The 27th Day

27th Day, The (1957)

*** (out of 4)

There were dozens and dozens of science fiction movies released throughout the 1950's and for everyone like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL you got at least ten "Z" movies like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. The movie here seems to be forgotten even by the biggest sci-fi fans. I had personally never heard of the film, which is saying quite a bit because of the amount I read on various message boards. When sci-fi films were mentioned this one here never came up and that's a shame because it's a real gem. The film has an alien from a dying planet giving capsules to five people. These capsules have the power to destroy life on Earth, which would give the aliens a place to move. The humans can determine their fate but sure enough there are some bad people who want to use the capsules for their own gain even though they don't fully understand their power. During the decade people in this country were afraid of aliens from space and anything dealing with the Cold War so this movie combines both and makes a very entertaining movie out of it. There's really not too much "action" that goes on here and the monsters don't have four eyes or green bodies. Instead the monsters are pretty much certain humans who want to do bad in the world. The way the film makes this capsules so important and powerful was a nice move but so is the pay off at the end. The very final thing in the movie is a tad bit too preachy but the message is still there. Gene Barry, Valerie French, George Voskovec and Stefan Schnabel add nice performances as well. When people think of sci-fi from the 1950's it's doubtful they'll think of this movie but it's a real shame because here's a gem that needs to be rediscovered.

I liked this movie. It was your typical lets see if human beings act like they have any sense if given the power to act otherwise because if they mess up the Aliens will destroy us movie. But what was different was the solution. What the alien really wanted us to do. And that is what puts this movie above the usual movies in this genre. What I didn't like is the cop out roles they gave the 2 females. I am not going to tell what they did but I was highly disappointed. Why even have the two females in the movie if they were going to do what they did. I guess they needed a love interest for Barry. The actor who played the evil Soviet was very good. He was very scary. Barry played his usual laid back self. Don't expect special effect. This is more of a morals story then a Sci Fi movie IMO.

Five Earthlings from different countries (including Gene Barry of "War of the Worlds" and lovely English actress Valerie French) are kidnapped by a Klaatu-like alien who gives each of them a palm-sized transparent case containing three silver capsules. The capsules have the power to make millions of humans vanish, without harming animals or causing destruction.

The alien's race desperately needs the planet Earth, but they are morally opposed to conquering it, so they give the war-pron Earthlings the ability to finish themselves off without devastating the planet in a nuclear war.

Don't expect any special effects except for two brief clips from "Earth versus the Flying Saucers", one space scene from "The Day the Earth Stood Still", and a small-scale test of the alien weapon. But the interior of the spacecraft is nicely done. This is an intelligent and uplifting movie, done on a small budget, although it's a bit too talky and actionless for some taste. John Mantley wrote both the screenplay and the original novel. In the novel the capsules had a somewhat more far-reaching (and disturbing) effect on humans than they do in the film. [Originally co-billed with "20 Million Miles to Earth"]

The underlying premiss of this film is quite interesting. Five people are kidnapped by a vastly superior alien race and each given a potentially toxic capsule. These capsules can only be opened upon the command of the owner, but if they ever are then mankind is doomed to eradication. The five are from different nations and all walks of life and once the alien announces to the assembled world the identities of the group, their lives become frantic and unsafe - a predicament they must endure for twenty-seven days if they are to save the population from certain death! Arnold Moss does his best "Klaatu" impersonation as the visitor and William Asher offers us a considered story about how ordinary people - and their governments - might react in such weighty circumstances. Gene Barry leads a rather unimpressive cast, however, and that really lets this decent story down somewhat. He wasn't very good at the best of times, and here neither he nor Valerie French's "Eve" do justice to the intrigue of the plot. The ending, even after a few viewings, is a bit disappointing - but the whole concept makes this well worth watching.

Grossly undervalued, under-marketed and overlooked piece of Scifi. Intellectually right up there with THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and presenting in some ways many of the inter-racial and socially irresponsible foibles that human-kind finds so entrenched. Made at a time of the escalating Cold War, the film unashamedly picks its sides but hey, its an American production!

I saw the film on its initial release when I was just 12, I could hardly then lay claim to knowledge of all things political, but I KNEW a good film when I saw one. In the viewings since (and it is shown way too infrequently on cable) I have come to admire its message and inherent brilliance.

An alien civilisation whose planet is pretty much the next dead thing (WAR OF THE WORLDS, THIS ISLAND EARTH, etc) looks to speed up destruction of the human condition by giving a representative of each of the five super-powers the ability to eradicate life in totality. For the purpose, an alien drops in with a few vials of 'wipe-out' and hands them out to the chosen five before retiring to the referee's corner to watch the game.

Gene Barry, who played it so cool in WAR OF THE WORLDS is the US agent with the chiselled chin and all the right accreditation. The supporting cast are all good and with hands-on direction, about the only thing to let it down are the micro-cosmic budget-restrictions. It remains though a classic film of the genre and is deserving of a much higher profile than that it currently enjoys. Probably due for a remake about this time.