I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)

Director:

Gene Fowler Jr.

Writer:

Louis Vittes (writer)

Release Date:

October 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The bride wore terror!

Plot:

Aliens from Outer Space are slowly switching places with real humans -- one of the first being a young man about to get married...

Plot Keywords:

Breeding | Fingernail | Bar | Alcohol | Allegory

Cast

Tom Tryon	...	Bill Farrell
Gloria Talbott	...	Marge Bradley Farrell
Peter Baldwin	...	Officer Frank Swanson
Robert Ivers	...	Harry Phillips
Chuck Wassil	...	Ted Hanks
Ty Hardin	...	Mac Brody (as Ty Hungerford)
Ken Lynch	...	Dr. Wayne
John Eldredge	...	Police Captain H.B. Collins
Alan Dexter	...	Sam Benson
James Anderson	...	Weldon
Jean Carson	...	Helen Alexander Benson
Jack Orrison	...	Officer Schultz
Steve London	...	Charles Mason
Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom	...	Max Grady (bartender)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Valerie Allen	...	Francine (hooker) (uncredited)
Tony Di Milo	...	Mr. Potter - Western Union Clerk (uncredited)
Darlene Fields	...	Caroline Hanks (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Wedding guest (uncredited)
Charles Gemora	...	Alien (uncredited)
Helen Jay	...	Woman in bar (uncredited)
Arthur Lovejoy	...	Minister (uncredited)
Ralph Manza	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Sherry Staiger	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Mary Treen	...	Mother Bradley (uncredited)

Directed by
Gene Fowler Jr.

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Louis Vittes		writer

Produced by
Gene Fowler Jr.	....	producer

Cinematography by
Haskell B. Boggs

Film Editing by
George Tomasini

Art Direction by
Henry Bumstead
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Robert R. Benton
Sam Comer

Makeup Department
Charles Gemora	....	makeup artist
Nellie Manley	....	hair stylist
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Sound Department
Charles Grenzbach	....	sound recordist
Philip Wisdom	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1958) (USA) (theatrical)
• Image Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1959) | USA:Unrated | Sweden:15

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Near the end of the film (a Paramount production) take a good look at the hand weapon the Aliens are using. It looks remarkably like the one the Klingons used on the Original Star Trek, minus the longer barrel. Coincidence or reuse of props?

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: After the newlyweds depart the church, they are driving down a country road. Just as they are about to pass a mysterious alien figure, the shadow of a boom mike can be briefly seen on the road as the camera traverses with the motion of the vehicle.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Woman in Bar: Those guys ain't even giving us a hard look.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Monkees: Monkees at the Movies (#1.31)" (1967)

It's Deeper Than You Think

Another thinly veiled reference to the Communist witch hunt, 'I Married A Monster From Outer Space' is a movie with a cheesy title and a decent story. Aliens have come to Earth to impersonate American men while using a ray-gun on the women (they really don't like hookers). The flip here is that while they ARE taking over the bodies & lives of the men they capture, they're trying to live the way we do. Are they also trying to love? It's almost touching. Even though the classic paranoia sci-fi flick 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' is an obvious influence, the second half is where the two movies diverge. You can almost root for the body snatchers in 'I Married A Monster'.

The B cast never humiliate themselves, but none of them are particularly memorable either. Gene Fowler Jr. (longtime editor, sometime director) leads his actors through the paces in competent fashion. Tom Tryon and Gloria Talbott don't cause too many sparks, but they're not really supposed to. Along with the actual subversion of humanity, this is also an allegory for how newlyweds can quickly grow apart and---okay, I'll say it---alienated. And although this movie is classified as horror/sci-fi, the American Film Institute saw fit to nominate it for their list of 400 great American love stories.

Filled with subtext and double-meanings (as so many overlooked B movies are), the flick accomplishes more by saying less. The F/X are about as dated and obvious as such things get, but they weren't perfect in other '50s genre films either. You might laugh at 'I Married A Monster', but you could do much worse for 78 minutes. This can't be said for half the modern movies out there, but you SHOULD look closer at this one.