Movie-A-Day #223: War of the Colossal Beast (1958).

Happy 88th birthday to a Southern California legend and institution,
Stan Chambers. He was on the region’s groundbreaking television reporters, first joining the pioneering local station KTLA in 1947 and becoming a fixture there until his retirement one year ago today. (That’s 63 years on the job, folks.) He covered just about every major story in the Los Angeles area during that time, along with countless stories about the ordinary everyday folks who live here. He’s also a very nice man who is still generous with his time and who always has plenty of fun stories to tell. And for all his time in the entertainment capital of the world, he has mostly avoided going Hollywood, appearing in only a couple of films (far fewer than many other local newscasters who have far less service time). His first movie appearance – and for decades his only one – was as himself in “War of the Colossal Beast,” reporting on the giant Glen Manning’s L.A. rampage for KTLA.