Invasion, U.S.A. (1952) User Reviews

"Terror Alert Orange! Be Afraid! Be VERY Afraid!"

[Gavno · 3/10 · 18 October 2006]

It was the early 1950s. J. Parnell Thomas of The House Unamerican Activities Committee was accusing everyone in sight who had any measure of public visibility with Communist allegiance. He went after Hollywood in a series of highly publicized hearings, resulting in the arrests and convictions of the Hollywood Ten for invoking their Fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination... just before Thomas himself was hauled before a Grand Jury to answer fraud charges. In a moment of high irony Thomas himself invoked the Fifth Amendment before he was convicted and imprisoned.

It was the time of "Tail Gunner Joe" McCarthy, who charged that Communist influence in the State Department and Army had caused us to "give away" China. He recklessly charged that Communists had infiltrated nearly every aspect of American life... strictly in the name of enhancing his own political power base. In the Army hearings McCarthy was finally unmasked as an unprincipled charlatan by Army counsel Joseph Welch, and he was subsequently censured by the Senate for unethical conduct. Joe McCarthy subsequently died of alcoholism.

Besides these men... Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover, Roy Cohn, and many others in positions of power shrieked the gospel of anticommunism, demanding that Americans surrender Constitutional rights in the name of defeating this new enemy.

It was a time of fear where American opinion could be easily manipulated. Partly for financial gain, and partly to spare itself from further attacks by the Thomases and McCarthys, Hollywood became a willing tool for the use of politicians, a propaganda machine that produced a number of sensational films that capitalized on the anti Red hysteria.

Some of the more notable Hollywood efforts were the major studio film BIG JIM MACLAIN, starring John Wayne and James Arness, and a B-movie effort, THE RED MENACE, whose opening credits graphic showed an octopus wearing a hammer and sickle logo using it's tentacles to embrace the entire world.

Pretty heavy handed stuff, but it was effective for the political manipulation of a frightened American populace. It kept McCarthy off of the studio's backs... as well as made a few B-movie bucks.

Along with these heavy, ideological films came INVASION USA, a mythical war and adventure movie. Of the whole lot, THIS is the most interesting of the Red Scare films, and it's the ONLY one that's ANY fun at all! Ed Wood must have LOVED this film; it clearly taught him the cinematic techniques he was to later make famous. As a cost cutting measure the film makes GENEROUS use of stock footage, mostly Public Domain stuff from military sources.

To make American planes into enemy ones, they just printed the stock footage BACKWARDS, so that UNITED STATES AIR FORCE on the planes came out REVERSED, and it looked sort of like Russian Cyrillic lettering.

In newly shot scenes where stock footage couldn't be used, set decoration relied heavily on the local Army-Navy store! There are literally TONS of military surplus equipment on the sets.

The fact that enemy troops were dressed in American military surplus uniforms was explained neatly by saying that they were infiltrating in disguise! As another cost cutting measure, the cast is ENTIRELY made up of B list "talent" who would work for Actor's Equity scale. The amount of over the top, hammy acting has to be seen to be believed! To throw in a touch of sex, a drunken enemy soldier tries to ravage a blonde American beauty, who chooses instead to kill herself by diving out of a window!

The script is absurd, but for frightened audiences of the time it was plausible... it bore out all of the dire threats that politicians had been making. Hedda Hopper's review of the film said "It will scare the pants off you!", and so it did. Bombing raids on San Francisco, the Hoover Dam destroyed by a missile attack, and New York City hit with an atomic bomb were enough to scare the pants off of ANYBODY.

For sheer kitsch value I give it a ten.

As a warning of what propaganda feeding the political hysteria stirred up by unethical politicians can accomplish, it ALSO gets a ten.

As movie-making, it gets a four.

Invasion of the Booty Snatchers

[strausbaugh · 4/10 · 26 November 2007]

It's worth noting that this ultra-low-budget splicing-together of unmatched stock footage was mocked and panned even in its own day, so it should not be viewed seriously as an accurate document of Cold War paranoia. Even in the depths of the Red Scare, most Americans weren't stupid enough to be scared by crap like this. It was more like a super-cheapie public service announcement for the military-industrial complex. If you fast forward through most of the stock WW2 battle scenes, which are endless, and slow down for the "story" scenes, it's a mildly amusing exercise in what-if? science fiction -- doofy and utterly implausible, but good for some wry smiles. I mean, you gotta love that the hypnotist fortune teller is named Ohman. It's also kind of interesting that many, many more "serious," bigger-budget invasion and terrorist- plot films since this one have followed a pretty similar storyline, if more competently. Add the general atmosphere of paranoia post-9/11, and this thing is worth a look, with the FF button to the metal.

Yes, this movie truly sucks...but it still manages to keep your attention.

