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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Friday, February 19, 2016

The Lost Missile (1958)

Starring Robert Loggia, Ellen Parker, Phillip Pine, Larry Kerr, Marilee Earle
Directed by William Berke
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Two atomic scientists in love have to put their planned wedding on hold when an unidentified missile begins scorching the Earth with million-degree heat.

With this picture primarily assembled from stock footage to convey the plot line of Earth's nations and military preparing for a deadly attack, Berke and his crew do an admirable job of editing that footage together with scenes with the film's actors as well as their special effects sequences.  The combined film meshes well together, although its singular focus on the impending doom, and the sheer volume of the stock footage, makes for a rather stale production until things liven up at the end when Loggia puts everything on the line for the sake of the world.   It's also fairly disappointing that when the origins of "the lost missile" are finally revealed there's no time to spend on exploring where it came from or the motives of those who launched it.  After growing up seeing Loggia in countless character parts, it's interesting to see him here, although short shrift is given to the love story involving him and Parker.

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