Joyce Meadows: From Alberta to "Arous" and Beyond

The intense joy regarding the (reviewed) June 21, 2022 DVD and Blu-ray releases of the '50s scifi cult classic "The Brain From Planet Arous" extends well beyond discovering that hidden gem. The righteously awesome dudes at The Film Detective arranged an interview with "Arous" star Joyce Meadows. 

This Silver Age starlet native is the separated-at-birth sister from another mother of voice-over legend June "Rocky the Flying Squirrel" Foray. Meadows is a big fan of Foray but stated that their paths never crossed. 

When asked if she had ever considered voice-over work, this star of stage, television, and film with 73 IMDb credits replied "voice-over work did interest me; it is tough to break into." The best reply to this is that Matt Groening can eat my shorts regarding not casting this woman who was born to voice passive-aggressive church lady Helen Lovejoy. 

The support that Meadows is providing the Detective release further proves the team spirit that helped her get rare multiple roles on classic series such as "Wagon Train" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." She literally goes above-and-beyond by supplementing her audio commentary with a witty video introduction to the film. Meadows seamlessly transitions between appearing as herself and her "Arous" character Sally in a manner that will make you believe that a brain can fly. 

"Arous": The True Hollywood Story 

 The cult status of "Arous" required asking Meadows about the extent of that fandom. She responded that "that role has followed me around like a little puppy all of my career." She added that she gets a great deal of fan mail. 

Much of this correspondence is available on her website, which includes a wide selection of merchandise that Meadows will inscribe. Your not-so-humble reviewer is not just a fan, he is a paying customer. 

The aforementioned post on the "Arous" release refers to the quality of the film including Meadows and co-star/love interest John Agar making you believe that they believe that a best brain is threatening mankind. Part of this challenge is having to film several scenes without actually seeing the animated image of the villain. 

Citing her extensive theater background, which includes scads o Shakesepearean roles, Meadows commented that she "used a lot of imagination" when talking to and battling with empty space. She added that she was "living the moment" and that "when you are on the set, there are a lot of technical things that the audience never sees." 

All of this makes it very apt that "Arous" was the first film of 21 year-old Meadows, which is the stage name of our living legend, fresh off starring in a stage production of "Romeo and Juliet." The portrayals by Meadows of the world's most famous star-crossed lover and the feisty and brave Sally prove that a strong independent woman by any other names is just as sweet. One spoiler is that Sally does the complete opposite of denying her father. 

On a more general level, Meadows stated that she fully commits to every role. A very bizarre "Arous" plot point involving a dog required asking animal-lover Meadows about that aspect of the film. She replied that "I thought that was wonderful; I love animals and can accept that [her canine co-star had a pivotal role in saving his best friends]." Her praise for that good boy included that "he was beautifully trained; we got along wonderfully." 

The larger truth this time is that Meadows showed that W.C. Fields was wrong in saying to never work with animals. 

Its A Living

The bigger picture this time was discussing the life of a working actress. Meadows aptly summarized the negative aspects of her profession by stating that it involves "a lot of rejection and conflict." She added that her commitment to a project often precluded auditioning for other (sometimes more prominent) roles. 

Meadows further observed that "Hollywood is a small town" and that the news "spreads like wildfire" if an actor does not show up, arrives late, or has been drinking. The clear message was that a bird-in-the-hand is worth more than a flock in the bush. 

Meadows was living with her family in Sacramento when the opportunity to move into the Hollywood Studio Club residential hotel for women facilitated her transition to television and film work. This safe space also was the home of Marilyn Monroe and Rita Moreno early in their careers. 

The only misconduct of Meadows during that period was sneaking in a bottle of whiskey to cure a cold. She shared that the whiskey put her to sleep but did not help her illness. 

An amusing (but not surprising) insight was that Meadows noted that she has worked with (unnamed) well-known female character actresses who would only be on set when filming. Meadows added that these divas would refuse to even acknowledge their co-stars. 

Conversely, Meadows lit up when discussing appearing in the "Golden Girls" spinoff "The Golden Palace." Meadows described her role as a "nasty southern girl" and stated that she "so enjoyed watching those people work together" in reference to the three female stars. The southern accent that Meadows adopted in discussing her character makes one wish that she at least had been cast in a recurring role as a relative of Blanche in "Girls." 

