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Dedications
Dedicated in loving memory of my wonderful parents:-
Konstantinos (Dino) Christopoulos who took me to see my very first science fiction film in the early 1960s, The Man With The X-Ray Eyes (1963)
Rosemary Christopoulos who sat with me after school as I watched on TV episodes the first two doctors of the Doctor Who series and insisted on asking me interminable questions about who was who and what was going on! Thanks mum and dad!
The SCI-FI FILM FIESTA eBook series is intended as a salute to the pioneering work of science fiction film makers. May future generations have the privilege of enjoying your work and never stop wondering....What if?
Dedicated also to you, the reader who appreciates these classic gems from the golden age of sci-fi film-making. It is you who help to keep such films alive for future generations to enjoy
Other eBooks in the Sci-Fi Film Fiesta series:
Volume 1: “Here Be Monsters”
Volume 2: “Into Space”
Volume 3: “Other Worlds”
Volume 4: “Journeys Within”
Volume 5: “Alien Contact”
Sci-Fi Film Fiesta
Volume 6:
Alien Invasion
©Chris Christopoulos 2022
Contents
The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)
The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)
I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)
Night of the Blood Beast (1958)
Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)
Terror In The Midnight Sun (1959)
Introduction
I’d like to share with you my own enjoyment of many individual classic films from the 1950s, the golden age of science fiction with this volume of the Sci-Fi Film Fiesta series: Volume 6 – Invasion. Fear and paranoia was often the order of the day during the Cold War period and sci-films tended to reflect and play on these fears as will be commented on in the films featured below.
What if our planet was to be actually subjected to an alien invasion, incursion of infestation? Could it happen? We often assume that advanced intelligent alien life-forms would be motivated by a sense of altruism and benevolence, by curiosity and by the need to know what is unknown as they make contact with other life-forms throughout the universe. Considering the effort and immense distances involved with undertaking interplanetary excursions many people believe that the notion of our planet being subject to an alien invasion is best left in the realm of science fiction.
Then again, take a moment to consider Alexander the Great and his army doing battle with Indian forces so far from Macedonia; The Mongols at the gates of Europe; the Vikings in Russia, England, Ireland, France and elsewhere; the Spanish Conquistadors in central and South America and so and so on throughout history. Such ventures so long ago were almost the equivalent of embarking on an interstellar enterprise considering the time, effort and distances involved. The victims of these invasions may not have imagined in their wildest dreams such a thing happening to disrupt their way of life. Perhaps some speculation would have occurred to them as to why such a destructive event should have befallen them.
If an alien invasion were to occur then why? What would be the motive?
Greed & avarice? Our planet may possess something (resources?) which an alien civilization needs and wants.
Lebensraum? An alien civilization may believe that our planet constitutes a scarce and almost unique habitable territory which it requires for its own natural development. Perhaps its own home world might have been rendered uninhabitable.
Aggression & hatred based on belief in racial / species superiority? An alien species may be unable to abide the existence of and possible contamination from another potential competitor rival species.
Genetic imperative / survival instinct? An alien species could feel impelled to rid the universe of any other species that may pose a threat to its own survival.
Or perhaps will it all come down to complete disinterest or at best, suspicion on the part of the extra-terrestrials who instead of launching an invasion or establishing contact, will instead simply avoid us?
As we continue to announce our own presence to the rest of the universe with our transmissions leaking out some 70 or 80 light years from earth, we have to come to terms with the inevitability of our establishing contact with an extra-terrestrial intelligence. It would be foolish of us to assume to know what their motives would be for being willing to make contact with us and how events would be likely to transpire between our species. It would, however be safe to to say that we ought to assume nothing but should expect anything.
Invasion USA (1952)
Entertaining Propaganda.
You’ll never be able took away
From the horror of "Invasion USA!"
1952: A Taste Of The Times:
In Washington, D.C., Senator Joseph McCarthy, continued his campaign to expose communists in government and throughout society. "McCarthyism,” in the form of a wave of anti-communist paranoia swept the country with devastating effects on many people’s lives, reputations and careers.
Meanwhile…...
The hydrogen bomb was detonated for the first time
The polio vaccine was developed
Transistors were first produced commercially by the American company Raytheon
Reports were made of UFOs flying over Washington, D.C. for six hours
Director: Alfred E. Green
Producer: Albert Zugsmith, Robert Smith
Writers: Robert Smith, Franz Schulz
Music: Albert Glasser
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Running time: 74 minutes
Budget: $127,000
Cast
Gerald Mohr: (Vince Potter)
Peggie Castle: (Carla Sanford)
Dan O'Herlihy: (Mr. Ohman)
Robert Bice: (George Sylvester)
Tom Kennedy: (Tim the Bartender)
Wade Crosby: (Illinois Congressman Arthur V. Harroway)
Erik Blythe: (Ed Mulfory)
Phyllis Coates: (Mrs. Mulfory)
Aram Katcher: (Factory Window Washer)
Knox Manning: (Himself)
Edward G. Robinson Jr: (Radio Dispatcher)
Noel Neill: (Second Airline Ticket Agent)
Clarence A. Shoop: (Army Major)
Synopsis
(Spoilers follow below….)
The opening credits to “Invasion USA” feature a picture of the New York skyline containing sky-scrapers standing proud and strong. The film then starts off in a New York City bar where several people are gathered drinking and talking while a news reporter, on a very modern-looking (for 1952) flat panel TV reports on world tensions and the “possibility of all-out war.” However, this group of Americans do not want to hear such things and the TV set is switched off.
The group includes:
Vince Potter, a television/radio news reporter who asks those at the bar if they are for or against a “universal draft.”
George Sylvester, a tractor manufacturer from San Francisco, who is opposed to the government directing him to make tanks (“Draft factories? That’s Communism”) and is faced with threats that his plant could be taken over by the government.
Carla Sanford, a beautiful woman who is accompanied by George Sylvester. She states that she worked in a factory during the last war, but had to stop because it was damaging her hands.
Ed Mulfory, a cattle rancher from Boulder Hill, Colorado.
Arthur V. Harroway, an effusive and boisterous Illinois congressman visiting New York who praises Vince for being 'the voice of the people.' The people, according to him, are against Communism, war and high taxes.
The mysterious Mr. Ohman, a “fortune-teller” or forecaster who believes that “America wants new leadership.”
Tim, the Bartender who’ll do what he’s always done come what may: mixing drinks and bar-tending.
A discussion ensues between Mr. Ohman and the others where we learn that they all oppose Communism and enjoy the material wealth they derive from the current system. Not surprisingly they support lower taxes and don't see the point of private industry’s support of government. Mr. Ohman does not think their views make any sense. Ohman claims that America wants new leadership, but would prefer someone else to worry about its problems. In other words, “Everyone wants George to do it.” Its citizens would prefer a “wizard who could wish communism away.”
Suddenly tensions on the world stage explode as an unnamed but obvious ‘enemy’ conducts air attacks over Seal Point, Alaska and Nome followed by paratroops landing on Alaskan airfields. The plan of attack involves the capture of civilian airfields as staging areas and A-bombing of military airfields. The United States retaliates attacking the obvious enemy's homeland with B-36 bombing missions. Despite this, the obvious enemy advances into Washington and Oregon while the shipyards in Puget Sound are A-bombed.
With things falling apart and faced with imminent disaster, the group at the bar rush off to do their bit against the obvious enemy. With a peculiar sense of timing, Potter and Sanford fall in love with each other. After all, "War or no war, people have to eat and drink ... and make love.” After attempting to enlist to help for the war effort, Potter is denied several times. He resumes his broadcasting role, while Sanford volunteers to help run a blood donation drive. The industrialist, Sylvester attempts to quickly turn his tractor-manufacturing business around to produce tanks but he soon becomes a casualty in the battle for San Francisco. The rancher, Ed Mulfory returns home and perishes with his family in the destruction of Boulder Dam by a nuclear missile strike. The President tries to rally the morale of his citizens with exaggerated claims of counter-attacks.
With a red-alert being issued that New York is about to be attacked, will the United States of America be consumed by this “enemy” and exist only as part of its wider empire?
And what of this strange man, Mr. Ohman sitting at the end of the bar with his huge brandy glass and his terrible (Ohmans) omens for the future?
Propaganda
The film, “Invasion USA” essentially serves as a splendid piece of cold war propaganda that is delivered in an entertaining manner. It is designed to both persuade and entertain and in fact, the film fulfills the main criteria that constitute a piece of propaganda, namely;
The promotion of a particular idea.
Informing its audience with a series of half-truths.
Deceiving its audience with outright misinformation.
Influencing the attitude of the audience toward acceptance of a particular position.
Presenting mainly one side of a situation or argument.
Partisan in nature.
Reling on manipulation of emotions rather than fostering critical thinking.
Demonizing those individuals and groups it is aimed against.
Let’s take a look at some of the specific instances from the film that demonstrate the above elements of propaganda.
The enemy in the film is portrayed as being brutal and sub-human. After the take-over of New York, one of the enemy soldiers demands that they celebrate the victory with whisky. As the soldier advances menacingly towards Carla ("Now you MY woman!"), Vince tries to stop him, but is shot for trying to help her. Fearing the fate that is to befall her, Carla jumps out of a window screaming and plummets to the ground to her death.
The film, “Invasion USA,” serves as a warning against complacency on the part of citizens which can lead to the kind of invasion and occupation as depicted in the film. As things stand, the American public is too materialistic and selfish, whereby the college boy "wants a stronger army AND a deferment for himself," “Labor wants new consumer products AND a 30 hour week,” the businessman "wants a bigger air-force AND a new Cadillac" and the housewife "wants security AND an electric dishwasher."
Such notions serve to reinforce the importance of having a strong military that must be supported by the public and by industry. However, Industry hasn't done its patriotic duty by supplying sufficient hardware for the military. According to the film, it is these kinds of attitudes that will undermine US preparedness to tackle threats to its security. It may go some way to explaining why in the film so few guards appear to be posted to defend the center of US government in Washington during a time of national emergency. As the invasion progresses, a scorched earth policy is put into effect in order to deny the enemy the resources it will need. This act of desperation is explained as being the result of not being prepared to “provide a strong enough army to protect ourselves.”
Ironically, it also encourages the idea that in order to combat the threat posed by Communism, it is necessary that the needs of the State supersede the needs and desires of the individual! Supposedly, freedom and democracy comes with a price. How similar this notion and Ohman's vision for a stronger America seems to be to the ‘Enemy’s’ declaration over the airwaves:
"The People's Government of America will take the wealth from the greedy, the speculators, and the capitalistic bourgeoisie and distribute it among the workers whose labor will never again be exploited for the benefit of the war mongers of Wall Street. The People's Government brings the citizens of New York a new freedom. A freedom based on order. A freedom based on loyalty to the leaders of the Party, your Party…"
Hatred toward the “enemy” for its brutality and sympathy for the poor victims of that brutality are meant to bubble to the surface as the audience witnesses the image of the child’s doll floating forlornly in the flood waters from the bombing of the Boulder dam.
The audience’s emotions are further stirred by referencing past historical events such as when the President states to the nation that “another day of infamy has arrived.” People are being encouraged to direct their memories back to that time when a sneak attack on Pearl Harbour by Japan ushered America’s entry into the Second World War. Think about how audiences today might feel when confronted with references to the 9/11 attack and you will begin to see how powerful such emotional manipulation can be.
Similar kinds of propagandist ideas such as the need for constant vigilance would not have been new to audiences who would have had vivid memories of World War Two and constant exhortations to beware of what they say and to whom. After all, “Loose lips, sink ships!”
Despite the fact that American defense spending was rapidly increasing at the time, the film exaggerates the enemy’s capabilities while creating the impression that America is idly sitting by and is ripe for another Pearl Harbor “day of infamy” scenario which would still be fresh in the audience’s minds. There is also the blatant misinformation concerning the US’s technical and military capabilities. Notice how slow the American radar stations seem to be when locating the invader's aircraft. With the state of the US’s radar and other technology even at that time, it would have been unlikely that detection would have occurred not until the enemy aircraft were directly over their targets.
The film does its best to simplify quite complex geopolitical factors to a basic ‘Us versus Them.’ theme. The ‘Us’ being the freedom-loving United States divinely ordained to take on the role of combating the ‘Them,’ the Soviets and their Communist expansion. The ‘Them’ enemy is never clearly identified but it is obvious that it is the Communist Soviet Union from their initial invasion via Alaska and of course, the terrible accents!
Points Of Interest
A substantial proportion of the film is taken up by rather inaccurate stock military and combat footage. The audience is presented with a miss-mash of scenes depicting the destruction of New York using footage from the London Blitz; a jumble of WWII and Korean War stock footage; Communist forces fitted out in American military attire; Soviet pilots flying B-29s and B36s, along with Nazi-German Luftwaffe and Japanese aircraft!. At least there were some brief shots of Soviet MIGS. I guess budget constraints and the belief that the audience would not know what they’re looking at might have been a determining factor in all of this? After all, the film was shot in seven days in April of 1952 on a budget of $127,000.00. Despite all of this, it did make a return of close to $1.000.000. At least the relentless presentation of the invasion and battle scenes along with the music score do serve to create a rising sense of excitement, panic and hysteria in the audience.
I couldn’t help but wonder at the "Enemy’s” profligate use of nuclear weapons. It seems to reflect the kind of military tactical thinking that was a product of World War 2 rather than what would be appropriate for modern warfare. These days we are probably more aware of the results of nuclear detonations in terms of radiation, fallout and sheer destruction. In “Invasion USA,” nuclear weapons are thrown about like confetti blowing up airfields, dams, battleships, one-horse towns, and cities. One would have to ask if there’d actually be anything left to invade and occupy. However, in more recent times, just after the era of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) which was supposed to act as deterrence to nuclear warfare, a change of thinking occurred. Some people in government and the military started to propose using tactical battlefield nuclear weapons in the event of war erupting between the West / NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries. Suddenly it was believed that nuclear weapons could become a viable battlefield option in a winnable war. Now that would be MAD!
