UFOs

It Came From Outer Space sci-fi : Lisa’s Home Bijou

June 2, 2021 by Lisa Grable Leave a Comment

Film Festival: Science Fiction in the 1950s

It Came From Outer Space (1953) is a classic sci-fi film based on a Ray Bradbury story. It is important to the genre because the outer space aliens that crash on Earth have no interest in invading or harming humans.

John Putnam is an amateur astronomer who makes a living writing about astronomy in Sand Rock, Arizona.

“You know I think it must be my money that impresses you. –What money? –Well I got a check today. –Johnny! You sold another article!” –Johnny and Ellen

Johnny and Ellen discuss whether they should get married. Just as Johnny is going in for a big kiss, the two get interrupted by a huge fireball loudly speeding across the sky. It crashes by the Old Excelsior Mine.

An alien slowly emerges from his ship, accompanied by spooky Theremin outer space music. It leaves a sparkly slug-like trail as it explores the desert.

Johnny gets his crop duster friend to fly him and Ellen to the crash site to inspect the crater. Everyone thinks it’s a meteor. Johnny finds the ship, but the alien closes the door when he approaches. A landslide buries the ship, leaving Johnny as the only witness.

Pete and Ellen ask Johnny not to tell anyone he thinks there is a ship as the sheriff and others drive up to the crash site. Johnny tells the sheriff and the newspaper editor and everyone thinks he’s crazy.

“What’s the amateur astronomer’s point of view? –There’s some kind of a ship down there. –A ship? –Don’t ask me what kind because I don’t know. –Oh you mean from one of those stars you write about? Or the kind that Pete here operates? –I tell you the evidence is buried right down there. This may the biggest thing that ever happened. If you’re smart you’ll get this whole area sealed off until we know what we’re up against.” –Johnny, newspaper editor, and sheriff

Johnny drives Ellen back to town. All of a sudden, the alien appears before them in the middle of the highway! Johnny is more determined than ever to investigate the alien ship and calls his university friend to visit the crater. Television reporters and the Army also arrive at the crater. Johnny’s university friend refuses to dig for the space ship.

Johnny and Ellen run into their telephone linemen friends, Frank and George, on their way into town (there is a lot of driving around on the highway through the desert in this movie and you are never sure why!) They say they haven’t seen anything unusual, but Frank says he hears strange noises over the wires.

As Frank and George head down the highway they seem to run over the alien. They get out of their truck and get surrounded by slug-type goo.

Johnny has a notion that something is wrong and goes to look for Frank and George. He and Ellen find the empty truck and a glittering slime trail. They find George in the desert speaking and acting very strangely. (George may be familiar to you as the Professor from Gilligan’s Island.)

“Don’t be afraid. It is within our power to transform ourselves to look like you. Or anyone. For a time it will be necessary. We cannot, we would not, take your souls or minds or bodies. Don’t be afraid. Your friend is all right.” –alien

Johnny and Ellen bring Matt the sheriff out to where they saw George. All they find is a dead animal and the sheriff’s disdain. Back in town, George and Frank are walking down the street and completely ignore Johnny. Once Johnny chases them down, they tell him to back off, they need time (the aliens are very mysterious when they speak.)

Miners out in the desert encounter aliens. They know that the back of their mine is right up against the landing site of the “meteor.” They don’t last long with the aliens.

Sheriff Matt sends for Johnny. Frank’s wife is freaked out over his behavior. George’s fancy girlfriend is there too, and both men have said they are going somewhere over night. The alien Frank and George are driving around in the telephone truck and someone has broken into the hardware store.

Sheriff Matt gets a call saying Professor Allen has disappeared from the crater. Ellen is out driving around and Frank stops her and gets in the car. He wants to be taken to the mine. When she says no, she gets slimed.

Johnny gets a phone call about Ellen and he and Matt drive out into desert. Ellen is standing on the rocks in a lovely cocktail gown waiting to lead Johnny to the mine entrance. (When people get “taken”, the aliens are not killing them, they are just taking their shape so they can work on their space ship. It means that they go around stealing clothes from people’s houses all through the movie! And they don’t have good fashion sense!)

