Remembering John Agar On His Birthday

    

     One of my favorite "big bug" 1950's movies is 1955's TARANTULA. It's got a cool giant bug in the form of the title beast stomping around plus there Jack Arnold's usual tight and taught direction with his small town desert setting, the gorgeous Mara Corday and best of all John Agar who was born of this day in 1921.
    After starting out in major Hollywood productions such as John Ford's FT. APACHE and SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON along with SANDS OF TWO JIMA he moved on to what werre considered "B" pictures in the 1950's and found a niche for himself in the horror/sci-fi boom which that decade produced.
    John made bunches of these and he always be counted on for bringing a calming sense of professionalism to the plot no matter how ludicrous or poverty driven there were and I've spent countless hours watching him save the day throughout my life.
   In the early 90's at one of the great old Fanex shows in Baltimore I got the chance to meet him and it could not have more gracious or kind to all the fans there. I think this was one of the first convention he'd ever done and he seemed immensely touched by the outpouring of attention shown to him.