Village of the Giants

cast

Tommy Kirk, Joy Harmon, Johnny Crawford, Beau Bridges, Ronny Howard, Toni Basil, Tim Rooney, Tisha Sterling, Gail Gilmore, Jim Begg, the Beau Brummels, Freddy Cannon, and Mike Clifford. Directed by Bert I. Gordon.

plot synopsis

Village of the Giants is a later Bert I. Gordon film which relied on Mr. BIG's trick of enlarging actors to look gigantic, or reducing them in size to appear small (as he did in 1958's Attack of the Puppet People). While Gordon was very successful in his 1950s sci-fi productions, his career had begun to wane. Here, in Village of the Giants, Gordon tries to graft his own style on that of the beach party genre (but without the beach).

This time around, Bert Gordon's giants are not created by a nuclear accident; rather, a mysterious substance called "goo" is discovered by 12-year-old Ronny Howard in his basement laboratory. Consuming goo seems to make everything grow, including a cat, a dog, and a duck, so a group of out-of-town bad kids, led by Beau Bridges and Tim Rooney, steals the goo and eats it. All six teenages grow to 50-foot heights and try to gain political power in the town by virtue of their size. Their main show of strength comes when the gigantic kids walk to the center of town and begin a furious Watusi in front of the horrified townsfolk, who all seem to be about 20 years old. But Tommy Kirk, Johnny Crawford, Toni Basil, Ronny Howard, and Jim Begg finally manage to reduce the evil kids to their normal size by the movie's end.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the film happens when Toni Basil does a mean pony in a cage above the crowd, and watching the actors dance to some excellent 1960s go-go music is fun, too.

music

As with most beach-party genre movies, there is great music here; Freddy Cannon of Palisades Park and Tallahassee Lassie fame sings Little Bitty Corrine, and Mike Clifford performs Marianne, but the Beau Brummels steal the show, singing the hits When it Comes to Your Love and Woman in the Hainesville discoteque.

A San Francisco-based band, the Beau Brummels were one of the first serious threats to the British Invasion groups in the mid 1960s and were sometimes mistaken as British. For the first two albums, the band's line-up consisted of lead singer Sal Valentino, drummer John Petersen, bassist Ron Meagher, guitarist and songwriter Ron Elliot, and second guitarist and sometime lead singer Declan Mulligan, the only non-American among the group (Mulligan was from Ireland). All scenes in Village of the Giants with the Beau Brummels were shot in one day at the famed Whisky-A-Go-Go.

Indeed, 1965 was a good year for the Beau Brummels, having three top 40 singles: Laugh, Laugh (No. 15 in January 1965); Just a Little (No. 8 in May 1965); and You Tell Me Why (No. 38 in August 1965). In addition to appearing in Village of the Giants, the group made appearances on Shindig, Hullaballoo, and even The Flintstones. Just when the band was poised for great success, its label, Autumn, folded, and the band's contract was sold to Warner Bros. But the new label wasn't too successful in promoting the band. The group recorded three albums for Warner Bros. until disbanding in 1968. Read more about the Beau Brummels at Beau Brummels.com.

trivia

• Declan Mulligan left the Beau Brummels in July 1965, shortly after the making of Village of the Giants.
• Also, one of the last scenes of the film is shot on the exterior lot of the 1964-1972 ABC TV series Bewitched; if you look closely, you can spot Darrin and Samantha's house in the background.
• Toni Basil got her start in show business as a go-go dancer.
• Tim Rooney, a one-time Mouseketeer, is the son of actor Mickey Rooney.
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans will remember Village of the Giants as episode #519, an early Mike Nelson appearance.

village of the giants dvds available

links

The Unofficial Fanpage of Village of the Giants
See this site for cast biographies, photos, links, and more!

Beau Brummels.com
This is the official web site for the Beau Brummels, with information about the band, along with available CD's and photos.

The Fabulous Beau Brummels
The Fabulous Beau Brummels site contains lots of information about the career of this San Francisco-based mid 1960s band. You'll find bios on the band members, information about their albums, and more.

Visit the Tommy Kirk page at Brian's Drive-In Theater

Visit the Joy Harmon page at Brian's Drive-In Theater

village of the giants photos and posters available

village of the giants books available