The Man from Planet X (1951) watch online HD

One of the five sci-fi's I remember every single detail of from my earliest days as a fan. For the genre, I think it's considerably above average. The moor is nicely atmospheric. There's one of every character in the book: the good guy, the bad guy, the local sheriff, the lovely damsel, her father the old professor, etc. The scene where we're looking for the first time through the window of the ship and the visitor peeks out from the other side is easily as good as the three-fingered-hand-on-the-shoulder in War of the Worlds. Nice "character" to the visitor, for whom, like Karloff's Frankenstein, we end up feeling some empathy .

If this film had come out in the mid-50's, it could be dismissed as another low-budget, silly outer space invasion movie. However this movie appears to have been the first of such space invasion movies. It opened in March of 1951. Later that year came the openings of "The Thing from Another Planet" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Two other 1951 films, "When Worlds Collide" and "Superman and the Mole Men" have some space invader elements, but don't quite qualify for the genre.

The fact that it was shot in six days on a budget of $43,000 makes it more amazing. Compare that to "The Thing From Another World" ($1.6 million) or the "The Day The Earth Stood Still" ($1.2 million). While none of the technical aspects come near those two movies, the movie does have an interesting style and look that foreshadows the 1953 classic "Invaders From Mars" and even has elements from "Invasino of the Body Snatchers".

The movie is a little ambiguous about whether we are dealing with unfriendly (a la "The Thing")or friendly aliens (a la "The Day"). It seems a bit schizophrenic here with an alien that can be scary in one scene and downright adorable in another. Not having any prior such movies to really go by, the writers seem unsure in which direction to go.

Robert Clark is fine in the lead as a newspaper reporter. Margaret Field (Sally Field's mother) is good as the female love interest. William Schallert (Uncle Martin or Papo on "The Patty Duke Show) stands out as a surprisingly creepy scientific assistant.

What really carries the film is Edgar Ulmer's energetic direction. Ulmer ("Black Cat" "The Strange Woman" and "Detour")always keeps the viewer on their toes, inserting off-beat and unexpected material in nearly every scene.

It is a must for film history buffs and others will find it engagingly silly.

A shoestring budgetter directed by Edgar Ulmer. One of the first (if not the first) alien invasion films. The little alien, a child-like being with a big, solemn face, is known to Scottish villagers as 'the bogey' and strikes mortal terror into their hearts with his HypnoRay, a laserlike beam which reduces them to easily programmable zomboids. His motives are unclear throughout the film until a hypnoidal Dr. Mears 'spills the beans' near its end. Strong points: eerie atmosphere, production design; moody 'film noir' photography, engaging music score and interesting story. Weak points: muddled script(more plotholes than a Stephen King cemetry); stilted dialogue and wooden acting. Recommended only for diehard 1950s sci-fi fans(like myself)- this film is both a joy and a disappointment.

An elderly scientist has discovered that a new planet has somehow changed its orbital path and will soon come dangerously close to the Earth. An American reporter goes to the northern most reaches of Scotland to meet with this professor in hopes that he can tell the world of his findings. Upon arrival he meets the young, beautiful daughter that he knew previously as a gawky child and a Dr. Mears, a scientist that should have been jailed for some past crimes but somehow was not convicted and was staying at the Professor's castle because of their former relationship as teacher and pupil. It is with this exposition that famed B director Edgar G. Ulmer then sends an alien in a small, weird-looking spaceship to this area for the purpose of scouting out another place for his/its own kind. Well, the story takes some interesting, some obvious steps in terms of fleshing out the story, but when the end result is viewed - one should be impressed with several things. First of all, the budget for this film was incredibly small. Ulmer rented out the old sets from Joan of Arc and then transformed them into the castle and Scottish bogs. They are convincing thanks to his heavy use of fog machines. The fog swirls and floats throughout. His special effects are not that bad either for the budget. The alien created looks surprisingly eerie in the fog as it looks through its glass helmet with those glazed, cold, blank eyes. But Ulmer does more than just create an alien that terrifies a region. Ulmer gives the alien a bit of soul. He ends up being a menace, but a question arises that would he have been that same menace if an evil human being had not been involved in trying to communicate with him. Ulmer leaves the answer to you - and it is a stylish, almost profound thing to do in a film like this. Make no mistake, The Man from Planet X is a B picture all the way, but it is a quality B picture with solid, innovative direction, haunting images, good acting from Robert Clarke as the lead, Margaret Field(Sally Field's mom) as the love-interest/daughter, and good-old William Schallert as the conniving Dr. Mears. My favourite performance though is by Roy Engel as a Scottish policeman. He can chew up some scenery!

