got no respect for the good old days “
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While this is going on, Garth is checking out Old Town. Upon entering a dilapidated building, he spots a wall calendar with the year 1906 printed on it – the year presumably that the town had been last been occupied. Garth finds himself in a time period that apparently has life and substance but within a building from another earlier time period that is but a distant memory eaten away by atrophy. A meeting of three time periods in a sense with one having given rise to another.
A German Shepherd by the name of Tex that accompanied the two men, has sensed the Cyborg’s presence and that perhaps there is something different about the nature of Garth. As they stand facing each other, the canine becomes more aggressive toward Garth who resorts to using his gun to stun Tex rendering him unconscious.
Wondering where the dog is, the two men come back out onto the street to find the dog lying immobile. Suddenly their attention is drawn to a noise coming from a building leading the men to conclude it was caused by “some stinking miserable helmet no doubt.” As they proceed to flush him out, the old timer enters the building and confronts Garth who is at first under the impression that the old man had been sent by someone to pursue him. Garth manages to disable Uncle Pete with his gun and does the same thing with the nephew when he enters the building. Garth then uses the men’s vehicle to make his getaway and proceed with his mission.
Garth makes his way to a service station in New Town and asks the two men in attendance the whereabouts of “a facility near here known as Future Industries.” One of the attendants recognises the jeep Garth is driving as belonging to Sam Gilmore and decides to call the Sheriff.
Garth meanwhile has gone off to indulge in some breaking and entering and emerges from a store wearing a brimmed hat and a long overcoat, from the bottom of which protrudes his shiny silver boots. A middle-aged man wandering around the streets in that get up would never attract attention or comment, surely!
“RESEARCH TODAY FOR A BETTER TOMORROW”
Garth makes his way to a service station in New Town and asks the two men in attendance the whereabouts of “a facility near here known as Future Industries.” One of the attendants recognises the jeep Garth is driving as belonging to Sam Gilmore and decides to call the Sheriff.
Garth meanwhile has gone off to indulge in some breaking and entering and emerges from a store wearing a brimmed hat and a long overcoat, from the bottom of which protrudes his shiny silver boots. A middle-aged man wandering around the streets in that get up would never attract attention or comment, surely!
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The Sheriff and his deputies assemble at the scene of the apparent burglary to investigate what happened. JC follows them in his cute little putt-putt car with a lawn-mower engine looking like it would be more at home zipping around the streets of the former Soviet Union. The car that thinks it can – love it.
Finally, having something to do, our laconic Sheriff confirms that Sam Gilmore had gone to old Town and orders that all the off-duty officers be brought in to patrol every alley and street in town and pick up the stranger in question. Meanwhile, the Sheriff intends to go out to Old Town himself to investigate.
Not long after the professor leaves the lab, Sharon is startled by unexpected appearance of Garth who silently entered without knocking or announcing his presence. When informed that the professor has left for Los Angeles to give a lecture, and that he wont be back until morning, Garth’s responses suggest that he is privy to information that no-one is supposed to know about.
Somehow Garth is aware that “tomorrow at nine o'clock the world is destined to learn about professor Marx's important breakthrough in the field of radio telepathy.’ He declaresthat this is “a fact of History….a fact which must be altered.” He goes on to state that he is here because of professor Marx’s intended demonstration which will not take place as it involves a premature scientific discovery – a scientific catastrophe – and that the “scientific world of today is not ready for this breakthrough.”
Sharon listens to what this mysterious and seemingly unhinged stranger has to say warning of the danger should the professor’s breakthrough fall into the wrong hands resulting in the warlords of tomorrow using radio telepathy “for evil purposes” by creating a “world of torture and terror, a world where free thoughts ceases to exist” and where “the minds of men are controlled by dictators through the application of radio telepathy.”
It is little wonder that Sharon tries to placate what to her is an obviously insane man by assuring him that she understands what he has been telling her, while hoping for a way to escape from his presence. Garth, however will have none of it. He will have to make Sharon understand and assist him in his mission.
