It Came from Outer Space (1953) on Netflix
Approved19531h 21mHorrorSci-Fi
A meteorite falls near Sand Rock, Arizona. Amateur astronomer John Putnam and schoolteacher Ellen Fields fly out; he sees a round craft and a closing hatchway. The sheriff scoffs at his story.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb6.5/1013,031 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes81%
Trailer
Plot summary
Stargazing in the desert, schoolteacher Ellen Fields and amateur astronomer John Putnam watch a large object fall to Earth near Sand Rock, Arizona. They wake a neighbor who owns a helicopter, and the three fly to the crash site. Putnam goes down into the crater and finds a round object, partly buried, with a six-sided hatchway that closes. The noise triggers a landslide that fills the pit and hides the craft. When Putnam says a spacecraft has landed, the sheriff and the local news media dismiss him as a crank. Ellen is unsure what to believe but agrees to help him investigate. Before long, odd things begin to happen in town.
Cast
- George Selkas Tom, a hobo (uncredited)
- Bradford Jacksonas Bob, Snell's assistant (uncredited)
Show all 20 cast
- Robert Carsonas Dugan, reporter (uncredited)
- Whitey Hauptas Perry, a boy (uncredited)
- Virginia Mullenas Mrs. Daylon (uncredited)
- Ralph Brooksas Unidentified Posse Man (unconfirmed)
- Ned Davenportas Man Outside Newspaper Office (unconfirmed)
- Dick Pinneras Reporter with Dugan (extra) (uncredited)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about It Came from Outer Space (1953)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
SPOILER
Ray Bradbury wanted the invading aliens to be stranded creatures with no malicious intent, unusual for 1950s science fiction. He gave Universal two outlines, one with hostile aliens and one with benign ones; the studio chose the benign version and he stayed on the film.- Universal's make-up department submitted two alien designs to studio executives; the rejected one was kept and later reused as the "Metaluna Mutant" in the studio's 1955 science fiction film This Island Earth.
- The fiery crash of the alien spacecraft was created with a wire-mounted iron ball with a dorsal fin, whose hollowed-out "windows" were packed with burning magnesium.
- The Arizona desert setting and the aliens' abduction of a telephone lineman were drawn from Ray Bradbury's boyhood, when his father moved the family to Tucson and worked as a telephone lineman.
