It Came from Outer Space

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It Came from Outer Space

In the desert an alien presence is made known. It looks like a disembodied eye and could have been a cheesy film. What follows, however, is a really intelligent movie where the realities of such a report are made to be realistic. The press is a factor. There is a sense of disbelief by some of the principle characters. Also, there is serious effort to get a handle on what this thing is. As time goes along, we begin to embrace the characters and their needs an wants. And the alien is enough of a mystery to force us to speculate. Most of the outer space personages of the fifties were killing machines rather than sophisticated beings. See this. It's pretty good.

A spaceship from another world crashes in the Arizona desert, and only an amateur stargazer and a schoolteacher suspect alien influence when the local townsfolk begin to act strange. The screenplay by Harry Essex, with input by Jack Arnold, was derived from an original screen treatment by Ray Bradbury; screen legend says Bradbury wrote the original screenplay and Harry Essex merely changed the dialogue and took the credit. Unusual among science fiction films of the era, the alien "invaders" were portrayed by Bradbury as creatures without malicious intent toward humanity. No doubt helped by Bradbury's script, this is a strong outing in the career of Jack Arnold, who made many memorable (but cheesy) science fiction films. This one seems more serious, more intelligent, and even the alien (when finally shown) looks excellent by 1950s standards.

I caught this movie in 2D and b/w, on the AMC channel this Halloween weekend. Prior to now, I'd never seen nor heard of it. Set in and around a small town in the Arizona desert, it tells the story of an amateur astronomer who was trying to get to the truth behind a large, fiery object that fell to earth in the desert. Was it a meteroid, as the Army had proclaimed after its investigation, or a crashed space ship? Though he caught a glimpse of the latter, the evidence was buried in a landslide in the crater before anyone else got there. Ray Bradbury's believable story is the now-common question of how we deal with things we don't understand, or are "ugly". I thought it played well, had decent special effects, etc., for a film made for 1950s audiences' sensibilities and movie-watching sophistication. One scene included a shapely, flirty young woman who really had nothing to do with the story. It wasn't until I heard this was a 3D movie that her presence on screen made any sense.

When the story begins, John and Ellen (Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush) are startled when what seems like a huge meteorite hits near them. However, it's not a meteorite....and when John climbs into the huge impact crater it created, he sees a space ship. But before he can show anyone, the aliens cause an earthquake to cover the ship. Is this the end of the aliens? Of course not...and no one seems to believe John. Even Ellen isn't sure if he's right. I loved that the aliens in this film are NOT typical 1950s sci-fi creatures. Instead of coming to Earth to impregnate women or take over or eat folks, these aliens are quite different....and that makes this a better film than you might be expecting. Well written and intelligently made, this Ray Bradbury story is one well worth your time.

I just saw "It Came from Outer Space" on DVD today. The last time I saw it was in 1954 in a small town theaters on the Saskatchewan prairies. I was ten years old at the time and my world did not extend a hundred mile radius. I still remember that film until today. Beautiful Barbara Rush, calm, cool,intelligent Richard Carlson. Joe Sawyer could have been one of my neighbors. Full of suspense, intrigue, and mild fear, this movie was indeed a classic. Not knowing what the "It" looked like added to the mystery and wonder. Surprisingly no one was ever seriously hurt. Wearing those 3_D glasses and watching those rocks coming at you was pretty cool in those days. I was glad to see it again and relive those 50 years that have gone by.

An astronomer-stranger realizes that what is believed to be a meteor is in reality a space ship. No one believes him. Richard Carlson plays this laughed at John Putnam with conviction and integrity. Carlson tries to discover the truth, with the aid of his girl friend, and slowly they learn that indeed an alien presence has landed in the desert. The story has many similar plot elements found in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and some new twists all its own. For the most part, the plot is pretty cohesive, and the acting acceptable. Charles Drake as a no brain lawman might be the one major exception. Russel Johnson, the professor of Gilligan's Island fame, has a small part as well. The alien presence seems to not want to harm humanity but only to leave, but is willing to harm to meet its end. All in all a pretty good atmospheric sci-fi chiller from the Golden Age.

It Came From Outer Space is possibly Universal's best 1950's sci-fi and one of the best of the decade. It stars sci-fi regular Richard Carlson (Creature From the Black Lagoon) and Barbara Rush (When Worlds Collide) as his lover. They both play good parts. This is also one of the creepiest sci-fi movies of the 1950's. The desert setting is very eerie, as is the score. Director Jack Arnold often used desert settings for his movies. The alien monster looks quite impressive and the special effects are good too. I enjoyed this movie very much and is a must for 1950's sci-fi lovers. Enjoy! Rating: 5 stars out of 5.