This Island Earth

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This Island Earth

Original two-sheet promotional poster

Directed by Produced by

Joseph M. Newman William Alland Raymond F. Jones

Written by

Franklin Coen Edward G. O'Callaghan Jeff Morrow Faith Domergue

Starring

Rex Reason Lance Fuller Russell Johnson Joseph Gershenson (music supervision)

Music by

Henry Mancini (uncredited) Hans J. Salter (uncredited) Herman Stein (uncredited)

Cinematography Clifford Stine Editing by Distributed by Virgil Vogel Universal Pictures International

Release date(s) Running time Country Language Box office

June 1, 1955 (U.S. release) 87 min. United States English $1.7 million (US)[1]

This Island Earth is a 1955 American science fiction film directed by Joseph M. Newman. It is based on the novel of the same name by Raymond F. Jones. The film stars Jeff Morrow as the alien Exeter, Faith Domergue as Dr. Ruth Adams, and Rex Reason as Dr. Cal Meacham. The film was one of the first major science fiction films to be made in Technicolor. In 1996, This Island Earth was edited down and lampooned in the film Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. When initially released, the film was praised by critics, who cited the special effects, well-written script and eye-popping color (prints by Technicolor) as being its major assets.[2][3] The film was one of the last films to use the three-strip Technicolor filming process. Even during production, the film's special effects were shot on the more conventional Eastman color process, which most studios had already adopted.[citation needed]

Contents

1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Response 4 Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie 5 Scientific errors 6 Other references 7 External links 8 References

Plot
Dr. Cal Meacham, a noted scientist, receives an unusual substitute for electronic condensers that he ordered. Instead, he receives instructions and parts to build a complex communication device called an interocitor. Although neither Meacham nor his assistant Joe Wilson have heard of the device, they immediately begin construction. When finished, a mysterious man named Exeter appears on the interocitor's screen and

tells Meacham he has passed the test. His ability to build the interocitor demonstrates that he is gifted enough to be part of Exeter's special research project. Intrigued, Meacham is picked up the next day at the airport by an unmanned, computercontrolled Douglas DC-3 aircraft with no windows. Landing in a remote area of Georgia, he finds an international group of top-flight scientists already present including an old flame, Dr. Ruth Adams. Cal is almost immediately suspicious of the odd-looking group of men leading the project. Cal and Ruth flee with a third scientist, Steve Carlson (Johnson), but their car is attacked and Carlson is killed. When they take off in a small plane, Cal and Ruth watch as the facility and all its inhabitants are incinerated, and their plane is drawn by a bright beam into a flying saucer. They learn that Exeter and his group are from the planet Metaluna, having come to Earth seeking uranium deposits as well as scientists to help defend their planet in a war against the Zagons. Exeter informs the Earthlings that he is taking them back to his world. Exeter and the Metalunans are attacked by Zagon star ships, carrying meteors, to be used to destroy them and Metaluna. The Metalunan saucer easily avoids each attack, dodging the oncoming meteors. They arrive to find the planet under bombardment and falling quickly to the enemy. Metalunan society is breaking down and there is little hope. Their leader, The Monitor, reveals that the Metalunans intend to relocate to Earth and insists that Meacham and Adams be subjected to a Thought Transference Chamber in order to subjugate their free will so they cannot object. Exeter believes this is immoral and misguided since it impedes their ability to help the Metalunans. Before they can enter the brainreprogramming device, Exeter decides to help Cal and Ruth escape. Exeter is badly injured by a Mutant while the three escape from Metaluna just before it is destroyed. The Mutant also boards the craft, but dies as a result of pressure differences on the journey back to Earth. As they enter Earth's atmosphere, Exeter sends Cal and Ruth on their way in their small plane, but he himself is dying and the ship's energy is nearly depleted. With no other options, Exeter flies out to sea and crashes.

Cast

Jeff Morrow as Exeter Faith Domergue as Ruth Adams Rex Reason as Cal Meacham Lance Fuller as Brack Russell Johnson as Steve Carlson Douglas Spencer as The Monitor Robert Nichols as Joe Wilson Karl L. Lindt as Dr. Adolph Engelborg Robert Williams* as Webb Coleman Francis* as Express delivery man Charlotte Lander* as Metaluna woman at decompression chamber Marc Hamilton* as Metaluna inhabitant Regis Parton* as the Mutant

Orangey* as Neutron, the cat

* Not credited on-screen.