Having caught this film quite by accident, i felt gripped not only its innate cheesiness but also several little gems of direction and production design. If you can get past the stereotypes (doddery professor, beautiful daughter, brash American newsman), and the awful accents (isn't that policeman Irish, rather than Scottish?!) The Man From Planet X is a very watchable b-movie. The alien reminded me of the last days of the Spirit comic strip and the lonely croft amongst the billowing fog was a very stark image. Add to this the beautifully sleek (although wholly impractical) spaceship, typically 50s in design, some great chiarascuro cinematography (the alley abduction scene), plus that low-pitched camera outside the dungeon, and you've got a very technically engaging movie.

Never mind that the plot's got more holes than a string vest (where did all those soldiers come from?) and the acting and script are as wooden as a Scots pine dresser, enjoy it on a technical level if you can't engage with the human drama. As with many films of this ilk, the denoument was a bit hurried but all in all, this watches as well as (or dare i say, better than) any episode of Dr Who - with which it shares many similarities.

This is wonderful in its own way. An alien has landed in the moors of Scotland and an American reporter comes to visit at the behest of an astronomer who has noticed a planet heading for the Earth. In the mix is a genius scientist who has a few loose screws, played by William Schallert (remember him as Dobie Gillis's teacher and Patty Duke's father, among others). One night the daughter of the scientist is coming back from town when she encounters a space ship. Upon investigating, she sees a face in the window of the ship which terrifies her. The rest of the movie involves a series of efforts to connect with the alien (who is about as unconvincing as is humanly possible). He has no facial movements and a single expression, as if he is paralyzed. They befriend him but Schallert soon screws things up by cutting off the air supply to the poor guy. Schallert seems to think that somehow this creature will make him rich and famous, though we're never sure how that is going to happen. This guy is connected to the planet that is going to launch a full scale invasion. The reporter goes to the local authorities. People have been disappearing and there is a lot of tension. The constable, who looks like he won second place in a Rod Steiger look-alike contest helps out. He is by far the best actor and the most believable character in the movie. All activities from this point on are at best bewildering, but it doesn't matter. Made on a shoestring budget, it's very nice entertainment for those who don't wish to ask any questions.

a diminuative alien arrives on Earth in what looks for all the world like an oversized Christmas tree ornament and terrorizes a sleepy little Scottish town. Ultimately, both he and his spaceship are destroyed just as Planet X whisks by the Earth. This early fifties sci-fi effort was rushed into production to capitalize on Howard Hawks' "The Thing", and looks it. How rushed? Would you believe a six day shooting schedule? Six days; that's all Mid-Century Films could afford with a budget of less than $60,000. Shot on sets leased from the Hal Roach Studios (most were originally used in the film "Joan of Arc") and with less-than-convincing backdrops, this film somehow manages to capture a moody atmosphere that's perfect for the genre. Add to this an eerie score, and you can just overlook the genuinely hilarious alien. Everything about this creature screams "CHEAP!!!", from the obvious duct tape around the mouthpiece to the control valve on his backpack that looks like it was stolen from Alice Kramden's sink. What optical effects there are are nicely rendered by Jack Glass, and most of the performances are okay, especially that of Roy Engel, who plays Constable Tommy with an accent that would make James Doohan envious. Margaret Field plays Enid, Professor Eliot's daughter and the (we guess) love interest for Robert Clarke, the American reporter. We used the modifier "we guess" because there's no chemistry between the two, despite Clarke's repeated - and obvious - advances. A good deal of the dialogue is pretty strained, as well. Example: Prof. Eliot says to the two: "Let us concentrate on this remarkable object" and:"Ssshh! The scale is delicate; it responds to a breath upon it." Does anybody talk like this? Nobody we know. In spite of all this, plus the fact that the terror is somewhat forced and just why the alien's spaceship comes equipped with a hypnotic ray is never explained, believe it or not, "The Man from Planet X" isn't really a bad film, just a cheap one, and Robert Schallert fans can add a star. Try it; believe us, you COULD do worse!