There are some very silly but very funny occurrences in the film which rather than deserve criticism, actually add to the film’s entertainment value. For instance, when the "Enemy" sends its troops disguised as American soldiers to infiltrate Washington, DC, one of them who claims to be from a Chicago unit is challenged by an American guard, “Ever see the Cubs play?” He actually replies with, “Cubs? A cub is a young animal, a bear...” A “Yes” or “No” might have given him a 50/50 chance of avoiding a bullet!
What could be better than succinctly summing up the entire invasion with a metaphor that’s as American as apple pie, such as when the rancher declares, “This is it, the final game of the World Series…and we’re the home team!”
And then there is the exchange between Vince and Carla after the invasion is underway and atom bombs start raining down. Carla declares, “It’s a nightmare, this can't be happening!” Vince replies with, “It was a cinch to happen. The last time I met a girl I really liked, they bombed Pearl Harbour.” You gotta love it!
Although most of the characters are meant to represent various sections of the community and are largely forgettable, one character who does stand out is Mr. Ohman. His brief performance sets up that menacingly dangerous and eerie atmosphere that is to hang over the heads of the group at the bar and the nation as whole. It seems as if he can really hypnotize his listeners and that he has knowledge of the shape of things to come.
And so dear reader, maybe it is time for us to wake up from our individual and collective trances and realize that “tomorrow springs from today.” We must think about what we can do now to avoid future disasters or calamities that may be visited upon our way of life and recognize that threats to our existence can be of our own making and come in many forms, both expected and unexpected. We just need to…….”concentrate”………..
Invaders from Mars (1953)
Adjust your point of view
and enjoy!
1953: Taste Of The Times
President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb.
The CIA-sponsored Robertson Panel meets to discuss the UFO phenomenon.
The United States conducts its only nuclear artillery test.
The Korean War ends with the signing of an armistice agreement. The north remains totalitarian and communist, while the south remains Western oriented and capitalist.
The Soviet Union announces it has a hydrogen bomb.
The CIA helps to overthrow the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran, and retain Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on the throne.
The United Nations rejects acceptance of China as a member.
The Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Korea is concluded in Washington D.C.
US. President Dwight D. Eisenhower approves the top secret document of the United States National Security Council that states that the United States' arsenal of nuclear weapons must be maintained and expanded to counter the communist threat.
U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his Atoms for Peace address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
A wonderful series of sci-fi films were produced in the year 1953, some of which have become classics. These films often continued to serve as metaphors for the American fear of Communist invasion and infiltration, with the recurring theme of the threat of take-over by seemingly benign beings possessing a hidden hostile agenda.
Director: William Cameron Menzies
Producer: Edward L. Alperson Jr.
Writer: John Tucker Battle, Richard Blake
Music: Raoul Kraushaar
Cinematography: John F. Seitz
Editor: Arthur Roberts
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
Running time: 77 minutes
Budget: $290,000 approx.
Cast
Jimmy Hunt (David Maclean)
Helena Carter (Dr. Pat Blake, MD)
Arthur Franz (Dr. Stuart Kelston)
Morris Ankrum (Col. Fielding)
Leif Erickson (George MacLean)
Hillary Brooke (Mary MacLean)
Max Wagner (Sgt. Rinaldi)
Milburn Stone (Capt. Roth)
Janine Perreau as Kathy Wilson
Barbara Billingsley (Secretary)
Bert Freed (Police Chief)
Robert Shayne (Professor Wilson)
Luce Potter (Martian Intelligence)
Clifford Dove (Martian Mutant)
Synopsis
( Spoilers Follow Below…..)
“Invaders from Mars” begins with strident, serious martial music and a backdrop consisting of planets and stars. A narrator asks us to ponder what kinds of life forms inhabit these planets and states that such matters have been the concern of “scientists of all ages.”
The story of “Invaders from Mars” is told from the point of view of a boy, young astronomy buff David MacLean who is awakened at 4.40am by a thunderstorm and is stunned to witnesses from his bedroom window a large flying saucer descend and disappear into a sand pit not far from his parents’ home.
Just prior to this incident, David’s parents are awakened by his alarm clock going off at 4.00am because David wishes to be up to view a particular nebula. Interestingly enough, David’s mother, Mary says to her husband, “you’ve been dreaming” when he decides to get up and check on his son. Is the viewer being set up for something here?
When David’s scientist father, George goes to check on his son, he tries to reassure him by stating, “you were dreaming” and “this is all your imagination.” This reinforces what George’s wife has just said to him and sets the viewer up with what the nature of the film’s story might be. At any rate, George gives his son the benefit of the doubt and proceeds to investigate David’s claim about seeing a saucer land. After all, we learn that George works at a “plant” that conducts activities which are “secret,” that there are “rumors” and that he “can’t talk about it.””
George goes to investigate David's claim the next morning and mysteriously disappears. While George is missing, David's mother calls the police. The two policemen who arrive begin to investigate and are soon swallowed up by the sand in the backyard.
When George and the policemen return much later in the morning, he seems to have acquired a red puncture mark on the back of his neck and he is behaving in an oddly cold and uncharacteristically hostile manner. Note the close-up on George’s face. We immediately know something is wrong just by his expression, coupled with his savage tone of voice and his abrupt and rude manner. When he strikes his son, it is like a bolt out of the blue and we almost feel it as much as David does.
Notice too, how the return of the two policemen immediately confirms what has happened to George merely by their stance and facial expressions. To highlight what has taken place, George says to wife just before they are about to leave the house, “Your son said he’s going to Andy’s.” Not “David” or “our son!”
David quickly realizes that something is very wrong and eventually goes to the police station for help after he notices that other townsfolk are acting in the same way and after witnessing his young neighbor, Kathy Wilson walking in the sandpit near where the saucer landed and disappearing underground.
David is finally placed under the protection of the city health-department physician, Dr. Pat Blake who he comes to trust as she gradually believes his story. She gains David’s trust by telling him, “Doctors are like ministers” and that people can tell them anything. However, as she goes to find out more information she has to lock David in the cell as she has to “obey the rules.”
In addition to the help from Dr. Blake, David receives assistance from local astronomer, Dr. Stuart Kelston. It is conjectured that the flying saucer is probably the beginning of an imminent invasion from the planet Mars which is now in close orbital proximity to Earth. At the moment, “Mars is closest to us in its particular orbit.” Kelston goes on to state that the Martians make use of “mu-tants” to sustain their way of life in space and that they are taking action now due to a perceived threat from rockets being shot into space from Earth. It turns out that David’s father is working at a plant that produces the motor assembly for an atomic powered rocket.
The army is eventually called in to investigate and troops and tanks under the command of Colonel Fielding are sent in. The invading Martians’ sabotage plot at an important nearby government rocket research plant is soon uncovered. The secondary “baddies” (the two police officers, General Mayberry and the police chief) who have had controlling devices implanted in their brains, are dispatched with lightning speed. The army organizes its forces and surrounds the saucer landing site.
Meanwhile, Dr. Blake and David wind up underground and are captured by two tall green humanoids and are taken to the Martian and its flying saucer.
Army troops eventually blow open an entrance to the tunnels, and Colonel Fielding’s small detachment manage to reach the saucer entrance where they confront the Martian, a green humanoid face encased in a transparent sphere served by the tall, green and mute "mu-tants." The face is apparently “mankind developed up to its ultimate intelligence” and the “mu-tants" are “slaves existing only to do his will.”
Under the Martian's mental control, the “mu-tants” have implanted mind-control crystals at the base of the skulls of the kidnapped humans, thereby forcing them to participate in the plot to sabotage an atomic rocket project at a military plant near the town. If the human victims fail and are captured, the mind control devices are designed to implode, causing a fatal cerebral haemorrhage…...
Will the troops, Colonel Fielding, Dr Blake and young David be able to escape the clutches of the Martian invader and his “mu-tants?”
Will the Martian sabotage plan eventually succeed, paving the way for an ultimate invasion of Earth?
Will the army have the necessary clout to defeat the Martian menace of the mind-controlling alien Mastermind?
The Dream World Of David MacLean
Not long after the start of the film, “Invaders From Mars,” you might balk at the idea of having a kid as the central character and wonder where the heck you are with one foot seemingly lodged in a more or less familiar on-screen world with the other foot being immersed in a more than usual bizarro-world of movie sci-fi consisting of illogical (“surreal” – sorry!) plots and characters. True, if you approach the film with a purely rational and adult mindset. But be careful where you do step because with this film you are not in control!
In “Invaders From Mars,” David's dream is in fact a nightmare or alternate reality reflecting the various pressures being faced by a young boy. It is filled with threatening doppelgangers of significant people he knows in real life. It is a world where, as in a dream, logic takes a back seat and people and events become representations of something else. We get to see and experience things from David's point of view with only his world, his fears and his perceptions forming our frame of reference.
For a young person such as David growing up, the world can be an insecure and threatening place with remote authority figures who cannot always be trusted, but who seem instead to be bent on controlling and circumscribing their lives. How to approach such people and make them take notice of what you say, how you feel and what you think?? A difficult task indeed when the adults in your world are worried about possible annihilation from atom bombs and foreign conspiracies destroying their way of life! Such fears are all too easily projected onto young people and it is easy to overlook the effect this has on them.
David’s dream world reflects a large part of his real world experience. He lives a largely protected and sheltered life and it is his youth and limited experiences which have caused him to construct such a loopy scenario as expressed by the character, Dr. Stuart Kelston whereby the Martians have come to the Earth in Mother ships, that they live underground on Mars and have bred a race of synthetic humans called Mutants as their slaves! In David’s world, events are reduced to shades of comic book black and white with no subtle shades of gray. Even the characters of his dream world are identified stereotypically by the colors they wear: His mother dressed in black and Pat dressed in white.
David lacks credibility and power by virtue of his age and nobody is going to take his predicament seriously. His parents have become distant and unfeeling monsters who have become part of an alien conspiracy to conquer the Earth. His parents appear like evil villains straight out of comic books or TV serials with their conspiratorial whispered asides. So, who will listen to him? He is just a kid.
However, this is David’s dream and by virtue of this fact he does have some measure of power. After all, in his world adults can be made to look ridiculous such as Colonels and scientists finding themselves looking silly being perched up on a roof, a place that David would be forbidden to go by those very same adults! Take that!
There are adults in this dream world that David can call on for help. Take Dr. Pat Blake, from the city Health Department. (Where on earth did they find all these stunningly beautiful women for these 1950s sci-fi films?) David’s subconscious has come up with someone who is tender like a mother who takes him seriously, accepts him and stands by him. She can even lie for him such as when she tells David’s parents that he has “every symptom of polio” in order to keep him out of their clutches. (Just like David has probably told his parents a few white lies in order to avoid getting into trouble) For his part, David’s young mind has transformed Pat, who he probably has a crush on, into a kind of screen heroine. It is extremely difficult for the viewer to take their eyes off Pat, particularly with the red adornment placed above her left breast which stands out starkly from the white background of her ‘uniform.’
It is with no surprise that we discover Pat lying helplessly on a glass operating table, with one shoulder bared and with a pulsing penetrating device slowly moving toward the back of her neck ready to violate this older woman that young David is on some level attracted to and who he must rescue from the clutches of these alien “rivals.” Not much different to the heroine tied to the railway tracks with the train looming closer! Kelston can hold and comfort Pat though since he has become an ideal representation of a future and older David. Go back to the shot of David and Kelston side-by-side at the telescope!
David’s dream logic gives him the power to act and be the hero for the world and his heroine, such as his inexplicable ability to leap into action, take charge, identify and operate the Infrared tunneling Ray gun, despite the fact no one has seen or used one before! What an action hero!
In David’s dream world, there are also other heroes he can draw on for support such as US. Troops: Men who represent and personify the American ideal of decency and exist only to protect and serve.
So, by what means are we being invited into this distorted dream-like representation of David’s reality?
Clever Camera Angles
“Invaders from Mars” makes effective use of low and high camera angles to emphasize the dramatic and visual impact of key scenes. For instance, in the police station, the long entrance way combined with high and low camera angles emphasize David’s smallness in the face of officialdom and authority.
Set Designs & Props
The Hill seems to be a stylized dream image, giving it the quality of an alternate world that one enters at one’s own peril. It is a living sinister place where characters are led up a curved path that winds up the hill between leafless black tree trunks and a broad blackened plank fence. At the top of the hill the fence dips out of sight where characters are then fed into the sinking sand of the Pit and downward into the bowels of the hill. The hill set deceives us with an optical illusion despite its flat painted picture-like perspective design. Notice, however, that when a character walks up the path, they seem to diminish in size. The optical illusion makes it seem as if they are shrinking as they walk and reach the top of the hill.
The use of glass paintings helps to create similar illusions such as the view being given down the glass tube above the Martian operating table.
The police station set design consists of strangely elongated features and stark, unadorned walls, making it appear like a dreamlike surrealist painting. It is as strange and unreal as the lab that Kathy’s father works in. Once again we have high ceilings and long entrance ways leading directly to an over sized focal point, in this case extremely tall test tubes. Both places are pretty much David’s own personal constructs gleaned from movies and comics. So, it is no surprise that we find Kathy’s father busy at work in the lab just after his daughter has died! All part of David’s youthful lack of life experiences.
