It Came from Outer Space is a 1953 American science fiction horror film, the first in the 3D process from Universal-International. It was produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold. The film stars Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush, and features Charles Drake, Joe Sawyer, and Russell Johnson. The script is based on Ray Bradbury's original film treatment "The Meteor" and not, as sometimes claimed, a published short story.

It Came from Outer Space tells the story of an amateur astronomer and his fiancée who are stargazing in the desert when a large fiery object crashes to Earth. At the crash site, he discovers a round alien spaceship just before it is completely buried by a landslide. When he tells the local sheriff and newspaper editor what he saw, he is branded a crackpot. Before long, odd things begin to happen, and the disbelief turns hostile.

Plot

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Author and amateur astronomer John Putnam and schoolteacher Ellen Fields watch a large meteorite crash near the small town of Sand Rock, Arizona. They awaken a neighbor, who has a helicopter, and all three fly to the crash site. Putnam climbs down into the crater and notices a partially buried round object in the crater's pit. He comes to the realization, after he sees a six-sided hatchway close, that this isn't a meteorite, but a large alien spaceship. The hatchway's noise triggers a landslide that completely buries the craft. Putnam's story is later scoffed at by Sand Rock's sheriff and the local news media.

Even Ellen Fields is unsure about what to believe, but still agrees to assist Putnam in his investigation. Over the next several days, local people disappear; a few return, but they act distant or appear somewhat dazed and not their usual selves. Convinced by these and other odd events, Sheriff Warren comes to believe Putnam's story that the meteorite is actually a crashed spaceship with alien inhabitants; he then organizes a posse to hunt down the invaders at their crash site. Putnam, however, hopes to reach a peaceful solution to the looming crisis. Alone, he enters a nearby abandoned mine, which he hopes will eventually connect to the now-buried spaceship and its alien occupants.

Putnam finally discovers the spaceship and learns from the alien leader that they crashed on Earth by accident; the aliens appear benign and only plan to stay on Earth just long enough to repair their damaged craft and then continue on their voyage. The aliens' real appearance, when finally revealed to Putnam, is entirely non-human: they are large, single-eyed, almost jellyfish-like beings that seem to glide across the ground, leaving a glistening trail that soon vanishes. They are also able to shape shift into human form in order to appear human and move around Sand Rock, unobserved, in order to collect their much-needed repair materials. To do this, they copy the human forms of the local townspeople that they have abducted. In doing so, however, they fail to reproduce the townspeople's exact personalities, leading to suspicion and eventually to the deaths of two of the aliens.

Now that they have been discovered, the aliens have decided to destroy themselves and their spaceship. Putnam reasons with them at length and persuades the alien leader to instead finish the repairs while he, as a sign of the aliens' good faith, takes the captives outside to the sheriff. To protect the aliens from the sheriff and his advancing posse, Putnam manages to seal off the mine in order to give them the time they need to finish their spaceship repairs.

Shortly afterwards the alien spaceship finally leaves Earth. Putnam's fiancée Ellen asks him if they are gone for good. He responds "No, just for now. It wasn't the right time for us to meet. But there will be other nights, other stars for us to watch. They'll be back."

Cast

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  • Richard Carlson as John Putnam
  • Barbara Rush as Ellen Fields
  • Charles Drake as Sheriff Matt Warren
  • Joe Sawyer as Frank Daylon
  • Russell Johnson as George
  • Kathleen Hughes as Jane, George's girl
  • Alan Dexter as Dave Loring
  • Dave Willock as Pete Davis, the pilot
  • Robert Carson as Reporter Dugan
  • George Eldredge as Dr. Snell
  • Brad Jackson as Bob, Dr. Snell's assistant
  • Warren MacGregor as Toby
  • George Selk as Tom
  • Edgar Dearing as Sam
  • William Pullen as Deputy Reed
  • Virginia Mullen as Mrs. Daylon
  • Dick Pinner as Lober
  • Whitey Haupt as Perry

Production

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The screenplay by Harry Essex, with input by Jack Arnold, was derived from an original and lengthy screen treatment by Ray Bradbury; screen legend says that Bradbury wrote the screenplay and Harry Essex merely changed the dialogue and took the credit. Unusual among science fiction films of the era, the alien "invaders" were portrayed by Bradbury as creatures stranded on Earth and without malicious intent toward humanity. Bradbury said "I wanted to treat the invaders as beings who were not dangerous, and that was very unusual." He offered two story outlines to the studio, one with malicious aliens, the other with benign aliens. "The studio picked the right concept, and I stayed on."

In 2004 Bradbury published in one volume all four versions of his screen treatment for It Came From Outer Space.

Filming took place on location in and around the California towns of Palmdale, Victorville, and the Mojave Desert,

Universal's make-up department submitted two alien designs to studio executives for consideration; the rejected design was saved and later used as the "Metaluna Mutant" in Universal's 1955 science fiction film This Island Earth. making it the year's 75th biggest earner.