Attack of the Puppet People (1958)

I’ve reviewed a few of Bert I. Gordon’s films on this site. Also known as Mr. BIG, Gordon wrote and directed a number of B-movies revolving around animals or humans made larger or smaller by radiation or environmental tampering. You can read my reviews of The Food of the Gods and Empire of the Ants, which are prime examples of his later work. And, King Dinosaur, his first film, which features normal lizards as stand-ins for giant monsters. He’s also known for films such as The Amazing Colossal Man and Village of the Giants. For 1958’s Attack of the Puppet People, Gordon wanted to cash in on the popularity of the recently released The Incredible Shrinking Man.

The movie centers around Mr. Franz (John Hoyt,) a lonely doll-maker who creates a machine to shrink humans to doll-size for companionship. The story is told from the perspective of Sally Reynolds (June Kenney,) a young woman who applies for a secretary job at Franz’s doll factory. When people associated with the business begin to disappear, including her boyfriend (John Agar,) Sally begins to believe that Mr. Franz is somehow involved. She’s especially curious when doll-sized likenesses of these same people appear in the doll factory lobby’s display case.

While it certainly doesn’t have an airtight script (or an accurate title,) Attack of the Puppet People, does feature something that’s incredibly rare for a movie of this type: a sympathetic character. John Hoyt’s performance as Mr. Franz gives what could have been a laughable, cartoonish character some emotional heft. When Mr. Franz meets an old friend from Europe, he tells the story of how his wife ran away with another man. In another actor’s hands, this could have been a throw-away scene. As ridiculous as the plot sounds, Hoyt believably makes the viewer understand why he is so lonely and afraid to lose people. Don’t misunderstand me, though, this isn’t Academy Award level work. It’s simply a pleasant surprise to see an actor spin gold out of the straw he’s been handed script-wise.

Predictably, the rest of the cast doesn’t rise to Hoyt’s level of thespianism. Nor does the writing help them along in their task. Second to Hoyt’s performance in terms of quality are the special effects. While certainly not the best I’ve seen from this era, the cost-cutting techniques used are both effective and mostly convincing. (For example, if you don’t pay too much attention, no notice will be taken that the “doll” versions of the people in the display case are two-dimensional cutouts instead of fully-three dimensional figures. The actors try to never turn them in such a way to ruin the illusion.)

While certainly watchable and even enjoyable if you’re a fan of 1950s science fiction films, it’s not a classic nor really worth revisiting after a single viewing. It does make for an excellent way to spend a mindless day in front of the television.