It Came from Outer Space
It Came From Outer Space
1953, 80 min., G
Directed by Jack Arnold
Screenplay by Harry Essex. Story by Ray Bradbury.
Produced by William Alland
Cast: Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, Joe Sawyer, Russell Johnson
***1/2 out of ****
There were a lot of great sci-fi films released in the 1950s. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, “The Thing from Another World”, “Them”, and the 1953 version of “War of the Worlds” come immediately to mind when this genre-specific era is talked about. “It Came from Outer Space” is also among the same class. It marks a foray into several different 1950s trends. Universal’s first entry into the sci-fi and 3-D phases. Jack Arnold’s first in a continuation of genre greats throughout the decade. Author Ray Bradbury’s debut as a movie writer. In some ways it seems underrated today because it doesn’t seem to have the same clout as those previously mentioned sci-fi offerings even though it is just as good.
The story concerns John Putnam (genre regular Richard Carlson) an amateur astronomer and College Science Professor and his fiancée Ellen (Barbara Rush) who witness a fiery meteorite crash to Earth near their small dessert town. They investigate the crash and upon venturing into the crater John discovers a portion of a spacecraft lodge deep into the ground. A landslide buries the craft so that no one else can discover it.
The local authorities, newspaperman, and some of John’s colleagues think he’s nuts and refuse to believe his story. But soon strange things start happening like weird noises on the telephone wires. Local townspeople start disappearing and then reappearing with stiff and emotionless expressions. Hallucinatory and translucent appearances of an alien from the craft appear out of the sky forcing people to slam on the brakes when it gets too close.
“It Came from Outer Space” is a movie with depth and substance that are much deeper than its otherwise seemingly B-movie premise might suggest. Like many films of its time, it’s a metaphor for the sort of xenophobia that was unfortunately common in mid-20th century America. The aliens can be stand-ins for communists, Asians, and other people of different cultural backgrounds who were feared and prejudiced against by everyday Americans and politicians alike. Like the real-life earthbound others, the aliens plea for understanding and ask that they be left so that they may do what they have to do to break free of their situation and their oppressors, the average American male. Women are few in this film which is a distinction that plants in its time when the movie industry was male-dominated and films like this were aimed at teenage boys.
The movie functions efficiently and operates far above the standard issue sci-fi fare that being released alongside it at the time. The story moves at a swift pace but not so quick that you feel like it’s over in no time. It’s much shorter than most of the movies that are released today, at 80 minutes, but it still feels you watched an entire movie rather than a really long television episode.
Director Jack Arnold, who would go on to direct several more truly classic sci-fi films throughout the decade, embellishes the film with a restraint that you wish today’s movies would have more of. When he shows the aliens you can tell that it’s not a trick used to hide an inferior creation. When they are revealed emerging out of the darkness it has a subtle effect that elevates a creepy feeling that one might get from seeing them. In fact, this is probably one of the most subtle films of its kind because it doesn’t rely spectacle, it relies on atmosphere.
The dessert setting is also particularly effective and also ironic as the location for an alien encounter. What earthbound backdrop would give you an otherworldly feeling more than the dessert? Ok maybe there are some like Antarctica or the rainforest. Iceland has even been used for its remote landscapes. The point is you feel like you’re a part of another world in the dessert which it perfect for a mid-scale alien encounter feature.
The characters are well-drawn with John and Ellen being the voices of reason, the local sheriff being naturally suspicious, and various other types who are given just enough brevity to not come off as thin or small. The performances are equally effective, though Barbara Rush screams too much. She screams at things that wouldn’t scare a two year old; a dead animal, a Joshua tree, a kid dressed as a Space Cadet. She screams at so much random shit throughout the film that by the time she screams during an encounter with the alien, the one legitimate reason to scream, it lacks effect.
There is a slight script hindrance that bothers me although, thankfully, it doesn’t diminish the film. The aliens are making a plea for understanding with John Putnam. Yet during the film they continue to kidnap townsfolk while expecting John to take them at their word, which he does. Why? Especially when the aliens are showing this much bad faith. It’s wonder we empathize with the supposed oppressor, the sheriff, when he wants to organize a posse to go after them.
The one thing that will be lost on most viewers today is the capability to watch this film in 3-D, the format that it was originally shot and presented in when it was released in 1953. I’m fortunate that I have a projection system and Blu-Ray 3-D player that presents in that format at home. Some people still have 3DTVs from the early 2010s that are still functional. Watching the opening spacecraft crash into the camera, seeing the alien’s translucent point-of-view shots which are interesting in creating depth going into the screen, or even seeing the alien emerge out of the dark are among the reasons why this film should be watched in 3-D to achieve maximum effectiveness, if possible.
