The Man from Planet X (1951)

An unknown planet is approaching Earth, because that's what planets do. Scientists study it from a haunted castle in the Scottish moors, because that's what scientists do. Requisite hottie (Margaret Field, Sally's mom) visits her requisite wizened professor dad (Bond, Raymond Bond) while a reporter tags along (Robert Clarke). Hottie and reporter are immediately suspicious of the presence of the requisite fiendishly discredited scientist (William Schallert).

On their arrival, hottie Enid (seriously?) and the reporter discover an alien spacecraft. They return later to rescue the alien who's air supply was shut off, and bring it home to try and communicate with it. Efforts prove futile, so they leave the evil scientist alone to try. He gives up, and the others soon realize spaceman and hottie Enid are both missing. Reporter-Man to the rescue!

Perhaps you recognize evil scientist William Schallert. He did a fair number of movies, both good and otherwise, plus a heaping pile of television. I remember him as the doctor from The Incredible Shrinking Man, but you may be more familiar with his work on The Patty Duke Show or The Hardy Boys. Take a look at his resume. He did a prestigious amount of work. Quite impressive. He turns 91 this summer.

Let's make fun of the poster, shall we? Here, we have Enid, complete with awesome sweater puppies, looking calmly past the horrible monster directly in front of her. I vaguely recall her screaming in terror. Also, how is our monster friend both outside his rocket, and visible through the window? It's the MAN from Planet X, not MEN!

Amusing and atmospheric, but let's not confuse it with an important piece of cinema history. The actors and filmmakers appear to have taken the movie seriously, and that always helps. AMRU 3.

The theme I've been trying to follow is 50's Saucer and Rocket movies, but it's hard to keep on track sometimes. Besides, I've hit the good ones already, and the dregs are difficult to come by. I'll do a couple more before moving on, but next on the docket is about as far from the genre as possible.