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It Came from Outer Space (1953)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2020 3:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Actually it was Phantom who suggested It Came From Outer Space after he asked me if there was some vintage sci-fi I hadn't seen in a long time.






He suggested it after I explained my theory about what kind of movies made the perfect synchro-cinema feature.

Here's what I told him.

The purpose of a synchro-cinema is NOT really to watch a movie the participants aren't thoroughly familiar with after multiple views over the years! Shocked

Why? Confused

Because if they have to spend their time paying close attention to the movie, they don't feel free to chat!

However, if they're watching a movie they've been fond of for years and seen often, they barely have to watch it while they have fun sharing comments about anything they think of with the other folks!

That makes it easy to say things like —

"Here comes my favorite part!"

"Wow, I've always loved that scene."

"I still can't figured out how they did that FX!"

— and even comments like this!

"Hey, what did you guys have for dinner tonight?"

Seriously, guys, I've seen the CHFB folks devote twenty minutes to sharing recipes during some of their bi-weekly chats! Shocked

Here on All Sci-Fi, Orzel-w once posted a comment about how he didn't like synchro-cinemas because he couldn't enjoy the movie while reading the comments from the other folks and adding comments of his own.

I tried to explain that he didn't get the point of a "movie chat". I told him it wasn't really about the movie. It was about the chat! Rolling Eyes

The folks at the Classic Horror Film Board have two chats every week, one on Tuesdays and another on Fridays. And they NEVER pick movies I have slightest interest in seeing, because they know that the movies simply serve as a background for their lively discussions, which their regular crowd of eight-or-more members show for twice a week! Shocked

In other words, they all understand the simple premise of a synchro-cinema. It's a chance to chat with your friends while a familiar movie (or really bad one) provides inspiration for comments. And nobody really cares if you can't think of anything to say that isn't related to the move! Very Happy

And so, folks, I hope some of you will rethink your definition of synchro-cinemas[/color] and start viewing them as the ultimate "social distancing"!

They're designed to provide you with a chance to interact with friendly folks who share your love for science fiction, and who also respect your opinions about the subjects of your comments on All Sci-Fi.

Guys, you don't really need to have the kind of set-up in your living room that I have, the one which allows me to view a movie on my TV while chatting on my laptop!

I've been divorced for 19 years and retired for 8. At 71 years old, I think I've earned the right to live in this Couch Potato Heaven and maintain a message board that the good folks on All Sci-Fi can enjoy. Very Happy

After all, guys, I'm Bud Brewster, the legendary site admin of All Sci-Fi. I'm supposed to have a living room like this! Cool






But to enjoy movie chats, you folks just need to have a way to let the movie "play in the background" while you hang out with your crazy buddies! Very Happy

I hope some of you will be wiling to help me establish one or more weekly chats — especially during this time when we're going through such a tough period.

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 4:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Thinking Outside the "Plot"!
________________________________

~ A Question for the Members: Several dozen of the citizens in Sand Rock, AZ experienced the strange events which took place during the visit of the benevolent aliens in this movie — and at the end they all had ample evidence that these visitors from the stars meant them no harm! Very Happy

So, what happened after the aliens departed peacefully in full view of the pose' which came to destroy them?

~ My Theory: Two possible scenarios occurred after the aliens returned to space.

(1) The townspeople would be afraid no one would believe their story and would refuse to share it with the outside world, or —

(2) Government authorities from The Blue Book Project would swoop in and question the whole town until they were all cross-eyed from talking about the incident!

Frankly, possibility #2 has been done to death, so I favor Possibility #2. It gives us a story in which a government team like the ones in The X-Files wander around Sand Rock and attempt to question people who know quite a lot . . . but reveal very little! Cool

(I just tossed this out to encourage a discussion. I hope we get one.)

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Phantom
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 5:10 pm    Post subject: RKO Theatre and Russ Morgan Reply with quote

I was not a little surprised to see Russ Morgan's name on the RKO Theatre where It Came From Outer Space was playing.

Morgan was born a few miles from my hometown and appeared in our local theatre even after he had made the big time and was an international entertainer.

Sadly, the folks who knew him are long gone, but I still have the ads and newspaper accounts of him visiting the city and mingling with relatives.

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Krel
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 9:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In the Bob Burn's collection. Who would have guessed that the Aliens were green.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Great post, David. Very Happy

I don't think the green version of the alien is really accurate. The aliens in the movie appeared to be like jelly-fish — with translucent membranes devoid of color.



___


I wonder why Bob would even think that having a replica which was opaque and a sickly green would even be worth having! It's like that ghastly colorized green Ymir in 20 Million Miles to Earth.





Frankly, I wouldn't even want to own the damn thing . . . Rolling Eyes

I was surprised, however, by how appealing a green ymir was when I boosted the color on the screen shot above.




