THE MAN FROM PLANET X (1951). Edgar G. Ulmer. John Lawrence (Robert Clarke) travels to an isolated village in England where he has been told a new planet will most closely approach the Earth. Professor Elliot (Raymond Bond) is observing the planet from this vantage point, along with a disgruntled former colleague Mears (William Schallert). One night on the very foggy moors, the professor's daughter Enid (Margaret Field, mother of Sally Field) comes across a small spaceship and sees a face looking out of a porthole at her ... This eerie and compact little movie is well-acted, has a surprisingly ambitious storyline about planetary invasion, and is well-directed by Ulmer. The little alien is both scary and cute. Atmosphere -- and fog -- to spare!
Verdict: No world-beater maybe, but it holds the attention. ***.
I recall seeing this film when first released in Australia, in the early 1950's. It screened as a "supporting" feature at one of the large "premier" theatres in Brisbane -the Regent Theatre.
ReplyDeleteAfter all of these years, I was pleasantly suprised to see it listed in your blog. Thank goodness for TV, especially Pay TV as we have seen the restoration of many fine and interesting films of yesteryear.
And hopefully there will be many more lost and rare flms turning up on cable, Turner Classic Movies [U.S.] and on DVD and Blu-Ray.
ReplyDeleteI first saw "Man from Planet X" on TV one afternoon in school, but for some reason the class wasn't able to watch it until the end [nor do I remember why we were watching it in school to begin with]. Thanks to DVD I finally got to see the ending many, many years later.
Thanks for your comments.