3 on 3: Science Fiction Films of the 1950s

Three film experts. Three questions. One topic. That's the idea behind the Cafe's 3 on 3 discussion panels. This month's topic is a personal favorite: the classic science fiction films of the 1950s. To answer our three questions, we chose a trio of big brains (hey, it goes with the sci fi theme): the classic film blog Grand Old Movies; Tom, who just launched his new blog The Old Movie House; and Chris Cummins from MovieFanFare. Just click on the blog titles to visit any of these marvelous movie sites.

1. In literature, authors sometimes use science fiction to reflect on contemporary issues. Can the same be said of science fiction filmmakers in the 1950s? If so, what kinds of issues influenced their films?

Klaatu warns Earth in The Day
the Earth Stood Still.

Grand Old Movies: Hollywood's 1950s sci-fi films definitely commented on then-current events, beginning with 1951's The Day The Earth Stood Still, which is very much a warning against nuclear-arms proliferation. Many other sci-fi films, of course, reflected Cold-War terrors (e.g., Invasion of the Body Snatchers, It Came From Outer Space). The question may be why such a trend in science-fiction films began in the 1950s (some earlier exceptions, such as H.G. Wells' 1936 Things To Come, also reflect on contemporary history; for Wells, it was an anti-war message in the post-WWI world). It could be because major sci-fi writers with a finger on the pulse, such as Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson, were either writing for movies or having their works adapted. But I think there was a sense in America not only of its post-WW2 global importance but of having crossed a boundary---post-Hiroshima, we now possessed the capacity literally to destroy the world, and that anxiety permeated many aspects of culture, including films. Plus sci-fi is a genre that, by its speculative, fantastic nature, allows you to express abstractions as concrete metaphors. Forbidden Planet, for instance, gives us the 'Id Monster,' a literal symbol of humankind's unconscious, violent impulses gone out of control. Because the story is on another planet, thousands of years in the future, the filmmakers can embody this concept in a 'physical' form. And I would throw in the competition with that Hollywood hobgoblin, television. One way to drag people out of their living rooms and back into movie theaters is to tell them something about themselves, about what they're experiencing. And sci-fi tries to do that.

One fascinating aspect of how 50s sci-fi flicks reflect social attitudes is how they also anticipate issues that would later become prominent---one being feminism. Many of these films have strong female characters, who are often professionals: Women who are not just wives and mothers, and are not working as secretaries, but are frequently scientists and doctors. Faith Domergue in This Island Earth is a major example. Even Zsa Zsa Gabor in Queen of Outer Space is a scientist! She's working in a lab outfitted in an evening gown and high heels; later, she leads the revolution decked in gold lamé and an Uzi. You can't get more progressive than that!

Grant Williams and former pet in The
Incredible Shrinking Man.

Tom: In answer to the first question I would say the underlying theme of movies of the fifties, specifically science fiction films, I’d say was fear. Fear of the unknown. Atomic energy was an unknown. No one truly understood it, not even the people who created the bomb. The scientists thought it might do this, and it might do that. But nobody knew for sure. In the science fiction films of the fifties it was thought atomic energy could and would create horrible mutations. Gigantic animals, insects, and people were everywhere. The engine that powered the spaceship in the film The Day The Earth Stood Still was powered by atomic energy. At the opposite end of the spectrum people shrank as demonstrated in the film The Incredible Shrinking Man and in the film Dr. Cyclops. All because of an energy source many feared, and few understood.

Chris: I personally wasn't around back then, but it's clear to me that the era's problems were frequently reflected in popular entertainment of the day. From the subtextual exploration of McCarthyism in Invasion of the Snatchers to how films like Them! commented on atomic age fears, sci-fi was the genre that was consistently commenting on real world issues.


2. In terms of impact on the genre, what's the most influential science fiction film of the 1950s?

Dana Wynter and Kevin McCarthy
discover pods in Invasion.

