Kronos (1957)

Aliens from another world send a huge robotic accumulator to invade the Earth and absorb all energy it comes in contact with.

Director:

Kurt Neumann

Writers:

Lawrence L. Goldman (screenplay) (as Lawrence Louis Goldman), Irving Block (story)

Stars:

Jeff Morrow, Barbara Lawrence, John Emery

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jeff Morrow	...	Dr. Leslie Gaskell
Barbara Lawrence	...	Vera Hunter
John Emery	...	Dr. Hubbell Eliot
George O'Hanlon	...	Dr. Arnold Culver
Morris Ankrum	...	Dr. Albert Stern
Kenneth Alton	...	McCrary - The Pickup Driver
John Parrish	...	Gen. Perry
Jose Gonzales-Gonzales	...	Manuel Ramirez (as Jose G. Gonzales)
Richard Harrison	...	Pilot
Marjorie Stapp	...	Nurse
Robert Shayne	...	Air Force General
Don Eitner	...	Weather Operator (as Donald Eitner)
Gordon Mills	...	Sergeant
John Halloran	...	Lab Central Security Guard

Storyline

Scientists investigate what appears to be a meteorite that crashes into the ocean. After a few days and nights of mysterious lights and noises, a giant machine comes out of the ocean. The machine is the creation of an alien race, that is trying to syphon energy from earth. A true classic, in that it is so different from anything in the time period. To this day, nothing else has come out like it.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | robot | evil robot | hydrogen bomb | pilot | 

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Taglines:

Conqueror of the Universe!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kronos: Ravager of Planets

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$160,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Regal Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Before production began, the budget was cut. This required a second draft of the script which eliminated some character development and some expensive special effects sequences.

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Goofs

The target coordinates 27 14 52 North 175 18 07 West is not near Los Angeles, but is northwest of Hawaii near the Midway Islands.

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Quotes

Dr. Leslie Gaskell: Do you think you'll be able to respect a husband that probably pulled the scientific boner of all time?

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Connections

Featured in It Came from Hollywood (1998)

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Soundtracks

Something's Gotta Give
by Johnny Mercer
Heard as truck radio instrumental

User Reviews

For 1957, the story is deep.

Recient edit: I notice that a lot of the sci-fi movies are being remade. This movie could be remade and with CGI and all the special effects available now, could become a major money maker for the studio that can take on this project. So many remakes have been made that are based on boring original movies and some have been a success, most have not. If any producer that reads this would just watch this movie, he / she would see the potential of this story and as long as the story is followed with the critical elements intact, this could be a success for everyone. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I downloaded this movie last week because I remembered it from when I was a kid and a friend just happened to mention that he had a copy, so I grabbed it. I really didn't either understand or care about the story as much as I enjoyed the 'neat stuff' when I was 7, but after watching it again, I was impressed with the story. A species in outer space has used up all it's energy resources and sends out these machines to roam the galaxy looking for planets with energy producing potential. The machines have the ability to absorb any and all power and convert it into matter, thus growing in size with each meal. The science here was right on, The opposite on E=mc2, or as mentioned in the movie, 'the other half of the equation'. Because of these little bits of physics, I now wonder if the movie was made for kids or adults, Stuff like that was way over our heads back then. If the Machine is successful in locating a suitable planet, it calls for more machines to finish the job. Of course the special effects are primitive, but they make the point. The stream of energy as it flows past the 3 scientists while they are standing on top of the giant, was right on the money. The way the robot closed itself up to absorb the blast of the A-bomb from the jet it magnetically pulled into itself, even the design of the machine, was very original and very cool. All, in all, This is a classic 50's sci-fi movie that should be seen at least once. Of course, at the end there is a moral message and it is: "They ran out of energy because they wasted all the resources and if we don't watch out, we could end up the same way". We never know just where it came from and there are no aliens, just the machine. How was the machine going to get home? Somebody needs to remake this movie, it would be a great movie with all the modern effects in our bag of tricks.