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Garth is a cyborg, a cybernetic organism. All special agents of the future are equipped in this manner.Garth along with others were captured by the leaders of the Freedom MovementThe mass of the population is not free thinking.The majority of the people have receivers implanted in their brain since childhood.Thoughts are controlled by the state.The enemy will have discovered Garth’s purpose and will send Tracer agents after him.Tracers are cyborgs programmed to find and kill.Garth carries a homing device in his chest.Once the tracers can pick up his signal he cannot escape them.The beamer device has to be removed and destroyed.
With this last point in mind, Sharon undertakes to take Garth to her friend, Dr Zeller. Whenshe awakens, she willl not remember that Igarth had forced his will upon her. All Sharon will know is that she understands his mission and that she must assist him. This forcing of compliance upon Sharon, although a demonstration of the consequences of thought telepathy, raises all sorts of moral and ethical questions not to mention the exercise of free will.
An old man’s way out tall tales!
Three suspects that don't match the description of the wanted man!
Alarmed citizens!
Events seemingly out of control!
Rumours in the press!
Potential public panic attack!
What else will Garth leave in his wake as he proceeds with his mission?
“Those weird boots - out of sight!”
As one might expect, Dr Zeller’s rational and scientific perspective on life wont allow him to entertain the possibility of Cyborgs time-travelling into the past to change the outcome of the future. He can’t understand what has come over Sharon in allowing herself to be taken in by a total stranger with “fantastic tales.”
Zeller diagnoses that Garth is suffering from schizophrenia and that he poses a danger requiring the intervention of the police. I guess it’s time for a dose of incontrovertible evidence to convince the good Dr Zeller.
Dispassionately, Garth outlines the nature of the procedure from the removal of the plate and the extraction of the beamer capsule. Garth assures Zeller that he can feel nothing as the nerves have been sealed off.
While the operation is about to commence, a bunch of teenage hot-rodders including Zeller’s daughter, Laura arrive at the house. More disturbingly, two tracers have arrived from the future and are about to start on a long distance marathon to track down Garth:
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Technology exists to create a miniature transmitter that can span over vast distances and through time.Cyborgs like Garth are trained to ignore all feelings.Emotions & feelings like pain or pleasure “cannot exist in the military state of 2087.” All children are taken from their mothers at birth and become the property of the state.
On the principle that “every development of the future is the result of today's actions,” Garth’s mission is intended to prevent professor Marx’s discovery so the kind of future as outlined above will not result.
Once the beamer has been extracted, it will take high voltage – at least 5000 vlts - to destroy it. The closest source of such power is Desert Town Power Station. Both Zeller and Garth get ready to drive out to the power starion while Sharon stays behind at the house with Skinny and the crew.
When the two men leave, Laura comments on Garth’s unusual appearance and indulges in a bit of relationship counselling with Sharon by informing her that she and her father are so wrapped ip in their work that they’re both “blind as bats” and cannot see that they are right for each other.
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When Sharon is unable to get through to the power station, she and Rick take the ego and arm-bruised Skinny’s hot rod and drive out to the power station.
“What the hell's got into all you people?”
At the highly imaginative named “Desert City Power Station,” Garth renders one of the guards unconscious with his toy...I mean ray gun which “can only paralyze, not kill” unlike of course the weapons of the super nasty tracers. As Garth explains, time travel involves tremendous risk when taking the life of someone living in the past as it might “start a chain reaction which may eradicate many lives in the future.” As for removing professor Marx from his time line, Garth concedes that under the circumstances and what is at stake the risk must be taken.
While all this cyborg-splaining has been going on, Garth has rigged an electronic trap for the tracers as his gun would have no effect on them. After hurling a wrench at one of the tracers, it hits its mark and causes the tracer to fall flat on his face and rendered inactive due to the effects of the electrical charge. This is followed by long stretches of being pursued by the remaining tracer, super-human leaping hither and thither across roof-tops and from roof-tps to the ground.
In the meantime, who should arrive on the scene? Why, none other than our befuddled and disbelieving Sheriff. Deadly ray guns? “Oh, come on now!” “You’re out of your mind.” Have now fear for the Sheriff and his deputies will “bottle him up here and then smoke them out.”