Response
This Island Earth was released in June 1955[4] and by the end of that year had accrued US$1,700,000 in distributors' domestic (U.S. and Canada) rentals, making it the year's 74th biggest earner.[5] The New York Times review opined, The technical effects of This Island Earth, Universal's first science-fiction excursion in color, are so superlatively bizarre and beautiful that some serious shortcomings can be excused, if not overlooked."[6] "Whit" in Variety wrote "Special effects of the most realistic type rival the story and characterizations in capturing the interest in this exciting science-fiction chiller, one of the most imaginative, fantastic and cleverly-conceived entries to date in the outer-space film field. "[3] Since its original release, the critical response to the film has continued to be mostly positive. Bill Warren has written that the film was the best and most significant science fiction movie of 1955[it] remains a decent, competent example of any eras science fiction output..[4] In Phil Hardys The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction the film was described as a full-blooded space opera complete with interplanetary warfare and bug-eyed monstersthe films space operatics are given a dreamlike quality and a moral dimension that makes the dramatic situation far more interesting.[7] Danny Peary felt the film was "colorful, imaginative, gadget-laden sci-fi." [8] However, of the 14 reviews included in a Rotten Tomatoes survey of internet critics regarding the title, 28% reflect negative reactions.[9] Greater Milwaukee Today described it as An appalling film [10]

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie

Main article: Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie This Island Earth is the film-within-the-film in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (or MST3K: The Movie). As in the television series, the fictional crew of the spaceship Satellite of Love are forced to watch the film as part of an "experiment"; while watching the film, the crew can be seen in silhouette at the bottom of the screen, mocking the action. The film also includes "host segments" (skits with the crew and Mad Scientists), including two scenes with the characters using an Interocitor. In order to maintain a 73-minute running time and to accommodate several "host segments", "This Island Earth" was edited down by about 20 minutes, removing numerous scenes, some important (like a sequence of the Zagon fleet attacking Metaluna). Consequentially, this makes "MST3K: The Movie" shorter than the original "This Island Earth", or even the average, 90-minute "MST3K" episode.

Scientific errors
The film suffers from numerous scientific errors. The laboratory cat is called Neutron "because he's so positive" (the name should therefore have been Proton); the Earth is surrounded by a "heat barrier" which the Metalunan saucer must negotiate both when leaving and returning - although visually dramatic this has no scientific basis; a planet is referred to as having once been a comet; and another is transformed into a sun by meteorite bombardment.[citation needed]

Other references

A brief homage to This Island Earth is seen in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). E.T. turns the TV on during a showing of the film, at the scene when Cal and Ruth are being abducted by the aliens and Cal says "They're pulling us up!" In the film Explorers, "This Island Earth" is mentioned in a line of dialogue: "I just got this new tape of This Island Earth. It's got this great saucer landing...And it's got, no, it's got this big mutant, with this, like, two brains." A clip from This Island Earth is also seen on an onscreen TV; the clip contains the line "Our universe is vast - full of wonders. I'll explore..." - a reference to the frame film's space exploration plot.[11] The 1988 video game Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders contains key references to this movie, such as large-headed aliens disguised as humans, communications through interstellar teleconferencing, and an airplane pulled into a flying saucer. Shock rock metal band GWAR`s 4th album, This Toilet Earth and its companion short form movie Skulhedface contain numerous references to this movie, including, among other things, the title, an alien with an oversized brain posing as a human, and communication between aliens using an interstellar teleconference device. New Jersey punk band The Misfits included a song tribute entitled This Island Earth on their 1997 album American Psycho. Steve Hackett included a song called "Turn This Island Earth" which was inspired by the film on his 2011 album Beyond the Shrouded Horizon.[12] The alien Orbitron, the Man from Uranus, from the 1960's toy line "The Outer Space Men", also known as Colorform Aliens, is based on the Mutant. On page 11 of chapter 3 in the graphic novel Watchmen, a poster advertising This Island Earth is seen in the foreground. Weird Al Yankovic, a fan of both This Island Earth and Mystery Science Theater 3000, has featured the Interociter in both his film UHF and the music video for "Dare to be Stupid". The Metaluna Mutant is one of the many alien monsters held captive at Area 52 in Looney Tunes: Back in Action. It was later one of the aliens released by Marvin the Martian so that it could stop the main characters from taking the "Queen of Diamonds" card.

