Girls, There Are Two Very Good Reasons To STILL See "It Conquered The World!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                        There was much to anticipate at last night's screening of this Roger Corman classic, darlings, not the least of all was Cucumbo, the unquestionable star of the film!

                                           One thing I had forgotten in the years since I last saw this was the importance of Beverly Garland's wardrobe.  In almost every scene she is in, she wears a different outfit.  And she is the only one.  Considering the budget this was made on, I would bet that some, if not most, of her wardrobe, were from her own closet!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             Long before Brad Pitt showed up on the scene, Peter Graves was doing something of the same thing here.  Not once does his hair deviate from its perfect appearance; not even when he is speeding through rocky roads towards military bases and mysterious caves!  One wonders how he kept it all in place.  Maybe with the same lacquered stuff that Ann Miller used??????????

                                              You have to hand it to the actors, who play the entire thing straight.  Some of this dialogue is from hunger!  When Lee Van Cleef, as the scientist the Venusians are trying to butter up, because he has an inflated ego, says "That alien is a personal friend of mine!," the laughter throughout the theater was contagious and infectious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  But everyone delivers these corkers as though they were Meryl Streep performing Shakespeare.  How they managed to keep a straight face is beyond me; I, for one, could not do it!  Even "Valley Of The Dolls" has more credibility.

                                                  Once Cucumbo takes center stage, the audience erupts into applause.  The absolute highlight is when an enraged Beverly Garland, rifle in hand, approaches him, saying, "So this is what you look like?  Well, you're ugly and horrible!  I'll see you in Hell first!"  She fires, but Cucumbo, who is simply lonesome, goes to hug Bev--how can he resist??????-- but, alas, he hugs a little too hard, which means people die!!!!!!!!!!

                                                  And how about those flying control devices that come out from underneath Cucumbo's leafy foliage on bottom, like the polichinelles emerging from Mother Ginger's dress????????  Monsieur thought they looked like flying sting rays; I am still not sure what they are!

                                                   Cucumbo was just a poor misunderstood creature!  A wounded bird, who just wanted love, but got none!  He never even got another movie, although his image is seen on the wall of the residence of Peter Drumond, the deranged make-up artist hell-bent on revenge in 1958's "How To Make A Monster."  He was played by Robert H. Harris, who went on to screen immortality nine years later as theatrical attorney Henry Bellows in "Valley Of The Dolls." ("Let's skip the personalities, shall we?????")

                                                    Really, dolls, this film has to be seen to be believed. And it holds up well--it actually has pacing, and structure and suspense.  Better than "Mothra."

                                                      I have tried to impress upon Monsieur, who was at a loss for words after seeing the film, that we should have a dinner party, where, instead, of serving a salad, everyone gets their own, individual, vegetable made Cucumbo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                        The trouble is, it will be so cute, who would want to eat it?????????