Just to let us know that he isn’t some hick thick head, the Sheriff wonders how it it is that Sharon and Zeller happen to be by the power station that night and how “those two so-called lunatics” just happened to choose their house to break into. Obviously nothing gets past him.
Who else should roll up or should I say “putt-putt” up just when everyone is about to head off? Our local reporter of course who on what has turned out to be “quite a night” clearly has something to write about.” As everyone departs, I swear that the reporter’s little car seems to be itching to drag off the hot rod being driven by Rick. It’s sputtering lawn-mower engine, however says otherwise.
Later on from his house, Zeller phones Sharon who is at the lab. It turns out that the sheriff has stationed two men at the lab on suspicion that all the trouble has something to do with a project being conducted at the lab. The Sheriff had also questioned Zella and has come to the conclusion that enemy agents have been after military secrets and that he and Sharon know something about it. Nothing like Cold-War paranoia!
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“The radio telepathy demonstration just cannot take place today”
With Zeller having been relegated to something less than a footnote in her memory, Sharon makes ready to depart the lab but not before removing the project files and placing them in a briefcase. While she slips into the adjoining room, the professor unexpectedly enters the lab and startles her. She explains her presence at such a late hour as being due to her inability to sleep because of all the excitement in the town hat night.
“My mission depends on how you use the knowledge you gain of my time”
As we near the conclusion, we now find the characters returning to the place where the events of this time period began: Old Town. Sharon and the professor are the first to arrive and Shaon quickly begins frantically searching for Garth while the still skeptical professor looks on.
Zwller turns up a short time later only to discover that the rtacer has captured Sharton and is holding her tied and suspended like a human pendulum in one of the old buildings. It isn’t long before Garth makes his presence known. He knows full well that the tracer’s intention is to use Sharon in order to lure him, Zeller and the professor closer.
Zeller can’t bring himself to just doing nothing while Sharon runs the risk of being killed. His desire to take action is spurred on by Sharon’s prodigious lung capacity as she screams whenever she is nudged by the tracer and like a pendulum she swings from side-to-side marking out the time left to her along the future freedom of the world.
This is a moment of truth for Garth as he has the prospect of finally fulfilling his mission. Should he as a cyborg ignore human feelings and simply leave Sharon to her fate by rationalising such a course of action on the basis that “Dr Mason knew the risk she was taking” and that her life would be “a small sacrifice to make if it will free tomorrow's world of such monsters” as represented by the tracers? However, as Garth had forced his will on Sharon by means of the process he seeks to suppress, then how is he any different to those he is fighting to oppose?
In a very ‘human’ act of bravery and self-sacrifice, Zeller rushes to save Sharon but is paralyzed and rendered unconscious by a blast from the Garth’s gun to prevent him being killed by the tracer. The professor then points out that Garth could kill him right then and there thereby ensuring the success of his mission. In response, Garth says to him, “the success of my mission depends on how you use the knowledge you gain of my time.”
Sharon is eventually released after a lengthy tussle between Garth and the tracer. It appears that Garth’s decision to return and rescue Sharon has been motivated by some very human emotions which he can no longer suppress.
One can only imagine the state of Zeller’s feelings when Sharon dashes off and leaves him hanging only to run after Garth declaring that she wants to be with him and that she needs him. She wants Garth to take her with him into the future.
Garth tries to dissuade Sharon by pointing out that her actions have not been the result of her own desire but were due to his forcing his will on her which is evil. He tells her that once she is free of his will she will no longer care for him. Sharon will hear none of it and declares to Garth, “I will! I love you and you love me! You know that's true because you came back to save me.”
Gently adamant, Garth tells Sharon that she must remain here in her own own time. When he returns to his time with the professor the world of the future will change. “The professor will not reveal his scientific breakthrough at nine o'clock. From that moment on every event in the future will be altered. Some things will change just a little, others will not occur at all.”
If Garth’s mission succeeds he will not exist in the world of the future after nine o'clock. Sharon and the others will have no memory of him and all that has happened since he arrived will not take place.
“His Moment Of Truth”
After Garth and the professor’s departure we find Zeller and Sharon in the lab with a group of political and military officials awaiting the arrival of the professor on this, “the most important day of his life.”