Lines and angles on the sets are frequently used to draw our notice to particular people and objects. Take the blackened plank fence on the hill. As foolhardy Sergeant Rinaldi advances up the hill toward the pit, the fence line serves to both frame his body and trace his direction of movement up the hill and down into the pit itself. Notice how in the spaceship, lines in the form of support pylons set at an angle lead our eyes directly to the soldiers placing explosives on the floor or Pat lying on the floor where she was initially placed.
Clocks: Time and its importance is emphasized in “Invaders from Mars” as it either seems to be running out or as in a dream it has elasticity as it not only advances implacably forward toward ultimate disaster, but also seems to almost stop and move backward. There are images of time-pieces that are focused on in the film, from the clock in David’s bedroom to the lone clock on the police station wall.
Stock Footage & Shot Repetition
Well, if you have only so much to spend and you want lots of big stuff to be happening, what are going to do? In “Invaders from Mars,” we have;
Footage from WW2 training films to show lots of hardware and tanks supposedly taking up position around the Pit.
Repeated sock footage, sequences, camera angles and camera shots. One result of this kind of repetition is that we are supposed to believe that there are numerous “mu-tant” Martian slaves and can-do GI Joe soldiers battling it out in the Martian tunnel.
Special effects
The bubbling, melting walls of the underground tunnels caused by the Martian heat-ray was an effect created by shooting a large tub of boiling oatmeal from above. This breakfast cuisine was colored red using food coloring and lit with red lighting.
Apparently more than 3,000 latex condoms were inflated and stuck on to portions of the tunnel set's walls to create the cooled, bubbled-up effect on these blasted out sections of the tunnel walls. Can you imagine the fits of laughter while completing such a project and being lubricated with a few beers! So who’da thunked it? Condoms are not just great water balloon bombs!
Music
The eerie vocal effect of the chorus seems to be almost in stark contrast to our notions of the 'heavenly chorus' of angels. It feels disturbingly discordant to our ears and adds to the “surreal” quality of David’s dream world. We know instinctively that nothing good is being indicated by it.
Open-Ended Ending
A large explosion together with lightning and a clap of thunder, rips both David and the viewer back to what seems to be reality. David runs from his bed into his parents’ bedroom where they reassure him he was just having a bad dream. David returns to bed, but with the noise of more wind and loud thunder he climbs out of bed again and goes to his window. And what does he see? The flying saucer of his dream slowly descending into the sandpit!
With the image of David’s face dissolving to the "The End" title card, we are left wondering: Is young David still asleep, trapped in some kind of recurring loop of a nightmare? Or perhaps his dream is a premonition of things to come? Or maybe it was all just a dream?
WHAT DO YOU THINK???
The War of the Worlds (1953)
Imaginative
Atmospheric
Innovative
A classic
1953: Taste Of The Times
In world politics;
Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the 34th President of the USA.
Tito is chosen President of Yugoslavia.
Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and dies on March 5.
Nikita Khrushchev is selected First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and becomes head of the Soviet Central Committee.
In the area of science & technology;
James D. Watson and Francis Crick of the University of Cambridge announce their discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule. "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid", is published. It describes the double helix structure of DNA.
Jonas Salk announces his polio vaccine.
The UNIVAC 1103 is the first commercial computer to use random access memory.
The first color television sets go on sale for about $1,175 US.
Director: Byron Haskin
Producer: George Pal
Screenplay: Barré Lyndon
Based on The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
Narrator: Sir Cedric Hardwicke
Music: Leith Stevens
Cinematography: George Barnes
Editing: Everett Douglas
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Running time: 85 minutes
Budget: $2 million
Cast
Gene Barry: (Dr. Clayton Forrester)
Ann Robinson: (Sylvia Van Buren)
Les Tremayne: (Maj. Gen. Mann)
Robert Cornthwaite: (Dr. Pryor)
Sandro Giglio: (Dr. Bilderbeck)
Lewis Martin: (Pastor Dr. Matthew Collins)
Houseley Stevenson Jr.: ( Gen. Mann's aide)
Paul Frees: (Second Radio Reporter / Opening Announcer)
William Phipps: (Wash Perry)
Vernon Rich: (Col. Ralph Heffner)
Henry Brandon: (Cop at Crash Site)
Jack Kruschen: (Salvatore)
Cedric Hardwicke: (Commentary voice)
Charles Gemora: (the Martian)
Gertrude W. Hoffmann: (Elderly Woman News Vendor)
Synopsis
The War of the Worlds begins with a tour of the hostile environment of each world of our solar system, leading to an explanation as to why the Martians would cast a longing eye on our planet hanging temptingly in the black void like a delicious blue and green kind of fruit, ripe for consumption. We learn from the narration that Mars is “in the last stages of exhaustion” and that the Martian civilization is “searching for another world” to migrate to and that we have been “scrutinized and studied” by them for that very reason.
The story is set in early 1950s southern California where we find a Manhattan Project scientist, Dr. Clayton Forrester happily engaged in a fishing trip with his colleagues at Pine Summit when a large meteorite-like object crash lands near the town of Linda Rosa.
At the impact site, Forrester meets the distinctively stunning Sylvia Van Buren and her uncle, Pastor Matthew Collins. He concludes that the object that crashed appears to be far lighter than can be accounted for by its large size. So, we know that there is something unnaturally peculiar about the object. Not only that anomaly, but it is also radioactive which spells danger! This strange feeling of discrepancy contrasts with the initial picnic-like atmosphere at the impact site where we see kids and dogs running around and pictures being taken. There are those who would consider setting the object up as an attraction and that it would be “a goldmine in our backyard.” As the object is too hot to examine closely, Forrester decides to wait in town overnight for it to cool down. Three men are left behind to guard the crash site.
Later that evening, we witness a hatch on top of the object unscrewing excruciatingly slowly and falling away to reveal the emergence of a pulsating, mechanical, cobra-shaped head attached to the end of a long flexible neck. Notice how as this is happening, the three men physically withdraw by leaning further away and stepping back equally slowly. The three guards, however, do decide to approach with a neighborly, “Welcome to California” and bolster their courage with the assumption that waving a white flag is a universal symbol of peace. Far from recognizing this gesture as a sign of peaceful intentions, the cobra-head fixes them in its sights and fires a heat-ray, vaporizing the three guards, thereby ending their short-lived careers as would-be ambassadors for humanity.
The Martian’s power and malice extends further with the cutting of the power to Linda Rosa. Strong magnetic effects are noticed with the magnetizing and consequent stopping of people's watches. It seems like the object is creating a strong magnetic field as indicated by the compass pointing away from magnetic north and in the direction of the crash site. Forrester and the sheriff are confronted by the Martian equivalent of a no-trespassing sign when they almost have their eyebrows singed off by the Martian heat-ray when they decide to investigate the weird happenings.
Meanwhile, other meteorite-ships have been landing throughout the world. It is decided that the US military should surround the original landing site. It is not long before three large manta ray-shaped vehicles rise from site and begin to slowly and menacingly advance. As this is happening, Pastor Collins, full of peace and goodwill but short on good sense, approaches the three alien craft, reciting Psalm 23 while holding his Bible aloft. Seeming to take their cue from Revelations, the Martians smite him instantly!
The large salivating Marine force surrounding the landing site unleashes enough destructive fire power to rival the power of the trumpets that blew down the walls of Jericho. It is all to no avail though as each Martian machine is protected by an impenetrable force field. The Martians then retaliate by using their heat rays forcing the puny humans to retreat with their tails between their legs.
In Los Angeles, military leaders meet to brief reporters, devise a counter attack defense plan and prepare for an evacuation of major cities that will be threatened by the Martians.
While all of this was happening, Forrester and Van Buren have managed to escape in a small plane, but later crash land, after avoiding colliding with other Martian war machines. They take refuge in an abandoned farmhouse but are trapped inside when (luck would have it!) one of the alien ships crash-lands, half-burying the farmhouse and rudely interrupting what looks to be a very delicious meal of fried eggs.
Eventually, a Martian electronic eye attached to a long, flexible cable snakes its way into the ruined farmhouse's interior but soon withdraws after its inspection fails to find anything. This incident is followed by a lone Martian whose presence is registered in a study of terror when it places its hand on Van Buren’s shoulder. Just watch her eyes and reaction to this! Forrester, Viking-like, wields an ax and spoils that Martian’s entire day, as well as severing the thick, long cable of the electronic eye which had since reappeared. He then saves a sample of the Martian blood on Van Buren's scarf as well as the electronic eye’s camera housing. Forrester and Van Buren manage to escape as the Martian craft destroys the farmhouse.
Forrester and Van Buren eventually meet up with Forrester's co-workers at Pacific Tech in Los Angeles. The retrieved blood sample and the electronic eye's optics enable the scientists to determine critical facts about the Martians’ physiology. Firstly, the Martian creatures would lose an arm-wrestling competition with us as they are comparatively physically weaker than humans. Secondly, they need a course of iron tablets as they have anemic blood.
The only ace up the military’s sleeve that seems to be left is to make use of atomic weapons. To this end, a United States Air Force Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing bomber (a real treat to be able to see these old planes in the air even if it’s just on film!) unloads an atomic bomb on the three original Martian machines. Even the most destructive weapon ever conceived by humanity’s warped and evil genius has no effect, due to the protective impenetrable force fields surrounding the machines. The Martians happily continue along their piece of the path toward global destruction while orders are given for the immediate evacuation of the city.
It is determined that the entire Earth can be conquered in just…..significantly and ironically…. six days……..
With all seeming to be lost!
With humanity finding itself helpless against the Martians!
With Los Angeles under attack and reduced to burning ruins!
What is to be the fate of humanity?
To just wait for the inevitable end?
Find out by watching the epic battle for survival in…..
The War of the Worlds
Points of Interest
(Spoilers follow below…..)
This film version of “The War Of The Worlds” is not a literal presentation or interpretation of the H.G. Welles classic story. It nevertheless does it justice and it was a sensible decision to make it relevant for a 20th century audience. The 2005 remake starring Tom Cruise was also a good move for a 21st. century audience. However, it takes a special something for a film like George Pal’s 1953 version to resonate with film viewers and be considered as a classic after almost 70 years. Remember, this film was made long, long before the current age of CGI effects.
The film opens with a prologue in black and white and abruptly switches to Technicolor during the opening title sequence. This clearly takes the viewer into the modern brave new world of “terrible weapons” and the creations of science that menace mankind. This is a new age unlike anything experienced in our past.
The California city of Corona was used to depict the town of Linda Rosa. In addition, Los Angeles’ St. Brendan's Catholic Church, was used as the church where a large group of desperate people gather to pray in the film. It is one of the scenes where the tension is palpable as we witness and feel for the surviving populace huddling in the church as buildings crash and burn around them.
Departing from the stereotypical flying saucer shape of UFOs, the Martian craft were designed to be sinister-looking machines shaped something like a cross between a manta ray and a swan hovering above the ground. The total effect is that the machines are both beautiful and terrifying. They move slowly and gracefully as if alive but more significantly, they move in a menacing, implacable and calculating manner.
Each Martian machine is equipped with an articulated metal neck which in turn has a cobra-like head attached to it, containing a single electronic eye that serves as both a periscope and an energy weapon. Notice how the "eye" seems to exude cruelty as it peers down on the puny priest, as if studying a microscopic specimen which it is about to exterminate once it has completed its examination.
The sound effects for the green ‘skeleton beam’ and heat rays were created by making use of such things as violins and cellos, striking a high tension cable with a hammer and mixing the sound of electric guitars being recorded backwards. The Martian's scream in the farmhouse ruins was created by mixing the sound of a microphone being scraped along dry ice, combining this with a woman's recorded scream and then reverse-playing it.
In the original HG Wells' novel, walking tripods featured as the aliens’ preferred mode of transport. For the film, an attempt was made to make the Martian machines appear to float in the air on three invisible legs by making use of downward lights added directly under the moving Martian machines. Due to technical difficulties, this effect only appears on one of the first machines rising from the Martian's landing site. In other scenes, three invisible leg beams create small, sparking flare-ups where they come into contact with the ground.
I previously mentioned the scene when the Martian crept up behind Van Buren and clamped its sucker-like fingers on her shoulder. I referred to this as a study in terror. Notice how she freeze-pauses and then only her amazing eyes react to the alien’s touch. This is then followed be her slowly turning her head around and staring in horror at the violating alien digits. It takes a few slow seconds for Van Buren to comprehend what has happened.
Far from being a wooden character, the Van Buren character has an amazingly beautiful and expressive face that easily reflects her emotional states throughout the film. Earlier we see the realization of what has happened slowly dawn on her face when she is in Forrester’s arms after the plane crash. In the farmhouse, when the Martian electronic eye on its long neck snakes its way closer to the besieged couple, we are drawn to Van Buren’s beautiful terror-stricken eyes, as her eyeballs slowly swivel around, followed by her head in the direction of the sinister serpent-like surveillance device. Later, her terror is palpable as she stares into the Martian lens at the lab. It is as if her face and eyes have become one of the main vehicles in the film with which to convey the story’s sense of fear and terror.
Dr. Clayton Forrester may appear to be a wooden character at times, but he seems to be more like an island of calm and good sense in a surrounding sea of surging emotions, panic and hysteria. In a time of prolific smoking, he declines an offer of a cigarette with a “no, I don’t smoke.” This man is no sheep who moves with the flock. Instead of jumping to wild conclusions about the presence of the strange object, such as its being “an enemy sneak attack,” he employs reason and the scientific method to determine its nature and purpose. For instance, Forrester concludes that the facts don’t add up about the object and how it came to land considering its size and the impact it made. This suggests to him that it must be both hollow and light. Later on he uses science and observation to determine that the object is responsible for their watches being magnetized and he uses a compass to locate from which direction the magnetic disturbance originates. Forrester also theorizes that the Martian’s ray disrupts the atomic structure of matter and they can generate atomic force to power their rays.
