The Cyclops, One-Eyed Monster Loves Gloria Talbott

"In the kingdom of the Blind, the one-eyed man reigns supreme." A high school tennis coach told me that once. However, this Gloria Talbott film sheds some light on that maxim. Perhaps it is not the one-eyed man, but the giant tarantula, or the giant lizard monsters, or the hawk as big as a skyscraper, or the gigantic mouse that reign supreme.  Just like Fay Wray in "King Kong," Gloria Talbott will be the babe in peril.  Today we look at 1957's "The Cyclops," directed by Bert I. Gordon.

Susan (Talbott) is sad. Three years ago, her fiancé Bruce went flying into a sacred and off-limits part of the Mexican mountains and never came back. Everyone knows he's dead but Susan believes him alive and hires a few blokes to go with her and look for him. One of the blokes is Bruce's best friend who now is in love with Susan. Russ (James Craig) is a hunk scientist and is anxious for Susan to move on from Bruce and marry him. Marty (Lon Chaney, Jr.) has funded this mission with an ulterior motive. Marty believes he can strike it rich finding Uranium lodes. Lee (Tom Drake) is the daring pilot. The Mexican government forbids Susan to fly into these mountains but Lee's daring gets the party there anyway. Immediately giant lizards appear...and a giant tarantula...and, well, let's just say all those monsters mentioned above make the search a bit perilous.

Then the cyclops. 25-foot tall with a messed up face in which only one eye remains.  The thing growls and howls and chases Susan and her party into a cave.  Uh oh.  Yep.  Russ and Marty take radiation readings and conclude all life forms have had their pituitary glands messed up. Yep, the living things will just keep growing.  Even scarier, Russ makes a realization about this cyclops.  Is Susan ready to hear his theory?  Yep, you guessed it.

Is one of the reasons that Susan refuses to understand that this 25 foot monster is her husband because having a 25 foot guy in the marital bed with his giant...wait...I withdraw this question.  Is there any hope to rescue Bruce, bring him to New York, and put him on display?  Will Russ finally get lucky with Susan or will she be insistent that her husband is still alive?  Gloria Talbott is sultry and always a pleasure to see on the big screen.  The creature effects are gruesome and scary.  See "The Cyclops" and try to figure out how a 25-foot guy would perform...I didn't say that...stupid auto-correct.