The reporter John Lawrence (Robert Clarke) visits Dr. Robert Blane (Gilbert Fallman) and learns that his friend, Prof. Elliot (Raymond Bond) has discovered a new planet that is in route toward Earth and has moved to an observatory on the Burry Island to observe from a closer location. John heads to the Scottish island and is welcomed by Prof. Elliot's daughter Enid Elliot (Margaret Field), who is now a beautiful young woman. They go to the observatory to meet Prof. Elliot and John finds Dr. Mears (William Schallert), who is his disaffection. When Enid returns home after driving John to an inn in the town, she has a flat tire and finds a spacecraft landed on the island with a weird alien inside that follows her home. While Prof. Elliot and John want to investigate the reason why the alien landed on Earth, Dr. Mears has second thoughts. What are the true intentions of the extraterrestrial being?

"The Man from Planet X" is a campy and lame sci-fi in black and white, but also a cult for fans (like me) of sci-fi from the 50's. The story of a close encounter with an alien is from the same year of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" that is a classic. The open end, where the true intention of the extraterrestrial being is not disclosed, is excellent. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not available on Blu-Ray or DVD

The Man from Planet X, as an early 50's space invader movie, isn't among the best of that type and scarcely lives up to the hype it got at the time. It has most of the familiar elements common to sci-fi invader movies of the day: a strange ship landing from another planet (reminds you of a diving bell); a hostile alien (reminds you of a diver); a kindly old scientist; a devious assistant bent on personal gain; an attractive young lady; a handsome reporter; a headstrong police inspector; the usual enslaved villagers and the troops called in near the end to confront the ship. The atmosphere on the foggy Scottish moors masks the poor set quality. The alien communicates through musical sounds, an idea that was used much later in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Overall, the movie is murky, uneventful and predictable. Despite its mediocrity, it is important from a historical perspective, as it was among the initial entries to the sci-fi wave to follow.

A strange visitor from outer space lands on a remote Scottish island where a renowned astronomer has set up an observatory to study the mysterious Planet X, which will pass close to Earth in a few days. The astronomer, his pretty daughter, his assistant, and a visiting American reporter make contact with the alien and try to communicate with it. But things take a turn for the worse when the assistant tries to use the alien for his own ends.

The hero of the movie is played by Robert Clarke. With his pencil mustache, bomber jacket, and turtleneck, he's the definition of cool. William Schallert plays the villain. It's a different type of role than I'm used to seeing Schallert in but he plays bad very well. Margaret Field (mother of Sally) does fine as the astronomer's daughter and potential love interest for Clarke. Roy Engel is great in a small part as the constable. This is a very good, low-budget sci-fi film from the Golden Age of Sci-Fi (the 1950s). It's helped a lot by a short runtime and Edgar G. Ulmer's atmospheric direction. Most of the movie takes place at night, with lots of scenes on the fog-shrouded moors or the castle observatory. Creepy fun for fans of classic horror and sci-fi. Also, this was made back in the days when stories involving space and aliens were still filled with wonder and the fantastic, not the boring "realism" that permeates modern sci-fi. So here we have a big-headed alien in a neat-looking spacesuit traveling in an awesome rocket ship. Very entertaining for those who appreciate such things.

A much better movie than I remember.

The basic plot, copied so many times. An alien comes to Earth, as his planet is dying and this is the only place they can go to where they can have any hope to survive. They send down a forward scout, who is going to give them a landing beacon on a remote Scottish Isle. Are his intents hostile or benign? Well, we don't really know, because he is left in the hands of the evil Dr. Mears, who did something during WWII they should have given him 20 years for. (They never really tell us what.)