In addition to Forrester’s use of science and reason, we have the military’s method of dealing with threats. The army in the film make extensive use of trying to know one’s enemy and his tactics by utilizing observation and intelligence and formulating a plan of attack and defense based on that. As a result of this, the military have been able to determine that the Martians are “working to some kind of plan” and that they employ their craft in “groups of three joined magnetically.” Unfortunately, the army has underestimated their enemy and assume that with their “newest weapons” they “can blast them right off the earth.”
In contrast to both Forrester and the army, we have Pastor Dr. Matthew Collins and his attempt to deal with the presence of the “beings from another world.” This is best summed up when he tells the general, “Shouldn’t you try to communicate with them first and shoot later if you have to?” For Pastor Collins, it is more important to “try to make them understand that we mean them no harm.” The fatal flaw with this once again lies with an assumption: “If they are more advanced than us, they should be nearer to God.” I think deep down inside he realizes this when he says to his niece, “I like that Dr. Forrester, he’s a good man.” This sounds like a good-bye as all he has is his faith as he is about to “walk through the Shadow of Death” unafraid of the “evil” he is about to meet, armed only with his bible, the symbol of his faith and the word of his God.
What kind of hope and faith is left to the world when even a representative of God and universal peace is obliterated? For the military it is the “latest thing in nuclear fission” but when a device of evil fails to defeat a force of evil, what then? Forester and his colleagues are told, “Our best hope lies with what you can develop to help us.” Forrester concludes that “we’ve got to beat them if we can’t beat their machines” which for he and his team means the “biological approach.”
As the scientists evacuate, they become separated during the widespread panic of the fleeing populace. Humanity shows its worst face as a rioting mob steals Pacific Tech group’s trucks and destroys their essential equipment. The scene showing the man with the suitcase full of money who tries to buy his way onto a truck during the evacuation of Los Angeles, demonstrates what happens when hope and faith appear to be lost. Desperation and personal survival becomes the order of the day when people are placed under stress and live in fear in a world where “you can’t buy a ride for love or money” anymore. Rob people of their sense of security and well-being and the veneer of civilization could soon crumble.
Forrester knows exactly what one certain person will do in the face of civilization's impeding demise when he declares to the two military policemen on the deserted streets of LA, “She’s kinda lost but I think I know where she’ll be.” He eventually finds Van Buren in a church and as this last edifice of faith crumbles from the alien onslaught, we find both Forrester and Van Buren clinging to each other in the final act of faith and hope; their love for each other. Right at that point there is a crash and everything goes silent. The silence itself is almost as shocking as the previous noise of destruction.
The excruciatingly slow emergence of the alien presence earlier in the film signaled the hostile intent of the Martians. Now at the end of the film, we witness the equally slow emergence of a Martian’s hand and arm as it gradually inches its way out of the crashed craft’s opening. Is the Martian somehow appealing for help as its life gradually ebbs away? Or is this simply a dramatic device to show the effect of the bacteria on the invader?
The ending of “The War of the Worlds” neatly fuses together the scientific and the religious / faith-based views so far presented in the film in the final outcome. For someone like Forrester, the Martians’ demise can be explained by them having “no resistance to bacteria.” The alternative view is that they “were all praying for a miracle” and they were saved “by the brilliant things that God in his wisdom had put upon this earth.”
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning an Oscar in the Special Effects category and was later selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress being deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.
No doubt there will be other remakes of “The War of the Worlds” in the future, (the 2019 BBC series!) but I am sure they will all in some way pay homage to both George Pal’s brilliant screen sci-fi masterpiece and to the brilliance and timelessness of Mr. Wells’ original concept and story.
Target Earth (1954)
B-Grade sci-fi meets gangster movie meets pulp fiction
Directed by Sherman A. Rose
Produced by Herman Cohen
Written by Paul W. Fairman, James H. Nicholson, Wyott Ordung, William Raynor
Music by Paul Dunlap
Cinematography: Guy Roe
Editing by Sherman A. Rose
Distributed by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
Running time: 75 minutes
Budget: $100,000
Cast
Kathleen Crowley (Nora King)
Richard Denning (Frank Brooks)
Virginia Grey (Vicki Harris)
Richard Reeves (Jim Wilson)
Robert Roark (Davis, the Killer)
Whit Bissell (Tom, Chief research scientist)
Arthur Space (Lt. General Wood)
Steve Pendleton (Colonel)
Mort Marshall (Charles Otis)
A large city in the US is almost completely evacuated as an advanced force of robots, conjectured to be from the planet Venus, invade and attack. Nora King and Frank Brooks are among the few who have been overlooked during the mass evacuation. Together with two others they meet, Vicki Harris and Jim Wilson, they face not only the danger from the Venusian robots, but also new dangers in the form of Davis, a psychopathic killer, as well as potential death from “friendly fire.”
(Spoilers follow below….)
The Story
During the opening credits of the film, “Target Earth,” we find ourselves gradually free-falling through the immensity of space toward the planet Earth. We then zero in on a single city and are finally drawn into a nondescript single room of a rooming house.
Room
The camera focuses on a clock that reads 1.30 and it must be PM since even though the room appears to be in semi-darkness, it is daytime beyond the drawn window blind. The camera then pans to a mirror in which we see the reflection of a woman asleep in her underclothing. We are then given a close-up of a bottle of Dr Andrews sleeping tablets lying opened next to her.
By purely visual means, the audience is invited to mentally join the dots, ask questions and ponder the possible reasons behind this lady’s obvious suicide attempt.
The character, Nora King recovers consciousness and soon discovers that her building has no electricity or water upon which modern civilisation depends for its existence. She is greeted only by an unnerving silence and a view of a streetscape devoid of the human heart and soul that is the lifeblood of any urban setting.
Some people like Nora might wish to die alone, but to live and to be alone-that is something else! How unnerved she must have felt knocking on doors and calling out “Mrs Gordon!” and “Where is everybody?” only to be met by the silent response of total human absence.
Street
As Nora descends to the street, the sense of tension and suspense is heightened by the accompanying percussive music score. Visually, Nora becomes a mere isolated, scurrying diminutive figure scuttling ant-like hither and thither along the deserted city streets with their looming and impassive architecture.
After walking for several blocks, Nora encounters no sign of life anywhere in the city. It is the sign of death that brings the stab of panic and fear to her (and the audience) as Nora stumbles upon a woman's corpse in a doorway. Its lifeless death-stare causes her to suddenly and shockingly back into a stranger who seems to have materialized out of nowhere.
We soon learn that this stranger who so suddenly appeared behind Nora is Frank Brooks who tells her that, after he arrived in the city from Detroit the night before, was robbed, “slugged and dumped in an alley.” He had managed to revive only a few minutes earlier.
As Frank and Nora walk to the city centre, they try to figure out what has happened to the city’s inhabitants. By a process of elimination, they determine that it was probably not the result of a nuclear bomb or germ warfare. As to their own presence in the city, Frank uses the analogy of a sack of sugar to explain it whereby some of the gains seem to always stick to the sack.
Restaurant
Almost unbelievably considering the circumstances, Frank and Nora hear music coming from inside a restaurant. Inside they find a woman, Vicki Harris, playing the piano as her male companion, Jim Wilson mixes her a drink. Both are rather inebriated and have been “celebrating as though it’s New Year’s Eve.” How differently people react to being placed in similar circumstances!
And the choices they make! For this quartet, the choices boil down to getting out of town or staying and enjoy what’s on offer. They decide to keep on the move by supposedly visiting other night spots.
Street
When they attempt to take a car, the owner’s dead body almost falls out the open door. This is a stark reminder that even in the face of human catastrophes and calamities, objects, artifacts and places were once owned and used by living people with flesh and blood histories and stories to tell.
Suddenly, the four are interrupted by a man, Charles Otis, who explains that he was “trying to get out town, like yourselves.” He had also been checking the cars and discovered that they have all been disabled by having the distributor caps removed.
Otis then declares that the area he just came from appeared to have been heavily looted. His description of what has taken place allows the audience to use their imaginations to picture the scene of destruction: the “mess”, smashed windows and so on.
The audience is again invited to use their imagination when the group witness the giant shadow (“it doesn’t look human!”) of a monstrous figure being cast on the side of a tall building. How the human mind has the capacity to create phantoms and monsters from mere shadows as the brain struggles to make sense of the unknown and unfamiliar!
Hotel Lobby
After they decide to hide in a hotel across the street, Otis finds a newspaper with the headlines:
"Invasion By Mystery Army.
City To Be Evacuated."
The accompanying report states that “hostile forces of an unknown origin” have landed fifty miles north of the city. Terrified, Otis tries to escape but is killed in the street by a disintegrating ray directed at him from the head of a large robot.
Intriguingly, Frank mentions that he has a desk at the “Home Office” which suggests that he is employed by the government. I’m not sure if this is the equivalent of the State Department or like the UKs Home Office which these days is responsible for immigration, security, and law and order, including the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service (MI5). We also have further insight into Frank’s background when he suggests that the robot invasion force is “part of an advance patrol” as per his experience in the “last war.”
Seeking a more secure hiding place, the quartet move from the hotel lobby to a suite (402 – 404) on the fourth floor.
Army command post
The discussion between a general and his colleagues paints a fuller picture as to the nature of the enemy and what has been occurring off-screen so far: They are dealing with an “enemy, the likes of which defies description,” that “the invasion was not launched by a power on this earth” and that “the consensus is that they came from Venus.”
We learn that the invaders have already destroyed an airborne division as well as twenty-four planes from bomber command.
Hotel
Back at the hotel, Nora’s observation that the invasion force “must have weapons we have never dreamed of” serves to confirm the scenario presented at the army command post. Frank’s suggestion that the enemy may be from Venus, the only planet capable of supporting life, also confirms what was suggested at the command post. (OK astronomy buffs, we know a lot more about conditions on Venus these days! So what? This is a journey into the “what if?” If you don’t like it, get off!)
As the film, “Target Earth” is more about character than scientific accuracy; Nora’s revelation to Frank about her suicide attempt is significant. She declares that she wouldn’t care if they dropped the H-Bomb and that she “never intended to wake up at all.” We learn that her husband was killed in a car crash and that she blamed herself for his death with the result that she felt that she didn’t have a reason to live. Now, with the current threat to humanity’s existence, everything has changed for Nora, except that it seems to be “too late to do anything about it.”
What of the other characters that have been thrown into this situation? Vicki and Jim, who have been seeing each other for ten years constantly bicker and squabble. Jim uncharacteristically offers to help Frank find food and Vicki observes that yesterday he wouldn’t have given her a seat on a bus. Jim retorts by stating, “Today the busses aren’t running anymore.” Later on Jim declares to Vicki that “if we ever get out of this dive, we’ll do all our fighting from the same corner.” It’s amazing what a crisis can do to put things into perspective and enable people to work out what really is important in life.
Army command post
The general wouldn’t be a military man if didn’t order atomic artillery and guided missiles to be readied and that’s exactly what he does. Just then he receives news that (as luck would have it) a deactivated robot has been found. This looks like a job for a team of scientists to attempt to discover what has caused the robot to become inoperative.
Laboratory
The chief scientist determines that the robots are driven by electro-magnetic impulses, that they can duplicate human motion, are impervious to bullets and are “incapable of pain, fear or compassion.” Qualities expressed by later screen robotic descendants such as Cybermen, Terminators and so on.
Hotel
Back at the hotel, another character has been thrown into the mix in the form of a psychotic killer named Davis, who escaped from custody during the evacuation. He has broken into the suite and holds the group at gunpoint. He states that he “wouldn’t stand a chance alone and without a gun.” He informs Nora that he knows a way out of the city by means of a sewer and intends for her to accompany him. He also intends to use the others as decoys.
Laboratory
Science to the rescue! Hurrah! A means seems to have been discovered to destroy the lethal, beam-generating cathode ray tube located in the robots' heads.
Hotel Lobby
As Davis is about to escape, Vicki bravely chooses to confront him, which results in him choosing to act in the only way he knows how: by shooting and killing her. Jim then attacks Davis and violently chokes him to death, which is an understandable instinctive and emotional reaction rather than a choice. Most of us would do anything to protect, defend and even avenge those who are most precious and dear to us.
Hotel Roof
The heightened tension is maintained by the sudden appearance of a robot smashing through the hotel lobby's window and its mechanical nosferatu-like pursuit of Frank, Nora and Jim up the stairs leading to the hotel's roof. With the elevation of the characters to the highest level of the hotel building as death in mechanized form looms ever closer, comes an elevation of the best of human qualities and heroic choices of the characters with Jim’s attempts to divert the robot away from Nora and Frank and his being killed by the robot's beam.
Just as the robot is about to disintegrate Frank and Nora with its beam, Army vehicles arrive on the scene. They are equipped with loudspeakers that emit a high frequency tone that can shatter the robots' cathode ray tubes and render them inoperative. By this means the roof-top robot is disabled and the good planet Earth can now rest a bit easier……
Points Of Interest
The movie, “Target Earth” was based on the 1953 short story, "Deadly City" by Paul W. Fairman.
“Target Earth” was sneakily filmed on the deserted streets of Los Angeles early one Sunday morning, without the necessary permits. The film's story, however is based in Chicago.
I know there are those critics out there who salivate at the prospect of pointing out the film’s low budget, lack of sophisticated special effects and so on. For me the main feature of the film is its basic premise: An assorted group of people finding themselves in an abandoned city, being forced to contend with an alien menace and having to make choices that have significant personal and collective consequences.