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 11 April 2009]

It's a darn shame that INVASION USA was such a poorly made film, as the film did have a couple things in its favor. First, the idea for the film of a Soviet invasion of America, while rather ridiculous, was also pretty interesting. It's an interesting "what if" sort of concept. Second, while many of the "actors" were amazingly lame, there were a couple quality actors in the cast as well. While not household names, Gerald Mohr and Dan O'Herlihy could definitely actor and both had wonderful voices. Despite a script written by marsupials, they tried their best and gave the film a tiny bit of respectability. Unfortunately, everything else in the film was such a mess that these factors manage to keep the overall score to a 2! Yes, folks, it's THAT bad!

The film begins with an incredibly obvious scene in a bar where the people all seem more like caricatures than real people. Each person there has a variety of excuses not to do their best to protect America from foreign devils. However, to teach them all a lesson, a mystic (O'Herlihy) uses mass hypnosis to show they what it would be like if their beloved nation were destroyed due to their indifference.

The biggest problem with the film is the budget. It's obvious they had very little money, so at least half to two-thirds of the film consisted of stock footage of an "invasion". Many times, photographs of US cities were shown and then explosions were cheaply superimposed over top of it--and looked nothing like an exploding city. As for the action footage, the trouble was that much of the stock film was hopelessly out of date by 1952, as much of it was from WWII. In fact, the naval footage is almost all from the War in the Pacific--and featured Japanese planes that were now obsolete making kamikaze attacks on ships. Apart from this, with only a few grainy clips of MIG-15 fighter planes, the rest of the clips all showed American airplanes supposedly attacking America! So, the "enemy" consisted mostly of B-29/B-50 bombers (the B-50 is an updated version of the 29) as well as Saber and Starfighter jets. This was never explained and telling who was who was practically impossible. However, with the footage of "enemy" soldiers, the film explained that the reason they looked EXACTLY like American soldiers was because they were deliberately doing that to confuse us!! Oh, and by the way, the reason I say "enemy" is that although the film obviously is about a Soviet attack on America, not once were these enemy nations named--a very strange omission to say the least.

Based on what I've said so far, you'd probably assume the film isn't worth watching. Well, that might be true for the average viewer, but there is a certain silly appeal in watching it. In other words, the film is so bad that it's entertaining because you might just find yourself laughing at either the film's incompetence or how over the top it becomes near the end. In particular, you just have to see the scene where the pretty lady is attacked by slobbering perverted soldiers--I know I found myself laughing out loud!!

By the way, the DVD for this film is excellent. I like the way it was packaged as well as the extras. While the interviews with some of the actors were done in a rather cheesy manner, some of their insights are interesting and it's very surreal to see that Noell Neal actually seemed to like the film and think it was well made!! Also, a short film from 1962, RED NIGHTMARE, is actually better made and a much better example of the so-called "Red Scare" era than the featured film.

FYI--For trivia nuts out there, this film has small parts for BOTH Lois Lanes from the 1950s TV show--Noel Neill and Phyllis Coates, though they do not act together in the movie. Look closely, though, as each part is rather small. Neill is the lady at the airline desk and Coates is the wife of the rancher who almost immediately snuffs it when she enters the screen.

Crummy or a Cold War Classic

[dfoofnik · 5/10 · 5 November 2006]

I saw this movie twice on late night TV between 1965 and 1980. As a jingoistic "message" film, its anachronistic views are almost solely of an 'historic' interest. But they are quite accurate. As a grade-school student in the 1950's, I can attest to the very real concerns of the time : air raid drills, military brinkmanship, and uncertainty about the very future of civilization. This movie was the "Dr. Strangelove" of it's time and shows what 'might' have happened if Russians heated up the Cold War!

Of course, the 'invaders' are never actually called Russkies - that's just obvious. And their overwhelming superiority lets them succeed, hence the message of the movie. We all know the Reds never got that kind of edge.

The story and characters are often compelling even if not brilliantly acted. The romantic interlude, however, is too 'Hollywood' -- it was years until war movies treated the subject with more realism. Likewise the special effects and military footage are mostly the standard stock of the era. The movie does have one casting coup : both Lois Lanes from TV's Superman!

I enjoy the movie as a whole, probably because it shows what we avoided in the Fifties. It's a relief that this particular fear is no longer a threat. But perhaps we need a better update than the Chuck Norris film : a film that shows us how we can act as citizens TODAY to ward off the very real current threats to our country's future. If Gerald Mohr did it, so can we!

Addendum : I made sure that the version I bought had some bonus short features from the Red Scare era, one by Jack Webb. They are funny in a way...*now*...

Not Quite As Bad As Its Reputation

[Michael_Elliott · 4 August 2015]

Invasion U.S.A. (1952)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

If you listen to most reviewers they'll have you believing that this propaganda film is among the worst movies ever made. The story is pretty simple as a group of strangers are sitting in a bar when the news breaks that the Soviet Union have invaded America. Before long most of America has been hit with an Atomic Bomb.

INVASION U.S.A. is considered by many to be one of the worst movies ever made but I think that's rather extremely. There's no question that there are some very bad things in the picture but at the same time it manages to hold you attention no matter how bad things get. I think the biggest problem with the film is the fact that its budget was so low that they really weren't able to do anything good with the picture.

