The Space Children (1958)

An alien intelligence aborts the launching of a rocket with the help of a bunch of children.

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writers:

Tom Filer (story), Bernard C. Schoenfeld (screenplay)

Stars:

Michel Ray, Adam Williams, Peggy Webber

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michel Ray	...	Bud Brewster
Adam Williams	...	Dave Brewster
Peggy Webber	...	Anne Brewster
Johnny Washbrook	...	Tim Gamble
Jackie Coogan	...	Hank Johnson
Richard Shannon	...	Lieutenant Colonel Alan Manley
Raymond Bailey	...	Dr. Wahrman
Sandy Descher	...	Eadie Johnson
Larry Pennell	...	Major Thomas
Peter Baldwin	...	Security Officer James
Ty Hardin	...	Sentry (as Ty Hungerford)
Russell Johnson	...	Joe Gamble (as Russell D. Johnson)
David Bair	...	Saul Wahrman
Johnny Crawford	...	Ken Brewster
Eilene Janssen	...	Phyllis Manley

Storyline

A glowing brain-like creature arrives on a beach near a rocket test site via a teleportation beam. The alien communicates telepathically with the children of scientists. The kids start doing the alien's bidding as the adults try to find out what's happening to their unruly offspring.

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Plot Keywords:

alien | children | scientist | beach | missile | 

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Taglines:

Slowly...and with horror the parents realized THEIR CHILDREN WERE THE SLAVES OF 'THE THING' FROM OUTER SPACE!

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Avaruuden kosto

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

69 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The interior of the Brewster trailer - Unit #3 - is the set that had been built for the MGM movie The Long, Long Trailer. The exterior of the trailer however is not the same New Moon model.

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Goofs

Whenever the 'lightning' effect occurs as the holy blob uses his power, the shadows of both objects and people show up on the 'sky' and background elements revealing them to be back-drops in a studio.

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Connections

Featured in Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us (2005)

User Reviews

Not Arnold's best, but still a classic

While not Arnold's best film, IMHO (I find it a bit preachy and badly hampered by the rubbery silliness of the Big Alien Brain), this is still a memorable film. Though set in a beachfront area it happens mostly at night, using Arnold's typically haunting black-and-white compositions to set an appropriate tone of strangeness and isolation. The children, alienated from their preoccupied and overworked parents, are almost adopted by the space creature, which takes them under its protection (a drunken and abusive father is disposed of soon after the brain's arrival) even as it enlists them in its pacifist mission. At first fairly typical kids, they quickly develop an air of gravity and wisdom that remains after the alien departs, suggesting a lasting, even evolutionary effect. The film's title is perfect: the kids do become Space Children, more in tune with alien than human thought.