The Man From Planet X
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Movie Reviews of The Man From Planet X
Movie Review: The WEIRDEST Visitor the Earth has ever seen!
Summary: 3 Stars
That's one of the taglines for this United Artists release. After watching this movie, my first impression was "Man, what a cornball movie." But after a little more thought, and realizing that this came out in 1951, I soften a bit. Yeah, it was corny, but it did have its' charms.Robert Clarke stars as John Lawrence, a newspaper reporter called to a Scottish moor by his friend, Professor Elliot, to cover what will be the story of his lifetime. A seemingly stray planet is headed in the general direction of Earth, and the moor is the location that it will pass closest to Earth. Prior to this event, they find a strange, alien object on the moors, followed by actual alien spaceship fashioned in classic 50's sci-fi fashion. Not only that, but the alien spacecraft is inhabited by a pretty funky looking humanoid creature. If you've ever seen the Honeymooners episode where Ralph dresses up as a spaceman, then you will have a pretty good idea of what this alien looks like.
Anyway, they try to communicate with it, with the help of another scientist, Dr. Mears, played by William Schallert, the only actor I recognized as he's been on like a bazillion TV shows, probably most famous being The Patty Duke Show, and a whole mess of movies. Seems he has rather a dubious past, and his intentions are less than admirable when dealing with this advanced creature from another world.
When Mears starts throttling the alien for his space secrets, the alien takes off, and things start to get a little hairy as the alien begins to set his plans into action. What is this alien's connection to planet X? What are his intentions on our planet? Wait until the end of the movie to find out, because while throughout most of the movie the plot slides along at the pacing somewhat akin to a snail, we see the pace quicken like a jackrabbit in the last ten minutes or so, including a huge, steaming pile of rather clunky exposition to fill the viewers in to what's going on...and a really unintentional question asked at the end by the female lead that made me wonder if she had even experienced the events in the movie because the question really contradicted everything that happened, at least in my opinion.
My only real gripe with the movie is Robert Clarke. Quite a handsome man at the time, looking sort of like Errol Flynn, he just didn't seem to fit in well in this genre. He seemed a little too sophisticated, a little to debonair, with his pencil thin mustache, to play the part he was given. I envisioned sci-fi veteran Richard Carlson playing the part much better.
This is a really good-looking print, but don't expect any extras other than a trailer. I do appreciate MGM releasing these Midnight Movies at a reasonable price, and I know they've started doing double bills for the same price, but not here, as this DVD was released prior to that worthwhile change. Are there better sci-fi movies of that time period out there? Sure, The Thing, and War of the Worlds to mention two, but this one ain't so bad, if you got 71 minutes to kill and an interest in classic science fiction movies.
Movie Review: Interesting movie, worth your while!
Summary: 3 Stars
This was shot on the cheap, and some of the acting is hammy, as other reviewers have pointed out. But it is indeed atmospheric, and occasionally genuinely creepy-looking.The person who makes this interesting, though, is William Schallert as the villain, Dr. Mears. You may not know him by name, but you've seen him on TV a million times.
Schallert has spent much of his career playing genial, inoffensive storekeepers, friendly pipe-smoking dads, wise uncles, nice grandpas, etc. on things like the Patty Duke Show, Dobie Gillis, Matlock, and Highway to Heaven.
Here, he does a really bang-up job playing against his usual character. He's a creepy, neurotic, wormy, indecisive, snivelling villain, the total opposite of the usual frenzied Mad Scientist types in science fiction flicks of this era. He's said to have done something awful "during the War," but it's never specified exactly what, which actually makes him more creepy. His evil plot is not to "take over the world," but to use alien tech to make himself a billionaire!
He also sports longer hair than most people were allowed in the 1950s (outside of Bible epics), plus a very Beatnik-looking mustache and goatee! One gets the impression that he goes back to his room in the Professor's house and plots using alien tech to take over the stock market while listening to Charlie Parker and Lester Young.