So why is it a great movie? Because it got there first. Or at least one of the first. And it isn't morally two-dimensional. The alien isn't explicitly evil and the humans aren't clearly good.

It should be pointed out that this movie was one of the ones that lead to the subsequent "UFO" hysteria of 1952. Co-incidence? I think not.

A dying planet, turning to ice, is coming towards Earth at a steady pace(thanks to "scientific degravitation" which was used to deviate the alien planet from it's natural orbit)and Professor Elliot(Raymond Bond)informs a reporter pal, John Lawrence(Robert Clarke)of it's existence. Setting his lab in an old castle on a Scottish fishing village, Burry(..this location is where the alien planet will come to the closest), Elliot's daughter Enid(Margaret Field)and John discover as they are walking the moors a "magnetically powered range finder"(..used to determine the composition of the Earth's atmosphere)whose metal is quite a find for science. Then that very night, after taking John to a little inn, Enid's car blows a tire...walking the moors she discovers a flashing light which soon unveils an alien space vessel, a one-bodied vehicle(..carrying the appearance of a silver ball with a cone-shaped top) carrying a large-headed alien with an elongated face. Running for home, she informs her father and his associate, a rejected scientist recently released from prison, Dr. Mears(character actor William Schallert)of what she found. The professor, at first, has a hard time swallowing her outrageous story until finding the space vessel himself. A ray from the vessel beams upon the professor's eyes rendering him an object of servitude which would point out an ability this alien has at commanding humans to do it's bidding, forced against their will. But, at first, the alien seems to desire communication, particularly when the professor saves it from dying after a malfunction on it's suit(..and not being able to reach it's own "oxygen" gage which feeds it the air it breathes). But, Dr. Mears has plans to use the alien to benefit his diabolical schemes at global power, and shutting a good deal of his air supply while the others are away(..as a means to control the alien)angers the creature who gets away, capturing Enid and subsequently kidnapping citizens of Burry by using it's powerful ray to submit their will. Using the controlled humans at his disposal the alien is setting up a wireless directional beam to his approaching planet who plan to launch an invasion. With Professor Elliot, daughter Enid, and Mears all under the alien's command, John will seek aid from Tommy(Roy Engel), the village constable whose also worried about his citizens, those being captured and the terrified families. Calling in Scotland Yard detectives, using a long-shot form of communication, they will have to move quickly before the planet gets to Earth by Midnight or else the people of Earth face grave danger.

Edgar G Ulmer uses everything at his disposal to make this modest little sci-fi chiller. Sets, models, matte paintings, a grotesque alien mask for the creature in a full bodied suit, a unique little alien ship, effective fog machines which give the moors a creepiness and atmosphere, and Ulmer, of course, brings his noirish background in photographing the film rather beautifully(..the way Ulmer shadows his characters and how he photographs them at night). If you are gonna make a low budget sci-fi effort, then Ulmer, a true artist, is the director to call on. But, the film is intelligent enough with characters who seem reasonably realistic. The alien threat/mystery(..what are the alien's initial motivations before and after Mears makes a decision to threaten it's life?)and approaching planet which possibly threatens the atmospheric nature of the Earth if it gets too close, truly gives the film a leg to stand on and the B-movie cast(..what you might find in a 40's Universal horror flick)are top-notch. The film doesn't overstay it's welcome and thanks to Ulmer, the budget he saddled with doesn't distract because he's able to create through the use of his skills a real plausible world for which the story takes place. This is a sleeper worth checking out if you are into these sci-fi "potential alien threat" creature feature flicks. I respect Ulmer more for being able to succeed while being so financially strapped.

Edgar Ulmer was an absolute master of turning sow's ears into ,if not silk purses,at least something sturdily functional.Consider his masterpiece "Detour"--a cast not overburdened with either charisma or even basic competence,sparse sets and a perfunctory running time,The result? a brilliant,and disorienting movie,"The Man From Planet X"has a similar zero talent cast,phoney fog shrouded Scottish moorland setting and dialogue that might well ave been devised by a blindfolded monkey with a typewriter from which several keys are missing.Result? an odd and compelling little picture about alien contact that stands up well against other pictures from its era.