As is well-known, only one robot was constructed and it was used for all scenes in the film. The robot army and alien invasion is conveyed to us as being more like an impending threat instead of an immediate in-your-face-here-come-the-explosions-and-one-damn-thing-after-another presence. With the alien robots being off-screen most of the time, the threat they pose seems to work more on a psychological level which seems to mirror the nature of the fears experienced by many people at that time. Who exactly is the enemy and what kind of threat do they pose to us?
Sure, there’s a single robot that looks a bit like a lumbering washing machine with legs. Get over it! The film was made in a time long before the advent of computer generated special effects and technology like the internet, laptops, tablets and smart phones! Try to appreciate the film in the context of what it tried to achieve with its limited budget and that it was the 1950s, a time of fear concerning the Russians and the widespread sightings of UFO's. Add to this the fact that the film’s focus is more on character studies than on special effects which might be a priority for many of today’s audiences and critics who are used to being fed on a diet of films laden with computer generated effects, puerile non-stop action, video-game oriented presentations, shakey camera shots, threadbare story lines and hollow one-dimensional characters.
What makes this film work quite well is the sense of unease and tension that is maintained throughout most of the first half of the movie followed by the character revelations in the second half. Add to this not only the imminent threat posed to the humans by the alien invaders, but also the potential threat being posed by General Wood and the military. The group in the hotel are unaware that the city could be destroyed by tactical nuclear weapons at any moment-a fact that the audience is quite well aware of.
Descriptions of what takes place off-screen / stage; the various choices that characters make when confronted by circumstances; tension heightened by what the audience knows and the characters don’t know…….the very tools of trade used by none other than a certain Mr Shakespeare! I wonder if he would have enjoyed “Target Earth?” Me thinks he would!
The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
The Creeping Unknown (US title)
An effective combination of action, suspense, horror and alien-possession sci- fi
Directed by Val Guest
Produced by Anthony Hinds
Screenplay by Richard Landau, Val Guest
Based on The Quatermass Experiment by Nigel Kneale
Music by James Bernard
Cinematography: Walter J. Harvey
Edited by James Needs
Production company: Hammer Film Productions
Distributed by Exclusive Films (UK), United Artists (USA)
Running time: 82 minutes
Budget: £42,000
Cast
Brian Donlevy as Prof Bernard Quatermass
Jack Warner as Insp. Lomax
Margia Dean as Mrs. Judith Carroon
Thora Hird as Rosemary 'Rosie' Elizabeth Wrigley
Gordon Jackson as BBC TV producer
David King-Wood as Dr Gordon Briscoe
Harold Lang as Christie
Lionel Jeffries as Blake
Sam Kydd as Police sergeant questioning Rosie
Richard Wordsworth as Victor Carroon
Summary Of findings By The Royal Commission of Inquiry Into The Manned Rocket Mission Headed By Professor Bernard Quatermass, Also Known As
"The Quatermass Xperiment."
Membership:
L. Lippert (Chair); S Skouras; B Lovell
Introduction:
On 26 August 1955, a manned missile, launched by the team led by Prof Quatermass, landed in the English countryside, one mile south of the village of Bray, Berkshire. Of the three members of the crew aboard the craft, two were found to have mysteriously disappeared. The surviving crew member, Mr Victor Carroon was recovered barely alive and subsequently underwent a horrific physical metamorphosis. The surviving crew member managed to break out of medical confinement and, while being pursued by investigating Scotland Yard inspector Lomax, embarked on a killing spree using humans and animals to feed his transformation, It was later determined that this was the method which an alien life form was to use in order to invade our planet.
Summary Of Known Events
(Based upon numerous scientific and professional reports, submissions and expert witness testimonies to this Inquiry)
Professor Bernard Quatermass was in charge of the manned rocket mission that crash-landed in a farmer's field in the English countryside.
Quatermass’ team (British-American Rocket Group) had lost contact with the spaceship and had no indication as to how far into space it may have traveled. According to Prof Quatermass’ testimony, “We lost it for 57 hours.”
Initial reports of the rocket’s re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere at approximately 9.15 pm on 26 August, 1955 suggested that it might have been a “jet” or that it was “probably a meteor.”
The general public were warned to stay away from the area, to return to their homes and not to hamper operations at the crash site.
Upon gaining entry to the rocket, it was found that only one of the three occupants, Victor Carroon, was on board while the other two crew members, Reichenheim and Green seem simply to have had vanished. All that was found were just two empty space suits.
Carroon, the surviving astronaut, soon began to display signs of an inexplicable physical transformation. The only known comment from Carroon was made in an ambulance just prior to his being taken away for treatment when according to Dr Gordon Briscoe, he uttered the words, “Help me….. Help me.”
Newspaper headlines such as “Man Masters Space” and “Quatermass Says No To Police Investigation” soon began to appear. The media reportage of the mystery led to involvement by the police, headed by Inspector Lomax of Scotland Yard with the reluctant cooperation of Professor Quatermass.
Inspector Lomax later pointed out that the fingerprints that were taken from Carroon in the ambulance were totally different from those provided by Professor Quatermass. In his testimony, Quatermass indicated that the prints were “not human!”
According to Professor Quatermass, he began to realize that Carroon may have been infected by an alien entity while out in space.
The effects of the transformation on Carroon according to Dr Gordon Briscoe were that his skin made one feel that you were “shaking hands with ice.” In addition, his skin was taking on a swollen appearance and his bone structure was undergoing dramatic changes.
It soon became apparent that Carroon could no longer be looked after where he was and therefore he was eventually transferred to a hospital in order to be closely monitored and cared for.
Soon after receiving treatment at the hospital, Carroon managed to escape with the help of his wife, Mrs. Judith Carroon and another male who appears to have been a private investigator whose body was found by a nurse. It was found that his skull had been caved in and his body was drained of blood and as stated before this Inquiry, it was “as though the life (had) been drawn right out of him.”
It was later determined that Carroon had come into contact with a cactus plant at the hospital and that this produced a grotesque transformation in his hand: a form of plant and animal biological fusion within Carroon.
The police soon put out an APB for Carroon after he had run off leaving his terror-stricken wife.
All members of this Royal Commission of Inquiry have attended a viewing of the film from the space ship. Although rather grainy in quality and lacking any audio, it is obvious that something had infiltrated and disabled the craft, and then killed two of the crew members, while leaving Carroon alive. There was also a fantastic drop in temperature evident at the time.
The subsequent murder of a pharmacist at a chemists shop and the slaughter of a number of animals at London Zoo, pointed to Carroon as the one being responsible.
From the numerous scientific and professional reports, submissions and expert witness testimonies to the Inquiry, a consensus had begun to emerge as to the probable nature of the alien entity.
1. As the creature mutated, it began to leave a trail like a snail.
2. A fragment of the creature discovered at the zoo indicated that it was self- sufficient and could develop in its own right.
3. The entity was a form of life in space that was “just drifting” when the rocket encountered it.
4. A union between plant and animal life was beginning to take place.
5. In order for the creature to live, it had to have food.
6. The danger was that the creature could self-procreate and multiply, and that within just a 24 hour time period London would have been overwhelmed by a multitude of slithering life-draining alien beings.
The police sergeant who had questioned a bag lady by the name of Rosemary 'Rosie' Elizabeth Wrigley at his local police station, repeated the information she had volunteered to him concerning the creature. She described it as being “shocking,” “enormous,” “kinda’ crawlin,’” and definitely not in her words a “gin goblin!”
All members of this Royal Commission of Inquiry have also attended a viewing of the tapes from the BBC Outside Broadcasting unit that had been set up to give a live broadcast on the restoration work that was then being undertaken at Westminster Abbey. At first, vision of a man’s body lying lifeless on the ground could be seen. It was apparent that he had been killed before he fell. Next we witnessed the creature itself atop the work-men's scaffolding. Little remained of Carroon. All that could be seen on the by then 20 foot slithering mass were scales, an eye, and thorns apparently adapted from the cactus plant.
It was eventually decided that the best way to eliminate the creature without the threat of releasing spores across London was to route the entire electricity grid to Westminster Abbey straight to a cable attached to the scaffolding on which the creature was situated.
The measures taken to terminate the threat posed to our planet by the creature proved to be successful. However, contrary to Professor Quatermass’ stated goal of wanting to “start again,” the Inquiry would like to draw attention to its assessments and conclusions pertaining to The Manned Rocket Mission Headed By Professor Bernard Quatermass, Also Known As The Quatermass Xperiment and its aftermath.
Assessments & Conclusions
Based upon the numerous scientific and professional reports, submissions and expert witness testimonies to the Inquiry, it has been determined that Professor Quatermass did deliberately and recklessly launch the rocket without official sanction, as pointed out to the current Royal Commission of Inquiry by a Ministry of Defence official. By so doing, he endangered the national security of Great Britain, the very existence of the British Empire and the survival of the entire human race.
Quatermass’ oft repeated comment that, “they’ll (the astronauts) fire the imagination” indicates that his only concern was for the mission and its supposed symbolic value to humanity for which he would presumably derive full credit.
His testimony where he stated the following; “I launched it (the rocket) and I brought it back!” along with “I am the best qualified” (to conduct a scientific investigation) as well as the testimony of other witnesses who reported him as telling them “don’t tell me what I can and can’t do!” and “don’t argue with me, I know what I’m doing!” indicate a preoccupation with his own ego and sense of self-worth as well as his belief in his own personal infallibility.
His lack of empathy and lack of regard for the consequences of his actions is best revealed by his overwhelming need to unlock the mind of the unfortunate Carroon and the fact that he felt he was in his own words, “on the very verge of some great discovery.” This aspect of Quatermass’ character is also evident from Mrs Carroon’s testimony when she related that she once told Quatermass that she thought he had “destroyed him (her husband) like you destroy everything you touch.”
The film from the space craft on its own has convinced this Royal Commission of Inquiry of the essential truth behind Professor Quatermass’ words that we were indeed dealing with “something beyond our understanding.” It is with these words in mind that this Inquiry puts forward the following recommendations;
1. All future manned space flights (government, private and commercial) must adhere to a strict set of guidelines in terms of safety, quality control and conduct of mission procedures.
2. A body must be established to oversee and enforce adherence to such guidelines.
3. A set of protocols must be set that deal with contact with alien life forms and any potential threats to national and global security that may arise from such contacts.
4. That Her Majesty’s Government work with other nations’ governments in order to arrive at a consensus for achieving the above measures and that this be formally presented and agreed to at a special meeting of the United Nations to be called for by the end of the current decade.
5. Finally, based on the evidence put forward to this Inquiry, that Professor Quatermass be held accountable for what appears to be criminally negligent conduct in the matter of the manned rocket mission which he headed by requiring him to stand trial in a court of law should it be found by the Attorney General that legal grounds exist for the prosecution of Professor Quatermass.
Points Of Interest
“The Quatermass Xperiment” was based on the six-part 1953 BBC Television serial “The Quatermass Experiment” written by Nigel Kneale.
In the television serial version’s climax, Quatermass appeals to what remains of the creature's humanity and convinces it to commit suicide in order to save the world. In the film version, Quatermass terminates the creature by electrocution.
The Quatermass Xperiment premiered on 26 August 1955 at the London Pavilion on Piccadilly Circus.
The film was shot on location in London, Windsor and Bray and at Hammer's Bray Studios.
The film was marketed by Hammer in the U K by dropping the "E" from "Experiment" in the title to emphasize the adults-only 'X' Certificate (restricting admission to persons over the age of sixteen) given to the film by the British Board of Film Censors.
It was the first Hammer production to attract the attention of a major distributor in the US where United Artists distributed the film under the title, “The Creeping Unknown.”
“The Quatermass Xperiment” was the first of these "Hammer Horrors" and spawned two sequels, “Quatermass 2” (1957) and “Quatermass and the Pit” (1967).
With an American audience in mind, Irish American actor Brian Donlevy was picked to play the title role of Quatermass. He specialized in tough guy roles. At about this time his career was in decline and he was reportedly suffering from alcoholism. Donlevy's brusque no-nonsense portrayal of Quatermass is in contrast to Nigel Kneale's original sensitive and thoughtful British scientist character.
The surname of Quatermass was chosen out of a phone book while the Christian name, Bernard, was named in honor of Bernard Lovell, the creator of Jodrell Bank (The Jodrell Bank Observatory, once the Jodrell Bank Experimental Station, then the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories from 1966 to 1999.)
Richard Wordsworth (stage actor and great-great grandson of the poet William Wordsworth) was cast as Victor Carroon mainly because he had the right kind of features for the part. His role in the film consisted predominantly of mime by which he effectively conveyed the kind of anguish and torment experienced by his character. Note his internal struggle at the docks where we can see that Carroon is obviously aware of what would happen if the young girl made contact with him.
Makeup artist Phil Leakey worked with cinematographer Walter J. Harvey to emphasize the shadows around Wordworth's face to give him a skeletal appearance. The make-up job was made easier by Wordsworth's natural high cheekbones and hollow temples. It was agreed that the makeup should make the Carroon character appear pitiful rather than repulsive or grotesque.
Director, Val Guest decided to try and make an unbelievable story more believable by creating a science fact film, something like a BBC factual documentary style of film. Adding to the pace and realism of the story, Guest employed the use of the hand-held camera, as well as rapid-fire overlapping dialogue. Guest used a wide-angle lens for shots of the rocket crash site to create a sense of vastness to the scene.
