The Creation of the Humanoids

Plot synopsis:
The Earth is suffering the aftereffects of a nuclear war that destroyed 92 percent of humanity. Lingering radiation has caused the birth rate to fall below replacement level and the population continues to decline. A robotic labor force maintains a high standard of living for the survivors and the humanoids of the title are an advanced type of robot created to directly serve and otherwise work closely with human beings. These humanoids are built with artificial, ultra-logical personalities and they appear human except for their blue-gray "synthe-skin", metallic eyes and lack of hair. The humanoids periodically visit recharging stations they call "temples" where they also exchange all information acquired since their last visit with a central computer they call "the father-mother".
A quasi-racist human organization named The Order of Flesh and Blood is opposed to the humanoids, which the members disparagingly refer to as "clickers". The Order believes the humanoids are planning to take over the world and are a threat to the very survival of the human race. The Order does not stop at illegal violent actions, including bombings. At one meeting, its members are alarmed to learn of the existence of a humanoid which has been made externally indistinguishable from a human and which has killed a man. They demand that all existing humanoids be disassembled or downgraded to a strictly utilitarian machine-like form.
Scientist Dr. Raven (Doolittle) has developed a technique called a "thalamic transplant", which transfers the memories and personality of a recently deceased human into a robotic replica of that person. The human-humanoid hybrids that result awake from the process unaware of their own transformation, although their human personalities are shut off between 4 and 5 A.M., when they report back to the humanoids at the robot temple. As Dr. Raven describes the operation, "We draw off everything that makes a man peculiar to himself. His learning, his memory: these, inter-reacting, constitute his personality, his philosophy, capability and attitude. The human brain is merely the vault in which the man is stored." With the help of Dr. Raven, the humanoids are secretly replacing humans who recently died with these replicas.
One of the leaders of the Order of Flesh and Blood, Captain Kenneth Cragis (Megowan), meets Maxine, and although she is opposed to the Order they both fall in love. In the end they discover that they, too, are advanced humanoid replicas with the minds of deceased persons. Ironically, the "real" Maxine had died in a bomb attack which the Order intended to harm only robots. Dr. Raven, a once-human replica himself, explains to Cragis and Maxine that not only are they practically immortal in their new forms, they can also be the first humanoids upgraded to the highest possible level: after an alteration, they will be able to reproduce. Finally, Dr. Raven looks directly into the camera and tells the viewer, "Of course, the operation was a success...or you wouldn't be here."

Tags: sci-fi

Review:
According to the story, World War III has depleted the Earth's population, but reconstruction efforts are progressing rapidly with the help of a newly developed race of `humanoids' (hairless, green-skinned androids who possess high intelligence and who serve with total faithfulness).In fact, the androids are so intelligent and sensitive that many people want to have them destroyed, because they fear the androids will overthrow mankind.
One rebel scientist conspires with the android members of a secret group who strives to perfect the androids and make them even more human.Shot on a shoestring budget, the sets are fairly simple (although reasonably imaginative), and the acting is sometimes pretty bad.
Oddly enough, all these apparent flaws somehow endear it to the more forgiving viewers, perhaps because the film works so hard to put across some very strange and imaginative concepts, including a nifty little surprise ending.Watch for several recognizable props and costumes from classic science fiction movies, such as the glass tubes and the gray, one-piece uniforms from `This Island Earth'.
One of the `early prototype robots' seen during the film's opening prologue is actually one of the armored alien space suits from `Earth versus the Flying Saucers' -- and it was spray painted silver!There was, a few years ago, a prerecorded tape of this little gem available for rent at video stores.
This is a wonderful, thoughtful little film with timeless messages about prejudice and what it is to be human.
A lot of people comment on the low budget, but there were some A list Hollywood people involved in making this like the most famous make up man ever, creator of the Universal Frankenstein make up for Boris Karloff, Jack P.
The film is also a bit cerebral for some people, and does have a lot of talking in it, but like the best Science Fiction films and T.V. programs, like the Twilight Zone, THE STORY will make you think deep thoughts.
