This well-made thriller was the first science fiction film to be directed by Jack Arnold, the first using the Southwestern desert as a location (in this case, the Mojave Desert near Palmdale, California; Donovan's Brain was set in the Southwestern desert but made little use of the area), and the first actual science-fiction film made by Universal- International. It was also one of the first major studio 3-D movies, and of those it was the first to be filmed in widescreen (1.85:1) and in stereophonic sound.

So why, then, is this Special Edition presented flat (2-D) and in fullscreen (1.33:1)? Due to this historical significance, it is a great disappointment that the DVD is not presented in the original ratio, in anaglyph (red/green) format, or contain two versions -- flat and anaglyph. The DVD was originally promoted as widescreen, and we have not yet received an answer from Universal as to why the release is in cropped fullscreen.

In 1952, Ray Bradbury was at the peak of his writing ability with "The Martian Chronicles," "The Illustrated Man" and "Fahrenheit 451" in recent print, and as "1950's-ish" as the film appears, Bradbury's poetry and style can be often seen if one is keyed into it. Producer William Alland (a protegé of Orson Welles, and who played the reporter in Citizen Kane) has spoken of his admiration for Bradbury's script, which was in fact more of a screen treatment; it's not broken down into individual shots or scenes, but is written in present tense with some shots and cuts described as such. The studio didn't fell the same for the script, however, and so Alland hired Harry Essex to do little more than retype Bradbury's material into script form (still, he got in some of his own scenes and lines, and they are obvious -- mediocre at best, and laughable at worst. Compare, for example, Bradbury's "92° is dangerous" speech to "When are you going to stop being a badge and start being a human being?" To the film's credit, it should be mentioned that much of Bradbury is unfilmable, as one of his strengths is being able to eschew declarative descriptions and instead tap the reader's own imagination. For instance, listen to the description of the aliens in his screen treatment. Ellen's arm is grabbed by an alien; she looks down at the hand, then looks up at its face: "We get the merest glitter, a suggestion only, of something from a nightmare, something which suggests a spider, a lizard, a web blowing in the wind, a milk white nothingness, something dark and terrible, something like a jellyfish, something that glistens softly, like a snake." Showing anything on film would have to be a disappointment after that!). It was most likely a Writers' Guild arbitration that kept Bradbury from being given coauthoring credit, but his attachment to the film was heavily played up in the advertising materials.

It Came from Outer Space is the only 1950's 3-D film to contain optical effects; it was apparently decided that to do them in this process was too difficult, so films like Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Maze show only what could be done live on a set. However, Arnold and his crew on ...Outer Space didn't know such things couldn't be done, so the film has several optical effects, such as the arrival of the meteor itself, although the shot of it crashing directly into the screen (via a mirror, glimpsed at the edges of the shot) may have been done live. Another optical is used in the scene in which the alien's hand, coalescing out of smoke, reaches out to touch Ellen. The sphere-filled beam from the weapon held by the Ellen-alien is dramatic but cartoony.

The few model shots in the picture are very good; in fact, the reverse angle on Putnam as he gazes in wonderment at the giant ship is one of the most famous of all SF movie scenes, and still has tremendous impact. Most people don't notice that it's not Carlson in that shot, but rather a tiny doll. The few scenes in which rear-screen projection is used are painfully obvious, however, made even more so by the fact that they couldn't be filmed in 3-D; for instance, when the Frank-alien stops Ellen's car, there's a jarring cut from a projected image of Joe Sawyer to a real close-up.

There are several sequences shot on a large cyclorama at Universal. Since the dimensional quality of filmed 3-D falls off rapidly with the increase of distance, the fact that the telephone poles in the scene actually get smaller instead of farther away is not readily discernible, though the highly controlled, flat lighting marks the scene immediately as sound stage material.

The 3-D is not consistent. Arnold uses it more imaginatively than some other directors, employing fewer objects in the foreground than most, relying more on compositions-in-depth and less on things thrown at the screen (such as the famous barker playing paddle-ball in Warner Bros.' 1953 House Of Wax). There are a couple of shots which look pretty forced now, however, such as the one from the inside of Putnam's fireplace, and the angle on Putnam as he opens the closet door: coat hangers dangle between us and Carlson. The scene near the beginning involving the telescope (wounded by Essex's confusion of astronomy and astrology) is so good, however, that even in anaglyph 3-D audiences invariably applaud.

Yes, Russell Johnson (George) later became famous as the Professor on "Gilligan's Island."

