This Island Earth (1955)

Director:

Joseph M. Newman

Writers:

Raymond F. Jones (story)
Franklin Coen (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 July 1955 (Finland)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The supreme excitement of our time!

Plot:

Aliens come to Earth seeking scientists to help them in their war.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Kidnapped | Alien | Flying Saucer | Doctor

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Jeff Morrow	...	Exeter
Faith Domergue	...	Dr. Ruth Adams
Rex Reason	...	Dr. Cal Meacham
Lance Fuller	...	Brack
Russell Johnson	...	Steve Carlson
Douglas Spencer	...	The Monitor of Metaluna
Robert Nichols	...	Joe Wilson
Karl Ludwig Lindt	...	Dr. Adolph Engelborg (as Karl L. Lindt)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charlotte Lander	...	Metaluna woman at decompression console

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | West Germany:12 | UK:PG

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Trivia:

After Dr. Meacham has arrived at the secret lab in Georgia and the scientists are having a dinner, a woman comments the music playing at the background by saying: "Mozartti on oikein kaunista." This is Finnish and means "The music of Mozart is very beautiful."

Goofs:

Continuity: The aircraft that Cal gets into has a different tail number than the one he is supposed to be flying. The aircraft that lands has the original number: 28546 (in the ground scenes), 64285 (in the flying scenes).

Quotes:

[a mysterious catalog is delivered]
Dr. Cal Meacham: This isn't paper, it's some kind of metal!
[reads]
Dr. Cal Meacham: "Iterociter incorporating planetary generator. Iterociter with voltarator. With astroscope."
Joe Wilson: Here's something my wife could use in the house. An "iterociter incorporating an electron sorter."
Dr. Cal Meacham: Oh, she'd probably gain 20 pounds while it did all the work for her. You know, Joe, according to this, there's no limit to what it can do. Laying a 4-lane highway at the rate of a mile a minute would be a cinch.
Joe Wilson: Cal... maybe we've been working too hard.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Mars Attacks! (1996)

Soundtrack:

Eine kleine Nachtmusik: 2nd Movement

This is a great treat from a wonderful era of Sci-Fi.

This is a great treat from a wonderful era of Sci-Fi. Those who complain of the hardware aspects have no romance - an Earth scientist receives an unsolicited manual and roomful of parts to build a futuristic two-way TV, but the parts are a marvel and the pages of the manual aren't paper, but some manner of flexible metal. After constructing the "Interociter", our hero receives a broadcast from Exeter, a fellow scientist with a suspiciously prominent forehead, inviting him to join his research team of the world's greatest experts in their fields. What follows is a comic book come-to-life, and in vivid, 3-part Technicolor! This film is beautiful to look at, and apparently many of today's best Sci-Fi filmmakers did. Rex Reason is fine as our hero, Jeff Morrow is one of the most memorable aliens of the era, and Faith Domergue is a fine actress and is mysteriously one of the most unsung beauties ever. And as to the hardware, the special effects, etc - there is actually nothing to complain about at all...the spaceship, the planet Metaluna, aliens, etc, are not merely passable for the 50's, they are compelling by today's standards. If you have just a bit of imagination, this is one of the best Sci-Fi classics of it's time, and still makes many contemporary efforts pale in comparison.