The Cosmic Man (1959)

A spherical UFO proves to contain one alien visitor. How to deal with him? Investigators disagree...

Director:

Herbert S. Greene

Writer:

Arthur C. Pierce (story)

Stars:

John Carradine, Bruce Bennett, Angela Greene

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Carradine	...	Cosmic Man
Bruce Bennett	...	Dr. Karl Sorenson
Angela Greene	...	Kathy Grant
Paul Langton	...	Col. Matthews
Scotty Morrow	...	Ken Grant
Lyn Osborn	...	Sgt. Gray
Walter Maslow	...	Dr. 'Rich' Richie
Herbert Lytton	...	Gen. Knowland
Ken Clayton
Alan Wells	...	Sergeant
Harry Fleer	...	Bill, the Park Ranger
John Erman	...	Radar Operator
Dwight Brooks	...	Major
Hal Torey	...	Dr. Steinholtz

Storyline

The latest UFO, a white globe levitating in a California canyon, is investigated by the Air Force, aided by physicist Karl Sorensen. Just big enough for one "man", the object seems impenetrable, but that night a half-invisible being visits the town, and a strange bundled-up man takes a room at Angela Green's mountain lodge, the investigators' headquarters. Sorensen thinks the Cosmic Man is benevolent, but to the colonel he represents either danger...or military advantage.

---

Plot Keywords:

investigator | ufo | military | california | lodge | 

---

Taglines:

The Thing That Could Destroy the Earth!

---

Genres:

Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 February 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Monstro da Era Atômica

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Futura Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Completed in February 1958, one year prior to release, and several months following the untimely August death of actor Lyn Osborn.

---

Goofs

22 minutes in, outside the wooden lodge, when Sgt Gray hears footsteps in the dark, the shadow of the boom is visible as it moves across the rocks as he enters the lodge.

User Reviews

Enjoyable low-budget version of Day the Earth Stood Still

Not expecting much at all, I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed this very small budget take on Day the Earth Stood Still. For all the plodding along and pretty miserable effects, the story is quite literate and even has some elements of HG Wells First Men In the Moon, that being the idea of space travel via an "gravity" repelling shutter device. The lead scientist does his part well, in a role that would have been Peter Graves' had he not been busy on Beginning of the End. He has a certain combination of ease and comfort in his role and it comes across as very realistic, the best of the cast, and livens up all the scenes which he is in. John Carradine puts in a typical decent performance but has to do double-duty since there is no Gort available here. Unfortunately, this weakens the film, and we wish there were more of a menace on his part, or more of some kind of ultimatum, but then that's why we return to view Day the Earth Stood Still again and again. Yet you can watch this "version" at least one time and not feel disappointed.