Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)

Extraterrestrials traveling in high-tech flying saucers contact a scientist as part of a plan to enslave the inhabitants of Earth.

Director:

Fred F. Sears

Writers:

Bernard Gordon (screenplay), George Worthing Yates (screenplay)

Stars:

Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, Donald Curtis

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Hugh Marlowe	...	Dr. Russell A. Marvin
Joan Taylor	...	Carol Marvin
Donald Curtis	...	Maj. Huglin
Morris Ankrum	...	Brig. Gen. John Hanley
John Zaremba	...	Prof. Kanter
Thomas Browne Henry	...	Vice Adm. Enright (as Tom Browne Henry)
Grandon Rhodes	...	Gen. Edmunds
Larry J. Blake	...	Motorcycle Cop (as Larry Blake)

Storyline

While driving through the desert with his wife Carol Marvin to a military base to send the eleventh rocket into Earth orbit to assist the exploration of outer space in Operation Sky Hook, Dr. Russell A. Marvin and Carol see a flying saucer and accidentally records a message on their tape recorder. Once in the base, Dr. Russell is informed by his father-in-law and general that the ten first satellites mysteriously fell back to Earth. When Dr. Russell decodes the message, he encounters the aliens, who ask him to schedule a meeting with the leaders of Earth in Washington in 56 days in order to invade Earth without panicking the population. Dr. Russell develops an anti-magnetic weapon that becomes the last hope of the human race against the hostile aliens.

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Plot Keywords:

sonic weapon | alien spacecraft | alien | rocket | flying saucer | 

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Taglines:

The terrifying truth about flying saucers!

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Invasion of the Flying Saucers

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sam Katzman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Columbia's publicity department created publicity stills using the cut-and-paste technique. The resulting stills of the flying saucers were vastly inferior to the special effects in the film itself. In fact, one of the more infamous stills shows Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor standing on top of the water in the middle of the Potomac River.

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Goofs

At the start of the movie when Russell and Carol are driving to the Military base, a yellow car appears behind their car which was not there in the previous shots.

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Quotes

Carol Marvin: Course, it wasn't a flying saucer at all. I just shake like this all the time.

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Connections

Featured in Le joli mai (1963)

User Reviews

Terrific sci-fi movie. Like wine, gets better with age.

This is a terrific older sci-fi movie. It has all the elements to make it a sold movie; a good variety of characters, an interesting plot, and a solid script. The great special effects are just icing on the cake. Much of the movie is told in documentary style with a voice-over of someone, which adds to the realism.

You can feel connected with the main characters and what goes on in the movie. Even most of the characters that don't have much of a role seem realistic, not two-dimensional (like some in Spider-man). The plot has many viable twists and the movie comes to a exciting and feasible conclusion (un-like Independence Day). Many/most people will find it more entertaining than the "classic" sci-fi invasion movie War of the Worlds.

This movie, even though it was a relatively mid-budget movie made in the 1950's, should serve as a message to modern day Hollywood. It shows how a movie if made with a lot of thought and heart, as opposed to just violence and/or sensualism, can produce a real winner.