Earth vs. the Flying Saucers

Certainly, the renowned/redoubtable Ray Harryhausen's special effects are absolutely superb in this 1956 sci-fi film. As several of the previous posters have already pointed out, the late Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe (one-time director of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenonema, based in Washington, D.C.) served as technical adviser to this film. In fact, Maj. Keyhoe always maintained that alien (?) spacecraft HAD buzzed our nation's capital, during the summer of 1952. Veteran actors Hugh Marlowe, Morris Ankrum and Donald Curtis (who, I believe, portrayed "Prince Barron" in one of the final Flash Gordon serials) appear in the film. However, the wonderful and voluptuous Joan Taylor also appears as Carol Marvin (Hugh Marlowe's new bride in the film). Now, Ms. Taylor also appeared as the medical student granddaughter (?) of a scientist in another 1950s sci-fi flick, "20 Million Miles to Earth." And, I MUST say that Ms. Taylor looked terrific in those shorts of hers, as she and her granddad were conducting scientific research in sunny Sicily, when that U.S. space ship returned, rather abruptly, to Earth. (Seeing her perambulate through the verdant Sicilian countryside, I felt like singing Dean Martin's "That's Amore!") Yet, my favorite scene in "Earth Versus the Flying Saucers," was at the film's conclusion, when, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Marlowe are sitting on a beautiful beach as the sun is starting to set, and she says to Mr. Marlowe: "Do you think that the aliens will ever return to Earth?" To which, Mr. Marlowe (looking at his beautiful bride, attired in her extremely-flattering one-piece bathing suit) dreamily replies: "Not on such a beautiful day as this." And, hands held-together, they both happily and somewhat, "saucily" scamper into the water!

Above-average sci-fi which I had missed on its solitary TV broadcast years ago and one that I had been eyeing as a possible DVD purchase for what seems like forever; I'm overjoyed, therefore, that I managed to get my hands on it at long last.

The film is basically an amalgam of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) – with Hugh Marlowe convincingly making the leap from despicable villain to intelligent hero here – and WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953): even if its outlook is a naïve one (while also displaying something of an obsession with technology) and the plot rather contrived, it is nonetheless generally absorbing and tremendously entertaining along the way. The special effects (by Ray Harryhausen) must have looked spectacular back then but come off as pretty shaky nowadays; still, this takes nothing away from his achievement and doesn't affect one's enjoyment – or involvement – in the film in any way (the design of the aliens' metallic suits and the briefly glimpsed creatures themselves is also quite impressive).

This is actually the first black-and-white Harryhausen film I've watched, and also the only one which doesn't have to do with prehistoric or mythological monsters of some kind; as such, it's not as juvenile as his other work and makes me look forward to the effects wizard's other sci-fi outings – IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955), TWENTY MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957) and FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (1964). The Columbia DVD includes, among other things, an engaging 9-minute featurette on the making of EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS where Harryhausen is interviewed by genre enthusiast Joe Dante (who recalls first watching the film on a double-bill with the obscure THE 27TH DAY [1956]).

I always wondered how they managed to pick the name of the main character in this movie (Dr. Russell A. Marvin). That is my name, and it is very uncommon. When I saw the credits in the IMDB, I realized the answer. The inspiration for this movie was a book by Donald E. Keyhoe, who was consulted on this film. In 1956, Keyhoe started an organization called NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena). In 1956, I was a real flying saucer enthusiast, and was one of the very first people to join NICAP. I believe that they picked my name off of Keyhoe's membership list. I was 14 years old at the time. Anyway, it's a good flick with some great special effects (done the old fashioned way) by the legendary Ray Harryhausen.

As has been pointed out by most reviewers on IMDb, this film has all the perceived elements of cold war-period American cinema. However, what also should be considered is the influence it has had on contemporary SF movies and TV.

Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor and, especially, Morris Ankrum are well-known B-movie actors: they appeared in everything from Westerns to SF, with lots of stops in between. Thus, this film (complete with all the other stalwarts of '50s and '60s "Bs" who appear therein) can be seen as a progenitor of later low-budget productions which rely on a cheap yet capable cast.

At the time it was released (1956), Ray Harryhausen was proving his expertise with stop-motion special effects, later to be given much larger budgets in '60s colour productions. "Gumby" and similar TV items owe much to this man, as does Aardman Productions and, possibly, Dreamworks.

It has already been indicated (by others) that "Mars Attacks" owes its saucers to this film. So, too, "ID4" has a debt, as does "Dr Who"! (Specifically the outfits worn by the aliens - that leaden 'dome' on top of their environment suits belongs to a famous adversary of the good doctor - check out a couple of Tom Baker serials!) Be that as it may, Fred F. Sears does an acceptable job as director; Curt Siodmak supplies a clever screenplay based on Don Keyhoe's book (Keyhoe also wrote 'non-fiction' accounts of UFOs); and some of the dialogue is definitely quotable! IMDb has some ripper examples.

Watch it and enjoy it. Strip some of our contemporary SF of CGI and they really do lack substance in comparison with this entertaining and funny movie. OK. You won't gasp and ooooh. If you have a love of '50s B-movies however, this one is a 'corker'!

The title pretty much sums up the story. Malevolent aliens in the titular vehicles try to intimidate Earth into surrendering before launching an all-out attack. Unusual for the genre, we 'fired first', (although the aliens were likely up to no good from the beginning, having shot down all of our satellites). The typical B-movie story finds scientist Russel Marvin (Hugh Marlowe) (and his pretty wife Carol (Joan Taylor)) constantly in the thick of things as the heroic boffin whips up a last minute miracle weapon. The script and acting are pretty trite, and other than Ray Harryhausen's stop-action work, the production values are weak (notably in the use of excessive and sometimes poorly matched stock footage). Some of the matte footage (such as the heroes running through the fire) is amateurish, and there are a number of irritating inconsistencies in the plot, especially with respect to the alien's capabilities. Of course, what makes the film a must see for genre fans are Harryhausen's iconic stop-action flying saucers. The design is classic, the model work excellent, the saucers are well integrated into the live action footage, and the film was one of the first to include the now de rigueur 'alien invasion' motif of trashing national monuments. Typical of Harryhausen projects, if the rest of the movie had been as good as the special effects, it would have been a classic.