IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE in '50s Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

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IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE

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vamplover	IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE	Lead	[-]
Apr 15 05 10:16 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, last night I watched "It came from outer space" My opinion - it should be re released as a comedy. The dialogue is hysterical. The monster looks so silly I did like the background music. (Edited title -- All Caps: G Prange)
Rakshasa	Re: It came from outer space !!	#1	[-]
Apr 15 05 10:34 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wow, I never saw it like that Vamplover. I think the dialog is rather poetic at times. As discussed in Tom Weaver's audio commentary, it seems a lot of Ray Bradbury's words survived in the final script. For example, Richard Carlson's description of the desert to Barbara Rush? Awesome. The Xenomorphs weren't the best monsters ever, but I rather liked them just the same. I liked their fish-eye lense vision (later used in Cult Of The Cobra for the snake POV, which I'm sure most of us know). This was one of those films were the filmmakers DIDN'T want to show the aliens, but the studio insisted on "a monster" (think Curse Of The Demon). Oh well, It Came From Outer Space will always be a favorite of mine. Sorry to hear you didn't dig it. Doug
jimi d2	Re: It came from outer space !!	#2	[-]
Apr 15 05 11:47 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I just watched this one again last week and it's still one of my favorites... Some of the dialogue is truely poetic, like when Frank talks about the hearing the desert and the wind in the phone lines. And there are some real creep out scenes too; the way alien George stares at the sun, or alien Ellen's cool and unflinching regard when John realizes she wanted him to fall into the crevasse in the mine (she looks like she's watching a bug!)... I think the alien design fairs better when seen in 3-D, but it's still credible and impresses me more than - for instance - the James Arness THING makeup ever did (which in no way diminishes my love for The Thing, btw). One of the central ideas I've always liked is the apparent indifference the aliens exhibit towards us Earth critters - they don't want to be here, they don't want to know us, they don't want any trouble, they just want to get on their way; a refreshing change from the eventually typical extremes of conquest or alliance...
DrPaulArmstrong	Re: It came from outer space !!	#3	[-]
Apr 15 05 12:28 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<<My opinion - it should be re released as a comedy. The dialogue is hysterical. The monster looks so silly>> Couldn't disagree more. This film was groundbreaking and still a terrific ride. This and INVADERS FROM MARS planted the seeds, cinematically at least, of the alien possession paranoia later realized in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. Another jewel in Universal's 50's crown (or something like that).
Bill Warren	Re: It Came from Outer Space & Ray Bradbury	#4	[-]
Apr 15 05 12:44 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* I think the dialog is rather poetic at times. As discussed in Tom Weaver's audio commentary, it seems a lot of Ray Bradbury's words survived in the final scr ipt Actually, that's something I beat Tom to the punch on, as when I was working on KEEP WATCHING THE SKIES, Bradbury loaned me all his drafts of the IT CAME scr ipt. I came to the conclusion that all the good dialogue was by Bradbury, all the, um, questionable was by Harry Essex. Tom's dredged up a hell of a lot of original information, surely more than anyone else has who's concentrated on the genre films of the 1950s, but by gum first is first. I also think this is a terrific movie, one of the best SF movies of the 1950s.
Rakshasa	Re: It Came from Outer Space & Ray Bradbury	#5	[-]
Apr 15 05 12:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Credit goes to you then Bill. Well done sir. Great point Larry, regarding Invasion Of The Body Snathchers and Invaders From Mars. Was It Came To Outer Space the first film where human forms were assumed by aliens? That concept has always haunted me.
DrPaulArmstrong	Re: It Came from Outer Space & Ray Bradbury	#6	[-]
Apr 15 05 1:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<<as when I was working on KEEP WATCHING THE SKIES, Bradbury loaned me all his drafts of the IT CAME scr ipt. I came to the conclusion that all the good dialogue was by Bradbury>> As a huge fan of Bradbury's take on Mellville with MOBY DICK's wonderfully poetic dialogue, it's gratifying to hear this and it also makes total sense. <<Was It Came To Outer Space the first film where human forms were assumed by aliens? That concept has always haunted me>> Good question, Doug, and I've always loved the "my neighbor's not my neighbor" theme too. I always figured this WAS the first film to do that. ??
Rakshasa	Re: It Came from Outer Space & Ray Bradbury	#7	[-]
Apr 15 05 1:32 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Larry, Was it? Hmmmm....I think so too. That "My Neighbor's Not My Neighbor" theme (which is a great way of putting it by the way) surfaced years later in a few great episodes of Lost In Space, the best being "The Anti-Matter Man". In the episode, Professor John Robinson is replaced by an evil duplicate from The Anti-Matter World. Chilled my spine as a kid!
Space Jim	Re: It Came from Outer Space & Ray Bradbury	#8	[-]
Apr 15 05 1:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Quote "The monster looks so silly" Found this piece of trivia....The Universal 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's This Island Earth I wonder how we would all remember this movie with the mutant?
Rakshasa	Re: It Came from Outer Space & Ray Bradbury	#9	[-]
Apr 15 05 1:49 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've heard that too! Would have been cool, but I rather prefer the idea of a shapeless mass that's "too awful to visualize", like I think was the original intended idea. In other words, I think The Metaluna Mutant is too humanoid-looking to fit that description (with his trousers and all...) In any case, great piece of trivia Space Jim! Doug
Bill Warren	Re: It Came from Outer Space & Ray Bradbury	#10	[-]
