The Movie: Clash of the Titans (1981)
What Is It?: Ray
Harryhausen’s final film mangles Greek mythology and has a hero and heroine who
both go through the movie as if they’ve shared a sack of Quaaludes, but the
master’s monsters may be his greatest ever. If nothing else, the Kraken,
Calibos (sometimes stop-motion; sometimes actor Neil McCarthy), and Medusa all
rank up there with the skeletons from Jason
and the Argonauts.
Why Today?: On
this day in 1959, the first successful firing of the Titan intercontinental
ballistic missile takes place at Cape Canaveral. They can’t all be happy
anniversaries.