A rogue planet is about to crash into earth and brilliant professor Field,his daughter Enid and power crazes assistant Dr Mears are joined in their remote Scottish observatory by ace American reporter John Lawrence.Enter a somewhat whey faced alien who Mears wishes to exploit for commercial gain.Said alien can turn people into zombiefied creatures to do his bidding

Who will triumph in the end? Watch and find out-its 70 minutes reasonably well spent if you can tolerate cliche ,bad acting and stereotypical characterisation(not to mention some highly dubious Scottish accents)The quality of direction from a Poverty Roe specialist makes it all curiously watchable

My fascination with "The Man From Planet X" goes right back to my childhood when I saw stills of the gnome-like "Man"; he didn't look threatening, but he didn't look entirely friendly, either. Now I've finally seen the film, courtesy of MGM's Midnight Movies DVD, and I wasn't disappointed. Clearly produced on half a shoestring, director Edgar G. Ulmer overcomes budgetary deficits with dazzling creativity and a strong focus on the characters. There is a truly unsettling scene where the alien visitor is being questioned and examined by William Schallert. All of a sudden, the evil Schallert attacks the poor alien, totally destroying any trust the creature may have been feeling. It's a very effective piece of drama that made me feel very sorry for the tiny visitor from a rogue planet. The film is a little slow at times, and it doesn't always make sense, but it has enormous heart, and it has atmosphere aplenty. The original poster, reprinted in miniature on the back of the DVD cover, is a classic of the genre.

I saw this film with a couple of friends of mine who are SF buffs, working their way (chronologically) through the history of films with SF and fantasy elements. It was a pleasant surprise to see something this good from Ulmer, since my previous experience with him was a snoozer called "The Amazing Transparent Man".

Among its strong points were nice moody lighting, some very nice camera work and cinematography, some snappy acting from the lead actor (Clark) and the scientist and the bad guy (much better than a film with this kind of budget can usually hope for) and some nice use of design and well crafted effects to overcome a tiny budget. I was especially impressed by the fact that the opening scenes, where the hero and the professor have to wade though a ton of exposition, are still pretty engaging and interesting. The alien is a nice example of "less" being more - the huge head, the sketched-in features, the glass bubble helmet and the diminutive body all make for a striking image that goes a long way toward helping the viewer get into the film. So why only a "6"? (Well, it's a "strong" 6). Well, the screen play kind of loses steam right after the plot point where the alien disappears from the castle , apparently taking the heroine with him.

After a nice tight piece of ensemble acting with the five principals (if you count the alien), suddenly the movie is filled with a bunch of villager and extras argy-bargying around in bad Scottish accents, and the hero KNOWs where the alien is (back in his ship) and he KNOWS where the girl is (with the alien), but the hero just sort of sits and watches the crashed alien craft without taking any action. He talks a lot about the situation with the local sheriff. This goes on for way too long. There's also a sub plot about villagers being abducted which isn't quite convincing. And then via deus ex machina, Scotland Yard shows up and takes things in hand, and while things improve after that, the momentum and interest generated by the first half are never quite regained.

But the wind up isn't all that bad, even if it is somewhat abrupt.

I wouldn't recommend "Man" for anyone who isn't a big fan of old time SF films, but anyone who loves them will find a lot to enjoy in spite of the problems.

"The Man of Planet X" (1951 - 70 minutes), is a delicious cult of science fiction directed by Edgar G. Ulmer from the story of Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen, and with the main actors: Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Raymond Bond and William Schallert. Professor Elliot (Raymond Bond) works in an observatory in the Scottish island of Burray and discovers a new planet in the Solar System, Planet "X". The route of the enigmatic celestial body will pass quite near the planet Earth. John Lawrence (Robert Clarke), an American journalist friend of Elliot, goes to the island to get information about the unusual fact and finds Dr. Mears there (William Schallert), an unscrupulous scientist and his disaffection. The professor Elliot's daughter, Eunid (Margaret Field), is the first one to see a stranger alien spaceship and its occupant, after having her car damaged in a road with much fog, at night. The mysterious space traveler makes contact with professor Elliot and his friends and will use a device to control their minds. Is the visitor friendly? What are his intentions? What is his relationship with Planet "X"?