The treatment of the aliens in It Came from Outer Space is still unique. Often described by other writers as "benign," the aliens in the movie are actually no such thing. Nor are they hostile. They are frightened ambassadors headed someplace else ("our mission was to another world; only an error dragged us to Earth"). Some of the aliens, such as the one in the guise of Ellen that tries to kill Putnam, are indeed hostile to people. Others are just nervous, such as the Putnam duplicate, or openly friendly, like the one that copied George the lineman. In short, just like real people, they don't have a common attitude among them.

In other films with benign aliens, they are all sweetness and light, even if frightening. Here, they hope to make their getaway but are willing to "end it all here" with a huge explosion, as the Putnam duplicate threatens at the climax. They are the most realistically motivated aliens in any science fiction film, and so despite the inadequacy of the floating head representing their true forms, they are almost among the most believable.

It Came from Outer Space is much more than a curiosity piece today. Despite the dated acting and staginess of some of the lines, Arnold's vigorous direction and Bradbury's intriguing ideas meld to produce a genuine classic in its limited field. Some of the quality of the picture, certain scenes are so haunting that it's surprising the film has never been remade.

Film Synopsis:

Amateur astronomer John Putnam (Richard Carlson) and his fiancée Ellen Fields (Barbara Rush) are stargazing in the desert when a spaceship bursts from the sky and crashes to the ground. Just before a landslide buries the ship, a mysterious creature emerges and disappears into the darkness. Of course, when he tells his story to the sheriff (Charles Drake), John is branded a crackpot; but before long, strange things begin to happen, and the tide of disbelief turns. Based on a story by acclaimed writer Ray Bradbury, It Came From Outer Space is a science fiction classic that is as thought-provoking and tantalizing today as it was when it first "landed" on the silver screen.

Technical

Video:	Fullscreen 1.33:1
Audio:	ENGLISH: 3.0 Stereo
Subtitles:	French, Spanish, Closed Captions
Chapters:	18

Just to taunt us, the static menus are in 1.85 widescreen. The film itself, as mentioned before, immediately snaps into 1.33:1 cropped fullscreen. The image is clean, with some occasional dirt and srqatches (particularly near the reel-change points), but is cleaner than the previous laserdisc version, and far better than any television broadcast presentation of the film that we remember. There are no compression artifacts (not surprising for a black-and-white film), and contrast is very good.

Audio is in the original 3.0 stereo; it's nowhere near as full-spectrum as the soundtrack accompanying Universal's "A" pictures of the period, but is quite serviceable.

Supplements

• Feature Commentary (with film historian Tom Weaver)
• The Universe According to Universal (31:42)
• Photograph and Poster Gallery (5:04, 51 pictures)
• Theatrical Trailer (1:15)
• Production Notes (4 frames)
• Cast & Filmmakers:
• Richard Carlson (John Putnam)
• Charles Drake (Sherrif Matt Warren)
• Russell Johnson (George)
• Kathleen Hughes (Jane)
• Joe Sawyer (Frank Daylon)
• Jack Arnold (director)
• Recommendations:
• Duel
• Dune
• Legend
• Silent Running
• The Thing (Collector's Edition)
• 12 Monkeys (Collector's Edition)
• DVD Newsletter

Film historian Tom Weaver's commentary track is indispensible for genre fans, and nearly makes up for the aborted widescreen presentation and lack of 3D. Weaver has been responsible for some of the best genre DVD audio commentaries (including The Wolf Man, Devil Doll, and Creature From the Black Lagoon), and his preparation and knowledge are evident here. There are few moments of silence as Weaver races through the history and minutae of both the film and the 3D fad, placing the production in context with 50s science fiction, and imparts a barrage of trivia about the movie -- and one gets the impression that he would have preferred speaking for hours (and we would have preferred listening for that length of time), rather than being limited by the brief 81-minute running time of the film. Especially compared to the typical talk by directors who have little to say, Weaver's enthusiasm is contagious, and one walks out of this presentation exhausted but with a much greater appreciation for the genre.

Also included is a fun, breezy half-hour featurette made specifically for the DVD: The Universe According To Universal. This documentary covers the history of Universal's science-fiction films, from the early talkies (films for which Universal became synonymous, although they are more rightfully categorized as horror -- Frankenstein, et. al.), through the 1950s and beyond. It's an entertaining featurette that we wish were longer.

In addition, there are the standard special feature inclusions -- a scant four-frame "Production Notes" section, cast and director biographies, an original theatrical trailer, and some promotional fluff.