This is definitely not the best science fiction flick ever, but it really deserves your attention. The director and the actors do a lot with what they have to work with. One wonders what this movie would have been like if someone had been able to get some serious financial support behind it; with the right budget and a little script rewriting, "The Day The Earth Stood Still" might have had some serious competition in the "brainy sci-fi movie" department.
As it stands, Man from Planet X is a cool little movie. Get it and enjoy.
Movie Review: Love That Ambiguity
Summary: 3 Stars
This film strikes a very interesting balance. On the one hand, it is relatively intelligent for a 1950s alien movie, has half-decent dialogue, and the characters aren't a bunch of shoot first, ask questions later imbiciles. On the other hand, the alien and his ship look hillarious, some of its actions are quite silly (when you learn what its supposed plan is, it is so illogical you can shoot a million holes into it and a much simpler solution to its problems is obvious (see below for mine)), and you can, e.g., see some very obvious backdrops and it makes relentless use of fog machines (although with an explanation). As a result it lives up to neither extreme of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" or "Plan 9 From Outer Space", so while it definitely has a charm all its own and is worth watching, it isn't an absolute classic (cheese or otherwise).Basically, a planet ("X") of mysterious origins is going to pass near the earth. A good scientist, his attractive daughter, a dashing reporter and a bad (but not mad) scientist are in the small English town where the planet will pass nearest to investigate, and they discover a spaceship and its passenger (who happens to have a mind control device) in the moors. The most interesting aspect of the film is that you are never quite sure of the alien's motive. Is it friend or foe? Even the ending manages to cleverly keep this concealed (it helps that it is quite difficult, even after hearing the supposed plan, to quite figure out what the alien hopes to accomplish through its actions). This movie is a fun, entertaining little diversion.
SOLUTION TO ALIEN'S PROBLEM (SPOILER WARNING): If your planet is too cold and you have the technology to change it's orbit so it will precisely pass near a warmer, habitable planet, why not just move your planet into a decent orbit?!?!
Movie Review: GROOVY 50s SCI FI
Summary: 3 Stars
With little fanfare, MGM has quietly transferred a handful of great B films to DVD that they not too arbitrarily categorize as "Midnight Movies." The nice looking digital prints are in their original theatrical format and appear as if they were taken from original material. The discs come with no substantial extras but care has been lavished on the box art, often reflecting the lurid lobby cards and posters of their initial release. Even acknowledging the B category, these are for the most part well-crafted and, well, adequately acted. Two titles that deserve to be a double feature are "THE MAN FROM PLANET X" and "IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE." One of the first alien invasion films, "Man from Planet X" was released in 1951 to an Eisenhower era audience that was abuzz and awash with "flying saucer" urban legends and alleged sightings. This atmospheric, sometimes unnerving black and white film was shot on the old sets of Ingrid Bergman's "Joan of Arc" with one major change -- a fog machine in full throttle. Two other classic alien films, "War of the Worlds" and "The Thing" began production about the same time this film was made. In "It! The Terror From Beyond Space" the invasion is turned inside out and upside down. Here, a monster from Mars wreaks havoc on the human crew of invaders to an alien planet.
Movie Review: FILM SCHOOL - 101
Summary: 3 Stars
THE MAN FROM PLANET X is not without it's charms. More intelligent than you might imagine, better scripted than you could beleive it to be, and far more fun than it should be - it is a solid film that is first out of the gate with ideas (invsion from outer space) and themes (old scientist father, hot daughter, Mother dead - just what happened to all these Mothers? I swear these movies existed in another universe where the women went off to fight WWII leaving the men behind) that would find their way into the larger, bigger, and far better remembered British Horror film industry - but there is something else about THE MAN FROM PLANET X that is also worth the price of admission alone - and that's lessons in how to make a film fast, cheap and easy. Count the shots. Count the cast... count the sets... there is very little here that wasn't borrowed or reused from other films (even the box states that the ENITRE film was shot on a standing set left behind from Ingrid Bergman's JOAN OF ARC). It's a lesson in filmaking - take what little you've got, add a lot of fog and a solid script and you've got yourself a movie. Overall - a classy little feature with a highly effective alien and atmosphere - a solid addition to your DVD library.