External links

This Island Earth at the Internet Movie Database This Island Earth at AllRovi

This Island Earth Sourcebook at The Thunder Child This Island Earth soundtrack release by Monstrous Movie Music review

References
1. ^ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956 2. ^ "This Island Earth (1955) 'This Island Earth' Explored From Space". New York Times, June 11, 1955. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9406E7D6133AE53BBC4952DFB06683 8E649EDE. Retrieved 2012-03-24. 3. ^ a b "Whit". Review from Variety dated March 30, 1955, taken from Variety's Complete Science Fiction Reviews, pg. 107, edited by Don Willis, Garland Publishing, Inc., 1985. ISBN 0-8240-6263-9 4. ^ a b Warren, Bill. Keep Watching The Skies Vol I: 1950 - 1957, pgs. 228 234; 444, McFarland, 1982. ISBN 0-89950-032-3. 5. ^ Gebert, Michael. The Encyclopedia of Movie Awards (listing of 'Box Office (Domestic Rentals)' for 1955, taken from Variety magazine), St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1996. ISBN 0-668-05308-9. "Rentals" refers to the distributor/studio's share of the box office gross, which, according to Gebert, is roughly half of the money generated by ticket sales. 6. ^ "This Island Earth (1955) 'This Island Earth' Explored From Space". New York Times, June 11, 1955. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9406E7D6133AE53BBC4952DFB06683 8E649EDE. Retrieved 2012-03-24. 7. ^ Hardy, Phil (editor). The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction, Aurum Press, 1984. Reprinted as The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction, Overlook Press, 1995, ISBN 0-87951-626-7 8. ^ Peary, Danny Guide for the Film Fanatic, Fireside Books, 1986, pg. 433. ISBN 0671-61081-3 9. ^ "This Island Earth (1955)". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_island_earth/. Retrieved 2012-03-24. 10. ^ Snyder, Steven. "This Island Earth Reviews". Greater Milwaukee Today. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_island_earth/reviews/. Retrieved 2012-03-24. 11. ^ http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/e/explorers-script-transcript-ethanhawke.html 12. ^ The Evil Jam Interviews Steve Hackett

Universal Monsters film series

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953) The Phantom of the Opera (1925) Phantom of the Opera (1943) Dracula (1931) Drcula (1931) Dracula's Daughter (1936) Son of Dracula (1943)

The Phantom of the Opera

Dracula

Frankenstein's Monster

Frankenstein (1931) Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Son of Frankenstein (1939) The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) The Black Cat (1934) The Raven (1935) The Mummy (1932) The Mummy's Hand (1940) The Mummy's Tomb (1942) The Mummy's Ghost (1944) The Mummy's Curse (1944) Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) The Invisible Man (1933) The Invisible Man Returns (1940) The Invisible Woman (1940) Invisible Agent (1942) The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944) Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)

Edgar Allan Poe

The Mummy

The Invisible Man

The Wolf Man The Ape Woman

The Wolf Man (1941)

Captive Wild Woman (1943) Jungle Woman (1944) The Jungle Captive (1945) Calling Dr. Death (1943) Weird Woman (1944) Dead Man's Eyes (1944) The Frozen Ghost (1945) Strange Confession (1945) Pillow of Death (1945) Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) Revenge of the Creature (1955) The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) House of Frankenstein (1944) House of Dracula (1945) Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) The Cat and the Canary (1927)

Inner Sanctum Mysteries

The Gill-man

Multiple monsters

Others

The Man Who Laughs (1928) The Last Warning (1929) The Last Performance (1929) The Cat Creeps (1930) La Voluntad del muerto (1930) Island of Lost Souls (1932) The Old Dark House (1932) The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) Werewolf of London (1935) Tower of London (1939) Black Friday (1940) Man Made Monster (1941) Night Monster (1942) The Mad Ghoul (1943) The Climax (1944) The Cat Creeps (1946) House of Horrors (1946) The Brute Man (1946) She-Wolf of London (1946) The Strange Door (1951) The Black Castle (1952) Cult of the Cobra (1955) This Island Earth (1955) Tarantula (1955) The Mole People (1956) The Deadly Mantis (1957) The Monolith Monsters (1957) Monster on the Campus (1958) The Leech Woman (1960) Dracula (1979) The Mummy (1999) The Wolfman (2010) Young Frankenstein (1974) The Monster Squad (1987) Darkman (1990) Van Helsing (2004) House of the Wolf Man (2009) Hotel Transylvania (2012) The Dreaded Savage (2013)

Remakes

Tributes

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Source Material: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Island_Earth More Info (youtube): http://youtu.be/_BN-u_liYJk