Matthew Jones

The British Reception of 1950s Science Fiction Cinema A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2011 Matthew William Jones School of Arts, Histories and Cultures Contents Abstract!!!!!!!!!!3 Declaration!!!!!!!!!!4 Copyright Statement!!!!!!!!5 Acknowledgements!!!!!!!!!6 Introduction!!!!!!!!!!7 Chapter One: Contexts and Approaches!!!!!45 ! Section A: The Invading Other!!!!!! Chapter Two: The Communist and the Other in 1950s Science Fiction!98 !Cinema"s Depersonalisation Narratives Chapter Three: Immigration and the Other in 1950s Science Fiction!135 !Cinema"s Alien Encounter Narratives ! Section B: Science and Technology!! ! ! ! Chapter Four: Nuclear Technology and 1950s Science Fiction!!174 !Cinema"s Creature Features Chapter Five: Imperial Decline, American Invasion and Technology!! 212 !in 1950s Science Fiction Cinema Conclusion!!!!!!!!!!255 Bibliography!!!!!!!!!!267 Media Sources!!!!!!!!!291 Filmography!!!!!!!!!!294 Word Count: 80,167 2 Abstract The University of Manchester Matthew William Jones Doctor of Philosophy #The British Reception of 1950s Science Fiction Cinema" 2011 !Scholarship on 1950s American science fiction cinema has tended to explore the relationship between these films and their domestic contexts of production and reception. They are often characterised as reflections of US anxieties about communism and nuclear technology. However, many such films were exported to Britain where these concerns were articulated and understood differently. The ways in which this different national context of reception shaped British interpretations of American science fiction cinema of this era has not yet been accounted for. Similarly, although some research has addressed 1950s British science fiction, this scholarship has been comparatively concise and has left gaps in our knowledge about the domestic reception of these films. Unable to draw on a British reception history of domestic and US 1950s science fiction cinema, debates about the genre have sometimes been underpinned by the presumption that western audiences responded to these films in a uniform manner. This thesis seeks to complicate our understanding of the genre by suggesting the specificity of the British reception history of science fiction cinema during the 1950s. !The paucity of documentary evidence of British responses to 1950s science fiction films makes an audience study impossible. Within the intellectual framework of the New Film History, this thesis instead employs a contextually- activated approach to reception. Making extensive use of archival sources, newsreels, newspapers, magazines and other such documentary evidence, it explores some of the different contexts in which 1950s science fiction cinema was received in Britain and suggests how these factors might have shaped the interpretation of the genre. !The thesis examines the interplay between American and British 1950s science fiction cinema and the British public understanding of communism, immigration, nuclear technology and scientific advancement. It contributes to our knowledge of these films by demonstrating that Britons did not necessarily understand 1950s science fiction cinema in the same way as Americans because they were party to a differently inflected series of public debates. It exposes the flexibility of the metaphors utilised by the genre during this period and their susceptibility to reinterpretation in different national contexts. This research makes visible, in a more extensive manner than has yet been accomplished, the specificity of the British reception history of 1950s science fiction cinema, and thereby provides a means to resist assumptions about the similarity of western audiences during this decade. Its conclusions call for further research into other national reception histories of these films, so that they too are not overshadowed by the better known American history of the genre, and into the possibility that the British reception history of other genres might similarly have been obscured. 3 Declaration No portion of the work referred to in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. 4 Copyright Statement i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/medialibrary/ policies/intellectual- property.pdf), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library"s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University"s policy on presentation of Theses. 5 Acknowledgements I am grateful for the support of the following people and institutions: David Butler, who has been an exemplary doctoral supervisor throughout this process and has enthusiastically encouraged my development as a researcher, a teacher and a Doctor Who fan. Felicia Chan, Rajinder Dudrah, Victoria Lowe and Jackie Stacey, who have given their time and guidance at various points during this project. Peter Hutchings and Victoria Lowe (again!), whose useful advice during my viva voce examination showed me a way out of some of the traps that I had thought myself into. Simon Spiegel, who read and offered insightful feedback on an early draft of the second chapter. Linda Kaye at the British Universities Film and Video Council, who introduced me to their fascinating News on Screen project and its database of digitised newsreel footage over a serendipitous dinner in Chicago. Dave Gargani, director of the compelling documentary Monsters from the Id (2009), who supplied me with a copy of his film. The Insight Collections and Research Centre at the National Media Museum in Bradford and its staff, who ensured that my visits were both profitable and enjoyable. The National Archives and its staff, who made it possible to examine many of the historical documents that inform this research. The British Film Institute National Library and its staff, whose generous help is reflected in the wealth of material that I returned home with. The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History in Albuquerque, New Mexico and its staff, who relieved me of a number of misconceptions about atomic age America. The Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association, who financed my visits to the BFI and the National Media Museum through the generous prize money that was awarded to my research at the 2008 conference in Cardiff. The Drama Department at the University of Manchester, who provided me with regular teaching work to help fund this project. The School of Arts, Histories and Cultures at the University of Manchester, whose Postgraduate Research Travel Award allowed me to visit the Science Fiction Foundation Masterclass in 2010 in London, where the tutors and my fellow students offered useful advice and kind support. Ashley Brown, Christine Gilroy, Jane Jones, Kevin Jones and Graham Rees, my volunteer army of proofreaders. Chris Hansen, Niall Harrison, Roz Kaveney, Cynthia Miller, Abigail Nussbaum and Jennifer Stoy, who have each provided me with the opportunity to publish work that I have completed alongside my doctoral research. Finally, my friends and family, who all deserve more than mere thanks for the support, encouragement and tolerance that they have afforded me during these last four years. 6 Introduction !A nuclear test takes place in the Arctic Circle. The explosion melts the ice that has kept a gigantic, reptilian beast in a deep sleep since prehistoric times. Once awoken, the creature carves a path of destruction along North America"s Atlantic coast, ending in a deadly rampage through New York City. This sequence of events, which forms the plot of the American 1950s science fiction film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), has tended to be interpreted in both the academic and popular writing on 1950s science fiction cinema as a metaphorical representation of US Cold War anxieties about nuclear weaponry, with the monster serving as an embodiment of the dangerous potential of the explosion that released it.1 Drawing on the seminal work of Susan

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