My choice for a summary line was a toss up between the above and newspaperman John Lawrence's comment to a local constable - "Believe me man, we're in trouble". I found the dialog to improve considerably in the second half when the British authorities came on the scene and delivered their distinctive brand of local colloquialisms. I just about rolled on the floor when the conversation turned to 'boogeys'; I didn't quite know what to make of all that.

Well this might not be one of the best outer space flicks coming out of the Fifties, but it was one of the first and had it's cool share of scientific gobbledy-gook to keep one invested in the story. Of note was the specific gravity of the space object discovered by Lawrence and Enid Elliott (Margaret Field), one-fifth that of steel making it incredibly strong but with tremendous tensile strength. The space creature's first appearance is also a neat shocker if you're not expecting it, sending Miss Elliott into screaming fits as she dashed across the Scottish countryside.

Shot on a virtual shoestring budget in only six days, the set used by director Edgar Ulmer was a hold over from the 1948 Ingrid Bergman film "Joan of Arc". Economizing even further, Ulmer capitalized on additional use of fog to fill in the spaces where there was no set. Considering the obstacles, Ulmer wound up with a product that's not nearly as cheesy as it could have been. The picture even poses a thoughtful question for the viewer to consider after the alien sphere is obliterated and the threatening planet zooms away - was the coming alien invasion a blessing or a curse?

For all that, it was many years after the picture's release that the actor who portrayed the alien was even revealed for his role in the picture. Not only was Pat Goldin uncredited, he wasn't even paid!, according to Turner Classic Movie commentator Ben Mankiewicz. I wonder how many times he had to get in and out of that space suit.

Shot in less than a week in late 1950 for just 41,000 dollars, this managed to beat THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951) to theaters by a solid month, making it one of the very first films about alien invaders landing on Earth (something previously seen only in a couple of serials). Los Angeles reporter John Lawrence (Robert Clarke) gets wind of some strange astronomical phenomena and promptly heads to a barely-populated island off the coast of Scotland to further investigate matters. There, he meets up with Professor Elliot (Raymond Bond), who has recently discovered that a new planet he's dubbed "Planet X" has entered our galaxy and is slowly heading toward the Earth. Though it isn't expected to actually collide with our planet nor will it become visible to the naked eye, it will be getting close enough to study and could possibly effect weather patterns. What no one anticipates is an entirely different and possibly catastrophic threat.

John arrives on the island, is introduced to Elliot's friendly daughter / obligatory love interest Enid (Margaret Elliot) and the scientist's nosy, sketchy assistant Dr. Mears (William Schallert) and then heads to an inn for the night. After dropping him off, Enid's car breaks down on the trip back, forcing her to walk. She sees a glowing light, discovers a fallen spacecraft and briefly sees an alien visitor through a window. Initially skeptical of her story, the Professor and John go back to the ship the following day and indeed see the alien. Because they show signs of kindness toward it, it follows them back home like a stray puppy. Dr. Mears devises a way to communicate with the visitor using math formulas, but since he's really only interested in making money, he roughs up the alien after he gets the information he's looking for. The alien decides to strike back; turning villagers into mindless slaves to help him build a "wireless directional beam" as he stages a full-scale takeover.

This is neither the best nor the worst that 50s sci-fi has to offer but it's certainly watchable, especially considering it was shot in just 6 days for peanuts. Veteran 'B' movie director Ulmer (best known for the Karloff / Lugosi horror classic THE BLACK CAT [1934] and the excellent noir DETOUR [1945]) was quite used to working with limited funds so he's able to stretch the budget about as far as it can go and creates a wonderfully moody and foggy rural atmosphere in the process. Also helping to curb major costs was the availability of sets left over from the big budget Oscar-winning JOAN OF ARC (1948). The design of the spaceship (which looks like a sphere with a giant silver ice cream cone on top) and the alien itself (which has a squinty-eyed, completely immobile sourpuss putty face) are less impressive, but typical of the time and really shouldn't bother anyone already accustomed to 50s sci-fi flicks.

One of the things I liked most about this one is that we're never sure what the aliens' true intentions are. The alien scout seems friendly at first and possibly would have peacefully cooperated with humans to work out a solution to their problem if it hadn't been needlessly attacked. Then again, its initial demeanor could have just been a facade to trick the characters when it had malicious plans all along: "X" is revealed to be a dying planet that will soon be covered with ice so the alien race are desperate for a new home. We are never told one way or another but I personally like to think it's the former since the alien very easily could have used its slave ray gun on the characters early on, yet doesn't show any signs of hostility until it is provoked by Dr. Mears.

American character actor and sci-fi regular Roy Engel (sporting a good Scottish accent) plays a small supporting role as a local constable. Clarke, Field and Schallert all returned the following year in a loose follow-up companion film titled CAPTIVE WOMEN (1952, aka "1000 Years from Now"), which had the same writer / producers (Jack Pollexfen and Aubrey Wisberg) but was made for a different production company by a different director.

The Man From Planet X (1951)

** (out of 4)

Early invasion film from director Edgar G. Ulmer is somewhat better than it probably should be but it's certainly no classic. A Scottish community is shaken when a UFO lands and a weird looking alien is found. It seems the alien comes in peace but no one is certain why he's there and things take a turn when one scientist goes to abuse him for knowledge. THE MAN FROM PLANET X suffers from a very low-budget that doesn't allow it to do much but as is usually the case, the director manages to add a little more style thanks to some creativity. I think the best thing about the film is the actual look of the picture. The setting is a very small town and I thought Ulmer managed to build up a nice atmosphere. The fog machine he bought was obviously extremely good as there's all sorts of thick fog running throughout the film. I thought this helped give it a pretty good look but of course it also covers up some of the limitations of the budget. The actual alien is hotly debated among sci-fi fans but I personally liked it. Yes, it looks cheap but at the same time the motion-less face was actually quite creepy and there's no question that it's original looking. I also enjoyed the cast with Robert Clarke doing a nice job in the lead. He was in several of these low budget movies and I've always enjoyed him as an actor. Margaret Field, Raymond Bond and William Schallert are good as well. The biggest problem is that there's really not too much that happens. The majority of the film is taken up with dialogue with people talking about everything that's happening instead of the viewer actually seeing very much of it. This was often the case with films like this and thankfully this here only runs 70-minutes. THE MAN FROM PLANET X isn't a classic by any stretch of the imagination but fans of the genre should get a few kicks out of it.

As a mysterious planet hurls itself toward earth, an enigmatic extraterrestrial scout arrives on a remote Scottish island with unknown intentions.

Edgar Ulmer is not a well-known director. Horror fans may know his "Black Cat", and science fiction fans may know him for this film. But, largely, I think he has been forgotten. And that is a shame because these two films alone make for a solid legacy.

Ulmer did set design for Max Reinhardt's theater, served his apprenticeship with F. W. Murnau, and worked with directors including Robert Siodmak, Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann and cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan. His work is forgotten but he was a crucial piece of the early German-American film.

Sure, "Planet X" is cheesy. Yes, the camera likes to sit behind trees, and it is odd how Dr. Mears is able to walk five feet behind others without being noticed. And sure, they barely spent a penny by re0using the sets of other films. And yes, yes, the Scottish constable is a silly ethnic stereotype. All these things are true. But that is the charm.

This film excels because it embraces its cheese and runs with it. Could planets really come that close to earth? Obviously not. And no film would attempt that stunt today. But this was an era when science did not need to be in science fiction to be good. The world was less cynical and more relaxed. Enjoy!