“We have souls and minds and we are good. –Then why are you hiding? –We are not yet ready to meet in friendship. –Why not? –Because you would be horrified at the sight of us. Had you fallen on our world, it might have been different. We understand more.” –aliens and Johnny

Johnny insists on the alien showing itself so he can protect them. He is horrified. He fights with Matt about whether to rescue Ellen or not. When Matt drops him at home, the aliens have been there and taken his clothes. Johnny and Matt fight because Matt can’t stand waiting as the aliens have asked.

Matt rounds up a posse and hands out rifles. They make a barricade in the road to shoot Frank.

Johnny goes to the mine. Alien Ellen tries to kill him. Johnny is trying to warn the aliens to go ahead and leave, but they think he is leading Matt and the posse to them. Johnny convinces them to let go the townspeople they are “using” to try to stop the posse. This gives the aliens enough time to escape in their ship.

It Came From Outer Space has a great eerie soundtrack, a pretty ugly alien, and an interesting story. Our romantic couple, Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush, are easy on the eyes. This is an important film to include in a science fiction viewing party.

Resource links for It Came From Outer Space

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045920/
- It Came From Outer Space (1953) from IMDb
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/29030%7C129692/Richard-Carlson/filmography-with-synopsis.html
- Richard Carlson at Turner Classic Movies
http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/238/Barbara+Rush/index.html
- Barbara Rush profile from Glamour Girls
http://www.raybradbury.com/
- The Ray Bradbury website
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-theremin-a-strange-instrument-with-a-strange-history/
- Theremin history from CBS News

Affiliate links: if you make a purchase using these links, I’ll receive a small compensation towards maintaining this blog, at no extra cost to you.

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The Day the Earth Stood Still

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers

Forbidden Planet

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Lisa’s Home Bijou: The Day the Earth Stood Still

July 17, 2017 by Lisa Grable 7 Comments

Film Festival: Science Fiction in the 1950s

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) is a gem of the science fiction genre. The serious story has love of peace and Christian overtones. Good acting and a serious cast engage the viewer. A beautiful score by Bernard Herrman incorporates the eerie Theremin. The Day the Earth Stood Still opens with Hawaii, Hong Kong, India, France all tracking an object flying at tremendous speed. Famous newsmen are on the air reporting.

“This is Elmer Davis again. We still don’t know what it is or where it comes from. But there’s something there. It’s been tracked around the earth by radar, traveling at a rate of 4000 miles an hour. This is NOT another flying saucer scare. Scientists and military men are already agreed on that. Whatever it is, it’s something real.” –Elmer Davis

A flying saucer flies over the Capitol, Smithsonian, Archives, and the Washington Monument. The people on the streets are looking up and starting to run. The spaceship lands on baseball fields on the Ellipse in front of White House. The Armed Services police, Army jeeps, and tanks head out from Fort Myer towards the White House. Famous reporter Drew Pearson announces on radio and TV that a spaceship has landed in DC.

I’d like to introduce the characters who deal with this tense situation. First, Klaatu is the humanoid alien, played by Michael Rennie. Klaatu is well-spoken, polite, and intensely serious. He has traveled 250 million miles to bring a message of peace to the Earth’s nations. He gets shot by soldiers twice for his trouble.

“We have come to visit you in peace and with goodwill.”

During his escape from Walter Reed hospital, Klaatu steals clothes from a Major Carpenter. He wanders into a boarding house looking for a place to stay, and uses Carpenter as his name as he visits among the humans of DC. Klaatu insists that he has a message that must be delivered to all the nations at once. Mr. Harley, secretary to the President, tries to explain how difficult that is, even with the United Nations.

“Well we could call a special meeting of the General Assembly. But of course the United Nations doesn’t represent all the nations. –Then I suggest a meeting of all the chiefs of state. –Believe me you don’t understand. They wouldn’t sit down to the same table. –I don’t want to resort to threats, Mr. Harley. I merely tell you that the future of your planet is at stake. I urge that you transmit that message to the nations of the Earth.” –Harley and Klaatu

Gort is the robot on the spaceship. He is huge, maybe 9 feet tall, humanoid and metallic. The robot can shoot rays out of his facemask and destroy rifles, tanks, and other munitions.