I say that because even though the film is only 72-minutes long, I'd say a third of that is made up of stock footage, which obviously makes the picture look cheap. There are so many scenes where it's either stock footage or projection stuff that you can't help but not be frightened by anything you're looking at. The entire point of this picture was to frighten you into thinking that the Soviet Union could strike at any moment but without the drama there's just not much here. To make matters worse, there are some unintentional funny moments including a scene where the Hoover Dam is bombed and a family gets taken out by the water.

There are some decent performances here including Gerald Mohr and Dan O'Herlihy. Character actor Tom Kennedy is also on hand playing the bartender. Another problem I had with the story is the fact that America pretty much falls without any issue. I mean, as easy as it was for us to be taken over it would be impossible for America to beat anyone. Still, INVASION U.S.A. isn't nearly the bomb some make it out to be.

INVASION USA (Alfred E. Green, 1952) **

[Bunuel1976 · 5/10 · 31 October 2008]

To begin with, I had expected to be more engaged by this one – which I also was under the wrong impression would be a talk-fest: instead, about sixty per cent of its trim 74-minute duration is compiled of wartime stock footage (representing the potential decimation of the U.S. by invading Communist forces) – scenes of the London blitz from the celebrated Humphrey Jennings documentary FIRES WERE STARTED (1943) are supposed to stand in for the burning of New York! I wonder how Americans look at the film nowadays vis-a'-vis the events of 9/11 – which is perhaps the only reason why it ever saw the light of day on DVD in the first place!

As it stands, INVASION USA is both hysterical and unintentionally hilarious – never more so than when a car is caught in the flooding of Hoover Dam (hit by a nuclear bomb!) and a cowboy hat is seen floating on a branch as the sole remnant of its Texan owner!; Also worth mentioning are the fact that when the U.S. Senate is besieged, it's seen to be peopled merely by doddering statesmen, while the intermittent 'appearances' by the American President addressing the nation are taken from a vague solitary angle! Equally queasy is the fact that handsome leads Gerard Mohr (a cynical TV reporter) and Peggie Castle are drawn together at such a precarious time, while the middle-aged bartender keeps mixing drinks as if his life depended on it – apparently oblivious to the ongoing calamities! Needless to say, the unnamed Soviets are depicted throughout as unemotional slogan-spouting caricatures.

The best thing about the film is the brief but typically riveting performance by Dan O'Herlihy (incidentally, years later he'd appear in a genuine Cold War classic i.e FAIL SAFE [1964]) – not least in view of the twist ending brought about by his particular line of work. In the DVD supplements, much is made of the fact that the film features the two actresses who played "Superman"'s Lois Lane on TV – Noel Neill and Phyllis Coates – but their contribution is, at best, negligible!; also on hand as a newscaster is character actor William Schallert, who's said to have made more Atomic-related titles than anyone else (the top 100 such efforts compiled by "Conelrad" are listed, with a brief synopsis for each one, on the Synapse DVD itself); in an interview included on the disc, Schallert speaks of his brush with Orson Welles' TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) where he was proposed for the role later played by Maltese actor Joseph Calleia – whom Schallert mistakenly thinks was an Italian! Oh, well, it's near enough I suppose…

As can be gathered, therefore, the extras are quite nice, being pretty comprehensive about the whole Cold War aura which pervaded the first two decades or so of the post-war era (though I've only very briefly sampled the two radio programs which play back-to-back as an Audio Commentary to the film). One of the most telling comments in the extras comes from O'Herlihy himself – when he went to Russia in the late 1960s to film WATERLOO (1970), he was met by such an inefficient people that he couldn't fathom how their threat was ever taken seriously!; Noel Neill, then, overhypes the film's impact – I mean saying it blows PEARL HARBOR (2001) out of the water is not much of a feat, is it? In the end, I have to admit that when the Communist ideology (or critique thereof) was presented as a sci-fi allegory, the results were generally that much more fun

Bad Strategy

[HSauer · 5/10 · 24 September 1999]

This incredibly cheap film is not without its entertaining moments. While America is being invaded by The Enemy, the President appears on television to assure the nation that the US military is exacting vengeance on Russia - for every atom bomb dropped on the US, three are being dropped on Russia! While this sounds comforting, it merely proves the key to Russia's success, since the Russians have already transported everything they'll need to win the war. By devoting so much energy to attacking the Russians on their own soil, the US fails to defend itself against the invading Russian army. Apparently national "defense" is an alien concept, for a nation accustomed to fighting its wars overseas.

He dead! Now you my woman!

[kapelusznik18 · 5/10 · 7 June 2014]

***SPOILERS*** This neurotic war crazy movie starts peacefully enough with a number of people from all walks of life hanging out at a local watering hole to freshen up with a few drinks and shoot the breeze about local politics in the city. There's news reporter Vince Potter, Gerald Mohr, who drops in doing his latest thing asking those at the bar such meaningless questions about what they think of the draft as well as if the zoot suite or ladies bloomers will ever come back in fashion. There's also this mysterious Mr. Ohman, Dan O'Herlihy, who seems to be fascinated in watching the wine in his glass spinning around as he shakes it. It's then that the preferable you know what hits the fan with a news bulletin that we, the US, are under attack by an unknown enemy that's launching a massive air and sea assault from across the Bering Strait's at the US territory, it wasn't a state yet, of Alaska!

