Bert I. Gordon

After Roger Corman, Bert I. Gordon was the most reliable and distinctive director/producer to come out of American International Pictures during the late '50s. A one-time maker of television commercials, Gordon specialized in "gimmick" movies, usually involving giants or gigantic animals. His first two films, King Dinosaur and The Beginning of the End, were fairly crude even by the standards of the mid '50s, involving giant lizards and locusts, respectively. The Cyclops showed somewhat more promise, with its story about a man transformed into a one-eyed monster by atomic radiation, and The Amazing Colossal Man, made for American International, was a major hit. Gordon followed this with Attack of the Puppet People, about a scientist who shrinks people to doll size, while The Spider (aka Earth vs. the Spider) was about a giant spider that attacks a small town. Gordon tried other forms of fantasy film during the '60s, but giantism always served him well in pictures like Village of the Giants (about juvenile delinquents --led by Beau Bridges, no less--who grow to mammoth proportions). During the '70s, he scored two very minor hits with Food of the Gods and Empire of the Ants (both loosely based on works by H.G. Wells), both dealing with giantism and sporting ludicrous special effects. And for anyone who has never noticed it, Bert I. Gordon's initials do spell the word "BIG." ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide