Phantom From Space (1953)

FreeClassicMovies wrote:Released on May 15, 1953:
There is an alien in Santa Monica . . . a visitor from outer space with terrible powers who is killing earthlings.
Directed by W. Lee Wilder
Written by William Raynor and Myles Wilder.
The Actors: Ted Cooper (Hazen), Tom Daly (Charlie), Steve Acton (operator), Burt Wenland (Joe),
Lela Nelson (Betty Evans), Harry Landers (Lieutenant Bowers), Bert Arnold (Darrow)

Jimbo Berkey wrote:Science Fiction in 1953 - in this movie I saw something that was so advanced . . . so conceptually futuristic . . . so very foreign to the 1953 world that I get shivers down my spine watching it. I had to watch it twice just to be certain that I saw what I think I saw. How could anyone in 1953 have such a forward vision that they would add this to the movie plot? I don't think that Nostradamus ever foretold anything in the future that was so very dead-on, spot perfect. I'm still in awe as I write this.

Talent does not necessarily run in the family. Billy Wilder gave us Double Indemnity and Some Like It Hot. His brother gave us the embarrassing Killers From Space, the stupid Snow Creature, and this one, the stultifyingly boring Phantom. Actually, the first four minutes are quite good. They are virtually an archetypal textbook example of a 50s B-movie opening: portentous narration, military stock footage, tracking an alien object across a map, theremin sound effects. There are also two more good moments, one of them about 45 minutes into the film when the alien appears in the lab, and then the other at the conclusion. But everything else is bafflingly bad. The characters are completely without personality and have no relation to one another. There is neither a hero nor a heroine. They talk in circles with virtually nothing interesting to say in any conversation in the whole film. They take 10 or 15 minutes to piece together the simplest pieces of evidence. They move in circles, with aimless chase sequences that last a minute here, a minute there. The small amount of camp arises from the invisibility effects (objects moving around by themselves), the spaceman's heavy breathing, and the wooden-paneled cars fitted with giant radio receivers.

Goldweber, David Elroy (2012-06-14). Claws & Saucers: Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Film: A Complete Guide: 1902-1982 (Kindle Locations 55976-55990). David E. Goldweber. Kindle Edition.