Main Cast: Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, Don Randolph, Patrick Conway
Release Year: 1957
Country: US
Run Time: 79 minutes
Plot
This is the one in which the "villain" is a huge, carnivorous praying mantis. After the titular insect has attacked several people in a remote Arctic region, Col. Joe Parkham (Craig Stevens) swings into action. Parkham and his associates, Dr. Ned Jackson (William Hopper) and Ned's assistant Margie Blake (Alix Talton), track the predatory mantis as it heads southward to Washington DC (how did it get past customs?) The green monstrosity meets its Waterloo in "Manhattan Tunnel", where it is bombarded with poison gas (a little Raid or Black Flag might have come in handy). Some of the Arctic scenes in The Deadly Mantis were clumsily culled from the 1933 drama SOS Iceberg and a handful of Air Force training films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Florenz Ames - Prof. Anton Gunther; Paul L. Smith - Corporal; Phil Harvey - Lou; Floyd Simmons - Army Sergeant; Paul Campbell - Lt. Fred Pizar; William Anders - Sergeant; William A. Forester - Announcer; Tom Greenway - Second Reporter; Jess Kirkpatrick - Father; James Lanphier - Col. Hervey; George Lynn - Bus Driver; David McMahon - Capt. Frank Carver; Skipper McNally - Policeman; Dick Paxton - Plotter; Bing Russell - Trouper; Harry Tyler - Spectator; Sumner Williams - Pilot; John Close - Engineer; Helen Jay - Mr. Farley; Ernesto Morelli - Italian Fisherman; Jack Mather - Officer
Credit
Robert Clatworthy - Art Director, Alexander Golitzen - Art Director, Jay A. Morley, Jr. - Costume Designer, William Holland - First Assistant Director, Nathan Juran - Director, Chester Schaeffer - Editor, Joseph E. Gershenson - Composer (Music Score), William Lava - Composer (Music Score), Henry Mancini - Composer (Music Score), Bud Westmore - Makeup, Ellis W. Carter - Cinematographer, William Alland - Producer, Oliver Emert - Set Designer, Russell A. Gausman - Set Designer, Fred Knoth - Special Effects, Leslie I. Carey - Sound/Sound Designer, Martin Berkeley - Screenwriter
In February 1997, The Deadly Mantis was featured as an episode of movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Plot
A sudden geologic shift in the Arctic frees a 200-foot-long prehistoric praying mantis from a glacier in which it had become frozen alive. A United States military outpost on the DEW Line, commanded by Col. Parkman (Stevens), becomes the center for investigation after the creature destroys a transport plane. The only clue to the culprit (which has not yet been seen by anyone who's lived) is a fragment of the mantis' claw, which is sent to Washington D.C. where a young paleontologist, Dr. Ned Jackson (Hopper) identifies its origin and sets off, with his photographer-aide Marge Blaine (Talton), to assist the investigation.
Before any of them can accomplish much, the mantis attacks and destroys the outpost, despite attempts to repel it with military rifles and flame-throwers. The mantis then flies off and Parkman, Jackson and Blaine, who have survived, return to Washington. Radar tracking and witness reports confirm the insect is heading along the Eastern seabord southeast towards the Capitol, where it lands on the Washington Monument. After being chased off by fighters it heads up to New York, where an aircraft finally inflicts a major blow. The injured mantis takes refuge in the Holland Tunnel, where the military is finally able to kill it with nerve gas.
Further reading
Genevieve Rajewski (2006). Introducing the Deadly Mantis. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 1404208488.