This sneak attack by what is obviously the USSR, that's never once mentioned in the film, quickly turns into a full fledged invasion of the United States with the enemy also using nuclear weapons, or weapons of mass destruction, in the process. As those in the bar watch and listen in horror to the TV news it finally sinks in that because of the cut backs of military spending by the US Congress the US Military is now in deep sh*t in not being able to prevent this invasion and occupation of the US from happening! Among the tactics and tricks that their enemy uses to gain the upper hand is having it's military, by taking night course in collage, speak English and even worse, a clear violation of the 1929 Geneva Accords on the conducting of war-fear, wearing US Army & Marine military uniforms.

We soon see as they, the nameless enemy, advance deep into the US heartland what an uncouth and unfeeling, especially towards the weaker sex, these enemy troops really are. Drunk and disorderly they don't for a moment represent the clean cut milk drinking and boy scout US GI's and Marines that they are impersonating. In what seems like a nut cracking strategy, coming together from west to east, the enemy forces storm the capital, Washington D.C, massacring the entire US Congress, the President and his cabinet escaped by air, and now move on to the "Big Apple" New York City in its final push to make the US a Peoples Republic like nation or dictatorship. It's just then when everything seems lost we the audience and those in the movie get the surprise of theirs and ours lives!

***SPOILERS*** Very probably the best example of Cold War hysterics to come out of Hollywood in the 1950's. With the exception of not identifying, very much due to both diplomatic as well as political pressures, who's doing the invading it tells on film what we back then feared most and on top of all that in a worse case scenario ending that must have caused a number of heart attacks and fainting spells to those watching in the audience. It was the final few minutes that was the right medication that those watching the movie needed to clam them down and bring the back to reality. That's if they lasted long enough by still being conscious and alert to watch it!

Not bad

[ThaWalrus9 · 5/10 · 2 June 2002]

Like many people who have seen this movie, I saw it through the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000, which lampoons bad movie. As such, I was suprised to find that Invasion USA was not a bad movie. Perhaps this post- 9-11 world makes us all a bit more paranoid about an external enemy, so that this deeply paranoid, McCarthyism influenced film doesn't seem too ridiculous. The film seeks to relay the message that if America lets its guard down we are vulnerable to attack. While full scale invasion seems unlikely, we all learned a painful lesson that we are vulnerable. Is this a great movie? No. The usage of stock footage is excessive, and the subject is overly preachy. The film plays out almost like a morality tale in which each character ultimately meets their doom as a result of America's laxness. Invasion USA is a deeply paranoid film from a different time, whose only purpose is to relay a message, but its a message we should all keep in mind.

Interesting B Picture.

[jrgibson-51931 · 3/10 · 19 February 2021]

Invasion USA is an enjoyable, if cheaply made, B-movie from the early 50's. yes it has pro-American anti-Russian propaganda, which has obviously agitated some reviewers. Those sneering at propaganda in films of that period happily accept the concerted PC/Climate Change/Gender Politics propaganda emanating from Hollywood since the 1990's which is far more insidious than anything seen in the Cold War era. But I guess, your political views make some forms of propaganda more acceptable than others, and I am no different.

The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming!!

[Bucs1960 · 1/10 · 12 October 2005]

Good grief!!!! This movie would be hilarious if it wasn't so utterly stupid.....beyond "so bad, it's good". Almost the entire film is composed of stock footage from WWII, all of which we have seen on the History Channel. I have to assume that it was supposed to give the film a documentary feel but it only pointed out the cheapo production values. The message?.....well, I guess it is that the United States was not prepared for invasion, perhaps an allusion to Pearl Harbor.

And that ending!!!! Reminiscent of "Invaders from Mars" which took that premise a step farther to good effect, the whole thing turns out to be a dream! Watching this film is more of a nightmare but it actually garnered some interest when it was released. With the name Albert Zugsmith above the title, the public should have known better.

Interesting Atomic Age/Cold War scare movie

[chris_gaskin123 · 8/10 · 11 August 2008]

Invasion USA is another movie I had been looking for and recently obtained an NTSC VHS copy off E-Bay.

A motley collection of people in a bar in New York are watching TV when it is announced on the news that the USA is being invaded by communists. Alaska is invaded first and then moving south, invading San Francisco, New York which is hit by an A-bomb and then Washingtion DC, where troops invade and takeover the White House.

This is one of the more interesting movies made during the Atomic Age/Cold War and gave you an idea on what could happen if it happened in real life. Quite scary really.

The cast includes both actresses who played Lois Lane in the 1950's Superman series, Phyllis Coates and Noel Neill. Also, Peggie Castle (Beginning Of The End), Gerald Mohr, Dan O'Herlihy and Edward D Roninson Jnr.

