Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is an American science fiction film directed by Nathan Juran and produced by Jacques Marquette, Bernard Woolner and Woolner's company, Woolner Brothers Pictures. Marquette also served as the director of photography on the film. The screenplay was written by Mark Hanna and it was released theatrically in the United States on May 19th, 1958. The premise of the film focuses on wealthy socialite Nancy Archer, who is driven to excess due to the philandering actions of her unfaithful husband Harry. Harry and his mistress, Honey Parker, hope that Nancy's growing mania and abuse of alcohol will result with her being placed into a mental institution, thereby giving Harry access to his wife's fortune. While driving along Route 66, Nancy comes upon a large, spherical space craft. A giant emerges and exposes her to intense radiation. Nancy tells her story to all who will listen, but naturally, nobody believes her. The truth comes out however when Nancy begins mutating into a fifty-foot woman.

Plot
A newscaster for KRKR-TV broadcasts a report about strange sightings of a large, spherical satellite that has been spotted all over the globe. By following its course, he predicts that it will appear next somewhere in the California desert.

Meanwhile, wealthy heiress Nancy Archer, frustrated over her failing marriage is speeding along Route 66 through the desert when something catches her eye. She swerves off to the side of the road when she sees a giant sphere hovering before her. An over-sized hand emerges from the sphere and she gets out of the car and runs away screaming. She goes back to town to the police station to report what she had just seen.

At Tony's Bar and Grill, Nancy's husband Harry Archer canoodles with his mistress Honey Parker. Harry conspires with Honey to find a way to get Nancy sent to an insane asylum so that he can lay claim to her fortune - more than 50 million dollars. Honey puts the idea in Harry's head that killing Nancy will yield the same results as having her committed. The two begin making out. A Sheriff's deputy named Charlie comes in and tells Harry that his down at the police station. Harry, convinced that Nancy is drunk again, slips Charlie some money and tells him that he wasn't able to find him. Sheriff Dubbitt and Deputy Charlie take Nancy out to her car. There is no sign of the giant or the large satellite that Nancy claims to have seen. Nancy believes that the giant wanted her diamond necklace - the fabled Star of India - the most expensive diamond in the world. Unable to find anything to corroborate her story, they bring Nancy home.

As soon as she walks into the house she pours herself a drink. Harry is home now and tells their butler, Jess Stout, to leave the room. Nancy knows that Harry was at the bar with his mistress and begins yelling at him. She breaks down into tears and confesses that despite his infidelity, she is still in love with him and just wants him to remain faithful to her. She repeats her story to him about a giant reaching out to her trying to snatch her diamond. Harry humors her for a bit then takes her upstairs to put her to bed. He removes the necklace from her and pockets it as she drifts off.

While Nancy sleeps, Harry goes over to Tony's and meets back up with Honey. Honey is frustrated at all the time she has spent waiting for their plans to come together. Harry takes her aside and tells her that he is calling Doctor Cushing to examine Nancy and that he will likely have her committed - especially after Nancy's most recent wild and crazy story. He shows her the Star of India and tells her that if she plays her cards right, it will be hers.

The following morning, Doctor Cushing comes over to examine Nancy. He sees that she is suffering from severe mental exhaustion. He gives Jess instructions on how to distribute her medication and tells Harry that his wife needs lots of rest and that he'll check back on her in the morning. After he leaves, Nancy comes downstairs seemingly healthy and sober. She gives Harry an earful about how he's been spending his evenings with Honey. Harry gives her the diamond back and leaves. After he walks out, Nancy turns on the television and sees a news report about her fantastic claims of a 30 foot giant roaming the desert. The newscaster is merciless in his editorial and Nancy appears like a complete lunatic. Enraged, she throws her wine glass at the TV set.

Nancy insists on going back out to the site to prove that she's not crazy. Harry agrees to take her out and they drive all day and night, but find nothing. As they turn around to head back home however, they see the giant satellite sphere. Nancy gets out of the car and runs towards it. She touches it and the giant leans out of the sphere and tries to grab her. Harry shoots at it, but bullets don't seem to faze it. Horrified, he leaves her and drives off back to the house.

