28. The Blob, Steve McQueen and the Rising Teen

As usual there are spoilers ahead!

 

Somewhere in the late 1950s society began to come to terms with the idea of the teenager. Teens were heading to the cinema leaving younger siblings and parents at home. The Blob (1958) isn‘t a tale of rebellion or film warning about teenage delinquency but a thoroughly enjoyable time with a catchy theme tune.

 

I have two wonderful guests to help us unravel this classic 1950s sci-fi.

 

The Experts

Roger Luckhurst is a Professor at Birkbeck, University of London. He has written/edited numerous  of articles and books on cultural history and film.

 

Matthew Rule Jones is a senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Exeter and the author of Science Fiction Cinema and 1950s Britain: Recontextualising Cultural Anxiety.

 

00:00 Introduction

03:22 The origins of the film

06:05 Moral panic, the teenager and the AIP film formula

11:36 Red scare as red herring: Jello and suburbia

16:25 The intention vs the interpretation of films

17:32 The Blob

20:00 The theme song vs the earnest tone

24:15 The cinema scene and self-reflection

28:32 The double bill offering

29:56 Steve McQueen: The adult teen

39:10 What are we gonna do?

39:40 Legacy: Sequels and the education system

48:55 Recommendations for the listener

 

THE NEXT EPISODE

The next episode we will focus on the film I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958). You can buy or rent the film from many outlets or check the Just Watch website to see where it may be streaming in your region

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