I have a lot more respect for film like this, doing a lot with a little through the WRITING and the STORY than I do virtually any modern film whose story, if there is one, has been dummied down assuming no one in the audience has a working brain.Much has been made about the fact that Andy Warhol loved this movie.
At the core of the film is "The Order of Flesh and Blood", a group who is very wary of the robots and their activities, and who constantly monitor the robots' activities.Without giving away too much of the plot, suffice to say that some of the robots have been entrusted to save man from himself, and the ending offers some interesting thoughts about what makes a human a human, and if robots are actually better at being human beings than human beings themselves.You can definitely see the inspiration this movie provided to later films such as Bladerunner, Terminator, and many others.The acting and many of the lines are cheesy, and the budget is minimal, but it's still a thought-provoking and entertaining film that gets the maximum out of the minimum.
In a world after nuclear war destroyed 92% of the human population, humanity uses blue-skinned humanoid robots called Clickers as servants and workers.
When the Order discovers Clickers are creating robots that are identical to humans and one of them has killed a man, conflict between the humans and Clickers seems inevitable.One of the smartest and most original sci-fi films of its time.
It's a movie full of ideas and great dialogue that gives you a lot to think about and still holds relevance to topical issues of today.
People need to learn to appreciate movies that are older and have a lot to offer, instead of just trying to update them to today's often crass and ostentatious "standards." Make new stuff for today and stop mining the past for ideas, please..
Even in the realm of the weird there is nothing else quite like "TheCreation Of The Hummaniods." Sure it's cheap, and it's got DudleyManlove(too small a role), but this dense, futuristic drama is milesfrom Ed Wood and explored ideas (yes, "Blade Runner") that would bejudged profound coming out of a film with a budget.
The movie has about as many camera set-ups as "Rope"; but   a million times more story.
****SPOILERS**** A movie that you can really say is ahead of it's time about the aftermath of a nuclear war that destroyed over 90% of the human race.
Making it impossible for the human race to survive without the creation of a massive robot population to do the work that is needed for human survival.
A group is founded called "The Order of Flesh and Blood" that wants to put the robots back to where they no longer pose a danger to the human race.
It's because that humans have emotions that override logic which robots don't have.Cragis, Don Megowan, one of the founders of "The Order of Flesh and Blood" orders a raid on the home of a scientist Dr. Raven, Don Doolittle.
Dialog that you'll ever hear in a serious film about those subjects, It will also make you think like you never thought before about the future.
The scene between Cragis his sister Esme and the robot Pax as well as Cragis's girlfriend Maxine, Erica Elliot, alone is enough to make you change your views about what you think that the future is going to be.
It's too bad that the movie "Creation of the Humanoids" is not on tape or DVD and hasn't been broadcast on TV for the last fifteen years or so.
The movie viewing public is missing a real eye-opening film about future events that will shock and at the same time assure us about what we are to face ahead..
I just purchased "Creation Of The Humanoids" as part of a double feature released by Dark Sky(The other movie is War Of The Planets).I was hoping for a better print(I'd give it a 7.5 out of ten)but compared to what was available I can live with it.I remember watching this movie on Creature Features(here in N.Y. on Metromedia 5),and I've tried to locate a decent copy(I've bought several VHS tapes on ebay but they have a 6.5 quality at best).I always like this movie--given it's limited budget I think its still a cult classic.The acting is stilted at times(budget again),the script and direction is good(and not to mention the Jack Pierce make-up).With Hollywood remaking classics(The Omen,Starsky and Hutch,et al)how about putting together a decent budget and remaking this ?.
I watched this movie expecting a low-budget sci-fi B-movie, the kind with screaming helpless women and robots droning on about "DESTROYING HUMANS".
While the acting and dialogue are clumsy, the story is actually quite profound, with a philosophical message that I find quite to the contrary of that usually presented in films of this era - it's refreshing.
I recommend watching The Creation of the Humanoids just to appreciate the philosophical foresight of the writer to express ideas that have only recently begun appearing in popular film, even if he couldn't write convincing dialogue..
The ideas are familiar by now, the production values make Star Trek look extremely flashy, and the characters tend towards wooden, but somehow it's better than all the expensive monster movies that pass for sci-fi lately.