"The Man from Planet X" is routine overall, but it has a reasonably interesting concept - that of a wandering planet that has left its orbit - and has enough heavy atmosphere to make it an entertaining view. Said planet will come closest to Earth around the area of an island off the Scottish coast. Soon the locals realize that a representative of an alien intelligence has landed. The amusing looking creature seems to be harmless at first, but when ambitious and greedy scientist Dr. Mears (the solid veteran character actor William Schallert) starts bullying the creature into giving him information, it changes its mind and gets hostile, turning Mears and others into zombie slaves. It's up to intrepid American reporter John Lawrence (Robert Clarke) to figure out a way to stop an invasion from taking place, and to get word to the authorities.

B movie perennials Clarke and director Edgar G. Ulmer are in fine form here; Ulmer did a fine job of working his way around the low, low budgets of his films. Here he has the crew add fog to the sets of the Ingrid Bergman film "Joan of Arc" to create an eerie feel. There's a minimum of characters until the climax when citizens are mobilized against the menace; until then there's a rather intimate feel to the proceedings, and the pacing is deliberate, with a focus on mood and feel rather than action.

The acting is sincere from all concerned, with Clarke a likable, low key leading man, and lovely Margaret Field (mother of Sally Field) an appealing leading lady. Schallert is malevolent fun as the self centered Mears; other nice characterizations are by Raymond Bond as eminent scientist Professor Elliot and Roy Engel as Tommy the Constable. Clocking in at a trim 71 minutes, "The Man from Planet X", written and produced by Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen, is a good if not great little film worth a look for genre buffs.

Seven out of 10.

Stephen Spielberg claimed Ulmer's movie's influence for his celebrated E.T. Enid and her father's surname is Elliot and the young hero of the eighties blockbuster is none other than Elliott.Coincidence?

Made on a shoestring budget in six days in the settings of a movie telling the story of France's most famous heroine,"man from planet X" does predate E.T.; more than 30 years before ,the message is the same :in 1951,Ulmer broke with old habits that made the creatures from outer space scary monsters Our X man is alone,he is afraid,his face is some kind of inscrutable mask (or some kind of Pinocchio-like puppet or some kind of wistful clown);they did not have Carlo Rambaldi's technical abilities,then).The human beings (or at least Mears and the military men) are considered the bandits or the Indians in bad westerns ;the hero and miss Elliot play the same part as Elliott,but unlike SS,no happy end here.Geometry (and maths in general) could have been an ideal way to communicate;in " Contact" ,"they " used the prime numbers).Enid's last line hints at a missed opportunity.

The Man From Planet X is one of several excellent sci-fi movies made in 1951. Others include When Worlds Collide and The Day The Earth Stood Still.

In this one, a single alien lands his spaceship on an isolated Scottish moor on an island. He needs help to repair it but in the end after brainwashing several locals, the military blow him up just as Planet X passes close to Earth.

The foggy moor makes this movie eerie and atmospheric. The score is quite good too. The cast includes Robert Clarke (The Hideous Sun Demon)as a reporter who is sent from America to investigate the strange happenings on the moor.

I found this movie very enjoyable and is worth watching if you get the chance.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

The Man from Planet X (1951)

Edgar G. Ulmer is one of those B-movie directors who has a bit of a fan club based on a couple of key films--in this case "The Black Cat" and "Detour." Both are great--unqualified, compromised, odd, vaguely daring, and vaguely cheap.

I wish I could say the same for this one. This just looks like a step, or half a step, above "Plan 9" and that ilk. The acting ebbs and flows, the props are embarrassingly cheesy, and the plot is plain old simplistic and dumb. Of course, that's giving it no credit for pushing some boundaries the way Jules Verne did in fiction, because "Planet X" is an early space film. It's set on earth, but it deals with that big one--what if an alien lands. In fact, it isn't that far off from Ed Wood's "Plan 9 from Outer Space," which came out 7 years later. So Ulmer is cutting edge! But wait, what about "The Day the Earth Stood Still," which for all its cheapness is totally fabulous, and came out in that same year, indeed six months earlier, in the summer of 1951? Yes, something was in the air.

There's no sense dissecting this film, but just be warned it's not a high quality flick, and as a cult flick it lacks some of the idiosyncrasies and brazen edges of a film like "Detour," which is a paradigm of great and awful B-movie ingenuity.