The Creation of the Humanoids
Encyclopedia
The Creation of the Humanoids is a 1962 American
science fiction film
directed by Wesley Barry
and starring Don Megowan
, Erica Elliot, Frances McCann, Don Doolittle and Dudley Manlove
. The film has no relation to Jack Williamson
's novel The Humanoids but is based on an original screenplay written by Jay Simms.
In a post nuclear war society, robots have become a common sight as humanity suffers from a decreasing birthrate and is dependant on their everyday assistance. A fanatical organization of humans tries to prevent the robots from becoming citizens with equal rights. Meanwhile, a scientist experiments on human replicas with genuine emotions and memories.
; the human birthrate has fallen so much that the population is declining. The "humanoids" of the title are advanced robots created to serve human beings. These humanoids are built with artificial, ultra-logical personalities. A quasi-racist human organization called the "Order of Flesh and Blood" opposes the robots, whom the order disparagingly refers to as "clickers". The order doesn't even stop at illegal violent actions, including bomb attacks.
Scientist Dr. Raven (Doolittle) has developed a technique called the "Thalamic Transplant", which transfers the memories and personality of a recently deceased human to a robotic replica of that person. The human-humanoid hybrids that result awake from the process unaware of their own transformation, although their human personalities are shut off between 4 and 5 A.M. when they report back to the humanoids. As Dr. Raven describes the transformation, "We perform a 'thalamic transplant', but that's a misnomer. We draw off everything that makes a man peculiar to himself. His learning, his memory: these, inter-reacting, constitute his personality, his philosophy, capability and attitude. The human brain is merely the vault in which the man is stored." With the help of Dr. Raven, the humanoids are secretly replacing humans who recently died with these replicas.
One of the leaders of the "Order of Flesh and Blood", Capt. Kenneth Cragis (Megowan), meets Maxine, and although she opposes to the order, they both fall in love. In the end they discover that they too are humanoids with minds of deceased persons – ironically, the "real" Maxine had died in an bomb attack which the order had intended to harm the robots with. Dr. Raven, a once-human duplicate himself, explains that Cragis and Maxine are humanoids of the next generation: They are able to reproduce and thereby replace infertile humanity.
Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide, Phil Hardy's The Aurum Film Encyclopedia – Science Fiction and Michael Weldon's The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film state 75 minutes as the film's original running time. The US DVD
release by Dark Sky runs 84 minutes (as did the now unavailable VHS
release by Something Weird Video
). If this difference is due to an error, or if shorter versions with footage missing were released, is not known.
The film is often described as Andy Warhol's
favorite, though it is unknown whether Warhol said this or even saw the movie.
The film is mentioned in Susan Sontag's
1965 essay on science fiction films entitled The Imagination of Disaster.
"This interesting film […] is badly let down by Simms' over-talkative script." – The Aurum Film Encyclopedia – Science Fiction.
"Incredible little film" – Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film.
"[…] a highly underrated gem of considerable worth [and] a perfect illustration of how science-fiction should work as a literature of ideas rather than of special effects." – Richard Scheib, Moria – The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review.
"Yes, it is ham-handedly, painfully un-subtle, but making a film with this message in the early 1960s, with the storms of the civil rights movement still raging, required considerable courage on the part of the filmmakers." – Erick Harper, DVD Verdict.
"Undeniably sophisticated as science fiction, The Creation of the Humanoids is one weird movie." – Glenn Erickson, DVD Savant.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
directed by Wesley Barry
Wesley Barry
Wesley Barry was an American child actor in silent motion pictures. He later became a producer and director of both film and television. As a director, he was sometimes billed as Wesley E...
and starring Don Megowan
Don Megowan
-Career:Born in California USA, Megowan starred in the Sci-Fi movies: The Werewolf in the role of sheriff Jack Haines, and in The Creation of the Humanoids as a captain in the army who must stop the Humanoids....
, Erica Elliot, Frances McCann, Don Doolittle and Dudley Manlove
Dudley Manlove
Dudley Devere Manlove was an American radio announcer and actor. Manlove had a deep, resonant voice and a full career as an announcer and radio actor...
