World of Giants was a short-lived TV series that lasted a mere 13 half-hour episodes, too few to warrant reruns on television. As a result, the series fell into obscurity except from fans of science-fiction TV programs that made this program – over a period of time – a Holy Grail. Finding 16mm prints of this series was few and far between. Some collectors of vintage television will confess that over the decades they could only come across one or two episodes.
All of which makes this new DVD release something to jump for joy. Thanks to a company called ClassicFlix, all 13 episodes have been restored from archival prints and now available in gorgeous quality. I just spent the last two weeks watching these episodes, rediscovering how much fun it is to watch standard 1950s television production for syndicated series like World of Giants.
Touting a $4,000,000 budget (according to Variety), CBS tapped prolific production company Ziv-TV to produce World of Giants, which started shooting in early 1958—with an expected fall network debut. Production was later halted when CBS was unable to obtain sponsorship for World of Giants, causing the network to delay the series premiere by a full year. But when shooting wrapped in 1959, World of Giants was still without a sponsor and CBS scrapped the idea of network distribution entirely which allowed the program to go into first-run syndication starting in 1961.
With production halted at one point in time, the format of the series went through an overhaul – and somewhat better than the earlier entries in the series. The initial four episodes followed the same formula week in and week out. Bill Winters, six-feet tall, would usually be knocked out by the criminal and subjected to some danger – such as the building caught on fire. Mel Hunter, six inches tall, would have to phone in to the department to fetch a rescue party, but often found himself defending against a wild animal. In one episode it was a cat, in another a dog, in another a possum… you get the idea.
After production resumed, an overhaul was devised to the program. Actress Marcia Henderson was added to the weekly cast as Miss Brown, a secretary for both secret agents, who maintained a doll house for Mel, fetching him coffee and food three times a day, and adding a comedic-romantic element to the series.
World of Giants might have promoted high production values, but the average cost of each episode was $27,000. The episodes were directed by such luminaries as Nathan Juran (20 Million Miles to Earth), Jack Arnold (Creature from the Black Lagoon) and Byron Haskin (The War of the Worlds), even though they directed episodes of other TV programs. Production designer and art director Robert Kinoshita was involved. He was known for his creation of iconic sci-fi robots such as “Robby the Robot” (Forbidden Planet) and for art direction on Lost in Space.
Like many programs of the 1950s, supporting cast included the occasional surprise: Peggie Castle, Gavin MacLeod, Tom Brown, Berry Kroeger, Bill Walker, Pamela Duncan, Ziva Rodann, Douglas Dick, Maria Palmer, Narda Onyx, Edgar Barrier, Nestor Paiva, Gregg Palmer and Allison Hayes all make appearances. The episode with Allison Hayes was perhaps my favorite of the bunch.
ClassicFlix went to considerable expense to gain possession of the 13 archival prints and then restore them to gorgeous quality and pay the licensing fees. For that reason, they deserve a boost in sales. Looking for a birthday gift to give a friend this year? Grab a couple of these from Amazon and help get those sales numbers up.