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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Let's Create a Sequel!
________________________________

~ A Question for the Members: Is there any way we can suggest a logical way for this story to have a sequel?

~ Here's what I came up with.: It occurred to me that the alien that Richard Carlson shot in the mine shaft could have actually survived both the bullet wound and the fall.

How? Well, consider this.

These aliens have the remarkable ability to morph their large, semi-gelatinous bodies into human form and replicate any person they choose.

They seem to prefer to wear cloths on their bogus human bodies. (Carlson discover some of his clothes missing from his closet). But we also saw one alien transform into Russel Johnson as he moved up behind Barbara Rush and frightened her when he put his newly formed hand on her shoulder.



___


In that scene, the alien forms both Russel's body and his overalls. Obviously, the aliens are not dependent on their natural shape nor their normal biological nature to exist.





That's quite a trick! Confused

When Carlson shot the alien inside the mine, we see a POV shot of it transforming back into its alien form and then falling into a pool of water several feet below. The depth of the pool is unknown.

In view of the aliens' amazing ability to drastically morph into totally different forms, is it possible that once the alien who was shot was immersed in the pool, it was able to "will" its normal body to repair itself? Shocked

That would seem to be well within the capabilities of a creature who could change itself into a perfect replica of a human — clothes and all!

And at the risk of making too much of my earlier reference to their jellyfish-like appearance, the aliens may very well have evolved from a jellyfish type of organism.






These extraterrestrial scyphozoa developed such astounding mental abilities that they could even control their own physical structure, thus allowing them to replicate other creatures.

So, if the alien was shot while in "Barbara Rush mode" and was still able to revert to it's natural form (as we saw it do), perhaps it could then repair itself while floating in the pool within the mine. The fact that the water provided a supportive environment for the injured creature aided it in recuperating.

However, it's reasonable to assume that this healing process took a little time, and before the recovered alien could crawl out of the pit, the spaceship made it disparate emergency lift off to escape the murderous mob of humans!



___


If we grant that all this is possible, what does it mean in terms of sequel? Confused

Well, it means we've got a version the E.T. story — but with a stranded alien whose natural form (a) isn't the the least bit cute by anyone's standards, but (b) has the ability to make itself drop-dead gorgeous! Laughing



__________


Not to mention the fact that its armed . . .


__________


Remember, Richard shot the alien in self defense because it was trying to solve a problem in "long division" — by slicing the poor man in half with its compact-but-powerful weapon! Apparently this individual had no reservations about killing a human who posed a threat to the crew of the crashed spaceship.

The Barbara/alien was holding the weapon just before it tumbled into the water-filled pit, so the alien either dropped it before falling, or the weapon went into the pit as well. Either way, the alien could retrieve it.

So, the alien castaway is alone on Earth, but it can easily "hide in plain sight", and it is equipped to defend itself if discovered.

Unfortunately I don't have any ideas about how the story should proceed from here . . . except that I want the alien ship to come back in the climax.

Naturally. Very Happy)




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~ The Space Children (1958)
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17 Oaks
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 27, 2021 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
________________________________

Thinking Outside the "Plot"!
________________________________

~ A Question for the Members: Several dozen of the citizens in Sand Rock, AZ experienced the strange events which took place during the visit of the benevolent aliens in this movie — and at the end they all had ample evidence that these visitors from the stars meant them no harm! Very Happy

So, what happened after the aliens departed peacefully in full view of the pose' which came to destroy them?

~ My Theory: Two possible scenarios occurred after the aliens returned to space.

(1) The townspeople would be afraid no one would believe their story and would refuse to share it with the outside world, or —

(2) Government authorities from The Blue Book Project would swoop in and question the whole town until they were all cross-eyed from talking about the incident!

Frankly, possibility #2 has been done to death, so I favor Possibility #2. It gives us a story in which a government team like the ones in The X-Files wander around Sand Rock and attempt to question people who know quite a lot . . . but reveal very little! Cool

(I just tossed this out to encourage a discussion. I hope we get one.)

Since you mentioned "Project Blue Book". I will give something and you may draw your own conclusion:

My Father worked in this section when he as the Pentagon back in the 50's. I never knew until the mid 70's and dad was dying of cancer. I knew more about his military career pre-WWII than I did Post WWII as he became one of the 7 founding officers of the OSI and a spy. In fact, we lived in Post WWII Germany and dad was there to spy on the Russians.

In the weeks before he died I asked a lot of questions about his career, he gave up few answers, taking most to the grave, I do know he briefed the POTUS monthly. When he mentioned he had worked on Project BB I asked the only question anyone would: Dad, are they real?

IF you knew my Dad, like I, you would be not be surprised he took almost everything to the grave, he would mention things he was involved in but very little beyond that in spite of me being a military officer on active duty with a Secret Clearance.

