A little boy is the star of this film, and he does a fine job acting. Jimmy Hunt is his name, and he didn't have a big career acting, "retiring" at the end of the following year (1954). He was a decent child actor, as he shows here. He did come back to be part of the remake in 1986, playing the police chief and uttering one ironic and inside-joke line.
I thought the best part of this 1953 sci-fi classic was the beginning where Hunt really took center stage as the kid who saw a Martian UFO crash-land in a nearby area and then saw what the aliens did to his parents and others. I appreciated the fact the film didn't overdo the "we-don't-believe-the-dumb kid-angle. I presumed they were going to go on and on about that, but they didn't. He got a good ally soon and it wasn't too long where people woke up to what was happening. This was made in the era, unlike the last few decades, in which Hollywood portrayed the U.S. military as the good guys.
There is no need to go into story details. The fun of the film is the corny lines here and there and, of course, the horrible special-effects, some of which will make you laugh out loud.
This was meant to scare kids 55 years ago but now, as adults, we just look at these films as "campy" or "cheesy" entertainment to give us laughs, and keep us entertained. For the most part, this film delivered in those areas. You can't take any of it seriously because it's too hokey for that. I was sorry to see them use stock footage. That really wasn't needed because the story and acting were acceptable enough, and the dialog dumb enough to be entertaining. Still, don't expect a "masterpiece," or something that is so bad, it's great. It's kind of somewhere in the middle.
Generally speaking, I enjoyed this film, but after hearing some rave reviews, expected a little more. My major complaint - and it only one - is that it lags halfway through, until the last 20-or-so minutes.
