Danger from space
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Danger from space |
| Original title | It came from Outer Space |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1953 |
| length | 80 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jack Arnold |
| script | Harry Essex |
| production | William Alland |
| music | Herman Stein |
| camera | Clifford Stine |
| cut | Paul Weatherwax |
| occupation | |
| |
Came from Outer Space (Original title: It Came from Outer Space ) is a 3D method turned, American science fiction film directed by Jack Arnold from 1953. The script was written by Harry Essex after Treatment The Meteor of Ray Bradbury .
An amateur astronomer discovers a UFO at the crash site of a supposed meteorite , but no one believes his story. Shortly afterwards, a strange change takes place with some residents of a nearby small town.
action
Sand Rock, a small town in the Arizona desert : the writer John Putnam and his girlfriend Ellen watch a ball of fire go down near an old mine. John investigates the crash site and discovers a UFO, but a sudden rockfall buries it under itself. In the city, where John, who has moved in from outside, is considered an outsider, nobody believes his observations. The momentary press hype arouses the displeasure of Sheriff Warren, who also makes no secret of his dislike of John and Ellen's relationship.
Shortly afterwards, the first inhabitants of the town disappear and later reappear strangely changed; they seem cold and mechanical. Ellen is also kidnapped. John descends into the mine, where he learns the background of the event from an alien: The crew of the spaceship had to make an emergency landing on earth. In order not to cause a stir, she has kidnapped people and takes their shape herself in order to be able to procure the necessary materials for repair with a human appearance.
Meanwhile, a group around Sheriff Warren approaches the mine. The basically peaceful aliens warn John that they are ready to use force in the event of a defense. John tries in vain to stop the sheriff from attacking. Before it escalates, the aliens can launch their spaceship. The kidnapped people return unscathed to the surface of the earth.
background
Danger from Outer Space was Jack Arnold's first directorial work in a science fiction film and the beginning of a long-term collaboration with producer William Alland . At the same time, it was the first film by the Universal studio to be shot in 3D .
Danger from Space opened in US cinemas in May 1953 and in German cinemas in December 1953 .
In the opening song Science Fiction / Double Feature of the Rocky Horror Show , danger from space is sung about: “Then at a deadly pace it came from outer space. And this is how the message ran ".
Subject
In contrast to the classic science fiction invasion films such as The Thing from Another World (1951), Clash of the Worlds (1953) or Flying Saucers Attack (1956), which portrayed extraterrestrials a priori as aggressors, depicts danger from space , like The Man from Planet X or The Day on which the Earth Stood Still (both 1951) an encounter with aliens who appeared peaceably or defensively, which these films defined as exceptions in the context of the science fiction cycle of the 1950s:
“ Danger from Space […] was based on a treatment by SF author Ray Bradbury, a humanist par excellence, who was at the height of his artistic work at the time . Consequently, the aliens appearing in the film are not snarling monsters who, driven by pure lust for power, want to subjugate the earth, but intelligent living beings that the bureaucrats only want to kill because everything foreign arouses their distrust [...] "
" The Day the Earth Stood Still was a very good movie, and it had a message - it was telling of war and peace and a peaceful invasion instead of a vicious one [...] I can't tell to what extent I got by The Day The Earth still was affected, but it had a strong statement that I varied with Danger from Outer Space . Towards the end of my film, you understand that these beings are not evil. They just want to leave at all costs before they are destroyed. They are not interested in wiping out the earth - they are afraid of being wiped out themselves. "
“While the Battle of the Worlds shaped the image of the purely external invasion, danger from space and invasion from Mars steered more in an inward, psychological direction and created eerie, paranoid stories. These treated less a world threatened from the outside than an infiltration by extraterrestrials, who seize the bodies of humans and resemble them, except in their feelings. This theme found its great bloom in subsequent films such as Enemies from Nowhere (1957), The Brain Eaters (1958), I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958), The Day Mars Invaded Earth (1962) and the masterpiece of this subgenre, The Demonic (1956). Of all these 'Body Snatcher' films, Danger from Outer Space is the only one in which benevolent aliens or aliens who threaten them from outside appear. In fact, besides The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Outer Space Hazard is the only 1950s film that does not feature malicious aliens. Like The Day on which the Earth Stood Still , Danger from Space paints a critical picture of humanity, its reaction and the 'shoot first, then ask' attitude in the face of extraterrestrials. Here the aliens only act maliciously when they are met with redneck attitudes instead of the prospect of peaceful coexistence. "
Reviews
“Jack Arnold's direction creates an exciting mood, and a remarkably realistic environment is created that remains as long as you don't look too much for logic. […] Otherwise Ray Bradbury's story turns out to be good science fiction. "
"Remarkably serious for its time of creation, cautious and with unspent performance."
