It Came from Outer Space
                                     
Director: Jack Arnold
Year: 1953
Rating: 7.0
The 1950's was the birth of sci-fi films that have influenced that genre ever since. In 1953 four sci-fi classics were produced - this film, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Invaders from Mars and The War of the Worlds. There had already been Destination Moon, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Thing from Another World, When Worlds Collide. In the following year Creature from the Black Lagoon, Godzilla, Target Earth and Them played on the screens of America and Japan. It is all there.  Most of them made on small budgets but big ideas and imagination. Because of the relatively poor special effects, being shot in black and white, with lesser-known actors, these films from the 1950's are mocked or ignored by many, but this is where it all began. Often by small independent film producers or the B Units of studios. I have a real affection for these films and the actors that showed up in many of them.



The lead here, Richard Carlson, was to appear in quick succession The Magnetic Monster, It Came from Outer Space, Creature from the Black Lagoon and Riders to the Stars. His female co-star, the lovely Barbara Rush was in When Worlds Collide and this one. The film's director Jack Arnold was one of the major contributors to 50's sci-fi with this plus Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, This Island Earth, Tarantula, The Incredible Shrinking Man and The Space Children. Many of these films were clearly influenced by both the political atmosphere in America at the time with McCarthy but also the fear of Communist brainwashing. They were fraught times and filled with paranoia. Maybe some great films will come out of our time as well.



John Putnam (Carlson) is an amateur astronomer who has moved to the wide-open spaces of Arizona where the skies are clear and he can look far into space. Why he wants to bother doing that with Barbara Rush as his girlfriend Ellen is a mystery. That is all I would want to stare at. The script taken from a Ray Bradbury source is a very literate one - and in the opening narration from Putnam, he describes the beauty of his surroundings. Instead of taking the lovely Ellen strongly hinting at marriage into his bedroom, he takes her out to look at the stars. They see a flaming ball cross the sky and crash into the earth. A meteor he thinks. They rush out to see it the next day - a huge crater in the ground and he goes down to get closer. Instead, it is of course a spaceship. And then a rockslide buries it. 



Of course, no one will believe him. But odd things begin to happen. The two phone line repair men (Joe Sawyer, Russell Johnson) disappear and then reappear but have become robotic. They warn Putnam to stay away from the ship or terrible things will happen. Just give them a few days to fix their ship. It crash landed on its way to a civilized planet - earth is not ready for them. But then they take and recreate Ellen - never more gorgeous than on the hill waving him on - and the sheriff (Charles Drake) who desires her forms a posse ready to kill. We just wanted a few hours. What we don't understand, we kill. Especially if they are as ugly as these creatures - a mass of flesh with one gigantic eye. If aliens looked like kittens, we would welcome them. Later Putnam says as they leave, "It wasn't the right time for us to meet. But there will be other nights, other stars for us to watch. They'll be back." Yes, in many many films ever since. Produced in 3-D and apparently, the blue-ray has 3-D.