Phantom from Space (1953)

User Rating:

3.7/10   

Director:

W. Lee Wilder

Writers:

William Raynor (screenplay) and
Myles Wilder (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 May 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

WHAT was he?

Plot:

An alien being with the power of invisibility lands in Santa Monica. Killing two people who attacked...

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Spacesuit | Invisible Being | Helmet | Flying Saucer

Cast

Ted Cooper	...	Hazen
Tom Daly	...	Charlie
Steve Acton	...	Operator
Burt Wenland	...	Joe
Lela Nelson	...	Betty Evans
Harry Landers	...	Lieutenant Bowers
Bert Arnold	...	Darrow
Sandy Sanders	...	Policeman
Harry Strang	...	Neighbor
Jim Bannon	...	Police Sergeant
Jack Daly	...	Wakeman
Michael Mark	...	Watchman
Rudolph Anders	...	Dr. Wyatt
James Seay	...	Major Andrews
Noreen Nash	...	Barbara Randall

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:G (2005 DVD release) | USA:Approved (PCA #16306)

Company:

Planet Filmplays

Quotes:

Bill Randall: [knocks on lab door] Barbara? Barbara, are you in there?
Barbara Randall: Bill, listen to me. I'm not alone. Someone is in here with me. I can't see him. He locked the door and has the key.
Bill Randall: I'll break the door down!
Barbara Randall: No, Bill, don't! Please! You better get help!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Monsterama Sci-Fi Late Night Creature Feature Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

A Decent Effort

As low-budget 1950's sci-fi stuff goes, this movie turns out to be relatively entertaining, certainly better than a lot of similar type movies from the era. The movie is set on a single night, and follows various government officials (police, military and communications) in the search for an alien being who's crash landed on earth, and who's killed a couple of people. The problem in finding him is that he's invisible, except when under ultra-violet lights. The effects are really what makes this seem very low-budget. They're pretty typical for the era, which means not very good. The movie also gets off to a bit of a slow start, as all we get to do for a while is watch "Mobile 1" and "Mobile 7" keep reporting into "Central" as they try to pinpoint the location of a mysterious signal of some type that's blocking communications. The first 10-15 minutes contain a lot of "Roger, Wilco, Out" kind of stuff. However, the actual story isn't bad and has a bit of mild suspense about it, particularly because we're not really sure about the motive of the alien. Did he deliberately kill the two people, or was it an accident or possibly self-defence? Ultimately, I thought this was a decent enough movie to spend a bit of time with. 6/10