“I’m worried about Gort. I’m afraid of what he might do if anything should happen to me. –Gort? But he’s a robot. Without you what could he do? –There’s no limit to what he could do. He could destroy the earth. If anything should happen to me, you must go to Gort. You must say these words: ‘Klaatu barada nikto'” –Klaatu and Helen

For parts of The Day the Earth Stood Still, Gort is standing motionless in front of the spaceship. Engineers from Fort Belvoir try to move him and eventually encase him in an indestructible plastic. Whenever Klaatu sends a command to Gort, he can overcome all obstacles, melting plastic, brick walls, and more.

The boarding house where Klaatu/Carpenter takes up residence is important to the story. There is a kindly landlady and an older married couple that listen to the radio and read tabloids. The wife is played by Frances Bavier, known to classic TV fans as Andy Taylor’s Aunt Bee. Another resident at the boarding house is Helen Benson, a young war widow, played by Patricia Neal. Helen works in a Federal office to support herself and her young son, Bobby. Helen is a caring person and ends up supporting Klaatu’s mission, and having a few feelings for him. Bobby is played by Billy Gray (famous from his role as Bud in Father Knows Best.) He is a sweet young boy who does his homework, has a gang of neighborhood friends, and loves the movies and his train set. Of all the humans, he gets the closest to Klaatu. He likes him and listens to him. Klaatu enjoys learning about Earth and Washington DC through Bobby’s eyes. They visit the Lincoln Memorial and read Lincoln’s words. Klaatu asks Bobby who is the greatest man living. After Bobby explain Dr. Barnhardt’s work, they decide to go see him.

Sam Jaffe plays Dr. Barnhardt. His part in the story seems a bit like Einstein. Barnhardt is a Nobel prize winner and is connected enough to convene a large meeting of scientists from around the world at the spaceship.

“I would like to explain something of my mission here. –That was my first question. – We know from scientific observation that your planet has discovered a rudimentary kind of atomic energy. We also know that you’re experimenting with rockets. –Yes, that is true. –So long as you were limited to fighting among yourselves with your primitive tanks and aircraft we were unconcerned. But soon one of your nations will apply atomic energy to spaceships. That will create a threat to the peace and security of other planets. That, of course, we cannot tolerate.” –Klaatu and Barnhardt

Barnhardt agrees to help Klaatu with delivering his message, but asks for a demonstration to prove his planet’s power. Klaatu plans it for two days later, the day the earth stood still. (Sam Jaffe was famous for many roles, including Gunga Din, The Asphalt Jungle, Ben-Hur, and Dr. Zorba in Ben Casey.)

Helen’s boyfriend is insurance man Tom Stevens (Hugh Marlowe.) Tom wants to marry Helen, but he and Bobby don’t seem very fond of each other. Tom is very suspicious of Klaatu/Carpenter and his appearance at the boarding house. It turns out that Tom is more interested in being famous than worrying about mankind. (Hugh Marlowe looks similar to the actor Richard Carlson. I loved spotting that Tom’s office door in the movie has Richard Carlson painted on it!)

Do you like Patricia Neal best in this film? Or in Hud, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, or The Fountainhead? Do you like Hugh Marlowe or Richard Carlson better in your sci-fi movies? Don’t you think Gort is a great space robot? I hope you will enjoy The Day the Earth Stood Still as much as I do!

Resource links for The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043456/
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) from IMDb
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/139424%7C121098/Patricia-Neal/
- Patricia Neal overview from Turner Classic Movies
http://www.hollywood.com/celebrities/hugh-marlowe-57294353/
- Hugh Marlowe from Hollywood.com
http://www.filmsite.org/sci-fifilms2.html
- Golden Age of Science Fiction Films from AMC filmsite
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/michael_rennie/
- Michael Rennie from Rotten Tomatoes

Affiliate links: if you make a purchase using these links, I’ll receive a small compensation towards maintaining this blog, at no extra cost to you.

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Lisa’s Home Bijou: Earth vs. the Flying Saucers

June 16, 2017 by Lisa Grable 4 Comments

Film Festival: Science Fiction in the 1950s

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) was the first movie that Ray Harryhausen used stop motion animation on flying saucers. Alien invasion films became a staple during the 1950s and this film is a classic!

