you must be this tall to board this ride

For today's post, I went to my popcult archives and collected some of the tracks used in Bert I. Gordon's (The Amazing Colossal Man, Empire of the Ants) 1965 masterpiece of schlock cinema, Village of the Giants.

In the film, a gang of rowdy teens (led by a pre-jowly Beau Bridges) steals a secret growth formula invented by whiz-kid Genius (played by a pre-baldness, pre-Da Vinci Code Ron Howard). The thirty-foot tall teens, bedecked in shimmery togas, subject the residents of a small town to a reign of terror involving fried chicken, slow motion dancing, and giant breast rides. You now see why I labeled the film a masterpiece?

Since first watching the film (as one of the better Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episodes) I've often lain awake at night wondering whatever became of the giant prop breasts. Did one of the crew members take them home, and they're now collecting dust in some garage in Fontana? Are they sitting in the back of a studio warehouse next to the octopus from Bride of the Monster and Venusian avacado from It Conquered the World? Every so often, I'll do a search on eBay in vain hope that they'll turn up. They'd look great next to the entertainment center.

Besides the giant fake boobies and the "not-quite-a-star-but-that-person-looks-really-familiar" cast -- including the apparently immortal Toni Basil (Easy Rider, the 1982 one-hit wonder "Mickey", the choreography for the Talking Heads "Once in a Lifetime" video), Disney exile (i.e. blacklisted for being gay) Tommy Kirk, and Johnny "Paw!" Crawford from the Rifleman -- the Village of the Giants also featured some great 60's music. Early San Francisco folk-rockers the Beau Brummels perform (ok, lip-synch through) two songs before some giant ducks interrupt their set. Jack Nitzsche's wonderful surf music instrumental track, "The Last Race", is used as the theme and incidental music for the film.

The Beau Brummels - When It Comes To Your Love
The Beau Brummels - Woman
Jack Nitzsche - The Last Race

(I didn't include the two teen pop songs, "Marianne" and "Itty Bitty Corinne", that were used in the movie. They weren't that great, and, more importantly, I don't have them in my music archive.)