The acting is stiff, the script is overly talky, the film thinks it is profound, but is so only in a "let's get stoned and analyze the universe" sophomoric sort of way.
The ending, which is apparently meant to make the viewer leave thinking, is just silly.I first saw this in college - at MIT, with a bunch of Sci-FI geeks, and WE thought it was the worst movie we'd ever seen.
If that was our reaction, what would a normal, thoughtful film goer think?The only thing that gets it a 2 star rating are two quotes that have defined this movie for me for 35 years.Maxine: "What should we do about dinner?" Cragis: "Eat it."and...Cragis (speaking to a "clicker") "I'll pull your memory so fast, you'll never forget it."I read somewhere where this is Andy Warhol's favorite film.
And if you want to consider the idea of robot rights and what it is to be a sentient being this film could be for you.One problem.
Civil War uniforms against a futuristic set show where they spent the budget, but the android makeup isn't too bad.If you can get past the poor acting and low budget aspects of this, and be willing to listen and pay attention to a complicated story as it unfolds, I think you'll find it worthwhile.
The actors mostly are of the character variety and did lots of one-off guest appearances in TV shows from the 50's through the 70's like The Lucy Show, Bonanza and Kung Fu. One actor here, Don Megowan, starred in dozens of movies and TV episodes, but I'm sure he will always be best remembered as the bandit in Blazing Saddles that was chewing gum in line.So, while the low budget and B and C grade actors bring this down a bit in quality, and it does get a little preachy for my taste, the unique quality of the film definitely make it worth a look (as did that sparkling uniform combination of tight bullfighter pants and Confederate soldier's caps).
"The Creation of the Humanoids" is a very low budget film.
It's a shame, as I could see the basis for some later movies and TV shows in this--including "Star Trek", "Terminator" and "Battlestar Galactica"!The film is set in the future--a future where there are HUGE numbers of amazingly lifelike robots.
However, they have skin like Smurfs and talk a bit robotically--so most humans (aside from those from the Order of Flesh and Blood) accept them as a boon.
However, the robots have a secret--they're a lot more advanced than people think and are making robots who look and think like humans--and society might be inundated with them.
It takes on one of my favorite science fiction premises: the essential question of what makes us human (You can guess that Data was my favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation character.) And it really does a wonderful job of exploring that issue (I've never had an aversion to "talky" movies) But, I remember stumbling across this movie one late night and it's one of those that struck me as so stiffly written and acted that I just couldn't stop laughing.
In it, 92 percent of the Earth's population has been killed off by a 48-hour atomic war, and the so-called "Clickers"--humanoid robots with dozens of varying abilities--have been created to improve mankind's lot.
The film centers on a hunky dude named (The) Cragis, a gerontologist by day and a member of the robot-fearing Order of Flesh and Blood by night.
The film is also surprisingly well acted by its relatively no-name cast (the only name I recognized was Dudley Manlove, of "Plan 9 From Outer Space" fame!); Don Megowan as (The) Cragis is particularly good.
The look of the picture is also unique, with interesting sets and great use of color; the film FEELS like no other I have ever experienced.
(Roslem's Universal Robots), or the obvious connection between 'Clicker' and a very negative term for Americans of African descent, or the use of the Confederate Uniform or to Hitler's Brown Shirts and the way Jews were treated by the Germans...The entire film was designed to make us look deeply within ourselves.This film opened my eyes when I was a kid and again every time I watch it.This film makes early 'Star Trek' look second rate and is more fun to watch than 'I Robot' with Will Smith, because it requires the audience to think.
What is interesting as well is the fact that the humanoids (who are themselves an experimental fusion of man and machine) are able to turn dead humans into 'unconscious' humanoids and, by the end of it, are laying down plans to further enhance their race by eventually making themselves able to procreate!.
I haven't seen the movie since the late 60s but as I remember it, even though it was low-budget, it was still a great story and the ending was such a surprise, I would never have guessed it..
Creation of the Humanoids, The (1962) BOMB (out of 4) There seems to be a lot of debate over whether this film is downright horrid or way ahead of its time.
