Monster On The Campus (1958)

Starring Arthur Franz, Joanna Moore, Judson Pratt, Nancy Walters, Troy Donahue
Directed by Jack Arnold
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A professor of science brings a giant prehistoric fish to his university but discovers too late the creature's blood transforms anything that swallows it into a savage beast of the past. 

An entertaining sci-fi/horror romp from Universal-International with some worthy creature effects, I've always been fond of this picture, although it's probably one of the lesser regarded films of director Jack Arnold.  It's not on the same level as Creature From The Black Lagoon and The Incredible Shrinking Man, but it's a lot of fun, with Franz as the obsessed scientist who cares more about his experiments than his college lectures, Pratt as the no-nonsense police detective who has to start believing in the fantastic, and the always welcome Ross Elliott as his ill-fated partner.  Plenty of great Universal cues are tracked into the music score, including a generous sampling from Son Of Frankenstein once a neanderthal man appears on the scene.  Although the film's somewhat predictable, it's still enjoyable viewing everytime I revisit it.

Countdown (1967)

Starring James Caan, Joanna Moore, Robert Duvall, Barbara Baxley, Charles Aidman
Directed by Robert Altman
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

As NASA ramps up efforts to land a man on the moon before the Russians can, they change their choice for the astronaut, giving him only three weeks to train for the mission.

A realistic imagining of the behind-the-scenes preparations for the first lunar mission, this film has a timely resonance, released only a year before Neil Armstrong actually set foot on the moon.  Drama is mined from the original astronaut being passed over, the impact of the new astronaut's mission on his wife, and a concerned doctor trying to talk him out of the mission, well-conveyed by a fine cast including Caan, Moore, Duvall, and Aidman.  However, the film doesn't really become exciting until the rocket takes off, culminating in a climactic sequence on the moon highlighted by a fantastic lunar set.