A personal highlight was discussing the few episodes of the awesomely off-beat NBC daytime soapcom "Santa Barbara" in which Meadows played a psychiatric ward nurse. She recalled that that was her first role after leaving Hollywood to do live theater. That transition in her career was the reason that the numerous westerns in which Meadows appeared did not include "Gunsmoke" or "Bonanza." 

Asking Meadows about any high-profile roles for which she was a strong contender but did not get showed how casting can be very unpredictable. Meadows shared that her audition for "The Ten Commandments" caught the eye of Cecil B. DeMille. DeMille approached Meadows and gave her "a great deal of compliments." In the end, Debra Paget edged out Meadows for the role of Lilia in that epic of Biblical proportions. 

Our conversation also showed that Meadows had a wonderful time making movies and television episodes and put her heart-and-soul into that work but that theater was her true love. 

You Oughhtta Write a Book 

Our much too short hour-long talk concluded with my asking Meadows why she has never written an auto-biography. Replying "I am probably in the minority of the actresses who have not written a biography" shows the wit and wisdom that screams for such a tome. The bigger picture this time is the importance of documenting the experiences of performers from the era in which they were actors, rather then stars, requires such works before it is too late. The bottom line regarding all this is that Meadows goes beyond being a celebrity with whom you would want to sit down for coffee. She would bake you cookies and regale you with tales of being a being a working actress who proves that good guys sometimes finish first. I'm ready for my snickerdoodles, Ms. Meadows.

'The Brain From Planet Arous' DVD and BD: Dogged Effort to Save Earth

The Film Detective provides folks man (or woman) enough to admit to non-ironically loving low-budget '50s scfi an especially delectably cheesy treat next week. The June 21, 2022 separate DVD and Blu-ray releases of "The Brain From Planet Arous" far exceed all expectations. The "but wait there's more" extras this time include full-screen and wide-screen versions of this film that criminally is not mentioned in the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" opening theme. 

The only thing that would have made "Arous" any better would have been the outer-space threat originating from either Pluto or the Dog Star. 

An even special treat for your not-so-humble reviewer is an interview with delightful "Brain" star Joyce Meadows. 

The following SPOILER-LADEN Detective promo. provides an excellent sense of the bizarrely eerie tone of this "goofy" cult classic. We additionally get copious looks at the hilarious intro. by Meadows, who shows great elan, and the other special features. The latter shows that Detective partner-in-crime Ballyhoo Motion Pictures ALWAYS comes through.

 

Our story begins with nuclear scientists Steve March (John Agar) and Dan Murphy detecting an anomaly. This prompts this pair, who are more Nelson and Healey than Einstein and Grossman, to trek (of course, pun intended) to the aptly named Mystery Mountain. This soon leads to exploring a cave that seems to be the center of the oddity. One spoiler is that two men enter, one man leaves. The rest of this story is that subsequent events surely cause Steve to wonder what possessed him to enter the cave. 

Meanwhile back at the ranch, main squeeze Sally Fallon (Meadows) is waiting for her man to return. The usually bland Steve being aggressively amorous is an early sign that something is wrong. The audience additionally learns that a trip to Vegas can be analogous to going to live on a farm. 

Our Lois Lane and her non-military father John Fallon then retrace the steps of Steve and Dan in an effort to determine what they must do to put right what once went wrong. This results in a "sliding doors" moment in which they learn the nature (and the extent) of the threat. 

This leads to one of the weirdest twists in any film. The general idea is that a good shepherd undertakes the task of saving humanity. 

All of this results in the final countdown that involves Sally essentially having to take a crash-course in brain surgery and making Steve the teacher's pet to avoid all of humanity being subject to the tyranny of the evil Gor. Of course, the latter element became especially hilarious in 1992. 

This leads to a well-executed essentially split-second confrontation with the expected setback before the population of earth experiences either death or an even worse fate. It is fair to say that two lassies deserves thanks for this outcome that can be considered a tale of two hemispheres. 