This movie might have a good idea hiding somewhere behind the badness and there's no question that this movie would influence upcoming films about human-robots but that doesn't take away from the fact that this thing looks incredibly cheap, has horrible acting, bad directing and goes on way too long.
The robots look pretty cheap but the make up was done by Universal legend Jack Pierce and what a shame his talents were being used in movies like this.
It seems this film has gathered a nice cult following over the years but the nice ideas behind some of the things in the movie isn't enough to make it good.
Following a devastating nuclear holocaust mankind is forced to create a race of highly intelligent and adoptable humanoid robots (derisively referred to as "clickers") in order to rebuild civilization.
This film is true to itself, and it gets better the more you watch it -you'll be surprised how "robotic" the so-called modern stuff you're watching is today!.
This is an above average sci-fi film without the usual special effects where the concept is the attraction , where you are asked to think about the possibilities .In this future man has all but destroy's himself , not to far fetched at all and humanoid robots are performing all the tasks man used to , even loving women .This of course makes the men that are left very afraid and ''The Order of Flesh and Blood ''is the agency that represents the fear of what man has done to himself .The humanoids are all about the good of man but man's blind fears blur this until the inevitable finally happens .This film is quite good and has a lot to say , give it a try and forget about cg and effects .Just let the film take its effect on you .Approach with an open mind !.
Also, the usual release date for this is 1962, when the evidence suggests it was made in 1960, which makes the film even more remarkable, given its themes and frank portrayal of a love between a human and a robot.
It is often said that this was Andy Warhols favorite movie, but I think this is no more than an unsubstantiated rumor.The ending is worth it all, really makes one think.Special note: This was famed makeup artist Jack Pierces last effort, he did the iconic Frankenstein back in the 1930's.All in all, worth the watch, I give it 5.6 stars..
I actually brought up the film during a discussion with a Marxist professor in the early 80's as an example of the attack on American morality by the far left.I liked the basic tenets of equality, but the sister's absurd attraction to a non-human served to subject the minds of young people to extreme non-traditional behaviors and narcissism.
Not surprised "they" claim it as one of Andy Warhol's favorite movies.This film serves as yet another example of sixties disestablishmentarianism.
I think it's good as a movie, but I think it would have also made a great sci-fi story on radio.
In a way, it might be even better, because it would let you concentrate entirely on the weighty ideas being discussed by the characters, without the distraction of visuals.Again, MAJOR SPOILER ALERT...I'll take minor exception to the premise of the ending, where it's revealed our current population are actually decendents of a species of robotic replacements for a human race that eventually died out.
Directed and produced by Wesley Barry, CREATION of the HUMANOIDS is a futuristic tale where post nuclear war survivors create blue-skinned, silver eyed human-like robots to serve mankind.
The human population is unaware that the fuse between man and robot, the humanoids, has actually formed a high standard work force and society.
But what actually arrives on screen is an odd mix of genuinely novel SF ideas (I particularly liked the Human / Robot 'marriage' idea that sees one of the characters transferring aspects of her personality to a robot and then falling in love with the refection of herself) and a stream of philosophical ponderings and anti-prejudice messages that must have been mind-blowing to a teenage drive in audience of the time (if they had managed to stay awake long enough to see them).
The film is unsurprisingly (but amazingly) adapted from a novel by Jack Williamson (at the time - as now - it was rare for Hollywood SF movies to be based on existing works).
The end result is a low-budget movie with crude special effects that plods along from one dialogue scene to another, with the only redeeming feature being that some interesting ideas about the future of robots are discussed, ideas that are beginning to seem more relevant than ever.There is an organization of Flesh and Blood that is prejudiced against robots, derisively referring to them as clickers, with obvious similarities to the Ku Klux Klan.
These advanced models think they are human, except at special times, when they realize they are robots and report back to the robot temple.Cragis falls in love with Maxine, and they plan to enter into a contract, which is what they call marriage in the future.
Robots created to serve Man are becoming the majority since human life is now fragile.
Trouble brews when the increasingly advanced robots prove themselves capable of killing humans."The Creation of the Humanoids" is one of those movies that's more notable for its intentions than what it ultimately accomplishes.