“As a result, headquarters of the Hemispheric Defense Command in Colorado Springs issued an order. ‘All military installations are to fire on sight at any flying objects not identifiable.'” –narrator

The film opens with a narrator explaining UFO sightings and military collection of data. Dr. Russell A. Marvin and his brand new wife are driving through the desert. Dr. Marvin is recording a report on a reel-to-reel tape recorder.

“Because of recent scientific advances it is now possible to realize an ancient dream, the exploration of outer space. To prepare for this great stride forward we are assembling data on conditions at atmospheric levels beyond those hitherto explored. To collect the necessary data unmanned automatic observation posts are being sent up in multiple stage rockets to a distance hundreds of miles above the earth’s surface.” –Dr. Marvin

Dr. Marvin is interrupted by a scary sound. (I saw this movie as a preschooler and that sound scared me for years!). A flying saucer is chasing their car! Carol Marvin just keeps driving – what a woman! When they stop the car, they have a smoke to calm down.

The Marvins finish making their way to the military installation to fire their 11^th rocket (out of a planned 12). They are interrupted by the sudden appearance of Carol’s father, the General. He brings bad news from Panama.

The satellites have been falling from the sky. Apparently they are blowing up in outer space. During dinner the three see strange lights in the sky.

“Look! What are those lights? –They’re what the pilots call fool lights. –St. Elmo’s fire in ancient times. Superstitious regard them as omens of things to come. The best science has been able to make out of them is that they’re electric particles agitated by moving air. Same principle as the aurora borealis. –There’s so many of them around the project the last couple days, we all just take them for granted.” –Russell, Carol, and General Hanley

The next morning the team prepares the 12^th rocket for take off. Russell plans to monitor its progress more fully with video and audio. Right before launch a UFO is sighted – a flying saucer!

The saucer lands on base and the aliens emerge. The military fire and shoot one of the aliens. The aliens shoot back with a disintegration ray.

The aliens start destroying the whole base. Russell and Carol are safely in an underground bunker and miss all the destruction and the aliens taking Carol’s dad into the saucer.

“And I hope you can understand me. Whoever you are, whatever you are, you’ll regret what you did at the project. –Perhaps you can explain why, after contacting Dr. Marvin, we were met with violence. –You’ve contacted Dr. Marvin? –We spoke to him. — All he heard was meaningless sounds. The same kind of sounds I just heard. –We had hoped a sufficient adjustment for the time differential between us would have been made.” –General and aliens

Russell and Carol head to Washington and without permission, Russell contacts the aliens. They ask to meet with him at the edge of the Chesapeake Bay.

Russell gets a car and eludes Carol and the police to get to the rendezvous (looking an awful lot like the California coast, mountains and all.) The aliens invite Russell, Carol, and the pursuers into the ship.

The aliens want the earth to agree to submit. The aliens have a special machine where they can take all the knowledge from a human’s brain and add it to their database. They give Russell 56 days to convince everyone to yield to their demands.

Dr. Marvin gets permission from the military to build a weapon at Maryland’s Aberdeen Proving Ground he thinks might work on the flying saucers. He tries to convert electricity to high frequency sound. He and fellow scientists think that sound could break the aliens’ force. The new weapon works. A glowing flying ball of light comes into the lab. The major shoots it down.

The team drives away from the lab with the weapon while the saucer lands at the lab. The new weapon disrupts the flying saucer. An alien left behind disintegrates Dr. Marvin’s colleague, then the truck with the weapon. The major shoots the alien. They take the suit off the alien to see its humanoid form.

At this point, the film enters an action phase with bombers and fighter planes battling flying saucers in the air. The aliens mess with the sun and meteors to cause catastrophic storms. We get to see flying saucers flying over the Smithsonian, the National Gallery of Art, the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, the White House, and the Capitol. Dr. Marvin bravely leads his army colleagues around town while Carol clings to him.

“The present danger is ended.” –Major

Hugh Marlowe is a very serious but cool and romantic rocket scientist. Joan Taylor is not a fainting flower, always willing to help her husband, cooking and driving the car! I think it is amazing to see Ray Harryhausen’s special effects, all done with stop-motion animation. Watch Earth vs. the Flying Saucers to see a well-written story and the roots of science fiction at the movies.