The 27th Day (1957)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

William Asher

Writers:

John Mantley (novel)
John Mantley (writer)

Release Date:

July 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Terror Fom Outer Space!

Plot:

Five individuals from five nations, including the "Superpowers," USA, USSR, and China, suddenly find themselves on an alien spacecraft...

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Cold War | Alien Abduction | Secret Weapon | United Nations

Cast

Gene Barry	...	Jonathan Clark
Valerie French	...	Eve Wingate
George Voskovec	...	Prof. Klaus Bechner
Arnold Moss	...	The Alien
Stefan Schnabel	...	The Soviet General
Ralph Clanton	...	Mr. Ingram
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	Dr. Karl Neuhaus (as Frederick Ledebur)
Paul Birch	...	Admiral
Azemat Janti	...	Ivan Godofsky

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #18274) | Finland:K-16

Company:

Romson Productions

Trivia:

When the Soviet General and Prof. Beckner launch the capsules the General gives the coordinates for Houston, Texas (29° 45' 26" N, 95° 21' W). Beckner gives the coordinates for Moscow (55° 45' 18" N, 37° 37' 14" E). Beckner is also heard giving partial coordinates for 45° 4' 23" N and 12' 12" E but the degrees are missing.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the doctor is standing in the life raft waiting for the bomb to detonate he is standing perfectly still. If the raft was actually in the ocean there would be be movement.

Quotes:

Jonathan Clark: People hate because they fear, and they fear anything they don't understand... which is almost everything.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Nightmare Theatre's Late Night Chill-o-Rama Horror Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Wonderful film marred only by low budget

THE 27th DAY replaces the cliched threat of aliens blasting us lasers with the chilling fact that a handful of earth people have the power to destroy the world. Of course, one is an upright American citizen, the ohter is a robotic Russian soldier, etc, etc. It gives a wonderful view of how these people would be feared, treated and simply how they would react. My only squabble with the film is that the filmmakers didn't hide their low budget well enough. An example there is a scene where movie characters address the United Nations. The close up of the characters is done in a well lit studio, the cutaways of the UN assembly are handheld and grainy.

Gene Barry and Valarie French are wonderful leads. Look for Roger Corman regulars Paul Birch (NOT OF THIS EARTH) and Mel Welles (Gravis Mushnick from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS) in cameos.