Invasion USA is well worth checking out. Interesting and quite frightening.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Not as bad as often made out

[Royalcourtier · 6/10 · 19 September 2014]

This film is no masterpiece. But it is nowhere near as bad as often made out, perhaps by those who have never seen it.

The use of stock footage, and some cheap special effects, is not unusual for films of this vintage. For a low budget film, it actually made good use of the available resources.

I suspect most of the criticism is not based on the film itself, but its supposed political failings. However the politics of a film are not a reason to pan it. We recognise the Battleship Potemkin as a great film, despite it being communist propaganda. The same applies to Triumph of the Will as Nazi propaganda. Less successful but no less political films, such as Schindler's List, are rated on their merits, irrespective of their message.

Invasion U.S.A. adopts a narrative that is close to documentary. It does not include irrelevant romantic distractions, or complex sub-plots. It is rather more of a war film than an anti-communist work.

The enemy is not clearly identified. They look and sound rather more like Nazis than Reds. The identity of the enemy is not as important as the message that America needs to be ready to defend itself. I would have thought that the message that a country needs to be vigilant is as correct now as in 1952.

The course of the invasion, and its successful outcome, were refreshing after watching too many gung ho American films where the US heroes always prevail. This film shows the reality that the USA could have been invaded by the Soviet Union in 1952 - if they had been, the Soviets would almost certainly have won the war. Russia had a narrow window of opportunity, before the USA developed too many thermonuclear weapons, and invasion would be too costly. There were Soviet invasion plans prepared.

I wonder when we will see an American film about a successful Taliban or ISIS attack on the USA, with the message that the USA needs to be prepared.

Almost unwatchable without Mike and the 'Bots

[lemon_magic · 3/10 · 20 February 2009]

I originally saw this years ago as a MST3000 episode, and thought it wasn't too bad for an obvious propaganda film - certainly no worse than, say, "Rocket Attack USA". Then this movie came up as part of an informal project where a group of science fiction film fans tried to retrace the history of SF films by watching every film listed in the amazing book "Keep Watching The Skies" in chronological order. I wouldn't have voluntarily watched Invasion USA again, but I figured,"How bad could it be?"

Pretty bad, as it turned out.Even making allowances for the original 50's culture this movie was aimed at, and for the fact that's obviously a "red scare" movie, this little nugget is pretty hard to swallow.

The movie relies heavily on stock footage to carry the action. The problem is, that the live scenes and story the director tries to relate to all this canned film is about as convincing as Monty Python's skit about "The Townsford Women's Guild Recreation of the Battle Of Pearl Harbor". The movie tries to turn endless scenes of American WW II battle footage and shots of US airplanes and US Army training film into a story about an alien invasion. And it simply doesn't work. The result is a storyline almost totally lacking in logic, coherence and believability ("unidentified" enemy aircraft that are clearly P-38s, A Bombs being dropped from "enemy planes" onto tranquil scenes of airfields with all their planes sitting placidly on the ground, rather than scrambling to meet the attack they know is coming...in fact A Bombs being dropped all over the place - including New York! -without a single consequence to the environment - or a retaliatory missile launch).

The initial framing sequence is so badly contrived and played out - not that I blame the actors, Dustin Hoffman couldn't make these scenes work) that you almost root for the 2-D cardboard characters to meet the dooms they all rush off to once war is declared.

The film was barely 75 minutes, but it seemed much longer. My brain screamed for credible dialog and a plot that made sense and better acting and, well, almost anything that this movie was missing in spades.

And did I mention, "It was allllll a DREAM!" The ultimate cop out for a movie plot, and the final insult to my sensiblities.

One bright spot: both of the actresses who played "Lois Lane" in the "Superman" TV series had walk-on parts - it was nice to see them getting other work. And that's about it.

Very wild pro-American propaganda

[dj_bassett · 21 May 2005]

Dan O'Herlihy is a hip medium who hypnotizes a bunch of disparate people in a bar in NYC and shows them what life would be like if the Commies invaded. Overrelies on stock footage for the first half -- although some of this stock footage is pretty awesome, frankly. The second half gets wilder, as we see Congressman running from Commie bullets, Communists trying to debate fine points of dialectical reasoning with sullen factory owners, a President who's only shot from the back, and a television anchor and a débutante trying to get some nookie in during the festivities. Interesting for it's portrayal of Communists as brutal subhumans or oily connivers; for it's innocent assumption of what atom bombs really were; and for the classic propaganda factor -- this is America gearing up to fight the Cold War. Not really a good movie but an interesting one.