Sharon is excited at the prospect of having the whole operation moved to New York. For obvious reasons, a somewhat sceptical Zeller wonders if she’ll find her answers in the city.
At last the professor makes his appearance but he appears to be disturbed and preoccupied by something. However, he assures Sharon that he feels better than he ever has in his whole life. The reason why becomes obvious when he approaches the small group of officials who are assembled to witness the experiment demonstrating his revolutionary communication system: Radio Telepathy.
The proessor tells the gathering that there will be no demonstration on the grounds that he became aware that “the improper application of such a system could result in a scientific and social disaster” despite the time and effort that had already been devoted to the “new kind of defense strategy based entirely upon the success of this new system.”
The profssor goes on to add that as a scientist who is concerned for his fellow man, he could only come to the conclusion that “knowledge of radio telepathy at this time would not be used for the peaceful purposes I had intended” and that “the military temptation is too great, the consequences far-reaching possibly far beyond our present understanding.” With that the meeting concludes and the clearly mortified and disgruntled group of officials exit the lab each no doubt formulating ways and means of grinding the professor’s career and reputation into the dust!
None of this matters to the professor who is only concerned for how much Sharon has counted on him. But he has peeked into the future and “it had to be this way." Of more significance to him is the fact that Sharon is proud of him and she and Zeller embark on a future together that he has gone some way to ensuring that it will be a positive one. Zeller and Sharon begin their journey on a date at his house for a swim in the pool which they’ll have all to themselves.
“”Nothing ever happens around here”
With the future changed and the present reset, we see reporter JC playing cards with deputy Dan. The Sheriff amplifies the sense of boredom and inactivity with a bout of nostalgia for the good old days of 80 years ago when a lawman like him could feel alive. Yes, those were the days “when things really happened” unlike the present where nothing ever seems to happen in their quiet peaceful little town…….
Aslo unknown to the citizens of Desert Town and the world of 1966 is that 20 years later a strange artefact will be discovered indicating a level of technology well in advance of what will be available in the 1980s. It will be robotic in appearance and will obviously constitute an appendage from some humanoid artificial machine. No-one will know where it came from or how it got there but reverse engineering will give rise to the development of a powerful computer system ("Skynet") tasked with controlling all defence systems. It will initiate a nuclear war leading to a future in which machines will dominate the world. But the humans will fight back and Skynet in desperation, will send a cyborg - a Terminator - back through time to 1984 to murder the mother of the future resistance leader thus eliminating his existence. This cyborg Terminator can't be reasoned with or bargained with. It will not feel pity or remorse or fear and it will not stop until it completes it’s mission. It seems that in way or another fate just will not let go!
Points of Interest
Karen Steele who plays Dr. Sharon Mason began her career in the Oscar-winning Marty and may be recognized as one of "Mudd's Women" on he original series of Star Trek. It is a shame that her career didn’t feature more prominent roles.
One face we do recognize is that of the stalwart Warren Stevens. He was a very dependable and versatile actor throughout the 1950s and 1960s who appeared in quite a number films and TV series. He played a space ship’s physician in Forbidden Planet (1956) which also features in this blog. A Tribute to Warren Stevens can be found in this blog which gives a brief run-down of the actor’s career.
There’s no getting around the fact that Cyborg is a a low budget undemanding sci-fi film that just touches on scientists' responsibility for their creations and how we shape our own futures by the decisions we take. It tries a bit too hard to appeal to a teenage audience of the time and the fight scenes are rather long and tedious.
Finally, here is a little poem somewhat inspired by the film and its ideas. It is also inspired by the age-obsessed nature of our society and all the hypocrisy that goes with it.. For instance, there appears to be a free-for-all when it ocmes to making derogatory comments about a person's age and certain observations are made that would not be the case with reference to a person's gender and 'race' or ethnicity. Take the recent US Presidential race as an example and the pile on by much of the media and certain sections of the political and celebrity elite.