When he gets there, he frantically begins rummaging through the bedroom gathering together clothes and boxes. Jess comes in and wants to know where Nancy is. Harry tries to dismiss him, but Jess won't let it go. The two get into a fight and tumble down the staircase.

Harry races out the door and goes to the hotel where he's been meeting Honey. He tells her to quickly pack her things. They go to leave the hotel, but Deputy Charlie arrives at the door. He tells him that Jess just contacted the police station and reported the fight. Sheriff Dubbitt wants to see both of them.

He takes them to the station where they wait for Sheriff Dubbitt. While sitting around, Charlie fields a telephone call stating that Nancy Archer has been found on top of the pool house at their home.

Doctor Cushing meets Sheriff Dubbitt at the Archer house. Harry arrives and Cushing warns him that there is evidence of some kind of radiation and that Nancy might be contaminated. The Sheriff questions him about what took place the previous evening.

Later that evening, Harry decides to sabotage the dosage on Nancy's medication. He sneaks into her room to administer a lethal dose, but when he turns on the light, he is shocked to find that his wife has now grown fifty feet tall.

The next morning, Doctor Cushing calls in his colleague, Doctor Heinrich Von Loeb, to consult on the situation. They order 40 lengths of chain and a surplus of medical equipment and elephant syringes. They restrain her to her bed and do their best to keep her sedated until they can determine how this happened. Von Loeb has no idea what to make of Nancy's condition.

Meanwhile, the sheriff and the deputy scope around by the pool house to see how Nancy got up there in the first place. While circling the building, they come upon a giant footprint. Taking the butler Jess with them, they get into the sheriff's car and begin following the tracks. The footprints lead them to the satellite ship sitting in the middle of the desert some distance from the highway. They find Jess' gun, which he reveals was stolen from him during his fight with Harry. They go into the ship and find a collection of glass globes, all of which contain various diamonds, including Nancy's Star of India necklace. The giant emerges inside the chamber and they race out of the ship and back to their car. The giant lumbers after them and the sheriff fires his revolver, but this accomplishes nothing. They continue retreating and Dubbitt hurls a stick of dynamite at the creature, but even this only manages to briefly stagger it. The giant picks up the police car and tosses it end over end. At the house, Nancy awakens and begins shouting for Harry. The doctors run upstairs and try to calm her down, but she in hysterics, demanding to see her husband. Harry is nowhere to be found. Doctor Cushing tells the attending nurse to call the sheriff. Nancy breaks loose from her chains and bursts through the roof of the house. She stalks off into the night, calling out for Harry. The fifty foot woman comes upon a power transformer and begins shaking it. All across the town, lights begin flickering as the power goes down.

At Tony's, Harry and Honey are sitting in a booth highly inebriated. They notice the lights flickering, but pay it little heed. Harry makes a sarcastic remark to the bartender.

Nancy stalks over to the hotel where she knows Harry has been staying. She scares a young couple necking in a car and they run off. She looks into one of the hotel windows, but doesn't see any trace of her husband. She then lumbers over to Tony's and begins shaking the building. She tears away at the roof of the bar and a pile of timber and debris rains down on top of the patrons. Honey is crushed by the fallout. She sees Harry and grabs him, pulling him out of the building and begins stalking off again towards the power lines. Sheriff Dubbitt arrives on the scene and fires his riot shotgun at her, but the bullets do nothing to slow her down. One shot however hits the transformer and the ensuing explosion kills both Nancy and Harry. As they collapse to the ground, Doctor Cushing and the others arrive to examine the body. Cushing solemnly remarks, "She finally got Harry all to herself".

Notes & Trivia

 * Director Nathan Juran is credited as Nathan Hertz for this film. Hertz is Juran's middle name.


 * Filmed in Tarzana, Los Angeles, California.


 * The KRKR-TV newscaster in the beginning establishes the setting as modern day California.


 * The cables carrying the giant's satellite are clearly visible.


 * First sci-fi film work for actress Yvette Vickers. She also appears in the 1959 film Attack of the Giant Leeches.


 * Dale Tate, who plays the KRKR-TV commentator in the beginning of the film also provides the voice for the alien brain Gor in 1957's The Brain from Planet Arous, also directed by Nathan Juran.


 * Was made available on DVD by Warner Bros. Home Video on June 26th, 2007.