I’m reminded of Rich Little’s rendition of John Houseman. “Actor… Producer… Director…” William Alland. Starting life in Delmar Delaware, he was pulled into the orbit of Orson Welles giving his voice to Welles’ War of the Worlds and voicing the newsreel and playing the reporter in Citizen Kane (1941). The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Macbeth (1948). His performances gave way to producing. Cave of Outlaws (1951), The Black Castle (1952), The Raiders (1952), The Treasure of Lost Canyon (1952), The Stand at Apache River (1953), It Came from Outer Space (1953), The Lawless Breed (1953), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Johnny Dark (1954), Four Guns to the Border (1954), Dawn at Socorro (1954), This Island Earth (1955), Revenge of the Creature (1955), Tarantula (1955), Chief Crazy Horse (1955), The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), The Mole People (1956), The Deadly Mantis (1957), The Land Unknown (1957), Gun for a Coward (1957), The Colossus of New York (1958), The Space Chidren (1958), The Lady Takes a Flyer (1958), Raw Wind in Eden (1958), As Young as We Are (1958), The Party Crashers (1958), Look in Any Window (1961), The Lively Set (1964), The Rare Breed (1966).
He operated out of Universal and his specialty became low budget Sci-Fi. Directed by Jack Arnold, Virgil Vogel, and Nathan Juran, these were draws in the 50s and glided into MST 5 times. This Island Earth, Revenge of the Creature, The Mole People, The Deadly Mantis, The Space Children. Aliens, Sea Creatures, Giant Brains, the unexplained loomed large in his output. Innocence colors the proceedings as the unbelievable stays unbelievable and we love it. Rubber Suits, TV Dads, John Agar. Is this Postwar America? Sight and Sound or Outer Limits?
