Editing Robot Monster (section)

==Production==
[[File:Mount Vernon Drive-In Ad - 3 July 1953, San Bernardino, CA.jpg|thumb|170px|[[Drive-in theater|Drive-in]] advertisement from 1953.]] 
Twenty-five-year-old writer/director Tucker made ''Robot Monster'' in four days for an estimated {{US$|16000|1953|round=-4|long=no}},<ref name="Robot Monster" /> although film journals from the time reported that it cost $50,000. Except for a few scenes at a house in Los Angeles and a building site near [[Dodger Stadium]],<ref>Parla and Mitchell 2009, p. 18.</ref> most footage was filmed outdoors in [[Bronson Canyon]], the site of innumerable motion pictures and TV settings.<ref>[http://www.moviesites.org/bronson.htm "Bronson Canyon."] ''Moviesites.org''. Retrieved: November 7, 2014.</ref> It also included stock footage from ''[[Flight to Mars (film)|Flight to Mars]]'' (1951) and ''[[One Million B.C.]]'' (1940). Its working titles were ''Monsters from the Moon'' and ''Monster from Mars''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robot Monster |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50995-ROBOT-MONSTER?sid=fa554d42-96fd-4a3a-ad99-71e1498379b9&sr=11.366034&cp=1&pos=0 |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=AFI Catalog}}</ref> Principal photography on ''Robot Monster'' wrapped on March 23, 1953.<ref>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/556625/robot-monster#film-details "Original print information: Robot Monster (1953)."] ''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: January 6, 2015.</ref>

''Robot Monster''{{'}}s very low budget did not allow for a robot costume as first intended, so Tucker hired his friend Barrows, who had made his own [[gorilla suit]], to play Ro-Man; Tucker then added a space helmet similar to those used in Republic serials such as ''Radar Men from the Moon''.<ref name="Warren"/>
 
''Robot Monster'' is similar in its plot to ''[[Invaders from Mars (1953 film)|Invaders from Mars]]'', released a month earlier by [[20th Century Fox]]. Both films contain a young boy, stumbling upon an alien invasion, who is captured as he struggles to save his family and himself. As the alien commences the final destruction of Earth, the boy awakens to find it was all a dream. Barrett recalled in an interview that the film's original screenplay was designed as reality, but director Tucker changed his mind and then shot a new twist ending that showed the film's story has been a boy's dream that is about to come true.<ref>Mitchell 2001,  pp. 191–192.</ref>

In ''Robot Monster''{{'}}s opening credits, "N. A. Fischer Chemical Products" is given prominent credit for the "Billion Bubble Machine", used as part of Ro-Man's communication device for reporting to his superior, the Great Guidance.<ref>Erickson, Glenn. [https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s156robot.html "Robot Monster."]  ''The DVD Savant'', October 23, 2000. Retrieved: November 7, 2014.</ref>

The film was preceded in theatres by ''[[Stardust in Your Eyes]]'', a one-reel 3D monologue by comic/impressionist [[Trustin Howard]], performing under his stage name "Slick Slavin."<ref name="Movieland p. 89">"Movieland briefs." ''Los Angeles Times'', April 1, 1953, p. B8.</ref>

===3D===
''Robot Monster'' was shot and projected in dual-strip, polarized 3D. The stereoscopic photography in the film is considered by many critics to be high quality, especially for a film whose crew had little experience with the newly developed camera rig.<ref name="Hayes">Hayes 1998, p. 295.</ref> Producer Al Zimbalist later told ''[[The New York Times]]'' that shooting the film in 3D (which involved using another camera) added an extra $4,510.54 to the budget.<ref>Pryor, Thomas M. "Hollywood briefs: Warners and Metro Announce Their Own Wide Screen Processes; Other Items." ''[[The New York Times]]'', May 10, 1953, p. X5.</ref>

===Special effects===
''Robot Monster''{{'}}s special effects include [[stock footage]] from ''[[One Million B.C.]]'' (1940), ''[[Lost Continent (1951 film)|Lost Continent]]'' (1951), and ''[[Flight to Mars (film)|Flight to Mars]]'' (1951);<ref name="Robot Monster" /> a brief appearance of the ''[[Rocketship X-M]]'' (1950) spaceship boarding; and a matte painting of the ruins of New York City from ''[[Captive Women]]'' (1952).<ref name="Warren" />

===Film score===
''Robot Monster''{{'}}s [[Film score|music score]] was composed by [[Elmer Bernstein]], who also composed ''[[Cat Women of the Moon]]'' the same year, and later, the more prestigious ''[[The Great Escape (film)|The Great Escape]]'', ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]'', ''[[The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments]]'', [[Michael Jackson]]'s ''[[Michael Jackson's Thriller (music video)|Thriller]]'' music video, and ''[[Ghostbusters]]''.<ref>[http://www.elmerbernstein.com/film/film.html "Filmography."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209191136/http://www.elmerbernstein.com/film/film.html |date=December 9, 2006 }} ''Elmer Bernstein - the official site.'' Retrieved: November 7, 2014.</ref>

Bernstein recalled he was stuck in a period where he was "[[Blacklisting|greylisted]]" because of his left-wing politics and only offered minor films,<ref>O'Toole, Finlan. "Elmer Bernstein Finds Himself in Tune With Movies: Twelve tomes an Oscar nominee, the composer works on the new movie from the makers of "My Left Foot'." ''The New York Times'', October 28, 1990, p. H18.</ref> but said he enjoyed the challenge of trying to help a film.<ref>Spencer 2008, p. 171.</ref> Ordung stated that Bernstein scored the film with an eight-piece orchestra, and [[Capitol Records]] expressed interest in producing an album.<ref>Zone 2012, p. 59.</ref> One critic told how he had watched the film as a teenager when it was first shown on television in 1954 and said it was "one of Elmer Bernstein's best very early scores."<ref>[http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/ElmerBernsteinRemembrance.htm] Film Music Review Retrieved: September 29, 2019.</ref>