It Conquered the World (1956)

A well meaning scientist guides an alien monster to Earth from Venus, so that he can rid mankind of feelings and emotions - but only death and sorrow results.

Director:

Roger Corman

Writer:

Lou Rusoff (screenplay)

Stars:

Peter Graves, Beverly Garland, Lee Van Cleef

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Peter Graves	...	Dr. Paul Nelson
Beverly Garland	...	Claire Anderson
Lee Van Cleef	...	Dr. Tom Anderson
Sally Fraser	...	Joan Nelson
Russ Bender	...	Brig. Gen. James Pattick
Jonathan Haze	...	Pvt. Manuel Ortiz
Dick Miller	...	Sgt. Neil
Taggart Casey	...	Sheriff N.J. Shallert
Paul Harbor	...	Floyd Mason
Karen Kadler	...	Ellen Peters (as Karyne Kadler)
Charles B. Griffith	...	Dr. Pete Shelton (as Charles Griffith)
Marshall Bradford	...	U.S. Secretary Platt (as Marshal Bradford)
Thomas E. Jackson	...	George Haskell (as Tom Jackson)
David McMahon	...	Gen. Carpenter
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jim Knight	...	Bazooka Soldier

Storyline

One of several remaining members of its race, an alien from Venus is guided to Earth by disgruntled scientist Tom Anderson, who tells it which humans it should attach mind control devices to. Among them is his old friend, fellow scientist Paul Nelson. Nelson, after killing a flying bat-thing which carries the device, finally persuades the paranoid Anderson that he's been wrong to ally himself with an alien bent on world domination. They hurriedly leave when they discover Tom's wife has picked up a rifle and gone to the alien's cave to try to kill it.

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Plot Keywords:

alien | scientist | mind control | world domination | creature feature | 

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Taglines:

SEE. WORLD CONQUERED BY THE HORRIBLE BEAST FROM BEYOND THE STARS!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 July 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

It Conquered the Earth

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sunset Productions (III)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A clip from the end of the film, is shown at the beginning of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988). This is the film that she is hosting on her show.

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Goofs

The infamous "Sixth Man": The eight-man squad led by Dick Miller and Jonathan Haze goes to the cave and leaves the two-man bazooka team outside. Six men enter the cave, but when they reach the monster's lair, there are only five men. The missing sixth man never reappears.

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Quotes

Claire Anderson: [raising her rifle] You think you're gonna make a slave of the world... I'll see you in Hell first!

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Alternate Versions

Australian DVD released by Siren (which features "Creature From The Haunted Sea" on the same disc) is taken from an old print which for some reason omits nearly every shot of the monster, leaving many scenes near the end totally incomprehensible.

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Connections

Featured in Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011)

User Reviews

Silly but fun

Sci-fi about a creature from Venus coming to Earth. A scientist (Lee van Cleef) gets in touch with it through some machine. He believes the creature wants to bring peace and helps guide it to Earth. Naturally the creature wants to possess and conquer...

Infamous Roger Corman movie which has one of the silliest aliens ever filmed. It's also pretty stupid, dull in spots and laughable. But the acting is actually good (Peter Graves and Beverly Garland especially) and I DO find the alien at the end just...unbelievable. Also it does have two instances of over the top violence (for its time)--a man is set on fire and the thing gets its eye poked out (this is cut from some non-cable prints).

Not good but 100 times better than its remake "Zontar the Thing from Venus". And Garland and Graves ARE good. I give it a 5.