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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Ray Bradbury (story)
Harry Essex (screenplay)
Release Date:
23 October 1953 (Italy) more
Tagline:
Terror In 3-D... Reaching From The Screen To Seize You In Its Grasp!... more
Plot:
A spaceship from another world crashes in the Arizona desert, and only an amateur stargazer and a schoolteacher suspect alien influence when the local townsfolk begin to act strange. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Exclusive: Down in The Hole - An Interview with Joe Dante
(From Fangoria. 21 September 2009, 11:14 PM, PDT)
Movie Music Composer Gertz Dead At 93
(From WENN. 20 November 2008, 6:01 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Atmospheric and creepy more (58 total)
Cast
(Complete credited cast)| Richard Carlson | ... | John Putnam | |
| Barbara Rush | ... | Ellen Fields | |
| Charles Drake | ... | Sheriff Matt Warren | |
| Joe Sawyer | ... | Frank Daylon | |
| Russell Johnson | ... | George | |
| Kathleen Hughes | ... | Jane |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Atomic Monster (USA) (working title)
Strangers from Outer Space (USA) (working title)
The Meteor (USA) (working title)
more
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
81 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
3 Channel Stereo (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
West Germany:12 (nf) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1953) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #16454)
Filming Locations:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The Universal make-up department submitted two alien designs for consideration by the studio executives. The design that was rejected was saved and then later used as the Mutant in Universal's This Island Earth (1955). more
Goofs:
Boom mic visible: John follows Frank and George into the alley. Frank and George stand inside a doorway and warn John to leave them alone. While they talk there is a shadow of the boom mic moving around on the left wall, inside the doorway. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
John Putnam:
[off-screen] This is Sand Rock, Arizona, of a late evening in early spring. It's a nice town, knowing its past and sure of its future, as it makes ready for the night, and the predictable morning. The desert blankets the earth, cooling, resting for the fight with tomorrow's sun. And in my house near the town, we're also sure of the future. So very sure.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in It Came from Outer Space... and Stuff (1999) more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (58 total)
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First of all let's get rid of that absurd notion that science fiction films of the fifties were merely a sub-conscious attempt to personify the threat from communism - this is a hackneyed idea, and far from the truth.
This is a thoughtfully crafted film, which like other good science fiction films of this era starts out portraying the aliens as monsters, only to reveal that they are benevolent and superior (how does this fit into the "Red Menace" theory?).
The screenplay was penned by Ray Bradbury and is full of very good dialog and ideas, especially the notion that we are not ready to meet such advanced civilizations. The scenes in the high desert are very atmospheric and creepy, and although the renderings of alien technology at first seem somewhat adolescent, there is a genuine sense of wonder when the internals of the alien ship are revealed. Something missing from today's, blase, computer generated, over the top, excesses.
The 3D is a useless appendage, and not worthy of discussion.
If you like science fiction pre-scifi channel and post-golden age, rent this movie and enjoy the atmosphere.