Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 55 Trivia Quiz

Answer: pretending to vacation; robbing a bank

Alexander Ward is the leader of a small gang of robbers: Marty and Byron. Gypsy is his secretary/girlfriend. They come to Deadwood and ski, as a cover for their real mission. They rob a bank in Deadwood of gold bars kept in the safe there. Then they continue to vacation so as to arouse no suspicion.

Answer: The Enormous Mole Monster

"The Colossus of New York" (1958) is about a man's brain in a robot's body. "War of the Colossal Beast" (1958) is the sequel to "The Amazing Colossal Man" (1957). "Gigantis the Fire Monster" (1959) is an American re-editing and dubbing of the Japanese film "Godzilla Raids Again" (1955).

There was a French comedy movie called "Enormous" in 2019. There was a British animated children's film made for television in 1997 called "The Enormous Crocodile". But there does not appear to have been a motion picture called "The Enormous Mole Monster".

Answer: a spinal parasite

Dr. Warren Chapin, a pathologist played by Vincent Price, discovers a parasite which grows on the spinal column. One is about sixteen inches long and looks rather like an earwig with pincers on both ends. When a person is frightened and feels a tingling sensation running up and down the spine, it is caused by a tingler. Unless killed, it is capable of killing the person to whom it is attached.

Answer: Dean Jagger

Jagger appeared mostly in American movies but traveled to Great Britain to star in "X: The Unknown". The role was quite different from his "White Christmas" role as a retired army general and innkeeper. Dr. Adam Royston is a scientist employed at the Atomic Energy Laboratory near which the first mysterious deaths occur.

He and Mac McGill, played by Leo McKern, of the UK Atomic Energy Commission, are assigned to investigate.

Answer: Astronians

The Astronians were named for their planet of origin: Astron Delta. It was the fourth planet in a solar system with a sun that was burning out. They had been forced to move from their planet to find a home for a billion people. Earth was their choice.

Answer: a novel by Bram Stoker

Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" (1897) is an epistolary novel in the sense that it is a collection of writings -- diary entries, personal letters, newspaper articles -- rather than a text related by a narrator. It has been adapted, literally and generally, into both motion pictures and stage plays. Cinematic adaptations include F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu" (1922), Béla Lugosi in "Dracula" (1931), and Christopher Lee in "Horror of Dracula" (1958).

Answer: hot coffee, hard tack and vitamin pills

Despite over a month of space travel and five days on the Martian surface, little attention is given to dietary and culinary matters in "The Angry Red Planet". There is a scene where Dr. Iris "Irish" Ryan attends to opening cans for dinner, perhaps because she is the only woman on the crew.

In another, Chief Jacobs makes a sort of "come and get it" announcement offering as breakfast of "hot coffee, hardtack, and vitamin pills".

Answer: acting

Sally Fraser (1932-2019) was an actress born in North Dakota who played in many science fiction and horror films. She also took roles in Westerns, both on film and television. She was possessed by an alien in "It Conquered the World" (1956), a Roger Corman film.

She was the giant's sister in "War of the Colossal Beast" 1958). She also appeared in "Giant from the Unknown" (1958) and "Earth vs. the Spider" (1958).

Answer: Japan

"The Mysterians" begins in a small village near the foot of Mount Fuji where an annual festival is being held. This village is promptly wiped out by what appears to be a giant earthquake. Then a dome appears in the countryside near Mount Fuji, which dome is transparent and impervious to military attack. Inside are the Mysterians who have a list of demands.

Answer: They are after Professor King's invention.

George Thomas, Professor King's assistant at the Pacific College of Oceanography, is interested in selling the results of the professor's work to a foreign power. He kills the scientist's secretary in the process. The man-made light in the ocean can apparently be developed into a nuclear weapon.

The spies are led by Spy Chief Wanda, played by Helene Stanton, whose primary skills and activities involve being at the beach in a revealing (for 1955) bikini.