His answer to me on 'are they real". was both shocking and telling at the same time. The words that came out of his mouth were words I had NEVER hear in my life. Dad was Black & White, YES or NO but this time it was different:

"Son, NO COMMENT!"

This told me everything, you can your conclusion as you see fit, but I know the answer!
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 27, 2021 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Holy mackerel! In the immortal words of Poncho, right after Cisco told him about a weird, unexplained event —

"Cisco! You just gave my arms geese pickles!"
Shocked
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~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production. Very Happy
________________________________

~ The Universal-International make-up department submitted two alien designs for consideration by the studio executives. The design that was rejected was saved and then later used as the Mutant in Universal-International's This Island Earth (1955).

Note from me: This movie would have been a completely different kind of story if the Mutant suit had been used. The whole concept of the aliens being shape shifters who could assume human form wouldn't work worth a damn it we had to believe that a creature that looked like this —



__________________


— could morph into this! Shocked


__________


~ Although credited to Harry Essex, most of the script, including dialogue, is copied almost verbatim from Ray Bradbury's initial film treatment.

Note from me: Frankly some of Bradbury's dialog sounds a bit hokey, like when the telephone repairman starts talking about how "the wind gets in the wires, and hums, and listens, and talks. Just like what we're hearing now."

It's almost like Ray Bradbury had a premonition that Sand Rock, Arizona, would be in a state that would legalize marijuana someday. Laughing

~ According to a magazine article, the "bubble" effect when the audience is seeing things from the alien's POV was achieved by blowing a specially formulated "tough" bubble around the camera lens. These shots were kept short since the bubbles only lasted a brief time.

Note from me: These days such an effect would be accomplished with CGI. But the bubble effect in this movie has such a perfectly "organic" look that I'm sure a CGI version would be much less impressive!

~ This was one of the few American movies from the 1950s to place its credits at the end rather than at the beginning.

Note from me: I'd like to think that director Jack Arnold made the decision to do this, because it gives the movie a unique feel to its opening and closing. But then, I'm prejudiced, because Mr. Arnold directed my all-time favorite 1950s classic, The Space Children. Very Happy

~ In a separately filmed trailer, Richard Carlson talks to the audience about the film and about Three Dimension; animated sequences attempt to illustrate the three dimensional effect.

Note from me: I admire the studio for making this attempt to explain to the public just how new and different this 3D movie would be, compared anything they'd seen before.

Here's the trailer described above.


____________ It Came From Outer Space trailer


__________
]


~ The shot of the spaceship destroying a ship was in fact a newsreel shot of HMS Balham exploding after being torpedoed in November 1941.

Note from me: Holy crap! This comment was supposed to be placed in the Earth vs the Flying Saucers listing on IMDB! No ships were destroyed by the aliens in this movie! This is a prime example of why IMDB's trivia items can't be trusted! Sad

~ A rarity among science-fiction films in that its alien visitors are neither benevolent nor malevolent but instead seem indifferent to anything with our level of intelligence.

Note from me: Not true. The aliens make a heroic effort to respect human life, even though the humans in the story actually kill two of the aliens — the one who is disguised as the telephone repairman when the pose' causes his truck to crash and burn, and the one disguised as Barbara Rush when Russell Johnson shoots her in the cave.

~ Steven Spielberg has credited this film and its plot, which is focused on benign alien visitors seemingly uninterested in helping or harming human beings, as the main inspiration for his film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

Note from me: Not true again. The aliens in Close Encounters blatantly disregard the detrimental effects on human lives they cause by abducting people (even a child) and not return some of them until decades later! Shocked

Do these allegedly intelligent beings not realize that returning their kidnapped people long after their friends and families have grown old and died is morally wrong? Sad

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From the Bill Warren book

This well made thriller is significant for several reasons.

It was one of the first major studio 3-D movies, of those, it was the first to be shown in what was then called wide screen (1 to 1.85 aspect ration) and in stereophonic sound.

It was the first actual SF film to be made by Universal-International.

It's also a very good movie which, despite some lapses, carries almost all of its original impact today.

Ray Bradbury wrote the original story on which the film is based but did not write the finished script for the movie as some sources incorrectly state. William Alland, who produced the film loved Bradbury's script although the studio didn't, so he hired Harry Essex to do little more than retype Bradbury's material into script form.

Bradbury's father had been a lineman like the ones we see in this film.

Because of the many influences of this film, Ray Bradbury is therefore far more responsible for the look, the feel and the approach of the 1950s science fiction movies than has ever been acknowledged or even suspected before.

Not all of Bradbury's material was used by Essex; Ray made extensive changes himself in three drafts.

