THE MAN FROM PLANET X (1951)
Tagline: The WEIRDEST Visitor the Earth has ever seen!
(Sci-Fi, Romance, One Of The Goofiest Looking Aliens Ever) [G]
Note – This movie was never given an MPAA rating, it was just “approved”. I think if it came out these days it would be rated [G]. It’s super tame.
A ghost? No - something of flesh and blood, yet of neither. A horrible monstrous creature with a head as big as two men put together... a skin with the shine of a new shilling... and eyes that are no better than a dead codfish!
In this one, a random planet is coming super close to the earth and the scientist watching it feel that it’s probably going to be close enough to cause serious problems, (earthquakes, tidal waves, dogs, and cats living together…that sort of thing). Meanwhile, at an observatory on the Scottish Moors, a spaceship has landed with the mysterious “Man From Planet X” on board. Is he friend or foe? What the hell is going on with crazy Dr. Mears? Are Prof. Elliot’s daughter Enid and John Lawrence going to stop all this nonsense and just get married already? Where is the sun, why do we not see the sun in this entire freakin movie?
First off, this thing is considered a bit of a horror movie but I just can’t. The alien suit had me cracking up. I guess technically it is a horror movie for its time period though, so take that with a grain of salt. Because this is supposed to be the Moors, the movie is just loaded with mist and darkness throughout, but on streaming services, you can find a decent High Definition copy of this for free.
Acting-wise this thing is pretty solid. Robert Clarke is fantastic as John Lawrence (which might actually be the character that Johnny Lawrence of THE KARATE KID fame might have been named after). Clarke is best known for his role in THE HIDEOUS SUN DEMON. William Schallert who plays Prof. Elliot is actually best known for his role in INNERSPACE. He is good in this but ends up getting sick, so his character gets less screen time than I had hoped. Margaret Field is solid in this as Enid but also doesn’t get much screen time after the first half of the movie. She is probably best known for this one, but she was involved in 96 projects involving movies and TV. The secondary characters are fine, but the 3 I mentioned are the standouts.
This movie is pretty short overall, but the fact that it only took 6 days to shoot is pretty astounding. The movie only cost $41,000 to make. Today that won’t get you a pre-production on any feature-length film with any real acting talent. I am pretty sure whoever the dude in this suit is can’t see out of his helmet. If you haven’t seen it, I invite you to check it out just for the laughs. I can see how at the dawn of the atomic and space-age back in the 50’s how this might have scared the super easy to frighten, but man oh man, I would have probably been the one cackling out loud and getting kicked out of the theater.
Overall this is a 4 out of 7 in spite of the low budget. We do get a decent story and it held my attention the entire time. Wait a minute... did I say a planet headed towards earth earlier? Yes, yes I did. Not a meteor or anything normal like that, an actual planet.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF MID CENTURY FILM PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
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