Invaders from Mars (1953)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

William Cameron Menzies

Writers:

John Tucker Battle (story)
Richard Blake (writer)

Release Date:

22 April 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

NATURAL or SUPERNATURAL?

Plot:

A young boy learns that space aliens are taking over the minds of earthlings.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Police | UFO | Flying Saucer | Astronomer

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Helena Carter	...	Dr. Pat Blake, MD
Arthur Franz	...	Dr. Kelston - astronomer / Narrator
Jimmy Hunt	...	David Maclean - boy astronomer
Leif Erickson	...	Mr. George MacLean
Hillary Brooke	...	Mrs. Mary MacLean
Morris Ankrum	...	Col. Fielding
Max Wagner	...	Sgt. Rinaldi
Milburn Stone	...	Capt. Roth - army technician
Janine Perreau	...	Kathy Wilson
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Phipps	...	Sgt. Baker (as Bill Phipps)

Runtime:

78 min | UK:83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Supercinecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G (TV rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #16228)

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

National Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

According to script supervisor Mary Yerke, director and production designer William Cameron Menzies filled 12 notebooks with charcoal sketches depicting every scene he planned to shoot. Just days before principle photography, all of these storyboard sketches disappeared from the production office.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Dr. Blake is knocked unconscious, the drones roll her over to place the mind control device in her neck. As they roll her over, the actress clearly helps them move her.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: The heavens. Once an object of superstition, awe, and fear. Now a vast region for growing knowledge. The distance of Venus, the atmosphere of Mars, the size of Jupiter, and the speed of Mercury. All this and more we know. But their greatest mystery the heavens have kept a secret...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Phantasm (1979)

The Stuff Nightmares Are Made From

An eerie horror/sci-fi that works even better today: great set design (by the director William Cameron Menzies), script, haunting music, and unforgettable images: the hill-top "sinking sand" set, weird marks on victims' necks, the catacombed alien lair, the tall, green, bug-eyed Martians, the gold-like, tentacled, expressive "head"-intelligence in the globe, the LONG hypodermic needle, much more. Costumes work well too, note the change of the mother (Hillary Brooke) from loose-haired blonde sweetness, to a possessed rigid-hairstyled villainess in black. The doctor-heroine (Helena Carter) is a picture-book beauty of auburn-coiffured refinement and soft-spoken sympathy, clad in a cream-colored dress, with a bright red handkerchief to set it off and two-toned stilettos. Jimmy Hunt is all-American red-headed freckleness, unusual in that the story is told from his point-of-view, a fine performance. Good support from Morris Ankrum, Arthur Franz, and Leif Erickson. The dreamlike nature of the picture is only enhanced by the repeating footage, lots of stock military scenes, the wobbly aliens, etc. Basic plot was re-used for "It Came From Outer Space" (1953), "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956), "It Conquered the World" (1956), many more. Skip the abysmal 1986 remake.