Not Credible But It's Not Boring Either

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 16 April 2014]

A small diverse group of strangers lounge in a New York cocktail bar . Suddenly there's a newsflash and reports come in that a foreign power has captured key installations in Alaska and the whole of America is now threatened with invasion

You want to make a small subtle point ? Well just get a sledgehammer to crack a nut and this propaganda film is it . The opening sequence is set in a cocktail bar and a middle class businessman complains about having to pay the top rate of tax and if this atrocious behaviour by the government wasn't bad enough they also feel the need to interfere in other aspects of the free market . Wow next thing you know they'll be banning smoking in bars or perhaps even banning the sale of alcohol itself . Taking taxes off people is rather small fry compared to what American federal government has done in the past or indeed the future when this film was made . Perhaps this character might like to live under a regime where people don't tax simply because they don't get paid . Oh hold on here's a newsflash " Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it comrade "

I've seen a few Christian propaganda films recently that were all universally dreadful they made me forget there was a time when American studios were constantly spewing out propaganda like this one . Often they were entertaining enough to disguise the danger of communist invasion by producing science fiction films where the aliens were closet reds , usually from Mars which is " The red planet " . With INVASION USA no attempt is made to disguise who the invaders are . Even though both Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union aren't name checked you're under no misapprehension who these bloodthirsty tyrannical invaders really are . I suppose this is indicative of American thinking at the time but the invasion itself isn't creditably developed or delivered . If the Soviets capture Alaska as a bridgehead why not nuke the airfields in that state ? How are they able to fly over Canada with impunity ? How are able to bomb New York from San Francisco ? etc etc etc . There's also a lack of credibility in other aspects ? For example here's no sense of time passing between events and the time frame seems bizarre to say the least . How on earth can the TV news report detailed casualty figures to events that have just happened ? OF course there might be a very good internal reason to this once the film ends but while the film is entertaining - possibly for all the wrong reasons - it's never credible on even the most basic level

Cold-war cautionary tale

[jamesrupert2014 · 5/10 · 6 June 2019]

After listening to a disparate group of Americans in a Manhattan bar gripe about taxes, the draft, and government intervention, Mr Ohman (Dan O'Herlihy), a self-described "forecaster" swirls his brandy and asks them to consider the ramification of their objections. Suddenly there is a news broadcast about a surprise enemy attack on Alaska, followed by reports that A-bombs have been dropped on west-coast air-force bases. The film follows the bar patrons as they try to get home or enlist as the war escalates. Despite giving more that it gets, America is soon on the ropes, as atomic torpedoes sink carriers, bombers shatter infrastructure, enemy paratroopers drop from the skies, and cities start to fall to the invading hordes of unidentified (but vaguely Slavic) soldiers. Finally, as New York is nuked and the seat of government in Washington D.C. is overrun, the last of the original bar patrons dies, choosing self-sacrifice of over a 'fate worse than death'. Is it all real or is it one of Mr. Ohman's 'forecasts'? 'Invasion U.S.A.' is heavy-handed cold-war propaganda at its finest. The 'peace through strength' drum is steadily beaten, as an ineffectual president tries to maintain morale in his outgunned country and a congressman learns the hard-way that cuts to military budgets pave the road to disaster. The film is almost entirely stock-footage from WWII and Korea and little attempt is made for accuracy, other than a some footage of MIG fighters, all of the aircraft seen are USAF, including the ones bombing American cities, and early on we are told that the invading troops are wearing U.S. uniforms and carrying American weapons, saving the producers the cost of equipping an 'enemy army'. From 'Mr. Ohman's' name to the closing quote from George Washington, there is nothing subtle about 'Invasion U.S.A.', the film is purely an attempt to scare people into unwavering support for the US military. Apparently the message was not lost on audiences: the film was very popular and did well at the box office. All in all, a watchable relic but its meager budget makes it more of interest historically than as entertainment. I suspect that the film's abysmal IMDB score is more a function of post-cold-war viewers' distaste for its message than its merits as a low-budget 'futurist' adventure.

Woah

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 1 February 2021]

Invasion, U.S.A. was the second film from American Pictures Corporation, who had just made their first film, Captive Women. The company was made up of Albert Zugsmith (Girls Town, the bizarre The Chinese Room), Peter Miller, Aubrey Wisberg (who would write Hercules In New York) and Jack Pollexfen (Indestructible Man) with Joseph Justman as the producer. Their plan was to make six films a year and for this one, they worked alongside the U.S. Civil Defense to make a film that would prepare people for the horrors of nuclear war. It even boasted the alternate title The Complacent Americans and If the Bomb Falls: A Recorded Guide to Survival.

The film takes place in a New York City bar, where Mr. Ohman (yes, that's Conal Cochran himself, Dan O'Herlihy) is trying to explain to a group of well-to-do Americans, including TV anchorman Vince Potter (Gerald Mohr, The Angry Red Planet and the voice of Reed Richards on the original Marvel cartoons that barely moved), an industrialist, a rancher, a Congressman and a society girl (Peggie Castle, TV's Lawman and Beginning of the End). None of them are against Communism and just want to enjoy the spoils of living in America.

Within oh, 74 minutes, their lives go to Hell as troops land in Alaska while atomic blasts rock America's cities. Every single one of them dies horribly, even if the TV announcer and rich girl fall in love, as he's shot on the air and she leaps to her doom from a balcony. Luckily, everyone had been in a trance and as we see our heroine fall into a glass of brandy, Ohman releases everyone. Now they know what Americans need to do - which is ironically pitch in and work for the needs of the collective instead of individual needs, which sounds a lot like Communism, which makes sense, because now we live in a country where anti-fascism is referred to as fascism and no one really knows what socialism means.

