Irwin Allen’s Flight 612

Just got back from a wonderful Sunday in San Juan Capistrano CA to visit the historical  California Mission ‘Mission San Juan Capistrano, and a tribute to the many incarnations of Zorro on film.

Among the various displays there was a wonderful tribute to the great Disney television series, and our very own Guy Williams! Many artifacts and collectibles were on display, including toys, charm bracelets, as well as a ‘pitch book’ to sell the series to Walt Disney. There was also movie posters like ‘The Mark of Zorro’ and much much more.

To add to the atmosphere, there was also a film running with clips from the old serials as well as the movies and of course the Disney series with Guy Williams. All in all the folks at the Mission did a wonderful job with the exhibit, and we had a great time seeing all the goodies on display and seeing all the visitor’s reaction to this legendary hero.

It’s interesting to note that Guy went on to do a couple of films after Zorro, Captain Sindbad for one, then went on to do a couple of episodes of Bonanza (which almost became a regular role for him) before getting the part of John Robinson on Lost in Space!

The exhibit runs until August 31, 2010 and definitely worth checking out! -Lars & Cynthia

Finally, Irwin Allen’s Amazing Captain Nemo is out on DVD! This was originally aired back in 1978 as a 3 part mini-series, it then had theatrical release in Europe as the ‘Amazing Captain Nemo’ some familair Irwin Allen actors such as Jose Ferrer, Warren Stevens, and Burr DeBenning are in the film. Lots of fun, in this underwater Sci-Fi adventure, you don’t want to miss this release!

Tomorrow, Warner Archives will be releasing 5 of Irwin’s TV movies and you can get the whole collection for half price, $55.95. You get Flood!, Fire! Hanging by a Thread, The Night the Bridge Fell Down and Cave-in!. Exclamation points at no extra charge.

We’ll be buying them, and I really should review them. They’re loaded with all of your favorite actors from the 70’s and they have all those wonderful cliche disaster moments that have been copied a hundred times over ever since.

If you’re a fan of disaster films, TV movies, or Irwin Allen, you won’t want to pass up this deal. Click here.

Sci-Fi and Fantasy Modeller Volume 16

Presenting Volume Sixteen of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Modeller the must-have softcover, perfect bound title that offers 100 all-color pages of exclusive science fiction and fantasy modelling coverage coupled with superb photography. This new, feature-packed issue includes:
A Major build exclusive on the new Moebius Jupiter II kit
Space:1999 hot new Swift kit – making the master for an amazing new kit
Silent Running – creating large-scale drone replicas
Scratchbuilding a Blake’s 7 teleport bracelet
2001: A Space Odyssey – Russian Titov shuttle build
Scratchbuilt Indiana Jones revolver
Iron Man limited edition kit build
Plus much, much more to thrill sci-fi and fantasy genre modelers

Publishes January 20^th., 2010.

Irwin Allen’s proposed fifth series pilot film “City Beneath the Sea” has finally been released on DVD by Warner Archives!

This great production, with its high production values, great all star cast, and excellent miniature work is a slightly overlooked film by one of the great masters of Sci-Fi Irwin Allen.

This will be of great welcome by Irwin Allen & Sci-Fi fans everywhere!

I wrote a bigger post about this over at Cynthia’s site SFUniverse.com. Please go and read it.

Lars

Just finished this wonderful Moebius models 1/32 scale Flying Sub.

I had a blast building and finishing this wonderful vessle from Irwin Allen’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea…designed by long time associate art director Bill Creber and Irwin himself! this timeless design lives on in the imagination of fans and modelers.

The flight crew are converted (just slightly)  “Crows Nest miniatures” figures. The interior is completely lit with LED’s and fiber optics, including the swirling fusion lights. I airbrushed the exterior in Tamiya acrylics, and the interior in a combo of Tamiya & Vallejo acrylics.

This is my second (and not last time!) visiting this wonderful “star” from the great T.V. series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

For more photos please visit:  larslil.com

Deanna Lund, Don Matheson & Don Marshall recently appeared at the Beverly Garland Hotel in Burbank CA. Also, appearing was Ann Robinson and Warren Stevens.

There was a recent Land of the Giants convention in New Jersey called Chiller, where four cast members appeared. Deanna Lund looks stunning!

Ann Robinson, who is still keeping the War of the Worlds flame burning, looks fantastic as well! Warren Stevens, a recurring guest on both Giants and Voyage, and is most recognized among genre/Sci-Fi fans for his role in the 1950’s classic Forbidden Planet.

Click here to see more photos from this event at PR Photos.

Cynthia an I just returned from a visit to the Los Angeles maritime museum in San Pedro. The main reason for going was to meet one of the stars from Irwin Allen’s The Poseidon Adventure…the “SS Poseidon” filming miniature.

When we got there, we went to the exhibit room upstairs, and what we saw was truly amazing. The model is HUGE…at 21 1/2 feet long, and a weight of 1 Ton!

