Invasion, U.S.A. (1952)

hyped garbage

Don't Believe the Hype

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Not a bad movie at all. Hypnotist Dan O'Herlihy foresees the future. Recently, the Russians paratroops in deception uniforms in the movie is almost exactly what they did in Crimea. I only wish Noel Neill was the love interest and had a bigger role in the movie, but Peggie Castle was credible. Gerald Mohr was decent as the newsman but not one of his better roles. I thought O'Herlihy stole the show and if he had a bigger role, this would have been a better production. This is a good description of real concerns of the air raid drills, a-bombs, and world destruction that the Soviets posed at the time. Communism was as deadly then as it is today. But people will wake up and see the destruction that this movie and others warn us of. It does not take much, remember, it only took 2 punks to shut down Boston. As, Mr. Ohman said, it takes focus. Something lacking today, but thanks to movies like this, we can remember what we need to be free. As for the communist "scare" in the 50's it was very real. They ranted of invading the US, but it took Ronald Reagan to make them "tear down this wall" and that's exactly what they did.

A small diverse group of strangers lounge in a New York cocktail bar . Suddenly there's a newsflash and reports come in that a foreign power has captured key installations in Alaska and the whole of America is now threatened with invasion You want to make a small subtle point ? Well just get a sledgehammer to crack a nut and this propaganda film is it . The opening sequence is set in a cocktail bar and a middle class businessman complains about having to pay the top rate of tax and if this atrocious behaviour by the government wasn't bad enough they also feel the need to interfere in other aspects of the free market . Wow next thing you know they'll be banning smoking in bars or perhaps even banning the sale of alcohol itself . Taking taxes off people is rather small fry compared to what American federal government has done in the past or indeed the future when this film was made . Perhaps this character might like to live under a regime where people don't tax simply because they don't get paid . Oh hold on here's a newsflash " Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it comrade " I've seen a few Christian propaganda films recently that were all universally dreadful they made me forget there was a time when American studios were constantly spewing out propaganda like this one . Often they were entertaining enough to disguise the danger of communist invasion by producing science fiction films where the aliens were closet reds , usually from Mars which is " The red planet " . With INVASION USA no attempt is made to disguise who the invaders are . Even though both Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union aren't name checked you're under no misapprehension who these bloodthirsty tyrannical invaders really are . I suppose this is indicative of American thinking at the time but the invasion itself isn't creditably developed or delivered . If the Soviets capture Alaska as a bridgehead why not nuke the airfields in that state ? How are they able to fly over Canada with impunity ? How are able to bomb New York from San Francisco ? etc etc etc . There's also a lack of credibility in other aspects ? For example here's no sense of time passing between events and the time frame seems bizarre to say the least . How on earth can the TV news report detailed casualty figures to events that have just happened ? OF course there might be a very good internal reason to this once the film ends but while the film is entertaining - possibly for all the wrong reasons - it's never credible on even the most basic level

I originally saw this years ago as a MST3000 episode, and thought it wasn't too bad for an obvious propaganda film - certainly no worse than, say, "Rocket Attack USA". Then this movie came up as part of an informal project where a group of science fiction film fans tried to retrace the history of SF films by watching every film listed in the amazing book "Keep Watching The Skies" in chronological order. I wouldn't have voluntarily watched Invasion USA again, but I figured,"How bad could it be?"Pretty bad, as it turned out.Even making allowances for the original 50's culture this movie was aimed at, and for the fact that's obviously a "red scare" movie, this little nugget is pretty hard to swallow. The movie relies heavily on stock footage to carry the action. The problem is, that the live scenes and story the director tries to relate to all this canned film is about as convincing as Monty Python's skit about "The Townsford Women's Guild Recreation of the Battle Of Pearl Harbor". The movie tries to turn endless scenes of American WW II battle footage and shots of US airplanes and US Army training film into a story about an alien invasion. And it simply doesn't work. The result is a storyline almost totally lacking in logic, coherence and believability ("unidentified" enemy aircraft that are clearly P-38s, A Bombs being dropped from "enemy planes" onto tranquil scenes of airfields with all their planes sitting placidly on the ground, rather than scrambling to meet the attack they know is coming...in fact A Bombs being dropped all over the place - including New York! -without a single consequence to the environment - or a retaliatory missile launch). The initial framing sequence is so badly contrived and played out - not that I blame the actors, Dustin Hoffman couldn't make these scenes work) that you almost root for the 2-D cardboard characters to meet the dooms they all rush off to once war is declared. The film was barely 75 minutes, but it seemed much longer. My brain screamed for credible dialog and a plot that made sense and better acting and, well, almost anything that this movie was missing in spades. And did I mention, "It was allllll a DREAM!" The ultimate cop out for a movie plot, and the final insult to my sensiblities. One bright spot: both of the actresses who played "Lois Lane" in the "Superman" TV series had walk-on parts - it was nice to see them getting other work. And that's about it.

A low-budget scare movie full of propaganda with tons of repeated stock footage. Having drinks in a Manhattan cocktail lounge are cattle baron(Erik Blythe), tractor factory owner(Robert Bice), TV reporter(Gerald Mohr), a fetching "hottie"(Peggie Castle)and a mysterious stranger(Dan O'Herlihy)that convinces all that the H-bomb has been released on America, when TV reports that Alaska and the state of Washington have already been attacked by Communist invaders. Actual bombings and air battles intersperse the overacting. Other players include: Phyllis Coates, Tom Kennedy, Wade Crosby and Clarence A. Shoop.