. The film has no relation to Jack Williamson
Jack Williamson
John Stewart Williamson , who wrote as Jack Williamson was a U.S. writer often referred to as the "Dean of Science Fiction" following the death in 1988 of Robert A...
's novel The Humanoids but is based on an original screenplay written by Jay Simms.
In a post nuclear war society, robots have become a common sight as humanity suffers from a decreasing birthrate and is dependant on their everyday assistance. A fanatical organization of humans tries to prevent the robots from becoming citizens with equal rights. Meanwhile, a scientist experiments on human replicas with genuine emotions and memories.
Plot
The Earth is suffering the after-effects of nuclear warNuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
; the human birthrate has fallen so much that the population is declining. The "humanoids" of the title are advanced robots created to serve human beings. These humanoids are built with artificial, ultra-logical personalities. A quasi-racist human organization called the "Order of Flesh and Blood" opposes the robots, whom the order disparagingly refers to as "clickers". The order doesn't even stop at illegal violent actions, including bomb attacks.
Scientist Dr. Raven (Doolittle) has developed a technique called the "Thalamic Transplant", which transfers the memories and personality of a recently deceased human to a robotic replica of that person. The human-humanoid hybrids that result awake from the process unaware of their own transformation, although their human personalities are shut off between 4 and 5 A.M. when they report back to the humanoids. As Dr. Raven describes the transformation, "We perform a 'thalamic transplant', but that's a misnomer. We draw off everything that makes a man peculiar to himself. His learning, his memory: these, inter-reacting, constitute his personality, his philosophy, capability and attitude. The human brain is merely the vault in which the man is stored." With the help of Dr. Raven, the humanoids are secretly replacing humans who recently died with these replicas.
One of the leaders of the "Order of Flesh and Blood", Capt. Kenneth Cragis (Megowan), meets Maxine, and although she opposes to the order, they both fall in love. In the end they discover that they too are humanoids with minds of deceased persons – ironically, the "real" Maxine had died in an bomb attack which the order had intended to harm the robots with. Dr. Raven, a once-human duplicate himself, explains that Cragis and Maxine are humanoids of the next generation: They are able to reproduce and thereby replace infertile humanity.
Production
The titles give no information on the composer of the music score which consists mainly of singing female voices. Instead, a title reading "Electronic Harmonics by I.F.M." is shown.Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide, Phil Hardy's The Aurum Film Encyclopedia – Science Fiction and Michael Weldon's The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film state 75 minutes as the film's original running time. The US DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release by Dark Sky runs 84 minutes (as did the now unavailable VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
release by Something Weird Video
Something Weird Video
Something Weird Video is an American publisher of video tapes and DVDs, based in Seattle, Washington. They specialize in exploitation film, particularly the works of Harry Novak, Doris Wishman, David F. Friedman, and Herschell Gordon Lewis. SWV videos are available on demand to Comcast subscribers...
). If this difference is due to an error, or if shorter versions with footage missing were released, is not known.
The film is often described as Andy Warhol's
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
favorite, though it is unknown whether Warhol said this or even saw the movie.
The film is mentioned in Susan Sontag's
Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag was an American author, literary theorist, feminist and political activist whose works include On Photography and Against Interpretation.-Life:...
1965 essay on science fiction films entitled The Imagination of Disaster.
Reception
"Slow, stagy cheapie" – Leonard Maltin."This interesting film […] is badly let down by Simms' over-talkative script." – The Aurum Film Encyclopedia – Science Fiction.
"Incredible little film" – Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film.
"[…] a highly underrated gem of considerable worth [and] a perfect illustration of how science-fiction should work as a literature of ideas rather than of special effects." – Richard Scheib, Moria – The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review.
"Yes, it is ham-handedly, painfully un-subtle, but making a film with this message in the early 1960s, with the storms of the civil rights movement still raging, required considerable courage on the part of the filmmakers." – Erick Harper, DVD Verdict.
"Undeniably sophisticated as science fiction, The Creation of the Humanoids is one weird movie." – Glenn Erickson, DVD Savant.