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Part two of our look at how the social upheavals of the 1950s influenced Hollywood cinema, we move ahead to 1956 and a film that plumbs the depths of that society's xenophobia! Directed by Don Siegel, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" tells the story of Dr. Miles J. Bennell (Kevin McCarthy), a physician who returns from a medical convention to his small town and discovers strange goings-on: People convinced their loved ones are not who they used to be, patients booking appointments and, the next day, canceling claiming they're feeling much better, and seemingly dead bodies with incomplete features appearing in various homes across town. After reuniting with his former love Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter), Dr. Bennell is called to the home of two friends, Jack (King Donovan) and Teddy (Carolyn Jones) Belicec, who show him a body that has some resemblance to Jack. Through a series of investigations, Dr. Bennell and Becky discover that the threat is much more severe than even they anticipated, and they set about trying to escape the town, to warn the rest of the world about the impending disaster bearing down on the entire planet! Plus, the trio unveil a pairing dedicated to another actor the world lost in 2023!

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The 1950s, as a decade, was tumultuous in its own way, and that never appeared in cinema more strongly than in the science fiction and horror films of that time! With that in mind, we offer, for your listening pleasure, a pairing of films from those years which are more than they seem! First up, from 1951, a film that speaks to American's concern about the impact of the growing reliance on atomic power, both as an energy source and in our weapons. Directed by Robert Wise, in 1951's "The Day the Earth Stood Still," a visitor from outer space descends on Washington DC, and from it steps a figure who identifies himself as Klaatu (Michael Rennie). He is accompanied by a giant robot named Gort (Lock Martin), and informs those gathered that he will speak his mission only to the assembled leaders of all the nations of earth. After a misunderstanding which results in Klaatu being shot and captured, he escapes to wander among the people of the city. He meets Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby (Billy Gray), and Helen's boyfriend Tom Stevens (Hugh Marlowe), and takes a room in their boarding house. After he and Bobby try to get in to see noted scientis Professor Jacob Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe), Klaatu reveals himself to Helen and the two of them go on-the-run to try to return Klaatu to his ship before Gort destroys the earth! A film with societal angst fairly seeping through every line, it sends a message of worry for the future of humanity through an entertaining look at first contact!

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The the second film in our 80s teen comedies pairing, we turn to an early appearance of the actor who would go on to become a sex symbol on "Grey's Anatomy," Patrick Dempsey! In 1987's "Can't Buy Me Love," directed by Steve Rash, Dempsey plays Ronald Miller, a geek with aspirations to join the popular crowd. When his next-door neighbor (and long-time crush) Cindy Mancini (Amanda Peterson) ruins her mother's suede outfit (which she was wearing without permission), Ronald seizes the opportunity to make a deal with her: In exchange for spending $1000 on a new suede outfit to replace the ruined one, Cindy has to pretend to be Ronald's girlfriend for a month. He believes this will catapult him into the popular crowd. Cindy agrees and the experiment begins, with Ronald gaining in popularity and Cindy coming to see who he really is... and liking what she sees. Of course, the movie has several twists as most teen comedies do, and a couple moral lessons thrown in for good measure, but everything works out for the best by the end. The film also stars Courtney Gains, Tina Caspary, Seth Green, Darcy DeMoss, Devin DeVasquez, Eric Bruskotter, and Ami Dolenz! Plus, the guys unveil a classic sci-fi pairing over half a century in the making!

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This pairing revolves around 80s teen comedies, but we begin with the one that has held up the best through the years, the one that today's high school and college-age students are still watching! The year was 1985, and the undisputed king of teen comedies was John Hughes. For this film, he put together a group of five young actors in a story about a single Saturday in high school detention and called it "The Breakfast Club." Starring Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall, Paul Gleason, and John Kapelos, the film chronicles what happened the day a beauty queen, a jock, a burn-out, a geek, and a basket case were forced to spend the day together. Through antagonism, mockery, tolerance, revelation, and confession, the five kids from different cliches and walks of life overcome their prejudices and find a way to come together and truly understand each other! This is THE film that the majority of today's students choose when given all of the films of the 1980s to write a paper on, a testament to its lasting message!

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