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1959 ’s fiddling - seenFace of Firewas an former attempt to inject societal comment and themes of prejudice into the horror genre . It was a true rarity at a time when the overwhelming legal age of repugnance films were considered second pace B - flick fare at estimable , and the big studios were more concerned at the market threat come from the television sets that were appear in living room across the nation .
The civic right movement was major news in 1959 . Brown v. Board of education had desegregated American schools in 1954 . The Montgomery charabanc boycotts had happened scarcely three year originally , and unbloody sit - atomic number 49 were taking place across the south . confront bias was the predominant American motif of the epoch , but most would n’t know by taking a look at the motion-picture show of the late 1950s . The major studios were waging a war for their very survival of the fittest , attempting to anticipate the audiences being lost to television with slates of principal - stud widescreen diachronic epics and musicals . Themes of prejudice and societal Justice Department , if on the radar of movie studio at all , were few and far between and were almost whole relegate to smaller releases from predominantly autonomous studio .
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Always the stuff and nonsense of modest budgets and cheap product values , horror was no different . The small studios that specialize in revulsion films were make slew of fuel consumption rate out of monster word-painting with Cold War themes , though there were casual films such asInvasion Of The Body Snatchersthat claim said themes a stair or two further . Even the quality film of the genre were regarded as B - movie at best . George Romero ’s breakthroughNight of the Living Dead , featuring a opprobrious leading man and a shockingly controversial ending , was still nearly a decade away . In 1959 , to courtsocial commentarywas to Margaret Court controversy , and to court controversy was decidedly not something studios were concerned in .
Face Of Fire Brought Social Horror To The 1950s
Though commercialize and lay out as such , Face of Fireonly nominally a repulsion movie . Directed by Albert Band for Allied Artists Pictures , Face of Firestars James Whitemore ( Brooks Hatlen inThe Shawshank Redemption ) as handyman Monk Johnson , who is horribly disfigured and inflicted with brain damage whilst saving the young boy of a doctor from a raging lab fervour . Previously pop and well - liked in his lowly , turn - of - the century rural townspeople , Monk is viewed as a terrifying goliath after the fortuity , and is reviled as a freak by everyone except the doctor whose son he saved . Even Monk ’s fiancee call in terror at the sight of him .
Though it took several more years for mainstream Hollywood to earnestly search social theme , the studios ' then - nemesis television proved to be less hesitant to explore the theme of bias and discrimination . scarcely three months afterFace of Fire ’s August 1959 release , The Twilight Zonepremiered on CBS . The legendary Rod Serling serial remains highly popular and influential to this day , and is particularly remembered for its geographic expedition of social themes .
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