Les Bowie who provided the special effects for the film, constructed a monster for the climactic scenes at Westminster Abbey using tripe and rubber and photographed it against a model of the Abbey. Sparks and fireworks were used for the shots featuring the electrocution of the creature. An eye was added to the model of the monster and a human scream added to the soundtrack to impart a sense of humanity to the creature in its final moments.
James Bernard’s music score for the film employs the use of atonal strings to effectively create a sense of unnerving menace, a technique later used by Bernard Herrmann's score for Hitchcock’s film, “Psycho” (1960).
The film’s effectiveness centers around the creation of an unsettling atmosphere and what it suggests in terms of horror and terror rather than what would today be explicitly shown. Many of the shock and horror sequences take place off screen while the camera cuts away and use is made of reaction shots.
Although human progress has always been and always will be driven by individuals who possess resources, vision and imagination, we should be wary of the type of person with the kind of obsessive drive as was displayed by Donlevy's Professor Quatermass. The quest for scientific achievement must not be confused with or motivated primarily by the quest for satisfying an individual’s ego. Nor must it be undertaken without regard to the potential consequences of that quest to both those involved and to the rest of humanity.
This Island, Earth (1955)
An enthralling visual feast that takes you on one of the best sci-fi adventure rides of your life!
Directed by Joseph M. Newman
Produced by William Alland
Written by Raymond F. Jones, Franklin Coen, Edward G. O'Callaghan
Music by Joseph Gershenson (music supervision), Henry Mancini, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein
Cinematography: Clifford Stine
Edited by Virgil Vogel
Production company: Universal-International
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Running time: 87 minutes
Box office: $1.7 million (US)
Cast
Jeff Morrow: Exeter
Faith Domergue: Ruth Adams
Rex Reason: Dr Cal Meacham
Lance Fuller: Braack
Russell Johnson: Steve Carlson
Duglas Spencer: The Monitor of Metaluna
Robert Nichols: Joe Wilson
Karl Ludwig Lindt: Dr Adolph Engelborg
A quest to save a dying planet!!
An evil alien scheme to take over the Earth!!
An interplanetary war!!
(Warning! Spoilers follow.....)
Things In Heaven And Earth
Let us take in a panoramic view of the great seat of human pride and power, the capital city of the United States of America, Washington DC. Here we find a fitting representative of human arrogance and hubris, Dr Cal Meacham as he gives an interview to a handful of reporters, prior to his boarding a Lockheed T-33A jet fighter at Andrews AFB, just outside Washington, DC. He has just attended a conference on atomic energy, and filled to the brim with a sense of his own self-importance, he parcels out tantalizing tidbits of information about the possible “industrial application of atomic energy” and the need to “team up atomic energy with electronics” in order to truly realize the push-button age. No matter if the reporters and the public they “inform” don’t understand since according to Meacham, “what counts is how I make it work.” Watch now as he boards his plane, that pinnacle of human technological ingenuity and soars off into the wide blue yonder of smug self-assurance.
Fly high and far little fly and gaze down upon the mighty Grand Canyon and the majesty of the Sierra Nevada range from the lofty domain you think you have made your own. Now underscore that achievement with a triumphant buzz over the Ryberg Electronics Company airfield control tower and follow this up with a steep climb that will bring you ever nearer to the sun!
As your plane flames out and before you crash, do you consider the possibility that you have tried to fly too close to the sun once too often? Then again, as your ears are being assailed by a “high frequency howl” did you ever consider the possibility that control would be taken out your hands by someone or something more powerful than could’ve been dreamt of in your philosophy? How does it feel to lose control of one’s own destiny as you descend enveloped in a bright green beam of power to make what would normally have been an impossible perfect landing? Not only had your “plane died up there,” but so had all of your old certainties that provided the foundations for your life and the materials for fashioning a future fantasy foretold by a fool.
And so the master Cal Meacham and his apprentice, Joe Wilson put the incident aside and concentrate on their search for the philosopher’s stone…..
Beware Of “Gods” Bearing Gifts
How easy to hook the human natives with the tantalizing temptation of technological trinkets! During one of their experiments, Cal and Joe have managed to burn out one of their large condensers. Joe had ordered two replacement condensers but their regular supplier had sent them several small beads instead. Surprisingly to these primitives, the new beads (ABC model from "Electronic Section, Unit 16.") can hold over 30,000 volts with no leakage before disintegrating. They are also impervious to your puny diamond drill! How odd is it that the supplier hadn’t had an order from Cal's company for six weeks despite the fact that Joe swears he had definitely placed such an order!
Even more surprising, our human friend has received an unusual order in the form of instructions and parts (more than 2,000 of them) to build a complex communication device called an Interocitor. Shear human curiosity especially of the scientific variety should be enough bait to attract attention in order to reel in and land these knowledge hungry fish. Notice that even though neither Meacham nor Joe know anything about the device, they decide to go ahead and begin construction. As Meacham declares, “I want to know what it is and what it does!”
The assembled Interociter consists of a large cabinet with an inverted triangular-shaped screen on top. They have built a Trojan horse for someone else but all that emerges from it at first is a voice instructing them how to "clear the screen." When they do so, the image of a man called Exeter appears.
Exeter informs Meacham that he has passed an aptitude test. His ability to build the Interocitor demonstrates that he is qualified to "join our team" as part of Exeter's special research project. It is put to him that he is to board a plane that will land, wait for five minutes, and then take off again with or without him in it.
Like so many who are seduced and fooled by spam emails, unsolicited marketing phone calls and political spin that play on people’s vanity, needs and desires, Meacham seems not to be able to see beyond the sales pitch to what is actually before his eyes looking down at him. After all, this fellow “scientist” and “colleague” is merely “seeking scientists of exceptional ability.” Right?
How does it feel, Meacham, to be looking up into the eyes of someone or something that views you at best as a gifted primitive who may prove to be of use? If you are not yet convinced then a demonstration of power might reveal how resistance and exposure of the truth would be futile. Even now Exeter orders Cal to set the parts and instruction catalogue on a worktable and disintegrates it by means of three bright red laser-like rays shooting out from the corners of the screen. See now how the Interociter blows up, catches fire, and burns, leaving merely a charred memory of its existence.
“He was right about one thing. I’m going to be on that plane.” Oh, it was all too easy! Cal has agreed to board the flight.
Today is the day of the flight and see how the twin-engine Douglas DC-3 Dakota automatically lands in a pea-soup fog worthy of the ending to a Humphrey Bogart film. The plane’s cockpit windows are painted over, and there are no side windows. Inside the cockpit stands an Interociter through which Exeter's voice instructs Cal to take up position in the single central seat. As he is doing so, Joe pleads with him, “This whole thing smells to high heaven. Cal, I beg of you, don’t go!”
As is often the case in human affairs, the danger is recognized when it is too late. The plane takes off into the unknown leaving Joe enveloped and consumed by a thick fog of foreboding.
False face must hide what the false heart doth know
Cal lands and is met by Dr Ruth Adams whom he remembers from a conference and a midnight swim some five years previously. However, she insists that he is mistaken.
Ruth now drives him to "The Club" where all necessary comforts and facilities are provided. Here she introduces Cal to Dr Steve Carlson and Dr Adolf Engelborg, both famous scientists.
Finally Cal gets to meet Exeter face-to-face and is informed that he represents a group of scientists who are developing technological achievements such as limitless amounts of nuclear energy that will one day “put an end to war.”
Ah, to be made to feel special, with a sense of belonging to a privileged community of individuals working as part of a team! Will the enticement of the prospect of collaborating with esteemed colleagues for a noble global humanitarian cause prove to be too irresistible to our friend? We human beings are capable of blatant lying and subterfuge in order to get what we want. Just ask the indigenous peoples of many countries throughout history who have been invaded and lied to by technologically advanced civilizations! Why would we expect anything different from intelligent beings we might encounter?
Lo and behold! Right in the middle of Exeter giving Cal a virtual tour of the facilities, the Interociter indicates an incoming call is being received. Alone, Exeter is told that The Monitor is displeased that he is not moving fast enough. Despite Exeter’s protests, The Monitor instructs him to “carry on with Plan A as instructed.”
And The Truth Is Plain To See
Exeter and his erstwhile but unnerving and rather uptight assistant, Braack are at this moment hosting a formal dinner for all the members of The Club: In the background you can hear Mozart's "A Little Night Music" playing. Listen now as Cal turns to Exeter and asks him what he thinks of Mozart. Exeter replies with, "I don't know the gent...Ah. My mind must have been wandering. Your composer, of course." Oops! Hear how Cal retorts, "'Our composer? He belongs to the world!" BINGO!
Outside, under the pretext of taking in some fresh air, Cal observes to Ruth and Steve that all of the scientists are involved “in the production of atomic energy” and that there is a lack of representation of any other scientific discipline such as biochemistry.
Now in his laboratory, Cal positions a thick lead plate in front of his Interociter in an attempt to obtain some privacy. He observes that Ruth and Steve “are walking around as if you’re scared of your own shadows.” Ruth now confesses that she did indeed take a midnight swim with him back in Vermont, but had to be sure that she could trust him. Take away people’s sense of privacy and trust by increasing surveillance and monitoring and the way is left open for control and manipulation by those who possess and exercise power. Add to that a good measure of fear as a powerful motivator for compliance and obedience. As is pointed out by Ruth and Steve, Exeter has a "sun lamp" type of device that is called a “Transformer” whose effects are “similar to a lobotomy” whereby areas of the brain governing willpower are targeted rendering the victim compliant.
It looks like Exeter has failed in his attempt to use the Interociter to spy on Cal, Ruth, and Steve (foiled by a cat named Neutron). So, what does he do? He decides to set up a demonstration for Cal of his power by using the Interociter’s neutrino ray (“missing link between energy and matter”) to cut a hole in the protective lead plate. His implied message is one familiar to all power-wielding authoritarian dictatorships: comply and obey, or else! How subtle!
Bid For Freedom
Abuse of power, threats and intimidation in the end only serve to generate opposition and resistance. See how in a final meeting Steve, Ruth and Cal share what information they possess: sketches of the Interociter and how it might function; sketches of Exeter and Braack highlighting their shared physical characteristics such as indentations in the forehead, and a sketch of a hillside, not far from the compound, which appears to be hollowed out and covered.
As our three plucky intrepid scientists make their escape bid from the house and compound, Exeter and Braack receive a call from The Monitor: emergency Plan B is now in effect involving a full evacuation, and destruction of the house and its occupants with the exception of Cal and Ruth. It appears that Exeter’s home planet’s ionization layer is failing.
Braack possessing a typical security and military mindset uses the Interociter to fire neutrino beams at the car which Steve, Cal and Ruth are using to escape in. As Steve tries to draw the fire of the Interociter away from Ruth and Cal he is killed, along with Adolf Engelborg, as he attempts to communicate with the two scientists.
Keep running Cal and Ruth until you get to the airstrip where you will find and board a tiny single-engine 1949 Aeronca 11 Chief plane. As you take off what do you see? Yes! An actual flying saucer of the kind you’ve been hearing many reports about. You’ll be seeing plenty of those around Washington DC next year! What is it doing? Hovering and firing a ray which has destroyed the house! So, what they can’t possess and control, they destroy. Sound familiar?
Into The Whale’s Belly
Wait a minute! What is the saucer doing now? Oh no! It’s hovering over your pathetic little plane, and bathing it in a green light. Even though there’s still another decade until “Star Trek,” it appears that your plane is now being locked on and drawn into the saucer by a tractor beam!
On board the ship Cal and Ruth see its commander, Exeter and his crew who all look like him. And of course, there’s Braack being all security chiefy and such. In Cal’s eyes they have committed "mass murder" to which Exeter retorts that he could have done nothing else, and that he is neither a “devil or saint.” Cal and Ruth are now destined to fly to Exeter's home world, Metaluna which lies “far beyond your solar system.” Exeter even attempts to appeal to the humans to “try to have more sympathy” when they come to better understand the plight of his people.
A Space Oddity
Strap yourselves in because you’re now passing through a "thermal barrier" and it’s getting hot, hot hot! It looks like Cal and Ruth will need to undergo a "conversion" process so they can survive in an atmosphere with a pressure akin to being far submerged under Earth's oceans.
Just when you think it’s safe, here come the Zahgons who appear to be bent on spoiling your jaunt through space by attacking you with guided meteors (yes, I said meteors!) Who are these Zahgons I hear you ask? Well, (apart from sounding like characters from a Douglas Adam’s novel) they are the interplanetary enemies of Metaluna who they currently are at war with.
After dispatching several Zahgon attack craft, you manage to pass through the "ionization layer" toward the desolate and barren surface of Metaluna. You discover that the remaining Metalunans have had to retreat underground and that they are facing imminent defeat. According to Exeter, it is the “beginning of the end of our world.” You can see now the reason behind the urgency of Exeter's project: Metaluna needs vast amounts of uranium to prevent the loss their last shield.
You now know that the Metalunans came to Earth seeking uranium deposits as well as scientists to help them defend their planet in a war against the Zahgons. Will you now take a second to contemplate the possibility that a technologically advanced civilization may wish to establish contact not for any altruistic motive such as warning us about our own planet’s destructive path or wishing to share the fruits of their technological development in a spirit of universal love and galactic kumbaya? Instead, they may be governed by an at best “what’s in it for us?” mentality or at worst by a need to subjugate and exploit.
And of course, we naturally assume that a technologically advanced civilization elsewhere in the universe would be soooo much more spiritually advanced than we are. No war! Peace & harmony! Meaning of life, the universe and everything discovered! Tea and cucumber sandwiches with God! Of course they couldn’t possibly be engaged in flexing their technological muscles with a galactic neighbor over something like real estate, ideology, religion, politics, ethnicity or something equally petty. Nor would they stoop so low as to kick sand in the face of 90 pound weaklings inhabiting a speck of dust orbiting a little yellow sun in a minor system located on the fringe of a single galaxy consisting of millions and billions of stars in just one universe consisting of millions and billions of galaxies happily expanding until eventually all the lights go out……..Surely they wouldn’t!
