I watched the 1958 Universal International black and white motion picture The Thing That Couldn’t Die on Svengoolie. Jessica has the power to use her divining forked stick to find water, and other items like a watch or wedding ring. This time she finds a buried copper chest, with writing in it, and she knows it is evil and should not be opened. The ranch hand gets the slow witted handyman to break into the box, before an archeologist can get there to examine it, where he finds a disembodied head that telepathically controls his mind.
Gordon is played by William Reynolds (Francis Goes to West Point, Cult of the Cobra, The Land Unknown, TV series The Gallant Men and special agent Tom Colby on the F.B.I.), Jessica is Carolyn Kearney (Damn Citizen, 4 episodes of Lassie, 1 each on Twilight Zone, Bonanza, Ben Casey, Wagon Train, Hazel, Route 66, The Virginian), Jeffrey Stone (model for the 1950 Walt Disney Cinderella, D’Artagnan in the Three Musketeers, he wrote the sci-fi film Unearthly Stranger),
Peggy Converse (The Devil’s Henchmen, appeared in TV episodes on Mike Hammer, Perry Mason, The Danny Thomas Show, The Ropers, Mister Ed),
the severed head is Robin Hughes (The Mole People, appeared in TV episodes on Zorro, Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, The Saint), Andra Martin (Up Periscope, Yellowstone Kelly, appeared in TV episodes on Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, Cheyenne, Wagon Train),
James Anderson (Donovan’s Brain, To Kill a Mockingbird, I Married a Monster from Outer Space), Charles Horvath (Appears in lots of TV episodes on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Space Patrol, Cheyenne, Broken Arrow, Mike Hammer, Peter Gunn, Bonanza, Wagon Train, The Untouchables, Rawhide, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,
Batman, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart, I Dream of Jeannie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Andy Griffith Show, Mission: Impossible, Mannix, Mod Squad, High Chaparral)
and Forrest Lewis (Francis Covers the Big Town, Walt Disney’s The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, also in Riot on Sunset Strip, Skin Game). The Thing That Couldn’t Die was written by
David Duncan (Paramount’s first 3-D film, Sangaree, Monster on the Campus, The Time Machine, Fantastic Voyage, the English narrative for Rodan) and
produced and directed by Will Cowan. Director of photography was by Russell Metty (Monster on the Campus, Spartacus, The Omega Man, Ben) and the special photography was by
Clifford Stine (Earthquake, Patton, Spartacus, Operation Petticoat, Monster on Campus, The Monolith Monsters, The Land Unknown, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Island Earth, It Came from Outer Space , The Son of Kong, King Kong).
The music for the movie opening was borrowed from This Island Earth and the first time we see the scary head is from The Creature of the Black Lagoon. I liked this movie and will give it 3 out of 5 stars. For more information read Wikipedia, IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes.
