Stranger from Venus (1954)

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

SYNOPSIS: A Venusian books a room at a British country inn. NOTES: Movie debut of Marigold Russell.COMMENT: The first of six minor movies directed by Burt Balaban, this is probably the best-thanks chiefly to a superior group of players who work wonders with a heavy-on-clichés, light-on-ideas script that was obviously inspired by The Day the Earth Stood Still. Oddly, Miss Neal (so superb in Day the Earth...) is not so impressive here as she is forced to struggle against the opposing forces of a flimsy screenplay and too heavily indulgent direction. Helmut Dantine as the aggressive Venusian scores more forcefully, but the audience's real interest is constantly deflected to the minor characters, particularly the lovely Marigold Russell, quietly forceful Cyril Luckham (in only his second film appearance) as the doctor, and Nigel Green (one of my favorite stars) who brings such expertise to his small role as a policeman, he almost makes the film worth seeing on his account alone. Production values are definitely second-drawer, but credits come over as competent enough. Kenneth Talbot's cinematography has its attractive moments, and Eric Spear has contributed a suitably romantic musical theme.OTHER VIEWS: Despite all her indulgent close-ups, Hollywood import Patricia Neal is none too flatteringly photographed. It's attractive newcomer Marigold Russell who walks away with the film's acting honors (though 37-year-old Willoughby Gray, who made a career playing older men, seems too young to be her father. The director should have had enough sense to change this relationship to "brother"). Writers Jacoby and Leslie present some mildly interesting ideas here and there, but there's a lot of obvious padding to build up the parts of the two principals and listless Derek Bond proves a liability rather than an asset in his "other man" role.

Some careful thought and preparation is evident in this production but overall it is made in a non-dynamic manner, very deliberate and you might say too slow. The direction seems primitive. Once this director sets his camera for a scene it is seemingly planted in concrete- it ain't gonna move. In some scenes maybe coffee or caffeine would have helped the director. Military personnel just stand around, and even scenes beside a Monet-esque lily pond are flat and unromantic.The British actors are really good, especially the grey haired doctor and young Willoughby Gray who portrays "Gretchen". Helmut Dantine is very focused and is riveting in the lead role. In contrast, Patricia Neal looks as if she would rather be somewhere else and is not effective in her role. The music is mostly of the orchestrated "English pastoral" style popular in the early to mid 20th century but other than providing a classy sound is not lively enough for a sci-fi film. There is a huge early-50's Packard auto that is loaded with chrome and very noticeable but is thoroughly ugly- its too bad because the earlier post-WWII Packard designs were generally more elegant and graceful. I always enjoy looking for mid-century ambiance and trappings in films from the era such as I found in this movie.Some interesting science can be found here such as a proposed landing in a magnetic field area and concepts of interplanetary gravitation.An advanced being lectures us on how stupid and crude we are in routine fashion that has been done in films numerous times before and since, so this aspect of the theme seems rather redundant.

It's obvious that the people making this film were trying to do a remake of the classic sci-fi film THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL only three years later. Not only is the plot very similar but it also stars Patricia Neal--the same lady who starred in the original film! Like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, this film is about an alien coming to our planet to deliver an ultimatum concerning our ill-advised use of nuclear weapons. Oddly, however, he lands in the middle of no where in England--probably because it's obviously they have no budget and couldn't set the film in London or any other big city. You hear about the military, but you only see a few assorted guys in rather generic uniforms with no fancy equipment.Despite the many limitations due to budget, however, the film is still very entertaining--even if you've seen the superior prior film. I think part of it is because the alien, played by Helmut Dantine, seemed a lot more like an alien than Michael Rennie from THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. This isn't saying Rennie was bad--just that Dantine offered a unique interpretation. The other thing I liked is that instead of the humans attacking by mistake, in this film the leaders from the UK are real jerks. Despite the Venusians coming with openness and peace, the officials responded with lies and a foolish attempt to steal their space ship!! As a result, this film takes an even more cynical view of human nature. In the original, humans were scared and a bit dumb. Here, they're just jerks! The final thing I loved about the film is that they didn't try too hard with the special effects. Other than a model of a space ship, the film has no bug-eyed alien or silly ray gun--just a dandy story.So, despite being extremely derivative, the film still is entertaining thanks to good acting and a few interesting twists.By the way, in a silly little scene, one "expert" said that Venus is "many light-years away from the Earth". No, dude, it isn't. A single light year is about 6 trillion miles. Venus is actually about 25 million miles. So, a light year is 240,000 times greater than the distance to Venus AND they said "many light-years"! I am surprised the writers didn't notice this discrepancy. Wow. I now feel like Mr. Wizard!

Stranger from Venus (1954) * (out of 4) An incredibly bad rip off of The Day the Earth Stood Still, this one here also starring Patricia Neal. An alien lands in a small British town where he tries to warn people and show them his healing powers. This British film isn't ashamed in how much it rips from the Robert Wise classic as we get scenes, which appear the same and even some of the dialogue is the same. Even stranger is that the producer's of this got Neal to pretty much play the same part. It's a real shame that they didn't try to do more with the story because it's just too dry to be entertaining. The Wise film had a number of rips but this one here doesn't have the camp value as something like John Carradine's The Cosmic Man. The performances are all rather bland and that includes Neal who must have known this film wasn't offering much.