Well, Cal and Ruth, enjoy your ride and take in the sights of the once mighty Metaluna: a Dante’s inferno with the charred remains of destroyed universities and ruined cultural centers, and a single building, the centre of Metaluna’s government, surrounded by the refuse of war. Why do you not tremble and bow before The Monitor, as he struggles to maintain the ionization layer and issues edicts concerning the scant remnants of his once mighty Metalunan empire needing to travel to Earth for refuge, a “peaceful relocation?” And still you don’t bow to your future superiors? Then off to the "thought transference chamber" you go!
The Thought Transference Chamber will be used to suppress your free will so that you cannot defy the will of The Monitor: the worthy aim of all good totalitarian and authoritarian regimes! How kind of Exeter to point out its basic immorality, especially since such a process would interfere with your ability to assist the Metalunans! What’s that I hear you say, Ruth? “My mind is my own and nobody is going to change it!”
Defiance!
So you refuse to enter the chamber and even attempt to escape! Like all regimes bent on control there is always a force of mindless monoric mutant-like goons programmed to enforce the will of those in authority. Well, here comes a Mu-tant about to do what he has been bred to do-force you to cooperate.
That’s it Cal, fight back and take any opportunity that’s afforded to you. Down goes Exeter after being introduced to your fist. Down goes the Mutant after a Zahgon meteor bomb strikes the building bringing down a pile of rubble on top of it.
Wait! Help has come from an unlikely source in the form of Exeter. He is willing to help you both get off Metaluna whose ruler, The Monitor has since been killed. (Has he come to his senses at last or does he fear being alone, the last of his kind who now only has the company of two beings in the whole universe who know and may understand him?)
As Exeter drives you to the ship you soon discover the way is blocked by another Mutant standing guard at the ship. Exeter, your authority has crumbled along with your planet. See how the Mutant ignores your orders to stand aside and instead attacks and injures you. Thank goodness for Cal’s quick thinking by striking the Mutant over the head with a fire extinguisher, and helping you aboard the saucer. (Are they displaying the so-called human quality of mercy or merely practicality, knowing that only you can fly the ship?) By the way, has anyone noticed the Mutant climbing aboard just as the hatch is closing?
The Way Home
Never mind the Mutant now. You’ve got more pressing issues to contend with such as dodging Zahgon guided meteors and watching helplessly as hundreds of guided meteors bombard Metaluna, causing it to ignite and turn into a star, “giving light to those who may need it.” Throughout the universe the endless cycle plays itself out where from out of the darkness of destruction shines a new light of hope to light the path for life to find its way.
Ah! The horror is not over because just as you three are about to undergo the "conversion" treatment our mindlessly persistent friend, the Mutant sets his compound eyes on Ruth. Our damsel in distress finds herself having to run from the Mutant while trying to shake the effects of the conversion treatment. Luckily the differential pressures have put paid to the Mutant’s evil intentions as it topples over and disintegrates.
The three of you have managed to sail through space and steer a course back to this island, Earth and are now over the Californian coast. Exeter intends to drop the both of you in your little plane into the air but he has no intention of landing himself. He will lie to them by telling them that “our universe is vast” and that he will explore the galaxy for another Metaluna despite the fact that the ship is almost out of power. It’s no use pleading with Exeter to come with you, Cal and Ruth. He’ll only tell you that his wounds are fatal.
Both of you cling together in your little plane, glad to be home at last and thanking God that it is “still here.” After all, this little island in a vast universe is the only home you have to come back to.
And what of Exeter? In appearance, different yet very similar to us. His character and nature was quite flawed but instantly and uncomfortably recognizable to us. We saw reflected in Exeter and his alien civilization some of the worst characteristics of human beings who inhabit our little “island” in space. As Exeter’s ship descends into the sea in a ball of flame, let’s hope that this does not serve as an omen for the fate of……..
“This Island, Earth”
Points Of Interest
“This island Earth” is based on the novel of the same name by Raymond F. Jones which was originally published as three novelettes in the magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories: "The Alien Machine" (June 1949), "The Shroud of Secrecy" (December 1949), and "The Greater Conflict" (February 1950)
The special effects were very well done for the time. The films sets are also impressive, along with the art direction and costume design. Consider for instance the depiction of the war-ravaged Metaluna and the battle between the Metalunans and Zahgons all of which holds up well even today.
The technical aspects of the film are quite amazing for the period. We have the notion of the flexible metallic paper of the manual that Cal received together with the "Interociter": a futuristic two-way 3D video communication device that even incorporates a deadly neutrino ray.
All the elements of the film combine to produce something akin to a vividly colourful and visually beautiful live action comic book complete with mutant monsters and interplanetary warfare.
Faith Domergue gives a competent performance as Ruth Adams. She also appeared in the science fiction films,” It Came from Beneath the Sea” and “The Atomic Man,” both of which feature elsewhere in this book series.
Another familiar face is Russell Johnson (the professor from Gilligan's Island) who plays Steve Carlson. He also appeared in “It Came From Outer Space” (featured in this series) where he had the role of George, one of the two line technicians who were possessed by the alien entity.
The standout character is the Metalunan, Exeter played by Jeff Morrow. Just watch any politician taking on TV and then watch and listen to Exeter with his smooth talking, slick coolness, neatly coiffured hair, conventional suit and tie, false sincerity and mountains of spin! Exeter does however blur the lines between good and evil and there are occasions when we can almost understand his point of view. But isn’t that what politicians often try to get us to do, even if it is against our interests?
Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956)
(Invasion of the Flying Saucers)
A tense and fast-paced alien invasion film that gets right down to business and has good special effects
Directed by Fred F. Sears
Produced by Charles H. Schneer, Sam Katzman
Written by (based on Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe’s non-fiction book Flying Saucers from Outer Space), Curt Siodmak, George Worthing Yates, Bernard Gordon
Music by Mischa Bakaleinikoff
Cinematography: Fred Jackman Jr.
Flying saucer effects by Ray Harryhausen
Edited by Danny B. Landres
Production Company: Clover Productions
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Running time: 83 minutes
Box office: $1,250,000
Cast
Hugh Marlowe as Dr. Russell A. Marvin
Joan Taylor as Carol Marvin
Donald Curtis as Major Huglin, the liaison officer
Morris Ankrum as Brig. Gen. John Hanley
John Zaremba as Prof. Kanter
Thomas Browne Henry as Vice-Admiral Enright
Grandon Rhodes as General Edmunds
Larry J. Blake as a motorcycle policeman
Charles Evans as Dr. Alberts
Paul Frees as Alien (voice)
Harry Lauter as Cutting - Generator Technician
1956: Taste of the Times:
The yearly Inflation rate in the USA was 1.52% while in the UK it was 4.7%.
On average, buying a house might set you back $11.700.00 while you might be earning $4.450.00 per year.
A gallon of gas was 22 cents which would run a new car you might’ve bought for $2,050.00.
Along with an increase in living standards there was an increase in college education with 1 in 3 high school graduates going to college.
On TV you’d probably be watching "As The World Turns" and "The Price is Right" along with the Ed Sullivan show which even featured a certain Elvis Presley who entered the music charts for the first time with his hit, "Heartbreak Hotel." By his third and final appearance on the Sullivan show, Elvis was filmed from only the waist-up. due to complaints about his suggestive hip-swivelling gyrations!
Oh, and Hallelujah for disposable diapers and teflon non-stick frying pans!
What If?.....
Bodeh: Good evening viewers. This is Charlie Bodeh and welcome to a special report from KHQ-TV. As you may recall, last year there were rumors and reports emanating from California of an attempted infiltration and takeover of Earth by alien beings called Metalunans. The Metalunans supposedly came to Earth seeking uranium deposits as well as scientists to help them defend their planet in a war against another alien race called the Zahgons.
You would also be aware that the primary source of this widely reported and far-fetched sounding incident came to us via two world-renown scientists, Dr Ruth Adams and Dr Cal Meacham who were apparently involved in this tale of what seems to be at first sight….. Science-fiction. Both scientists seem to have since gone to ground and their present whereabouts is unknown.
The most disturbing aspect of the whole incident is the disappearance and presumed murder of several highly acclaimed scientists who were said to have been forced to assist the Metalunans with their research involving atomic energy. Authorities in Washington are looking at a more Earth-bound cause of their likely fate, most likely involving…….certain foreign powers.
Hot on the heels of the “Metalunan Incident,” and as some would suggest is possibly related to it, come numerous reports we have received just this year alone of UFO sightings; from the skies of California to the rice paddies of Asia. These reports have come to us from a variety of sources ranging from air force pilots through to farmers and civilians.
The authenticity of the pictures you are seeing on your screens has, however, yet to be determined.
We now cross to Peter Gertres Freedman at Air Intelligence Command for the latest developments.
Freedman: Yes Charlie. As you can see, people have been streaming in to the authorities with stories of strange sightings of objects or UFOs in our skies. Although we can’t hear the people being interviewed, the common thread of the stories they have to tell is evident from the shocked and bewildered expressions on their faces, their fearful skyward glances and the circular aerial patterns they make in the air with their hands.
Word has also come to us from the Hemispheric Defense Command that after collecting and examining these reports of UFOs, the military has determined that they are a threat and has issued a directive to “fire on sight on any objects unidentifiable.” However, it is reasonable for us to wonder whether our scientific know-how and weapons would be effective in any battle of the Earth vs. the flying saucers? Back to you Charlie………
[CONFLICT: Assumption of hostile intent. Adoption of aggressive posture.
Failure or inability to open, establish and maintain lines of communication.]
*************************
(Spoilers Follow).........
We begin with an aerial (saucer-eye view) shot that gradually closes in on scientist Russell Marvin on his way to a “date with a three-stage rocket” accompanied by his new bride, Dr. Carol Marvin. They are driving to work through the desert to a rocket testing ground - Project Skyhook. Russell Marvin is in charge of Project Skyhook, an American space program that has already launched 10 research satellites into orbit. The intention is to launch “12 tiny man-made satellites” into Earth orbit in order to prepare the way “for our assent into space.”
Suddenly out of nowhere and almost contemptuously, a flying saucer appears behind them, flies overhead and re-appears in front of the moving car. In defiance of Earth’s gravity and seemingly all the known laws of physics, the saucer accelerates upward and vanishes from sight in the twinkling of an eye.
“It was a saucer – a flying saucer?”
Cautious man of logic and science, Russell Marvin: “We have to have time to think, to evaluate this before we sound off….”
The nervous clutching for cigarettes and the tone of their voices gives away just how rattled they are by the experience….
But wait! Doesn’t science demand proof? Although they don't realize it at the time, a recorder used by Russell Marvin to dictate research notes has picked up and recorded the sound of the UFO: It’s “one piece of concrete evidence.”
General Hanley, Carol's father later informs Marvin that many of the satellites “apparently… blew up in outer space” and have crashed. In fact, they are now only in contact with “one bird.” The implication is that the satellites are being shot down as fast as they are sent up. It is not long before the Marvins witness the eleventh satellite falling from the sky after receiving a message that “they just lost contact with number 11.” Dr Marvin joins the dots and suggests that UFOs might be implicated in shooting the rockets down.
As if to reinforce Dr Marvin’s and the audience’s suspicions regarding UFO involvement in the destruction of the rockets, Russell, Carol and General Hanley witness glowing lights in the sky, These lights are explained as being “Foo Fighters” which were strange lights witnessed by WWII pilots that seemed to hover around and keep pace with their planes. The balls of light are also explained as being “St. Elmo’s Fire”, or plasma that is created by a coronal discharge from a sharp or pointed object such as a ship’s mast in a strong electric field in the atmosphere. As if on cue, the wreckage of rocket No. 11 enters the atmosphere and burns up.
[CONFLICT: Using available evidence to draw conclusions about other’s identity, actions and intentions, which may or may not be valid.
Establishing cause and effect relationships between events which also may or may not be valid]
Despite the loss of 11 rockets, it is decided to proceed with the launch of rocket No. 12……
Meanwhile at Observation Tower A we learn or a “UFO due west…approaching fast…” and that a “sentry at West Gate has reported seeing a flying saucer” (sceptical)
During the preparations for the launch, a UFO is seen overflying the rocket range before landing in the middle of the project facility. Three figures emerge from the craft but are soon fired upon by soldiers, who manage to kill one of the aliens. The aliens then retaliate with the destructive power of green rays. The aliens return with their fallen crew-mate to their ship which is protected by a force field and they soon set about raining death and destruction down upon the rocket test facility, as well as taking General Hanley captive in their saucer.
[CONFLICT: Policy of immediate recourse to violence and aggression (shoot first and ask questions later) leads to retaliation, violent response and escalation of conflict.]
Aboard the “Interstellar Conveyance,” General Hanley is asked by the aliens “through the translating device,” to “explain why (they) were met with by violence.”
[CONFLICT: Miscommunication & misunderstanding]
The answer to the alien’s questions lies underground where we find the Marvins trapped by the destruction of the aliens’ attack on the facility. As their air begins to run out, Dr Marvin decides to make a recording of the events preceding and including the alien attack. Suddenly the tape-recorder’s batteries start to run low thereby slowing down the tape-recorder’s playback. By rewinding the tape, the Marvins discover that the noise they had previously recorded was a sped up version of the message from the aliens requesting them to meet at Operation Skyhook. It is apparent that a terrible mistake has been made with possible dire consequences to follow……
Headlines scream out;
SKY HOOK WIPED OUT!