Apr 15 05 2:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* Found this piece of trivia....The Universal 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's This Island Earth Yes, that's true--at least the head of the Mutant was based on a rejected Xenomorph design. But there were other designs, too; a famous article in Collier's featured a big color photo of a lineup of the Creature, the Mutant and a Xenomorph--but it's not the one used in the movie, and it's not the Mutant head, either. It's a large prop with a transluscent head and two eyes (only one is visible in the Collier's photo) that look like they could project out on stalks. It has no discernible mouth. This head, now the property of director Bill Malone, was used on screen--at the end of the Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "Sign of Satan." A slender model wearing the large head sneaks up on Sir Alfred. There were also scads of designs for the Xenomorph that never got past the sketching stage; these have turned up here and there over the years. I've seen several that were drawn with silver ink on coarse black paper, making a very interest effect. In Bradbury's scri pts, the aliens are never described in detail, although in one an alien hand is described as being lizard-like. His scr ipts have been published in an expensive book.
Doc Martin4	Re: It Came from Outer Space & Ray Bradbury	#11	[-]
Apr 15 05 3:29 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	My wife caught part of it on AMC last night. When I came downstairs, she said "This movie is creepy." To which I replied, "I have it on DVD." Guess what we're watching tonight... Martin Arlt........................ "I'm a scientist; I don't believe in anything."
DrPaulArmstrong	Re: It Came from Outer Space & Ray Bradbury	#12	[-]
Apr 15 05 3:34 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<<Guess what we're watching tonight...>> So are we. And hey, Martin! How's it going? Didn't know you were on this board.
Laughing Gravy	Re: It Came from Outer Space & Ray Bradbury	#13	[-]
Apr 15 05 3:42 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<<Was It Came To Outer Space the first film where human forms were assumed by aliens? That concept has always haunted me>> See the Republic serial THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES (1945).
Wolfman Joe	Re: It Came from Outer Space & Ray Bradbury	#14	[-]
Apr 15 05 3:43 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	a famous article in Collier's featured a big color photo of a lineup of the Creature, the Mutant and a Xenomorph--but it's not the one used in the movie, and it's not the Mutant head, either. Anyone know if this article or picture is available online somewhere? I don't think I've ever seen the other xenomorph design - now I'm intrigued!
Rakshasa	Re: It came from outer space !!	#15	[-]
Apr 15 05 4:28 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Haha! I was going to watch it tonight too Larry! By the way Martini, are you THE Mr. Martini from "It's A Wonderful Life"?! Gravy, Not familiar with "THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES" (1945). What's the scoop? Wolfman, Afraid I don't know about where to find the Colliers article Bill mentioned online. I'd like to see it too. Doug
Laughing Gravy	THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES	#16	[-]
Apr 15 05 4:58 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Da Poiple Monster and his assistant, Marsha, come from Mars, see, and they... well, they strike is what they do, hence the title. We don't see them on Mars, but on Earth they have humanoid shapes, sort of (in the case of Marsha, quite a humanoid shape it is). Anyway, they have a special Martian gas that kills their victims, and they can then assume the form of their victims, which they do to advance their plot to conquer Earth (and to advance the plot of the serial). A review can be found HERE.
Rakshasa	Re: THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES	#17	[-]
Apr 15 05 5:06 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Gravy, Great review. Very well written! Thanks, Doug
bosko52	Re: It Came from Outer Space	#18	[-]
Apr 15 05 7:01 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	a famous article in Collier's featured a big color photo of a lineup of the Creature, the Mutant and a Xenomorph--but it's not the one used in the movie, and it's not the Mutant head, either. --------------------- In the early 60s I had a Castle Films home movie catalog that featured a Xenomorph shot I've never seen anywhere else....a sort of blobby mass with two runny eyes. I wonder if it's the same one in the Collier's foto?
Bill Warren	Re: It Came from Outer Space	#19	[-]
Apr 15 05 7:11 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* In the early 60s I had a Castle Films home movie catalog that featured a Xenomorph shot I've never seen anywhere else....a sort of blobby mass with two runny eyes. Now that's one I've never seen. I don't suppose you still have that catalog....? The ad art for the movie, as you know, featured a great big eye that doesn't look like the one in the movie, with what looks like a tear bursting out of one corner. The kids in my home town declared that the one in the movie looked like a chicken's eye. They were right. I have the Collier's clipping here; a brief Google search didn't turn up anything likely. Many years ago, now, I suddenly realized that the four to six photos in the Collier's layout couldn't possibly have been the only photos the photographer shot for the piece. I noticed his name, and decided to see if he were still alive. I called New York information, and got a number. I called. The woman who answered laughed when I wondered if that guy was still around. He was her ex-husband. She gave me his current phone number so I called him. He was friendly enough, and said that he had taken a hell of a lot of photos for that assignment, all slides. And he had them in a box in his closet. But he had given up photography. (He became a novelist. I wish I could remember his name.) The closet was now blocked by his desk, but he said he'd see if he could find them. I called back in a couple of days, got an answering machine. I left my number. I'm still waiting for a return call. (Yes, I did try a couple more times).
notredamehesamightybozo	It Came From...	#20	[-]
Apr 15 05 10:37 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have to throw my lot in with the pro-Space contingent. While not in the same category of Invasion of the Body Snatchers or the vastly underrated I Married a Monster From Outer Space, It Came From Outer Space had its moments. The steady presence of actors like Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush was a highlight of the film... other than the monsters the special effects were kid of good and allowanced have to be made for the scenes for which the 3 D process was intended. Actually, for a fifties 3D flick, it wasn't too over the top at all. Good supporting characters and supporting character actors as well as a good location made this 50s sci-fiers one of my faves. The invasion aspect was handled, I though intelligently and the dialogue, in my opinion was fine. I wasn't too impressed, however, with the 1990s sequel... the one with Braian Kerwin. After waiting 40 years, I'd have hoped for a little bit more in the entertainment department.

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