It Came From Outer Space


Movie Notes from the Rust Belt.....

Youngstown, Ohio

Here’s a dandy film from the early 50s--It Came From Outer Space, starring a host of early 50s regulars, including Russell Johnson as George.  You know him better as The Professor from Gilligan’s Island.  OK, maybe you don’t, but that’s how I remember him.  The female lead is played by a hottie named Barbara Rush who worked regularly in just about every TV program you ever saw from 1950 right through 7th Heaven in 2007.

The movie was originally released in 3-D.  Now it’s merely 2-D, but that’s more than OK when you see it, as I did, through the magic of Amazon Prime in high definition.

In a nutshell, spacecraft of alien origin crash lands in the Arizona desert, witnessed by an amateur astrologer (ain’t that always the way?) who investigates the crash scene with the help of a helicopter pilot.  And a helicopter.  Alien gets away and townspeople don’t believe in aliens.  But they will.  When they begin to be replaced by aliens.  The alien itself is a one-eyed critter who leaves a snail-trail wherever it goes.

The story line is adapted from a Ray Bradbury short story titled “The Meteor”.  Really a pretty good piece of work here, and not at all a waste of an hour and 20 minutes.

Frankly, it's worth a look just for the cars.  Our astrologer drives a Ford convertible with a spotlight.  There's a woodie station wagon too.  Made my mouth water.

Three stars.  Have a look.




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