A fairly good, pretty faithful adaptation of one of Isaac Asimov's best stories. Unfortunately, it has that "academic gloss" factor that undermines so many PBS and/or classroom productions. Please read the story first.
4 Reviews
A real short-film gem
Mandemus11 February 2008
This short film has haunted my memory all these years since I first saw it back in the late 1970s. I finally had the chance to see it again and was surprised to find not only how well I remembered this film, but how well it stood up to my expectations.
The concept is solid, and is based on one of Isaac Asimov's best-remembered short stories. The Ugly Little Boy plays out much like an episode of any of the Twilight Zone series or Outer Limits, and would have been preserved better had it belonged to one of those programs. As it is, this is a rare film with a good SF concept, quality acting, and a touching story that moves one's conscience. Asimov was an influential writer, but so little of his work has been committed to film, or done so well as this caring short story of a nurse's concern for a Neanderthal child wrested from his time into the future.
Also of note is this rarity among Canadian science fiction. In the 1970s, Canada had produced the much-maligned (but occasionally solid) science fiction series The Starlost (1973), and The Shape of Things to Come (1979). None of these are stellar productions. All of them, interestingly enough, starred Anglo-Canadian actor Barry Morse (The Fugitive, Space: 1999). Starlost fans will also notice the cameo by William Osler as Prof. Adamnevsky (protecting his ancient rock specimen!). Osler played the computer interface on Earthship Ark in The Starlost (1973).
Hopefully, this will be re-released some day and made available to a wider audience.
The concept is solid, and is based on one of Isaac Asimov's best-remembered short stories. The Ugly Little Boy plays out much like an episode of any of the Twilight Zone series or Outer Limits, and would have been preserved better had it belonged to one of those programs. As it is, this is a rare film with a good SF concept, quality acting, and a touching story that moves one's conscience. Asimov was an influential writer, but so little of his work has been committed to film, or done so well as this caring short story of a nurse's concern for a Neanderthal child wrested from his time into the future.
Also of note is this rarity among Canadian science fiction. In the 1970s, Canada had produced the much-maligned (but occasionally solid) science fiction series The Starlost (1973), and The Shape of Things to Come (1979). None of these are stellar productions. All of them, interestingly enough, starred Anglo-Canadian actor Barry Morse (The Fugitive, Space: 1999). Starlost fans will also notice the cameo by William Osler as Prof. Adamnevsky (protecting his ancient rock specimen!). Osler played the computer interface on Earthship Ark in The Starlost (1973).
Hopefully, this will be re-released some day and made available to a wider audience.
interesting and unusual movie
morse_code14 February 2003
I saw this movie some time ago, but it stuck with me for this long. I was especially taken by the little boy, and possibly would have done the same as the lady in the show did. It's unique because of the type of character Barry plays again. A cold-hearted scientist. Anyone who knows him also knows HE likely would have done the same as the woman...
The Anthropoid That Time Forgot
Oslo_Jargo24 November 2022
Warning: Spoilers
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
*Plot and ending analyzed*
An interesting little short, I especially enjoyed the 1970s electronic music, which added poignancy and also a harrowing vision to the scenario.
It details a scientific community which has invented some sort of materialistic transport that can bring living subjects from the past, into the current time. It requires exponential amounts of energy to retain the subject matter. Eventually each thing has to be returned.
A precursor to the human ape is brought back, and an experienced older nurse is recruited for care of the infant.
Slowly, she develops a fondness for the undersized creature, and begins to form a maternal bond with him. The rest of the scientists are inhospitable, haughty, indifferent, and lacking any empathy for what they only see as an experimental animal to be poked and prodded.
The child eventually has to be transferred back to its own time because a new test subject is being taken from the medieval era. The nurse, concerned for the safety of the boy, places herself under the magnetic transmission device, and is taken back to the past.
The evocative ending is wonderful, and shows the unconquerable spirit of humanity, that even the hubris of modern science can not erase.
*Plot and ending analyzed*
An interesting little short, I especially enjoyed the 1970s electronic music, which added poignancy and also a harrowing vision to the scenario.
It details a scientific community which has invented some sort of materialistic transport that can bring living subjects from the past, into the current time. It requires exponential amounts of energy to retain the subject matter. Eventually each thing has to be returned.
A precursor to the human ape is brought back, and an experienced older nurse is recruited for care of the infant.
Slowly, she develops a fondness for the undersized creature, and begins to form a maternal bond with him. The rest of the scientists are inhospitable, haughty, indifferent, and lacking any empathy for what they only see as an experimental animal to be poked and prodded.
The child eventually has to be transferred back to its own time because a new test subject is being taken from the medieval era. The nurse, concerned for the safety of the boy, places herself under the magnetic transmission device, and is taken back to the past.
The evocative ending is wonderful, and shows the unconquerable spirit of humanity, that even the hubris of modern science can not erase.
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