Grand Old Movies: Most influential is Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). It not only is a concentrated example of 1950s anxieties, but its paranoia narrative has shaped so many sci-fi films, even today (e.g., Contagion). Pauline Kael once noted about Invasion that its premise, of people transformed into pods, reflected the fear that "people are turning into vegetables." What Invasion does, as cited in my earlier point, was to take a metaphor and make it concrete---the idea that we are losing our humanity and are becoming unfeeling automatons. What's also striking about Invasion is how viewers argue whether it's a warning against Communism or against McCarthyism. The movie seems able to embrace both sides of the question. Some viewers might think this a weakness, but I think it adds to the film's richness. By, in effect, reflecting multiple anxieties, the film becomes more central, both to 50s sci-fi and to our ongoing concerns about who we are as social beings.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms was
a surprise boxoffice hit.

Tom: In terms of a specific film having the most impact you have to ask yourself: "How shall I answer this?" For simple economic impact the answer is The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. It made over five million dollars between the date of is release, June 13, 1953 and Labour Day 1953. From an intellectual point I think the film that had the most far reaching impact is the original 1951 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still. It not only entertained, it actually made people pause, and think. For once the aliens didn’t have to have scales and two heads. Because of that film people started, albeit very slowly, thinking that a unfriendly neighbour might look just like them. The film with the greatest legacy is The Day the Earth Stood Still. It’s regarded by the American Film Institute as one the most important science fiction films ever made.

Chris: My pick would be The Day the Earth Stood Still, which remains the most exciting--and ultimately human--cautionary tales of the era.


3. What would you rank as the three best science fiction films of the 1950s and the single most underrated one?

Alien spaceships from The War
of the Worlds.

Grand Old Movies: My three best are Invasion of the Body Snatchers, War of the Worlds (1953), and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). I've outlined my argument about Invasion above, in the 2nd question. War of the Worlds has been one of my favorites since I was a child---it's exciting, well-done, with great effects; the interest never lags. And it also, if I may dare say it, gives a sense of Higher Meaning---that human beings are linked to a greater power. The film's concluding line, how the smallest things "which God has put on this earth" defeat the Martians, is in the original Wells novel, but it's not central there; Wells pretty much tosses the line away. George Pal, however, concluded his film with the line, and gave it a much different emphasis. The same with Shrinking Man, which ends, quite movingly, I think, with the observation on how the infinite meets the infinitesimal---and that in the eyes of the Infinite, there is no zero. I haven't read Richard Matheson's novel, but I understand he does not conclude with such an observation; it was added by the director Jack Arnold. It does alter the film toward a different reading. Plus, Shrinking Man is an excellently done movie. It's another metaphor made concrete---the question of how important are our small selves in the vast scheme of the universe. And the last third of the story, in which the hero in his vastly reduced state must confront the terrors of his own basement, is terrific. His battle with the spider appoaches the mythic---ironically, you have to shrink the protagonist in order to arrange a combat with a monster that recalls such myths as Theseus and the Minotaur. It's a brilliant switch.

For underrated, my pick is Invaders From Mars (1953). Again, it's another old favorite of mine. I love its child-point-of-view narrative, how everything is told through the little boy's comprehension. That makes events more chilling, as when the parents become inexplicably cold and angry. The set design reflects this beautifully, particularly that all-white police station with its vertiginous, non-ending corridors. And the film's starting-all-over-again ending is unusual. Plus, frankly, what's not to like about that tentacled Head in a bubble!

Tom: The three best of the genre appeared at the beginning of the decade. First out of the gate was Destination Moon. Strange as it may seem they got many of the details right. Filmmakers later in the decade didn’t care, as long their pockets books were filled. The Thing from Another World would be my second choice as one the best sci-fi films of the fifties. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms would round out my choices. For the simple reason it showed what you could do with film, and that I enjoyed it. I think the most underrated film of the fifties was Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers. It was an ok film, but I think it could have been better.

Chris: (3) The Thing from Another World; (2) The War of the Worlds; (1) The Day the Earth Stood Still. As for the most underrated, I really have a soft spot for Invasion of the Saucer-Men. It's an incredibly fun romp that is highlighted by some truly great creature design.