Immediate Disaster (1954)

Tonight, first contact will be made! A beautifully-crafted tale of a superior being from Venus who has the power of life and death at his touch. Academy Award-winning actress Patricia ... See full summary »

Director:

Burt Balaban

Writers:

Hans Jacoby (screenplay), Desmond Leslie (story)

Stars:

Patricia Neal, Helmut Dantine, Derek Bond

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Patricia Neal	...	Susan North
Helmut Dantine	...	The Stranger
Derek Bond	...	Arthur Walker
Cyril Luckham	...	Dr. Meinard
Willoughby Gray	...	Tom
Marigold Russell	...	Gretchen
Arthur Young	...	Scientist
Kenneth Edwards	...	Charles Dixon
David Garth	...	First Police Officer
Stanley Van Beers	...	General
Nigel Green	...	Second Police Officer
Graham Stuart	...	Police Chief

Storyline

Tonight, first contact will be made! A beautifully-crafted tale of a superior being from Venus who has the power of life and death at his touch. Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Neal's glowing and sensitive performance as a woman caught up in the biggest event in history is complemented by Helmut Dantine's powerful, moving portrayal as the Stranger. Suggested by events in the sci-fi classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still," this film is a touching, humanizing and haunting story of "first contact" with a peaceful and advanced intelligence from another planet coming to Earth with an ultimatum and out-of-this-world powers to back it up.

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Plot Keywords:

fingerprints | car crash | outer space | anti nuclear | social commentary | 

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 August 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Immediate Disaster

Filming Locations:

MGM British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rich & Rich Ltd.,Princess Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The military truck drivers are sitting on the right hand side indicating they are British vehicles.

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Goofs

The distance to Venus is claimed to be "millions of lightyears." The actual distance to Venus is about three light minutes.

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Quotes

Arthur Walker: He's the real thing... Wish I had half that man's knowledge and experience.
Charles Dixon: I usually hate people who know all the answers, but I like him. He makes you feel like a moron, but I like him.

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Connections

Remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

User Reviews

An obvious knockoff of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, though it's a good film nevertheless

It's obvious that the people making this film were trying to do a remake of the classic sci-fi film THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL only three years later. Not only is the plot very similar but it also stars Patricia Neal--the same lady who starred in the original film! Like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, this film is about an alien coming to our planet to deliver an ultimatum concerning our ill-advised use of nuclear weapons. Oddly, however, he lands in the middle of no where in England--probably because it's obviously they have no budget and couldn't set the film in London or any other big city. You hear about the military, but you only see a few assorted guys in rather generic uniforms with no fancy equipment.

Despite the many limitations due to budget, however, the film is still very entertaining--even if you've seen the superior prior film. I think part of it is because the alien, played by Helmut Dantine, seemed a lot more like an alien than Michael Rennie from THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. This isn't saying Rennie was bad--just that Dantine offered a unique interpretation. The other thing I liked is that instead of the humans attacking by mistake, in this film the leaders from the UK are real jerks. Despite the Venusians coming with openness and peace, the officials responded with lies and a foolish attempt to steal their space ship!! As a result, this film takes an even more cynical view of human nature. In the original, humans were scared and a bit dumb. Here, they're just jerks! The final thing I loved about the film is that they didn't try too hard with the special effects. Other than a model of a space ship, the film has no bug-eyed alien or silly ray gun--just a dandy story.

So, despite being extremely derivative, the film still is entertaining thanks to good acting and a few interesting twists.

By the way, in a silly little scene, one "expert" said that Venus is "many light-years away from the Earth". No, dude, it isn't. A single light year is about 6 trillion miles. Venus is actually about 25 million miles. So, a light year is 240,000 times greater than the distance to Venus AND they said "many light-years"! I am surprised the writers didn't notice this discrepancy. Wow. I now feel like Mr. Wizard!