"It Came From Outer Space" -1953.

















Tagline: "Amazing Sights Leap at You in 3-DIMENSION!" or "In scientifically perfected, eye-resting, full sepia Monocolor!".....honestly, I don't even know where to begin in the mocking of that last one. It's just too much of a good thing.

Plot: Author/astronomer John Putnam

has a new home out in the Arizona desert, along with Ellen Fields,

his girlfriend, a local schoolteacher. John isn't trusted by the local yokels of the small town nearby. Sheriff Matt,

who feels protective of Ellen (and maybe something more) just wants him to shut up. One night, John and Ellen see a meteor crash in the desert.

John asks his buddy, Pete, to take him over to the crash site in his helicopter. Once there, John climbs down into the crater. Unfortunately, he does so alone, as Pete and Ellen wait for him. John is the only one who sees the spaceship

before a landslide covers it. And John is the only one who catches a glimpse of the hideous thing inside. At first John's story seems crazy, until some of the townsfolk begin acting strange

as if they aren't really who they seem to be. Do these aliens mean to do harm?

Not a bad little horror/alien entry into the B-movie genre. Filmed in 1953, it came before some other B-movie alien invasion classics, like "It! The Terror From Beyond Space" (58) and "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" (56). It also presented a theme that hadn't been done before: an alien species just trying to get home. Sound familiar?



Let's be clear, though: these aliens aren't eating Reece's Pieces and bonding with Drew Barrymore. They are bloated and wrinkly with one bloodshot eye peering out from under long, white hair. A bit like Ozzy Osbourne must look Sunday morning after a long weekend.





Things I learned from this movie: 1- anyone smoking a pipe in a 50's B-movie is an educated man, 2- when we first catch a glimpse of the alien, we see long hairs in the back and a trail of sparkly stuff.....Holy crap! It's My Little Pony!,

3- if a giant, hideous alien floats out in front of your speeding car you don't need to scream, but if a 10-year-old boy comes to the door dressed as a spaceman you should,
4- the most ignored three words in the history of cinema?..."You stay here",
5- you can tell when we are looking through the alien's eye because it looks like you're looking through the bottom of a preserves jar,

6- before 1960 absolutely everyone carried a pistol in their glove compartment, 7- that's the professor from "Gilligan's Island" as George...here he's thinking "if I can make a working radio out of coconuts, why can't I defeat these aliens?",

8- in order for aliens to duplicate you they must surround you in white swooshy stuff,

9- the announcer on the radio refers to John as "the young astronomer"....wow, that's a bit generous,

10- just because you have a cool laser wand thingy doesn't mean you're a good shot,

11- Okay, how did the aliens duplicate John?...he was never surrounded by white swooshy stuff.

12- while we're talking plot holes and such, how did a woman with three lines in the whole movie get equal billing with actors who could actually...well, act?

Oh...I see now. Never mind.
            
Mind-numbingly ordinary bonus facts:
Richard Carlson is John in this one. You remember him as Dr. David Reed in "The Creature From The Black Lagoon". He was almost the same age in both films but somehow looks more haggard in this one. Maybe it was a tough shoot. Carlson was also in "Magnetic Monster"

(which I haven't seen and don't own) also from 1953.

Barbara Rush played John's honey, Ellen. Rush starred in "When World's Collide" (1951) and was married to Jeffrey Hunter for five years. If you know that name, it's probably from Star Trek, where he played Captain Christopher Pike in "The Cage". Hunter would have been the original Captain but studio executives were so busy re-writing and changing he went on to other projects. You may also recognise him as another well-known figure:  that's Hunter as Jesus Christ in "King Of Kings" (1961). On a separate note, Hunter had to be "crucified" twice after test audiences complained that "Jesus" should not have a hairy chest.

Russell Johnson I have already spoken of, but I failed to mention that Johnson is a B-movie icon without referring to him in a "Gilligan's Island" sense. Johnson had a starring role in classics like "This Island Earth" (he was Steve) and "Attack Of The Crab Monsters"

(he was Hank, the hero). Please note that you will always see heroes with single-syllable names in Hollywood. That's because it's easier to shout "Steve! Look out!" than "Darryl! Look out!" or "Clarence! Please be careful near the alien ship!" or "Maximilian! For the love of God! Will you tie your shoe already before you trip and get eaten by a Wasp Woman!".

Totally useless trivia: the makeup department created two very different looking aliens and submitted them both for approval. The one that wasn't chosen for "It Came From Outer Space" ended up in another sci-fi film: "This Island Earth".

Now you know. "And knowing is half the battle!" G.I. Joooooooeeee!