SKY HOOK DISASTER UNEXPLAINED!
[CONFLICT: Lack of Information and misinformation followed by sensationalism, speculation and exaggeration.]
After the Marvins are rescued from their subterranean prison, they head to Washington to lay before the Internal Security Commission all that they have learned. Here they are met with skepticism. After all, all they have is a “strange voice, (and a) set of instructions (that) could’ve come from anywhere.” Caught between, on the one hand a sense of urgency to act and on the other, a bureaucratic need to act only on authority and via a chain of command, Dr. Marvin is forbidden from making contact with the aliens.
Impatient to conduct a meeting with the aliens, Marvin makes contact with them via shortwave on “225.6 megacycles as per instructions” and receives new instructions for a meeting at a beach on the Californian coast.
As Marvin departs to meet the aliens, he is followed by Carol and his liaison watchdog, Major Huglin. All three are then followed by a motorcycle cop.
At the rendezvous point, the three tiny human figures are dwarfed by the enormous size of the landed saucer which serves to highlight just what it is they and humanity might be up against. Marvin approaches the ship and a voice explains that it is safe to enter.
Once aboard the saucer, the humans learn that;
The aliens have extracted knowledge from General Hanley's brain, and now have him under their control.
They are the last of their species.
They are “the survivors of a disintegrated solar system” and need to find a new place to live.
They “operate in a very different time reference.”
They destroyed the satellites not knowing that “they were primitive observation posts” and fearing they were weapons launched against them.
They demand that Earth surrenders and let them control the planet or they will attack with their fleet if their demand is refused.
They are willing to use their power, as evidenced by their destruction of a destroyer that fired on them, resulting in the deaths of 300 men.
They wish to meet the world's leaders in 56 days in Washington, D.C., to negotiate a surrender and occupation.
They wish to adopt this course of action in order to avoid becoming “masters of a wrecked and hungry planet.”
The humans are then released to convey the aliens’ message, all except General Hanley and the motorcycle cop who have been forced to endure the aliens’ “Infinitely Indexed Memory Bank” device, leaving them in a zombie-like state.
[CONFLICT: Knowledge of others’ intentions and motivations needs to be determined in order to assess the likelihood of engaging in offensive or defensive action as being the only means of maintaining survival, life, liberty and way of life.]
Back in Washington, Dr Marvin comes up with an idea for a weapon “an ultrasonic gun” that uses sound to disable the UFOs causing them to crash.
Despite some progress, it is soon determined that they don’t have the necessary tools or materials to make it work.
An idea for a new weapon is later formulated which involves interrupting the saucers’ magnetic field with an intermittent electric field. During a final test of the new weapon, an alien spy drone is spotted observing proceedings, but is destroyed by the scientists.
The aliens appear to possess intelligence about the new weapon and its location. An alien ship soon arrives just as the scientists evacuate the facility. Marvin takes the opportunity to use the weapon on the saucer. The weapon works successfully with the saucer being driven off. However, one of the aliens has been left behind!
The callous and immoral nature of Earth’s interstellar enemy is highlighted by the killing of one of the scientists who walks with the aid of a walking stick and the almost petty and vindictive dumping of the motorcycle cop and General Hanley’s bodies from the saucer.
[CONFLICT: Acts of barbarism and the committing of atrocities by one or both sides of the conflict is often a terrible consequence.
Each side is often viewed as being sub-human and immoral by the other.
Widely differing and irreconcilable perspectives, frames of reference and world views become evident.]
After the alien who had been left behind is killed by Major Huglin, they open the alien's suit to reveal a fragile atrophied corpse, “humanoid and ancient,” which quickly disintegrates. It is surmised that the suits act like an outer skin encasing the aliens’ atrophied muscles.
[CONFLICT: Need for intelligence gathering about other side’s capabilities in order to combat them effectively]
Later examination of the alien’s suit reveals a language translating device, which is used to interpret the aliens’ plan of attack. The helmet appears to be made from “solidified electricity” and it can amplify the senses of sight and hearing.
Carol is asked to speak into the translating device and quotes the following phrase from a speech by Portia in William Shakespeare's play, The Merchant of Venice: “The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven…” - A rebuff to the beings above for not demonstrating real mercy which is in their power to do.
[CONFLICT: The one element that can prevent conflict and all that results from it is the “quality of mercy.” Mercy cannot be forced on anyone by the use of violence which only leads to death and destruction raining down on people.]
Trouble is to be expected when “Mercury is in perihelion” with the “Sun in Polaris.” In confirmation of this new intelligence, the aliens issue a worldwide broadcast beginning with: “PEOPLE OF EARTH. YOUR ATTENTION!...LOOK TO YOUR SUN FOR A WARNING!” In their broadcast the aliens threaten to affect the sun in order to cause global meteorological devastation in eight days. The aliens demand that all world leaders meet in Washington to discuss surrender terms.
The consensus is that the aliens really intend to destroy Washington. When the predicted solar eruption takes place and with only nine days to prepare, there is the added problem of the ever worsening weather conditions.
STORMS BREAK!
(The Evening Star)
[CONFLICT: Understanding and exploiting the other side’s strengths and weaknesses and turning their perceived strengths against them.]
We have seen how the aliens’ power depends a lot on their own technology, the magnetic field they can generate. The humans were able to work out that it could be disrupted by an electrical force. For the humans, their strength also lies in the use of technology to live and the ability to use it to communicate. Reliance on technology is also their weakness as its disruption causes civilization to virtually cease functioning and be at the mercy of whatever Nature (or an alien invader) has to throw at us. Imagine how vulnerable we in the 21st Century would be if power, communications, transportation and the internet ceased to work!
***********************************
What If?.....
Bodeh: “This is Charlie Bodeh from station KHQ-TV, speaking into this portable tape recorder and armed only with my two cameras. As my station is unable to transmit due to the ever increasing disruption caused by the weather and solar activity. I will endeavor to make a record of events for posterity even though I may lose my life in the process and the fate of humanity may be sealed this very day….
The eight days of climatic convulsions has caused massive delays in evacuating civilians, and there is still 60% of the population remaining in the city. The sound you can hear is sirens indicating that the alien attack has begun…..
“When an armed and threatening power lands in our capital, we don’t meet them with tea and cookies.” Those are the words of a high ranking military official I managed to speak with as the alien attack began…..That same official declared a bit later that the aliens are “contemptuous of our defenses” as they managed to easily brush aside a combined aircraft and artillery assault…..
Three alien saucers have begun to assemble over our nation’s capital. I can see from my vantage point that the scientist, Dr Marvin is firing some kind of new electronic ultrasonic weapon. (Strange high-pitched sound)
Yes, it worked! One of the alien saucers has been brought down! (Sound of loud explosions) As the artillery batteries are opening fire, I can see Dr Marvin moving his weapon to a new location…….
Wait! The alien saucers have now opened fire in the vicinity of the White House and Capitol building! (Sounds of explosions and screaming) Dr Marvin’s team is now making its way to defend the White House. I’m moving closer to better see what’s happening…….
(Out of breath) One of the ray units has just been destroyed by the alien invaders and one of the saucers is landing. (Sound of gun fire) Soldiers are being deployed to combat the invaders……..
At least two alien saucers have been brought down and I can see a third one crashing into the Washington monument. (Sounds of crashing, rumbling and screams) Oh my…..the monument is…….all those people…..Run! Get out of the way!......
I have now re positioned myself just outside the Supreme Court building where the battle seems to have moved to. It is a scene of utter destruction with people having been killed by and trapped within the wreckage. In a kind of ironic twist, a saucer has lodged itself within the building - our symbol of justice - as if the invader has finally had justice meted out to it for the unjust outrage it has tried to perpetrate on our planet…….
We have just received an emergency broadcast announcing that saucers are converging on the Capitol building! It appears the aliens are launching a final assault as can been heard from the cacophonous baying of the demented dogs of war let loose upon the center of our nation’s power……….
…….A strange quiet has just now descended over Washington. The battle is at an end and the alien invaders have been repelled. As the skies clear over Washington it is hard to believe the announcement now going out that “the present danger is ended.” All of us will be thinking the same thing;
“Will they come back again?”
As the days pass in this season, let’s hope that the answer will be;
“Not on such a nice day.”
For now, let us just be glad and give thanks that;
“Our world is still here and still ours…….”
END OF TAPE
Points Of Interest
Black and White vs Colour?
Although there are black and white films you certainly wouldn’t mess around with by colorizing them, “Earth vs The Flying Saucers” can be better enjoyed by viewing it in color.
Science
Although many of the scientific ideas in “Earth vs The Flying Saucers” may appear to be questionable, there are some interesting concepts that are worthy of consideration.
Take for instance, the alien’s suit which serves as a protective exoskeleton. We have recently seen the development of exoskeleton-type devices with servo-mechanisms and actuators that are providing mobility for paraplegics and those with spinal injuries.
The aliens in the film pointed out that they exist in a different time reference to our own. Given Einstein’s theories about space-time and debate about whether or not time can be considered to be absolute or linear, the alien’s comment does not seem so ridiculous. Read Edgar Rice Burrough’s, “At The Earth’s Core” (1914) and consider how time may or may not be perceived by the inhabitants of Pellucidar whose sun remains constantly overhead!
Notice that the aliens use a kind of drone technology to spy on the human scientists' activities. Such technology is pervasive in our modern times and is used by civilian hobbyists, farmers, certain activist groups and more worryingly by the military and spy agencies for surveillance and offensive operations. Drone technology has raised fears about the diminishing right to privacy and the "ethical" conduct of warfare. How long before it also becomes a regular feature of terrorist operations?
Real-Life Project Sky Hook
For information on actual historical Project Skyhook, see article “The Cold War’s Classified Skyhook Program: A Participant’s Revelations” by B.D. Gildenberg, Volume 28.3, May / June 2004 in Skeptical Inquirer,
https://skepticalinquirer.org/2004/05/the-cold-wars-classified-skyhook-program/
“Classified high-altitude, long-duration flights of huge Skyhook balloons, which often returned their secret payloads to the surface, began in 1947 and continued for several decades.
This secret Cold War program was the likely progenitor of many key aspects of UFO mythology.”
Inspiration
Some of the inspiration for “Earth vs The Flying Saucers” may have come from the rash of flying saucer sightings that took place over Washington over two weekends in July 1952. Commercial pilots radioed in accounts of mysterious lights that changed direction abruptly and traveled at fantastic speeds. These objects were able to effortlessly evade their pursuers, even at supersonic speeds. Was it all merely the result of “temperature inversion” or were we facing the possibility of interplanetary contact or…….war?
Special Effects
Ray Harryhausen worked his visual effects magic by animating the film's flying saucers using stop-motion animation. He also animated the falling masonry from government buildings and monuments when saucers crashed into them.
Harryhausen sought advice from well-known self-proclaimed and suspected paranoid UFO contactee, George Adamski on the way the flying saucers used in the film ought to be depicted.
The actual design of flying saucers closely resembles the descriptions given to Maj. Donald Keyhoe of UFO sightings in his book,” Flying Saucers from Outer Space,” another source of important inspiration for the film. In 1956, Keyhoe started an organization called NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena)
Stock footage was used in scenes showing gun batteries and missile launches. The destruction of the warship HMS Barham during World War II was used to depict the sinking of the U. S. Navy destroyer by a flying saucer. Viking rocket and German V-2 rocket launches were used to depict the satellite launches and launch failures.
The voice of the aliens was produced from a recording of Paul Frees reading the lines and then manually manipulating the speed control of a reel-to-reel tape recorder causing it to alternate between a slow bass to a high and rapid voice.
Relevance
A film such as “Earth Vs The Flying Saucers” can have relevance to and resonate with today’s audiences who’ve witnessed the destruction of their nation’s landmarks and have seen the mayhem caused by acts of terrorism. This kind of fear has been lurking around for a long time and is not just a product of a mid-20th Century paranoid decade, nor a unique feature of our early 21st Century world. Also in tune with the film’s ideas is the fact that even now in the second decade of the 21st. Century, we are often being torn between on the one hand, our long held feeling of distrust of government and suspicions of secrecy and conspiracy and on the other, acclaim for the authorities and the military as being our benign, benevolent protector and savior, particularly during times of crisis.
As in the film, the 21st Century version of the threat to our liberty and values is also seen as being imminent and coming from a hostile “enemy” that wishes to do “us” harm and whose ideology is alien to “us.” For many the only perceived solution is recourse to hyper-vigilance and even war.
It’s well worthwhile to remember that at the time such films as “Earth vs the Flying Saucers” were being made, the “benevolent” US government was organizing coups in Iran and Guatemala, exposing US soldiers to life-threatening radiation in nuclear tests, giving mental patients LSD to research Chinese brainwashing techniques, and doing all it could to prevent its citizens from being well-informed! Trust us and everything will be alright! Seriously?
Of course the case can be made that this film along with many other sci-fi films of the time is little more than an historical curiosity; a reflection of 1950s Cold War fears and paranoia. After all, in 1952 many people believed that they witnessed craft from another world overfly with impunity the center of US government power. The 1950s was also a time of anxiety over the possibility of impending social disorder and collapse in the aftermath of an atomic holocaust. In the minds of many, war with the Soviet Union which had also acquired The Bomb was a real possibility. All you could do was…”Duck and cover!”
For us in the 21st Century, “Earth vs the Flying Saucers” and the era that created it serves as a reminder of the danger posed by a form of invasion that might not originate solely outside of our borders. The threat may lie closer to home whenever we wind up imagining and creating enemies to defend against.