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1951 Movie The Man From Planet X

A mysterious planet has entered our solar system and is approaching Earth at breakneck speed. It appears it will miss and pass near the earth. A small Scottish village name Burray on a remotes island is where the planet is expected to pass nearest to the Earth. A group of characters are gathering on the island to investigate this Planet X. Professor Elliot, his attractive daughter Enid Elliot, dashing reporter John Lawrence, a newspaper reporter called to the Scottish moor by his friend, Professor Elliot, to cover what will be the story of his lifetime. The Professor’s assistant who is a bad (but not mad) scientist Dr. Mears. The Professor and his team are working out of a makeshift observatory in an old Scottish tower next to the local moor.

Elliot’s daughter Enid and John discover as they are walking the moors a “magnetically powered range finder” used to determine the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere whose metal has unearthly properties and is quite a find for science.

Then that very night, after taking John to the Red Bull Inn in the village, Enid’s car blows a tire. Enid decides to walk back to their residence, at the tower, by going across the moor when she discovers a flashing light which soon unveils an alien spaceship. Peering in through a port hole she comes face to face with a surprising and decidedly non-human face. In terror she runs for the tower, she informs her father and his assistant, Dr. Mears who we have learned was recently released from prison, of what she found. The professor, at first, has a hard time swallowing her outrageous story until he and his assistant follow her back to the moors and see’s the space vessel themselves.

1951 Movie The Man From Planet X Spaceman

A ray from the vessel beams upon the professor’s eyes rendering him an object of servitude which suggest the ability this alien has at commanding humans to do it’s bidding, forced against their will. Dazed and in a trance like state Dr. Mears and the Professors daughter manage to get him back to the tower. After a time he comes out of the trance like daze he was in.

The next morning John Lawrence returns to the tower to find the research group in disarray with the Professor now coming down with the flu. John and Dr. Mears go in search of the spaceship and after arriving are confronted by an armed alien. Before the situation can get any worse for the earthmen the alien has a problem with his space suit atmosphere controls and begins loosing consciousness. John leaps to the alien and instead of disarming him works the aliens space suit atmosphere control valve restoring his breathing. The alien puts his weapon away and offers both hands face up as an obvious peace offering.

At first, the alien seems to desire communication. But, Dr. Mears has plans to use the alien to benefit his diabolical schemes of wealth and power, and by throttling the aliens atmosphere supply, while the others are away, angers the creature who gets away, capturing Enid and subsequently kidnapping other citizens of Burray by using his powerful ray to control their will. Using the controlled humans at his disposal the alien is setting up a wireless directional beam to his approaching planet who plan to launch an invasion.

1951 Movie The Man From Planet X Lobby Poster

With Professor Elliot, daughter Enid, and Mears all under the alien’s command, John seeks the aid from Tommy, the village constable, whose also worried about his fellow villagers, those being captured and the terrified families. John and the Constable first attempt to get help by the only phone line crossing across the ocean floor to the mainland but the line is not working. Then by a more desperate means they spot a ship passing the island and send a signal to the ship via light signals.

Terror is running through the village of Burray, who will be the next victim of the aliens control ray? Will the alien be able to launch the invasion of the earth? Or I want to know how the story ends.

Review:

This is one of the better low budget sci-fi films of the early 1950′s, mostly because of the originality in the story. It is known as the first American sci-fi film to present a sympathetic view toward the aliens. At least until they make moves to take over the world.

When I was a teenage boy growing up in southern California in the late 1950′s there was a local TV station, I think it was Los Angeles TV station KABC TV, channel 7. I don’t remember if the show series had a host or not but it might of been The Vampira Show hosted by Vampira but I am not sure now. Anyway, every Friday night they put on a B movie science fiction or horror movie. Of course they were not “classics” then. It is on one of those Friday nights that I remember having seen The Man From Planet X. It is one of those movies that have indelibly burned itself in my mind.

With the exception of this movie most of those classic space travel movies of the 1950′s that are my favorites were those where the rocketship had the classic tear drop (long, narrow, sharp point and fins much like the cars of the day). In The Man From Planet X the rocketship is more like an upside down Christmas tree topping ornament. As un-classical as it appears the rest of the story helps you forget the spaceship.

1951 Movie The Man From Planet X SpaceShip

Like the then traditional early 1950′s space suit this one used the conventional helmet which was a bubble helmet complete with a backpack for the self contained atmosphere system and some sort of utility belt. One notable exception is the bubble helmet nearly double the normal size to accommodate the over sized head of the alien.

The use of “music” as the inter-planetary language was unique at the time and probably inspired Speilberg who was perhaps influenced by this film in this respect when he did Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind.

Moral of the story: If your planet is freezing over and you have the technology to change it’s orbit so it will precisely pass near a warmer, habitable planet, why not just move your planet into a parallel orbit and move the population over.

1951 Movie The Man From Planet X DVD

MGM has transferred a handful of great B films to DVD that they not too arbitrarily categorize as “Midnight Movies.” I guess they are referring to the time when I saw it on late night Friday’s. I believe it might of began at midnight because my dad was working the swing shift at the time and on Fridays he would come home and some time he would watch the movie with my brother and I.

Cast
Robert Clarke – John Lawrence
Margaret Field – Enid Elliot
Raymond Bond – Professor Elliot
William Schallert – Dr. Mears
Roy Engel – Tommy the Constable
David Ormont – Inspector Porter
Gilbert Fallman – Dr. Robert Blane
Tom Daly – Donal, a searcher
June Jeffery – Wife of Missing Man

Production Credits:
Director – Edgar G. Ulmer
Screen Writer – Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen

List of Space Travel Movies Episodes: