Main Cast: Tom Poston, Julia Meade, Jim Backus, Fred Clark, Cecil Kellaway
Release Year: 1962
Country: US
Run Time: 87 minutes
Plot
TV actor Tom Poston stars as Prof. Jonathan Jones in this early feature-film appearance, a standard comedy-fantasy oriented to the youngsters. The good professor has come into possession of "zotz," a coin that has three magical properties. It can either cause intense pain if its bearer points an accusing finger at an intended victim or it can make things move in slow-motion, with the right command. If the accusatory finger and the command are used simultaneously, the victim dies. Naturally, just about everyone wants this coin. The hapless professor is soon involved in problems at school, at the Pentagon, and worse yet, with a group of commie agents who have their own designs on the coin. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
Zotz!, William Castle's adaptation of Walter Karig's satirical allegory, comes across as Castle's version of a live-action Disney film of the period. It's family-friendly; has a naïve hero thrust in the middle of chaotic action; and features silly professors, too-professional government agents, and even wily foreign evildoers (although these are very definitely Russian, rather than undefined, as was frequently the case with Disney). It's also silly and meaningless, and takes pains to bowdlerize a great deal of Karig's original story and significantly alter the ending. As a result, what could have been an interesting and unusual comedy for adults is, instead, a fairly routine, if amusing, comedy for kids. Still, Zotz! is entertaining, and it benefits from a sweet central performance from Tom Poston and some enjoyable supporting turns from Jim Backus and Cecil Kellaway. Castle and Ray Russell's direction is a little too broad; Castle was always better when letting humor be a minor undercurrent, rather the main goal of the film. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Zeme North - Cynthia Jones; Margaret Dumont - Persephone Updike; James Millhollin - Dr. Kroner; Carl Don - Josh Bates; Mike Mazurki - Igor; Jim Hawkins - Jimmy Kellgore; Bart Patton - Mr. Crane; Russ Whiteman - Maj. Folger; Elaine Martone - Secretary; Louis Nye; Albert Glasser - "Khrushchev"; Judee Morton - Miss Blakiston
Credit
Robert A. Peterson - Art Director, William Castle - Director, Ray Russell - Director, Edwin H. Bryant - Editor, Bernard Green - Composer (Music Score), Joseph di Bella - Makeup, Gordon Avil - Cinematographer, William Castle - Producer, James Crowe - Set Designer, Ray Russell - Screenwriter, Walter Karig - Book Author
Zotz! is a 1947 novel by Walter Karig and a 1962 movie, produced and directed by William Castle, about a man obtaining magical powers from a god of an ancient civilization.
The title was probably inspired by the month Zotz or Sotz of the Haab' Pre-Columbian Maya calendar.
Ancient Eastern languages professor Jonathan Jones (Tom Poston) finds a magic amulet. Jones obtains powers to cause pain or slow movement, and even kill. He immediately suffers the consequences of his discovery: Jones realizes that when he points at another living creature, it causes a great pain. It is a metaphor of the age of nuclear weapons (the novel was written 2 years after atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
In the movie, Jones tries to warn Department of Defense and get rid of the amulet. But he is taken as a madman. Then the Soviet Union gets interested and the adventures begin.
Promotional
During the initial theatrical run, theater patrons received a full-size, plastic replica of the amulet as a promotional item. In color, size and design, the replicas were essentially identical to the film amulet, with the additional feature of a small hole drilled at the top for a keychain. The replicas are highly prized and eagerly sought-after by film and science-fiction esoterica collectors.
DVD Release
On October 20, 2009, Zotz! will be released on DVD for the first time by Sony Pictures.