In the finished film, the aliens are actual shape changers that can restructure themselves to look like anyone. In Bradbury's script, the effect is the same, but the power seems to come from hypnosis (the aliens resemble lizards in Bradbury's outline).

There are many details in the final Bradbury draft which would have helped the film. Essex's dialogue is in every particular inferior to Bradbury's.

The pacing of the film is very good, but the structure is somewhat awkward. Jack Arnold's direction is surprisingly vigorous and inventive.

The treatment of the aliens from It came from Outer Space is still unique. Often described by other writers as benign, the aliens in the movie are actually no such thing. Nor are they hostile. They are frightened ambassadors headed someplace else.

Some of the aliens, such as the one in the guise of Ellen that tries to kill Putnam, are indeed hostile to people. Others are just nervous, such as the Putnam duplicate, or openly friendly, like the one that copied George the lineman.

In short, just like real people, they don't have a common attitude among them.

They are the most realistically motivated aliens in any science fiction film, and are among the most believable.

It came from Outer Space is much more than a curiosity piece today. Despite dated acting, the hollowness of some of the lines, and Essex's mediocrity, Arnold's vigorous direction and Bradbury's intriguing ideas meld to produce a genuine classic in its limited field. Some of the quality of the picture, certain scenes, are so haunting that it's surprising that the film has never been remade.

Sidebar: If they did remake this movie it would be safe bet that it would be inferior to the original. That seems to be how it plays out for most, but not all, SF film or TV series remakes.

I give you The Day the Earth Stood Still remake as a prime example of just such a disaster.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 11:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
Note from me: Frankly some of Bradbury's dialog sounds a bit hokey, like when the telephone repairman starts talking about how "the wind gets in the wires, and hums, and listens and talks. Just like what we're hearing now."

It's almost like Ray Bradbury had a premonition that Sand Rock, Arizona, would be in a state that would legalize marijuana someday.

Nah, that's just how Ray Bradbury wrote. His stories have a lyrical, poetic prose. So he wrote the same way when he wrote the screenplay.

David.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 11:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

KREL WROTE:
Quote:
Nah, that's just how Ray Bradbury wrote. His stories have a lyrical, poetic prose. So he wrote the same way when he wrote the screenplay.

That is so true. Bradbury's charm was in his poetic use of language, a trait he shared with his friend H.P. Lovecraft.

The strength of his stories was in his use of words to tell tales of men and women in science-speculative situations. I guess that's a trait he shared with fellow scribe William Shakespear!

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2022 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
From the bill Warren book

In the finished film, the aliens are actual shape changers that can actually restructure themselves to look like anyone. In Bradbury's script, the effect is the same but the power seems to come from hypnosis (the aliens resemble lizards in Bradbury's outline).

The idea that the aliens just make people think they're seeing humans by projecting telepathic illusions is interesting, and it's a bit easier to believe than the idea that the aliens can change the shape of their bodies to look completely human.

The movie cheated a little on that point; the aliens steal clothes from the people they imitate, thus avoiding the problem caused by suggesting that the shape shifters can turn themselves into humans . . . who are fully clothed.

But in the scene where Russel Johnson walks up behind Barbara Rush and reaches out a ghostly translucent hand towards her shoulder, then the hand coalesces and touches her.

Barbara spins around and finds the Russel lookalike — wearing the overalls he took from the actual man lying nearby behind a rock.

Question: Would the alien shape-shift itself into Russel's form, put on the man's overalls, and then (for some reason) partially shift back to alien form (still wearing the overalls) as he approached Barbara, before returning to full human form and touching her? Confused






On a somewhat related note, consider this.

When Carlson shot the Barbara/alien in the cave and we see the POV shot of the bubble eyeball for a moment, what happened to the black dress? Did it rip apart as the large alien body expanded, or did it impair the alien's ability to assume its normal shape?



__________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 14, 2022 2:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
From the Bill Warren book

The treatment of the aliens from It came from Outer Space is still unique.

Some of the aliens, such as the one in the guise of Ellen that tries to kill Putnam, are indeed hostile to people. Others are just nervous, such as the Putnam duplicate, are openly friendly, like the one that copied George the lineman.

In short, just like real people, they don't have a common attitude among them.

They are the most realistically motivated aliens in any science fiction film, and are among the most believable.

After all these years and all the times I've seen this movie, I never really appreciated this important aspect of the story!

The aliens have different personalities and different moral codes. They're not "all good" or "all bad". Some of them are benevolent, while others can be ruthless.

On a similar note, the choices they make aren't always "right" or "wrong". The benevolent ones sometimes endanger their colleagues by placing too much trust in the humans. Conversely, the ruthless ones tend to turn on the humans who are willing to help them!

As Bill Warren said, "They are the most realistically motivated aliens in any science fiction film, and are among the most believable."

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