"Arous" works because low-budget scifi veteran Agar and Shakesepearean actress Meadows make the audience believe that they believe that an enormous floating brain that fluently speaks English is a real threat. Agar deserves special kudos for playing dual roles very well. 

For her part (of course, pun intended), Meadows strikes a PERFECT balance between a shrieking wimp and a kick-ass Ellen Ripley. The aforementioned other special features are equally educational and entertaining looks at "Arous" director Nathan Juran. Learning of his dual professional life and of his connection to 1313 Mockingbird Lane are highlights.

'Billions' S6 DVD: Drama of Olympic Proportions Improves With Age

CBSHE aptly provides the cure for the Covid-era summertime blues by releasing the sixth season of the Showtime drama "Billions" on DVD on June 14, 2022. This essentially Blu-ray quality 4-disc set shows that there is plenty of "Wolves of Wall Street" spirit left in this always strong series. Any failure to deliver a seventh season REQUIRES hauling co-creator Andrew Ross Sorkin, who masterfully honors a television legend with whom he shares a surname, before the New York legislature. The following S6 clip expertly entices masters of their universe and lovers of good drama to sceam for more. The well-chosen snippets illustrate the trifecta of "ripped from the headlines" plots, cinema-quality writing, and ideal casting. Seeing the aforementioned Dartmouth frat boy level alphas will evoke thoughts of where is Will Smith when you need him.

S6, which builds on the exceptional (reviewed) S5, proves that this season bucks the trend of series deteriorating with age. Nothing illustrates this trend more than the myriad of classic sitcoms that literally become live-action cartoons during their dotage. Team Sorkin successfully shifting the central conflict of "Bilions" is the primary factor regarding transforming "Billions" from a Tivo-worthy show to a water-coooler-worthy topic of discussion. Your not-so-humble reviewer came to "Billions" via the CBSHE S4 VD release. That series largely centered around hungry-like-a-wolf Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) battling with rival (but not lover) Taylor Mason (Asia Kate Dillon). While monotonal, robotic, androgynous (not that there is anything wrong with that) Mason likely appeals to "kids" of all ages, at least this man of a certain age finds that character almost unbearably annoying SOLELY based on their personality and almost literal failure to blink. S5 finding Axe and Mason as strange and uneasy bedfellows allows the animosity between Axe and New York Attorney General Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) to take center stage. This time it is personal in that Chuck's ex-wife Wndy Rhoades (Maggie Siff) is literally and figuratively sleeping with the enemy as the Team Axelrod performance coach. Further, Mason playing more nicely makes competing finance god Michael Prince (Corey Stoll) the new Reggie to Axe's Archie. This matchup is more compelling than Axe v. Mason. The events of S5 lead to Axe being absent for S6 and Prince being his successor. This change in leadership seems to only enhance the desire of Chuck for truth, justice, and the American way. Those of us who have enjoyed the urban oasis peace and tranquility of Gramercy Park in NYC will find an episode in which Chuck fights to open the gate to the masses particulalry compelling. The manner in which these events fully unfold proves that our warriors must always remain vigilant. What begins as a battle regarding the campaign of Prince to bring the Olympics to NYC leads to a ruthless scorched-earth strategy on both sides with ample collateral damage that extends to folks who put their money where their mouth is. This plotting PROVES that you should not challenge Sorkin to a game of chess. The fallout from the Olympics bid arguably can be seen either as straying very close to cartoon territory or as being a morality tale regarding national politics in 21st century America. Pop-culture loving Team Sorkin would be proud of your not-so-humble reviewwer for making an analogy to Clark Kent trying to prevent what seems to be an inevitable (and catastrophic) Lex Luthor presidency on the CW teendram "Smallville." The S6 finale serves its dual purposes of tying up most loose ends and serving as a satisfying series finale in the event that Showtime precludes any possibility of seven seasons and a movie. At the same time, fans are eager to see whether Chuck or Prince can succeed to the point that the former is a guest of the state or an ambulance chaser or Prince is a Walmart greeter plotting to unionize his co-workers as the first step of his well-plotted comeback. CBSHE enchances all this with a handful of special features on Giamatti, wonderfully quirky Axe "number one" "Wags," and the well-cast cameos.