We couldn’t believe it, the sheer size alone was a spectacle to behold! The plaque on the wall mentions that some damage had occured during filming of the explosion sequences, and needed a little restoration before being used in advertising, and then finally making its way to the San Pedro museum.

We talked with the curator of the museum and found out the model has been there for 25 years, and has wheels on the wooden base. Apparently, 20th century fox’s prop department was starting to overflow, and the museum was able to obtain it.

The other thing that struck us about seeing this model there, was, that it was all lot like meeting one of the stars of the film. After all it is, the main character in the movie…really.

Many fans visit this unique part of movie history, we were told. For anyone planning to visit the museum, its well worth it, you can also go a few miles down the road to Long Beach and see the actual “Queen Mary” where the filming was done.

Just finished up this great Lunar Models 24″ Jupiter 2. A ton of work but well worth it. After several months of sanding, scratch building, and converting/sculpting new figures…not to mention full lighting for the interior cockpit, Dome & chaser lights on the fushion core, I finally have a BIG Jupiter 2 that I’ve always wanted. The model finished in Tamiya metallics, and weathered in pastels.

A lot of care was taken to maintain the delicate balance and overall “look”. Much time was spent surfacing/sanding, filling and re-sanding to get a nice and acceptable  surface for painting.

The Jupiter 2 has a most intriguing design by Bill Creber. This design was passed through Robert Kinoshita’s Art direction and is now one of Sci-Fi TV’s  greatest stars!

Just got back from a most wonderful and inspiring 2 day getaway, our trip involved a visit to the Performing Arts Archives to see “The Irwin Allen Papers”…as well as a tour of Warner Bros. studio…first up, was an appointment with the UCLA library to go through about five boxes of material covering Irwin Allen’s big four, we went through a ton of paper! and found a lot of very interesting info.

Our first box, was Land of the Giants “The Crash”, and we discovered a lot of interesting little facts about the production costs, script revisions, miniatures/Bill Abbott and much more!

An interesting note to Bill Abbott, for the sequence with the Spindrift in space, it mentions to have the space ship travel from left to right, don’t lurch it, then do lurch it. Use big half planet cut out with fog for approach.

Gary Conway’s Steve Burton profile was mentioned also,-Dark, Handsome, Affable, reasonably modest six footer in his late twenties.

Apparently, Nathan Juran was contracted to direct episode 1 and 3 of LIS and LOTG as of June ‘67, but Irwin changed the contract to direct himself…also, storyboard sketches had a giant cat claw through the rear cabin of the Spindrift, as well as Steve battling a giant Tarantula!

Budget overages, pointed out, that shooting went over by 10 days due to script revisions, materials, and stenographic labor increased. Lots of very interesting story boards, pre-production art, wages, and notes were in the file.

A final shot in the pilot shows Major Kagen’s tape recorder on the ground, a note states to get the actor’s voice on tape. This was bumped, because they decided to move “The Weird World” episode (the second one filmed) until several episodes later.

We were amazed at the effort that went into this pilot, but it really shows well…amazing special effects, gorgeous sets, great action, effective Directing by Irwin Allen (with very interesting camera angles) and all around perfect “Mood” setting, (you really had the feeling of SCOPE) it really felt like a GIANT and alien world, the characters were all solid, along with a good script…what a ride!

Time Tunnel “Rendezvous with Yesterday” was next, and quite interesting to say the least, production sketches showing the opening sequences were very interesting…filmed out in Coyote Dry Lake in Barstow, the scene in which the Senator and Robert Colbert (en route to The Time Tunnel) drive through the desert and disappear down below the surface is actually a hole/ramp dug in the desert! (miniatures were considered) but Irwin knew what he wanted!

Another very interesting notation was characters that were considerations, for “Ann” Joan Marshall and Barbara Bain were runner ups, as well as Barry Atwater for “Dr. Swain”, and for “Althea”, Juliet Mills or Samantha Egar, for the part of “Senator Clark”, Carol O’Connor, Henry Jones and J.D. Cannon were all considerations.

The elaborate sets for the Titanic had a budget of $10,000, and was very well executed, the pilot really plays more like a movie, than a T.V. show, beautifully produced and photographed and excellent Directing by Irwin Allen.

Some of the story ideas noted 1956, 1927, 1863, 200,000 B.C….and under the “Standards and Practices” caution was noted, that the prehistoric Reptile might cause nightmares in “next weeks Adventure”

Perhaps the most interesting find was several Polaroid Pictures, for continuity purposes, among them were shots of Dennis Hopper (Actually in the pilot, but cut due to running over time) he played the part of a masquerading woman, who tries to get aboard a life boat.

Another fun piece of trivia was the hotel Irwin and the crew stayed at, “The Desert Inn” in Barstow for the filming of the opening…Irwin’s room was Suite 23…as a side note we checked around on the internet and found that it’s still there!

Part 2 will cover LOST IN SPACE & VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA…

Lars & Cynthia