In relation to the future of human civilization, i recently heard a radio broadcast featuring a discussion involving the development of AI technology. Those discussing the matter were AI engineers and I wondered where were the philosophers, ethicists and everyday people who would be subject to the roll out and implementation of this technology? During this overly optimistic 'discussion' one of the expert tech-sperts even suggested that when it comes to the integration of AI technology into our lives we essentially have no choice in the matter. No-one took this point up and on went the discussion in which those involved would have a stake or vested interest. Is this how we proceed into the future - simply accepting that we have no choice and that we resign ourselves to accepting what we are told and given?
Anyway, these were some the ideas rattling away in my head as I put this poem together:
Out Ot Time And Out Of Place
Caught suspended in a bubble of time,
An ‘old white guy,’ so labelled by two-faced
Fork-tongued hypocrites from the mindless slime,
Longs for what was, while fearing his fate’s haste.
His myopic eyes peer back at the past:
Multitude moments obscured by a haze,
The good times that were never meant to last,
Cherry-picked moments from ‘those were the days.’
Those were times wasted having a good time,
But what of the times when he was time poor
With no time to spare and a hill to climb?
The hour glass marks time with less left to pour.
Now transfixed by dismay at the present;
A rent and riven whirlpool world driven
By disturbance, division and dissent,
Gifts to us from the past we’ve been given.
Frightened, he turns his gaze the other way,
The ‘going-forward’ moments far fewer.
If only he could move and not fall prey
To Fate - watcher, waiter and pursuer.
Frozen fast into immobility
He can just glimpse the distorted image
Of the fate that awaits humanity.
For him, no place now nor in the new age.
Slowly he fades from view, his voice unheard,
As side show mirror images file past;
Their eyes look through him, none utters a word.
They’ve chosen their path and the die is cast.
‘X’ will become the new mark of The Beast,
Burned and branded into the mind and soul
Preparing them for what will be released -
New paradigm of total control.
The Past: rusted anchor of delusion:
The Present: a screen-scrolling illusion;
The Future: a human/machine fusion:
Cyberneticus, a new creation.
Hickory Dickory tick-tock,Tik Tok
A few seconds until the clock strikes twelve,
When we gape and gasp in horror and shock,
At what we created and feel repelled.
Product of unnatural selection:
Quantum mind of code, logic and reason,
And soul of algorithmic construction,
Hail, the Modified Man of perfection!
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Out Ot Time And Out Of Place
Caught suspended in a bubble of time,
An ‘old white guy,’ so labelled by two-faced
Fork-tongued hypocrites from the mindless slime,
Longs for what was, while fearing his fate’s haste.
His myopic eyes peer back at the past:
Multitude moments obscured by a haze,
The good times that were never meant to last,
Cherry-picked moments from ‘those were the days.’
Those were times wasted having a good time,
But what of the times when he was time poor
With no time to spare and a hill to climb?
The hour glass marks time with less left to pour.
Now transfixed by dismay at the present;
A rent and riven whirlpool world driven
By disturbance, division and dissent,
Gifts to us from the past we’ve been given.
Frightened, he turns his gaze the other way,
The ‘going-forward’ moments far fewer.
If only he could move and not fall prey
To Fate - watcher, waiter and pursuer.
Frozen fast into immobility
He can just glimpse the distorted image
Of the fate that awaits humanity.
For him, no place now nor in the new age.
Slowly he fades from view, his voice unheard,
As side show mirror images file past;
Their eyes look through him, none utters a word.
They’ve chosen their path and the die is cast.
‘X’ will become the new mark of The Beast,
Burned and branded into the mind and soul
Preparing them for what will be released -
New paradigm of total control.
The Past: rusted anchor of delusion:
The Present: a screen-scrolling illusion;
The Future: a human/machine fusion:
Cyberneticus, a new creation.
Hickory Dickory tick-tock,Tik Tok
A few seconds until the clock strikes twelve,
When we gape and gasp in horror and shock,
At what we created and feel repelled.
Product of unnatural selection:
Quantum mind of code, logic and reason,
And soul of algorithmic construction,
Hail, the Modified Man of perfection!
By matankic - DALL-E, based on input prompts with word cyborg by Matankic, and later some editing via gimp, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=124395602
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©Chris Christopoulos 2024
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