Invaders from Mars (1953)

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

Director:

William Cameron Menzies

Writer:

Richard Blake (screenplay)

Stars:

Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Jimmy Hunt

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Helena Carter	...	Dr. Pat Blake
Arthur Franz	...	Dr. Stuart Kelston / Narrator
Jimmy Hunt	...	David MacLean
Leif Erickson	...	Mr. George MacLean
Hillary Brooke	...	Mrs. Mary MacLean
Morris Ankrum	...	Col. Fielding
Max Wagner	...	Sgt. Rinaldi
William Phipps	...	Sgt. Baker (as Bill Phipps)
Milburn Stone	...	Capt. Roth
Janine Perreau	...	Kathy Wilson

Storyline

One night, young David McLean sees a spaceship crash into a nearby sandpit. His father goes to investigate, but comes back changed. Where once he was cheerful and affectionate, he's now sullen and snarlingly rude. Others fall into the sandpit and begin acting like him: cold, ill-tempered and conspiratorial. David knows that aliens are taking over the bodies of humans, but he'll soon discover there have been far more of these terrible thefts than he could have imagined. The young doom-monger finds some serious help in a lady doctor and a brilliant astronomer. Soon they meet the aliens: green creatures with insect-like eyes. These beings prove to be slaves to their leader: a large, silent head with ceaselessly shifting eyes and two tentacles on either side, each of which branches off into three smaller tentacles. It's up to the redoubtable earth trio to stop its evil plans.

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Plot Keywords:

alien | martian | mind control | alien invasion | underground hideout | 

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Taglines:

Murderous Martian creatures from out of space!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 April 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Invaders

Filming Locations:

Republic Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$290,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Edward L. Alperson Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Supercinecolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sandpit opening and closing was done by cutting a long slit in a piece of heavy canvas and inserting a large funnel. A hose from a powerful vacuum was attached to the funnel and the whole thing was then covered with sand. The vacuum was activated and the sand was sucked down for the shots of the sandpit opening. Moreover, the film was simply reversed for shots of the sandpit closing.

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Goofs

When Dr. Blake and David fall through the hole into the chambers below Dr. Blake's dress is in tact. A few scenes later, after the mutants have carried her to the Martian control unit, the right shoulder of her dress is ripped to reveal her bare shoulder.

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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. What sort of life, if any, inhabits these other planets? Human life, like ours? Or life extremely lower in the scale? Or dangerously higher? Seeking the answer to this timeless question, forever seeking, ...

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Alternate Versions

When released cinematically in 1953, there where two versions: one American and one European. In the American version Jimmy Hunt wakes up at the end, having dreamt it all. Then he hears a flying saucer land. In the slightly longer European version, the storyline is retained and the "nightmare/waking up-sequence" is cut. This version also adds a section in an observatory.

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Connections

Referenced in Hewy's Animated Movie Reviews: Mars Needs Moms (2011)

User Reviews

"Invaders", still potent after nearly fifty years.

After reading many of the comments regarding this movie, I am somewhat amused to see how many have forgotten that there was life before CGI computer effects.

"Invaders From Mars" is still potent in the most valuable way, and that's imagination. The storyline, which owes a great deal to "The Wizard of Oz" in it's final moments, has deep psychological effects which still resonate today. If it wasn't so effective, people wouldn't still be discussing it after nearly fifty years.

CGI effects have dumbed down movies to nothing more than computer-effects orgies, relying on a "gee-whiz" factor that ultimately comes up empty in more than a few cases (the big-budget "Godzilla" leaps quickly to mind here). IFM was originally set to be a 3-D movie, which was ultimately scrapped for budgetary concerns. William Cameron Menzies, the director, used the original sets which had been designed to force perspective. The resulting film, which throws the objectivity to a child's point of view has fascinated viewers for years. Menzies did the best with what he could afford, and the visual results are still gripping even today. Yes, the film has it's flaws, but we need to consider the making of IFM in its historical context. Menzies was an Oscar-winning art director (for "Gone With the Wind", no less). Also consider his work on "Thief of Bagdad" with Sabu, one of the most beautiful color films ever made. IFM shows the same visual excitement (referred to by some viewers as "garish"), but rising above it's badly slashed budget to gain a foothold in popular memory.

It's sad to think that the work of a real artist will be dismissed simply because he worked in an era where technology hadn't swallowed vision.