Politics aside, this movie features two actresses that played Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates and Noel Neill), Clarence A. Shoop (beyond being a Two-Star General, Shoop was the technical advisor on a number of films including So Proudly We Hail!, One Minute to Zero and Jet Pilot, as well as being on The Bob Cummings Show, as he was Cummings base commander while the actor was a pilot; he was also a Vice President at Hughes Aircraft and definitely saw an alien at some point, right?), Edward G. Robinson Jr. and voice-over star Know Manning (who told kids all over America the dangers of, well, everything in She Shoulda Said No!).

It will scare the pants off you that this is entertainment.

[jromanbaker · 2/10 · 9 January 2021]

The poster says it all. Is the terrified woman falling from the window having her pants scared off her ? Directly above from the dreadful Hedda Hopper there is the quote that this will happen to the audience, and no doubt the viciousness of the film did precisely that for a lot of people in 1952. Today it looks like Communist scaring rubbish, with a lot of real people being killed in real footage of WW2. That said there is horror in it especially a family in a car washed away in a flood, children screaming as all the occupants die. The whole film is propaganda for more armament and to use this to a gullible audience is sad, showing how the depths of such films could sink. Sadly too is the real manipulation of fear as of course having destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki the Americans were probably all too afraid they would receive the same awful death and maiming. To speak of good acting in this film is irrelevant as the actors just wait around in a bar as the fear mounts. The special effects are well done and I do not condemn the film for its terrifying ability to cause nightmares and distress. There is even romance in it, but who cared as the ' red scare ' advanced. The scenes with the unnamed Russians is very badly done, with every cliché in place especially with their accents which are totally wrong. There is a twist in all this and no spoilers. An attack on Congress is unhappily shown, so viewers if you watch this trash be afraid; very afraid ! To my knowledge the new look of the BBFC website does not say it was initially banned before getting a well deserved X certificate.

Invasion, U. S. A., Cold War Fever

[osloj · 5/10 · 22 August 2006]

"Invasion, U. S. A.," the Columbia release, is an atomic-war picture showing the invasion and subjugation of the United States by an unnamed, but obviously Soviet, army. It is almost wholly composed of stock combat newsreel footage taken during World War II. But its clever editing makes it a war of the future, complete with atom-seared American cities, drowned American children (when Boulder Dam is atomized), and gut-shot Senators on Capitol Hill. And, as a pièece de rèsistance, a stately and desirable Amerian girl commits suicide to avoid being revoltingly pawed by a fat, brutish, whisky-swilling soldier whose accent places his origin as just north of Minsk.

It is a "message" picture. All the actors in it, especially the leads, Gerald Mohr, Peggie Castle, Dan O'Hierlihy and Robert Bice, are dismal in their roles. They build their edifice of horror on the foundation that the United States must be strong and prepared and if we're not an utter ravaging is our fate. Complacency must be abolished and a warrior's posture assumed. With this premise established, the picture blithely ignores the possibility that peace might be obtained by free strength backing up reason and negotiation, and embarks on a pictorial essay in carnage, devastation, death and spiritual crucifixion.

The whole bloody stew of cold brutality is resolved when the protagonists wake up to find they have been hypnotized in a bar by a TV magician. They leave the saloon en masse to donate blood and turn tractor factories into tank plants.

This frank espousal of raw strength without thought sets it apart from the American heritage of quick thinking and dry powder, in that order.

A boring piece of propaganda

[dvdeugs · 1/10 · 14 August 2003]

This movie has all the pieces of a worthless movie. It starts off with a bunch of talking heads, including someone with the radical idea that if the government of a democratic capitalist state wants tanks, it should make it commercially feasible for the seller. Follow that with a bunch of stock footage that advances the story not at all, and make sure it's clear that it's stock footage by using the Ed Wood technique of showing the stock footage interspersed with real footage with no connection, in the hopes that the viewer can make the connection. Then end that with a lame cliche ending and a political quote to make sure that no one thought that this was entertainment instead of propaganda.

SPOILERS: The ending, of course, was the oldest most cliche in the book: a dream, where everybody wakes up and realizes they must fulfill their 'responsibilities'. There were many boring stretches of stock footage, but the worst was the blowing up of Boulder Dam. Nothing connects the bombers to the dam, which we don't see anything happening to - we just see some fire cracker going up. Then follows the stock footage of a flood and the people driving through an area that looks nothing like the area around the dam, nor does the foliage in the flood look like anything that grows around the dam. To top it off, the president gives his big speeches with the camera pointed at the back of his head.

Yet another low budget movie that doesn't deliver the thrills, but this one had the arrogance to be preachy on top of it.

Stock footage, cold war adrenaline rush and paranoia

[a666333 · 3/10 · 1 January 2015]

This could have been a serious disaster/war production but with the very low budget on the scale of a minor Republic serial, it falls to grade C propaganda and paranoia. It is not that the effort is bad, per se, there was just not much to work with at any level.