“The film shot using the 3D process is inherently logical and non-violent. From today's perspective, it looks sedate and technically simple and is considered a positive example of the utopian film of the 50s. "
"Technically and stylistically brilliant invasion film [...] with unconventional image design."
Awards
Barbara Rush won the Golden Globe Award for Best New Actress in 1954 for her performance as Ellen .
synchronization
The German-language version was produced by Berliner Synchron in 1953 .
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| John Putnam | Richard Carlson | Curt Ackermann |
| Ellen Fields | Barbara Rush | Sigrid Lagemann |
| Sheriff Matt Warren | Charles Drake | Gert Günther Hoffmann |
| Frank | Joe Sawyer | Hans Emons |
| George | Russell Johnson | Sebastian Fischer |
| Jane | Kathleen Hughes | Ruth Piepho |
| Dr. Snell | George Eldredge | Martin hero |
Publications
- World premieres
- USA: May 25, 1953
- Germany: December 18, 1953
- Austria: February 12, 1954
- The film is available internationally on DVD , but only as a non- stereoscopic black and white version.
- Piccolo Film released a 110-meter short version of the film in 3D on Super-8 (approx. 15 minutes long).
- In 2004 a book on the film was published by Donn Albright, which includes Ray Bradbury's early script drafts.
- In 2016, the film was released for the first time in 3D as a 3D Blu-ray.
literature
- Donn Albright (Ed.): It Came from Outer Space . Gauntlet Press, Colorado Springs (Colorado) 2004.
Web links
- Came from Outer Space in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Reviews for Turner Classic Movies (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Article on Widescreenmovies.org, accessed March 5, 2012.
- ↑ Article on All-about-3dtv.com, accessed March 5, 2012.
- ↑ The US premiere was on May 25, 1953 according to the Internet Movie Database , on May 27, according to Turner Classic Movies . For the exact dates of the theatrical releases, see the discussion page of this article.
- ↑ Ronald M. Hahn , Volker Jansen: Lexikon des Science Fiction Films, 5th edition, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1992.
- ^ " The Day the Earth Stood Still was a very fine film, and it had a message - it talked about war and peace and making a friendly invasion instead of an evil one [...] I don't know to what extent I was influenced by The Day the Earth Stood Still, but it made a very strong point, and I did a variation on that with It Came from Outer Space. At the end of my film, you realize that these creatures are not evil. They just want to get the hell out before they get destroyed. They're not interested in destroying the Earth - they're afraid of being destroyed themselves. “- Terry Pace: Review of It Came from Outer Space ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically used and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Times Daily, Florence, Alabama 2004, accessed February 28, 2012.
- ↑ "Body Snatcher" = original. "Corpse thief", here more generally in the sense of a person who takes possession of the human body.
- ^ "While The War of the Worlds coined the all-out alien invasion, It Came from Outer Space and Invaders from Mars took the theme in more interior psychological directions, crafting eerily paranoid stories. They were less concerned about the world under threat externally than of subversions from within by aliens that steal human bodies and look the same in every way except for emotions. This theme would find grand flowering in later films such as Quatermass 2 / The Enemy from Space (1957), The Brain Eaters (1958), I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958), The Day Mars Invaded Earth (1962) and this particular subgenre's masterpiece Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). Of all these body snatchers films, It Came from Outer Space is the only one to feature benevolent aliens or at least ones who only act threatening when they are pushed to it. Indeed, It Came from Outer Space is about the only film other than The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) in the whole of the 1950s not to feature malevolent invading aliens. Like The Day the Earth Stood Still , It Came from Outer Space is critical of humanity's reaction and shoot-first attitude in the face of the alien - here the aliens only act sinister when redneck attitudes rather than peaceful coexistence comes to the surface. "- Review of It Came from Outer Space on Moria.co.nz, accessed February 28, 2012.
- ↑ "Direction by Jack Arnold whips up an air of suspense and there is considerable atmosphere of reality created, which stands up well enough if the logic of it all is not examined too closely. […] Otherwise, the Ray Bradbury story proves to be good science-fiction. “- Review ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in Variety, accessed March 2, 2012.
- ↑ "Remarkably sober for its era, with crisp performances and real restraint." - Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide , Signet / New American Library, New York of 2007.
- ↑ Danger from space. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 21, 2017 .
- ^ Georg Seeßlen: Cinema of the Utopian. History and mythology of science fiction films, Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg, 1980.
- ↑ Entry ( Memento of the original from January 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at synchrondatenbank.de, accessed on March 5, 2012.
- ↑ World premieres according to IMDb
