"Released in 1953, It Came From Outer Space was one of the first movies of its genre to exploit the newly-developed 3D process, and popcorn flew in the aisles during its opening sequence as an asteroid like UFO hurtled out of the cinema screen and into the laps of terrified cinema-goers. But the aliens here, despite their monstrous exteriors, we're not hostile at all, just misunderstood. Here, then, is another early UFO movie in which the UFOlogical detail is identifiable: a saucer crash (echoing Roswell), aliens abducting humans ( in a foreshadowing of the countless abduction reports in the decades to follow), even the idea of UFOnauts as shape-shifters, as popularized by David Icke over four decades later. Although some readers may be inclined to attribute such detail to the subtle handiwork of the CIA, the government collusion angle here seems less plausible than with other movies of the era. The movies screenplay was pinned by Harry Essex, but the source material was provided by Ray Bradbury, a man who openly loathed anyone with a belief in flying saucers or alien visitation."
- Robbie Graham, Silver Screen Saucers
The 1953 movie adaptation of H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, in which Martians from a dying civilization view our thriving planet with envious eyes and launched a full-scale invasion to claim it as their own, only to be defeated by the tiniest of foes - the human germ.
The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951 trailer
Excerpt from Silver Screen Saucers on The Day the Earth Stood Still--
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), which depicted a flying saucer Landing in Washington DC, was turned down by the USAF, although the Pentagon ultimately provided limited assistance through the National Guard, because, it said, in the event of an alien invasion, the armed services would indeed defend the nation. In other words, although there were clear attempts throughout the 1950s to carefully monitor, and in some cases, impede the production of UFO themed entertainment products, there was at least some flexibility built into the pentagon's criteria for cooperating on such products.
The filmmaker and journalist, Linda Moulton Howe, claims to have been told by Air Force Intelligence Officers in 1983 that the 1951 film was "inspired by the CIA", and was one of the first government test of public reaction to such an event.
Doing away with this in mind, it is notable that the screenwriter, Edmund H. North, was a Major in the Army Signal Corps pro to being selected by 20th Century Fox to pen the script. During his time in the Corps, North had been in charge of tr6and educational documentaries, and later patriotic war films including Sink the Bismarck (1960), Submarine X-1 (1968), and Patton (1970).
The filmmaker and journalist, Linda Moulton Howe, claims to have been told by Air Force Intelligence Officers in 1983 that the 1951 film was "inspired by the CIA", and was one of the first government test of public reaction to such an event.
Doing away with this in mind, it is notable that the screenwriter, Edmund H. North, was a Major in the Army Signal Corps pro to being selected by 20th Century Fox to pen the script. During his time in the Corps, North had been in charge of tr6and educational documentaries, and later patriotic war films including Sink the Bismarck (1960), Submarine X-1 (1968), and Patton (1970).
More notably, the man responsible for overseeing the production of The Day the Earth Stood Still, 20th Century Fox Production Chief Darryl Zanuck, was himself in charge of an Army Signal Corps documentary unit during the second World War and was at the time of the movies production a board member of the National Committee for Free Europe (NCFE), which was established by the CIA in 1949 ostensibly as a private anti-soviet organization. As a star member of the NCFE, Zanuck was directly associated with the organization's executive committee, which included future CIA director Allen Dulles, and future US President, Dwight D. Eisenhower.
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