An early alien-visitors-in-the-desert sf tale from which several later fifties sci-fi pics took their cue. It's based on a story (or rather, a treatment) by Ray Bradbury, screenplay by Harry Essex. The 1st sf film directed by Jack Arnold. An alien ship crashlands in the desert; this is witnessed only by a couple, John Putnam (Richard Carlson) and Ellen (Barbara Rush), who are relaxing in the man's house on the outskirts of the local town. Putnam is an avid astronomer and is instantly fascinated by what all this may mean, but his 'head-in-the-clouds' reputation causes problems for him later. He's the only one who manages to catch a glimpse of the alien ship at the crater he investigates, before a landslide buries the evidence. Everyone else just figures it was a standard meteor and regard his comments as wild talk.
Pretty soon, however, a couple of the local handymen are behaving strangely - because they're not the same handymen any longer. Complicating matters further is the local sheriff (Charles Drake), who has a thing for Ellen and is hostile towards Putnam. It boils down to the question of whether the aliens are benign or might be fabricating claims about simply needing to make repairs to quickly depart. Putnam becomes the sole reasonable voice (though Ellen backs him up) as everyone else is prone to panic or distrust. Putnam, however, has his own innate prejudices to overcome: near the final act, he demands to see the alien as it truly appears, in the belief that he can handle the alien appearance; but, it proves to be a bit much for him.
This retains some of the ideas and even poetic tonality from Bradbury's story (it should, as Essex copied much of Bradbury's treatment, just adding some dialog) and is one of the more intelligent sf offerings of the fifties. The key elements are the mysterious quality of the desert (when something alien might be there) and the sense of paranoia (when someone may not be who he seems). There's also a commentary on how mankind needs to evolve before contact and relations with such aliens can be attained without violence; this preconfigures many later sf properties, the big one being Star Trek. It lacks a true sense of excitement that informs the best sci-fi films but is a thoughtful, elegant approach to the subject matter. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10
Trivia From Outer Space: one of the handymen is played by Russell Johnson, later the Professor on Gilligan's Island.
BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus
Posts : 3265 Join date : 2010-02-28 Location : Earth-1
