Jack Arnold(1912-1992)

As a director, he said he liked to think of the movie screen as a traditional proscenium-arch stage into which people and objects could abruptly enter as if coming in from the wings. He often used this technique for shock effect, as in Destinazione Terra (1953) when Russell Johnson's hand suddenly reaches in from the side of the screen to touch a startled Barbara Rush on the shoulder.

I love science fiction. As a youngster, I used to buy all the pulp magazines. I loved them. I was very pleased when I was assigned to direct my first SF film because I was still an avid fan. The more I did this type of film the better I liked it, because the studio left me alone. Fortunately, no one at that time at the studio was an expert at directing SF films, so I claimed to be one. I wasn't, of course, but the studio didn't know that. So they never argued with me.