X: The Unknown (1956)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Leslie Norman

Writers:

Jimmy Sangster (story)
Jimmy Sangster (screenplay)

Release Date:

May 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Mystery | Horror

Tagline:

NOTHING CAN STOP IT! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Radioactive mud-like creature terrorizes a Scottish village during the 1950's.

Plot Keywords:

Radiation | Soldier | Geiger Counter | Hermit | Loss Of Son

Cast

Dean Jagger	...	Dr. Adam Royston
Edward Chapman	...	John Elliott
Leo McKern	...	Insp. McGill
Anthony Newley	...	LCpl. 'Spider' Webb
Jameson Clark	...	Jack Harding
William Lucas	...	Peter Elliott
Peter Hammond	...	Lt. Bannerman
Marianne Brauns	...	Zena, the Nurse
Ian MacNaughton	...	Haggis
Michael Ripper	...	Sgt. Harry Grimsdyke
John Harvey	...	Maj. Cartwright
Edwin Richfield	...	Soldier Burned on Back
Jane Aird	...	Vi Harding
Norman Macowan	...	Old Tom
Neil Hallett	...	Unwin

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Beaconsfield Gravel Pits, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

The movie began under the direction of Joseph Losey (working as Joseph Walton), exiled to England because of the Hollywood blacklist. However, when Dean Jagger arrived, he refused to work with a director he thought of as a Communist sympathizer, and Losey was replaced by Leslie Norman before shooting began. Losey's departure was publicly attributed to "illness".

Goofs:

Continuity: Lansing watches the stick sinking in a pool of liquid, but in a later long shot the stick in seen firmly standing in dry ground.

Quotes:

Major Cartwright: You know this Royston chap. Brilliant, of course, I'm sure. But the trouble with these scientific types is they can't see the easy way out of anything. It's got to be complicated if it's going to work.

Movie Connections:

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

Scary As A Kid!

First saw this excellent British Sci-Fi film when I was 10 or 11 at our local neighborhood theater. It seems like yesterday, since the invisible monster scared the Hell out of all of us.

This was the first of many other Brit Sci-Fi movies we would scream our guts out at. They were far ahead of U.S. film makers in suspense and realism. The casts were also superior in their acting skills for this genre.

I hope to locate many more movies like "X The Unknown" to see how I view them now as an adult. The initial impact may be less than it was originally.