The generically named IT! is a 1967 horror film I caught up with on TCM yesterday. The movie was written, produced, and directed by Herbert J. Leder, who was responsible for the underwhelming THE FROZEN DEAD.
What makes IT! notable is the fact that IT is the Golem, the fabled creature from Jewish lore. The story, set in contemporary London, details how the Golem is found after a fire to a museum warehouse. The Golem is used for nefarious purposes by the museum's curator, a strange young man named Arthur Pimm (Roddy McDowall).
A modern movie using the Golem in the English-speaking world seems to be a promising idea, but the script spends most of its time dealing with the twitchy, fussy, nervous Pimm. The young man is written to be a Norman Bates clone--he even keeps the remains of his late mother in his house, fully dressed, and he still talks to her. Pimm also claims to have access to the "spirit world", which supposedly allows him to communicate with the Golem. (Both the dead mother and spiritual elements of the story are not developed enough, and only seem to exist just to make Pimm stranger than he already is.)
The Golem here does have a striking design (see picture below). This Golem is made of stone, not clay...and it cannot be destroyed. The authorities even use a "small" nuclear device on it at the climax of the film, only to see it walk into the ocean.
The creature doesn't get much to do, except look threatening when standing still. This was probably due to the fact that when it does move about, it comes off as rather clunky, and the movie's low budget didn't allow for intricate special effects. At one point Pimm has the Golem destroy the Hammersmith bridge, but we never actually see it go down, we are just shown the results with a matte painting. During the climax, the creature is "attacked" by a British army that is represented by a few soldiers and a couple of pieces of military equipment.
Jill Haworth plays the damsel in distress here. She's the blonde beauty working in the museum that Pimm desires (of course she doesn't take him seriously). Pimm winds up kidnapping her--she's dressed in a nightgown at the time--and in time-honored fashion, the Golem carries her off.
More of Haworth and the Golem would have better served the film. IT! is a talky, slow-moving affair, unless you like to spend a lot of time watching Roddy McDowall act weird. The supporting cast is rather bland, and any decently creative person can think of all sorts of ways the idea of the Golem being set loose in the modern world could have been used to better effect.
At one point in IT!, Roddy McDowall's Pimm mentions that he went to see a 1920s German silent film about a Golem. He's obviously referring to the Paul Wegener classic, but he's giving good advice to audience. If you want to see a great tale about the Golem, IT! isn't it.
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