Modern technology is crazy, isn’t it? It feels like it can take over the world – perhaps not right away but we can see it coming. We welcomed advancements that helped us, but when is it going too far? I recently had to jump out of the way of a robotic floor cleaner at a grocery store. Don’t even talk to me about getting into a self-driving car. because it’s not happening.
So I get why people wonder what these advancements may cost humanity. Take Cragis, for example, who worries that if everything is being done for us that it takes away our incentive to learn, to grow, to be human. “Why do we need mathematics if the machines can give us a better answer, faster?” he asks.
Good question.
Cragis is Captain Kenneth Cragis, the main character in the 1960 sci-fi film The Creation of the Humanoids. Although everything about this film from the set design to the acting and technology screams low-budget B-movie from the past, the plot could have been written today.
The original story by Jay Simms (The Giant Gila Monster, The Killer Shrews) was ahead of its time regarding the battles with technology (people vs. machines), bigotry and class. It can’t help but be noticed that the humans in the film are white people who don’t trust the colored humanoid/robots.
The point is clear when we meet the volunteer group of men fighting to keep the world safe from the humanoids. The Order of Flesh and Blood, referred to as an ultra-conservative pressure group against the advancement of robots, fears that the humanoids will take over the world. If the Order reminds you of the KKK, there’s a reason for that.
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Set in the 23rd Century, The Creation of the Humanoids is about the aftermath of a 48-hour nuclear war that nearly destroyed the world. About 92% of the population died from lingering radiation within two weeks. The birthrates for those who survived plummeted to 1.4% signaling that the end to humanity was near.
Out of desperation, people turned to robotic automation devices to rebuild. One of the first advancements was the Magnetic Integrator Neuron Duplicator. Only 1/100th the size of a golf ball, it duplicates a portion of the human nervous system leading to the Primitive Robotic Automation Devices (robots to us) that could do menial jobs.
The first was the R1, a ranking that corresponds to the percentage that the robot is human, so it was 1% human.
That was OK with humans because these robots were so primitive they looked like a toy. It didn’t stay that way.
The R21 model was the first humanoid robot. It had some human features, including metallic-looking eyes and blueish skin. Humans were getting nervous and started calling them by the disparaging nickname of clickers. The Order of Flesh and Blood could stop the clickers on the street for no reason, question them, ask for their assignment cards and then decide if they would let go or not. Another example of similarities to our world today.
The growing fear that the robots can become human made it illegal to “improve” them past R70, but the work continues to be done in secret.
Dr. Raven (Don Doolittle) has created the nearly perfect robot via his thalamic transplant that inserts the memories and personality of a (dead) human through a device only the size of an almond. This is the R96 model and it has human emotions including the ability to laugh, to cry and hate. You can imagine the panic that will ensue once this news gets out.
Now back to Captain Cragis, who is the head of the Order’s Surveillance Committee and is very serious about his volunteer job. He’s a dour and gruff chap played by Don Megowan who classic movie fans will know as the Gill-man in The Creature Walks Among Us. When he learns his sister Esme (Frances McCann) is “in rapport” with a humanoid he loses it.
This is against everything he stands for since being “in rapport” legally allows a human and humanoid to interact and cohabitate. To Esme, being in rapport is being in harmony, in love, with Pax, her R49 robot. Cragis doesn’t want to hear about it. Pax is not like them, he argues. He’s a robot and she needs to be with a human, even if it’s her cruel, alcoholic ex-boyfriend.
“Miles was a man,” he explodes.
“He was a beast,” she interrupts. “Pax is more of a man than Miles – or you – can ever be.”
It’s easy to see her point since the self-centered Cragis could use some humanity himself. He’s harsh, cold and detached, attributes underscored by Megowan’s one-note performance.
Will either sibling get the other to see their side? I’m rooting for the steadfast Esme to help Cragis.
“We fall in love when we see a part of ourselves reflected in another person,” says Esme, who seems to believe that love conquers all.
He may not understand her words at that moment, but he will soon. Just one look at the statuesque blonde Maxine (Erica Elliot) melts the cold Cragis who feels love for the first time. It’s earth-shattering for both of them in ways they can’t begin to understand.
This is where the movie shifts and will appear to offer some twists that we may have been expecting all along.
Meanwhile, as the family drama and romantic feelings were coming out, the humanoids were going about their business without being weighed down by those human emotions. It can make you understand why one of them said he pities the new R96 unit with its human emotions. “To become an R96 is a real sacrifice.”
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When I started watching The Creation of the Humanoids, I stopped and started it a few times not sure if I wanted to give the movie more time. The production values were nearly nonexistent as actors walked across a barren stage with a painted backdrop. The early dialogue and acting is stilted. The wardrobe looked like rented costumes, especially the robots’ bland jumpsuits and the odd powder-blue shirts and Civil War-style hats worn by the Order of Flesh and Blood.
But then the script caught me off-guard with themes that felt relevant today and kept my interest. I wanted to see where it would go.
Once the story moved to Esme’s jewel-toned apartment, the colorless film came to life through the vibrant set and emotions. Floor-to-ceiling sheer curtains sparkled and there was much attention to detail in Esme’s beautifully done hair, makeup and gorgeous green gown. It was captivating enough that I could forgive the stagey acting that took over and the echoes of actors reading their lines off screen.
As Cragis bemoans what is happening to society because of the robots, his sister tells him “You aren’t just charging windmills. You’re trying to hold back the ocean with a sponge.” That analogy works well for the film and is something to think about as we deal with similar issues today.
Those robot eyes
Iconic makeup artist Jack Pierce (Frankenstein) created the robot makeup that included the large reflective eyes that appear like metallic balls in their eye sockets. Dr. Louis M. Zabner, credited for “special eye effects,” is the optometrist who created the pioneering contact lenses that could change an actor’s eye color.
– Toni Ruberto for Classic Movie Hub
You can read all of Toni’s Monsters and Matinees articles here.
Toni Ruberto, born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., is an editor and writer at The Buffalo News. She shares her love for classic movies in her blog, Watching Forever and is a member and board chair of the Classic Movie Blog Association. Toni was the president of the former Buffalo chapter of TCM Backlot and led the offshoot group, Buffalo Classic Movie Buffs. She is proud to have put Buffalo and its glorious old movie palaces in the spotlight as the inaugural winner of the TCM in Your Hometown contest. You can find Toni on Twitter at @toniruberto or on Bluesky at @watchingforever.bsky.social