Forget about any kind of realistic war scenario here but then again, it is no more nonsensical than Red Dawn was and Red Dawn DID have a substantial budget. In fact, given the realities and psyche of the time, this is at least insightful into that, whereas Red Dawn was a nonsensical fantasy that no one could take seriously even at the time it came out.

We do get stock footage from WW2 and Korea with glimpses of almost everything that flew from 1944 through 52 along with ships and heavy AA.

Look for Dan O'Herlihy and his first class voice in a smallish but significant role.

Extraordinarily good cast, good special effects in low-budget preparedness propaganda

[morrisonhimself · 8/10 · 14 June 2018]

In some ways, this scary preparedness film is rather hokey and out of date -- but not in the acting nor the special effects.

Interestingly, despite some misinformed reviews and even the overview at IMDb, no enemy country is ever named. At some points, the enemy sound like Nazis, at others Eastern European.

Yes, they are Marxists, and that is bluntly explained a few times, but, for whatever reason, perhaps of diplomacy, no nation is named.

In fact, in 1952 Marxists were the indeed the enemy most to be feared, foreign and domestic.

And that is still true today, even if they are subtler in their goals and targets than the ones portrayed in this film. And even if they prefer to label themselves "democratic socialists."

One important lesson in this film, not at all intended, is that all governments and all violent movements, whether Marxist, Nazi, or religious extremist, pose serious dangers to people, to individual human beings.

This movie opens with a reporter asking people whether they would support a "universal draft," not just for the military, but for "essential" jobs, such as military or defense plants.

Such a concept springs from a collectivist notion: We as individuals count only as cogs in the giant machine of the state.

One man expresses anger that the government wants to take over his plant to make tanks: He has spent years building his business, he notes, and he has others depending on him and his output. He objects to being taken over by the government. Tractors are important to society, also.

At the close, a quote from George Washington about preparedness being the best prevention of war re-emphasizes the movie's point; but the movie misses another point, the one I mentioned earlier: People are their own purposes, and as we submerge ourselves into the group, into "society," into the collective, we set ourselves up just for such scenarios as this.

Big government almost inevitably leads to war.

Movements that use, that advocate violence to accomplish their goals, whether economic or religious, promulgate and maintain their own wars.

Big government and violent mass movements each causes and results from the lessening, the very destruction of individualism. It behooves each of us, all of us, to work and vote and educate for freedom, for strengthening individuals and the concept of the individual, and work, vote, and educate for human rights.

But, and this is very important, those efforts are vital, not just in these United States, but in every nation-state and in every city. And especially in every human heart.

INVASION INDEED!

[Zdforme007 · 7/10 · 17 August 2021]

I first saw this film when I was 7 years old in the 1950's and at that time it scared 😱 the heck outta me! I WAS living in a time of threats of nuclear war and I really thought we were going to be attacked! Plus this film had my two favorite. LOIS LANE's in it, Noel Neille & Phyllis Coates!! I have watched this movie many times and so happy it finally got a decent DVD release! Sure the story is filled with many errors but to me that is part of its charm! To this day we STILL live under the fear of a Nuclear attack and I pray it never happens. In the meantime, check this fun film out just remember it was made in 1952 so don't expect great special effects!! Now I think I'll to watch it again!!😇😇😁

Feed Your Head.

[rmax304823 · 1/10 · 3 September 2014]

Plan 9 From Russia.

It's just terrible. Not only because it's designed to feed the general paranoia of the times. The threat was real enough. It's that the last thing we needed in 1952 was still MORE fear. After McCarthy, Alger Hiss, the Rosenbergs, and the Korean War, nobody was unaware of what was geopolitically up. MacArthur was urging us to nuke China. And, facts aside, fantasies abounded. There were Commies under every bed. We were told that Eisenhower himself was nothing more than a communist dupe. No kidding. Look up the John Birch Society.

On top of that, the movie itself -- its very execution -- is a mountain of schlock. Lots of "combat" footage in the first half hour, ripped off from gun cameras used in Korea, Germany, and the Pacific. You get a chance to see another Japanese Kamikaze disintegrate over a carrier. The Russians are never identified as such. They're just the generic enemy in this film, a kind of re-run of the Nazis, complete with uniforms of riding breeches and boots, like the Gestapo.

Let me put this in a nut shell. It's a commercial movie that has nothing to do with patriotism. It does not provoke thought, just regurgitation. It's designed to tap directly into the paranoia of the period, but it's so excruciatingly shabby that it can assuredly achieve its goal only in a mind no older than ten years. Yes, children will love it. The confusing world they live in is reduced to simple good and simple evil. Grape Nuts are good; masturbation is bad.

The performers are actors and the roles are stereotyped, with two exceptions. Dan O'Herlihy adds a human dimension to his cynic. He's believable. He was fine in a similar role in "Fail Safe". And whatever happened to Peggy Castle, the blond in the case? She had an oneiristic beauty, something out of one of those scented ads in a glossy fashion magazine.

Anyway, if you enjoy feeling that you're surrounded by enemies, this is your meretricious piece of cinematic trash.