The Beast That Lurked In The Heart Of A Flower

   That's it right there. "The Beast That Lurked In The Heart Of A Flower" would have been the title of the 1950's drive-in theater shockmeister film I would have written and produced had I been alive in that era (and literate, and well-connected in Hollywood with people who knew the rudiments of making movies).

   Of course it would have to have people in the 1950's who were at the top of the shockmeister film game on board to help create this masterpiece - Nathan Duran to direct, Richard Landau to write the screenplay (adapted from my original story, 'natch), Russell Harlan would be the cinematographer, Irving Gertz could produce the score (and any other incidental music), and Barton Sloane would create the special effects. 

   If Merrill White had the time (and was healthy enough), he could handle the editing.

   With luck 20th Century Fox would bid on and win the distribution rights, ensuring a studio that had the right people to market this epic and connections with an adequate number of theaters to handle both brick & mortar and drive-in theater showings (matinees at brick & mortar theaters could double ticket sales).

   Casting might be tricky - the role of the suave but mad professor requires an actor with a commanding but super-smooth presence, or at least the remnants of a commanding but super-smooth presence. Possibly Herbert Marshall, as the scene wherein the beast of the flower attacks the mad professor could have a little heightened realism if the beast rips Marshall's left leg off (Marshall had his left leg amputated as the result of being shot by a sniper during WWI, and wore a wooden prosthetic leg for the duration of his post WWI career - watching him on stage and in films made during the 1920's through the mid 1960's it was almost impossible to tell).

   The suave mad professor's wife would most definitely have to be played by Miriam Hopkins if Herbert Marshall was signed. They had acted together in Trouble In Paradise and had terrific chemistry. Of course that would mean coaxing Hopkins out of an early retirement

   The five young punks and their respective dolls could all be cast from the incredible pool of hungry young talented actors that had flooded Hollywood following WWII: People such as Steve McQueen, Sandra Giles, Vikki Dougan, Ralph Meeker, Michael Landon, Mamie Van Doren, Chris Mitchum, Johnny Sands, Phyllis Coates, and Laurette Luez.

   Of course there would need to be a few character actors on the screen for the roles of the disgraced Police Chief, the femme fatale with the dangerous secret, the two elderly college professors who oppose the suave mad professor, the young newspaper reporter who can't get the local authorities to look at what she discovered going on at the University's research lab, the earnest young intern at the local hospital who stumbles on a cure for the deadly poison, and of course a stuntman who could pull off the beast of the flower without fainting from wearing the 75 pound rubber monster costume for extended periods of time.

   Names such as Raymond Burr, Alida Valli, Erich Ponto & Leon Ames, Kristine Miller, David Holt, and Robert Hoy spring to mind for those roles. 

   Filming would be mostly in and around L.A., and possibly in areas near Lancaster close to Edwards AFB - stock footage of atom bomb tests would fit the landscape of that area fairly well. 

   Heck, chances are the movie would have been a minor hit and maybe a comic book adaption would have been published by Dell Comics.