More of the Best 1950s Science Fiction Movies

The science fiction movies of the 1950s were strongly influenced by the paranoia of the Nuclear Age, the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union, or by the fears of the unknown. The special effects in these movies might not always have been good, and the acting often left something to be desired, but the stories that they told were often good tales that reflected the feelings of that decade.

Big Green Men: Invaders from Mars (1953)

• Director: William Cameron Menzies
• Cast: Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Jimmy Hunt, Leif Erickson, Hillary Brooke
• Source Material: Original screenplay by John Tucker Battle and Richard Blake
• Synopsis: A young boy (Hunt) witnesses the landing of a flying saucer near his home. Over the next few hours, he discovers that his parents (Erickson, Brooke) and other adults have been transformed from loving, caring people into often angry, but otherwise unfeeling, individuals. A twist at the end leaves the viewer wondering if it was all a dream or not.

Director Menzies was a veteran art and production designer who used his imagination to create some outstanding moments in this film. Many of the scenes, particularly the one in a police station where the young boy goes for help, have a definite feel of German Impressionism.

Also, the scenes of people temporarily disappearing into the sand and the revelation of the “brain” behind the invasion are quite spooky. Only the green “Martian” humanoids leave something to be desired.

For most, this movie is an alien invasion and/or anti-Red Menace story, but others have seen additional themes. C. J. Henderson in his The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies also sees it as an allegory of a young person passing from childhood to puberty with its accompanying fears and insecurities.

The Non-Big Green Men: War of the Worlds (1953)

• Director: Byron Haskin
• Cast: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne, Robert Cornthwaite
• Source Material: Loosely based on the novel of the same name by H.G. Wells
• Synopsis: Wells’ indictment of Western colonialism disguised as science fiction and set in Victorian England was transformed into an alien invasion film with religious undertones and moved to California in the 1950s. Martians invade the Earth and the world’s population appears helpless against the invaders’ flying saucers and death rays.

The movie’s special effects, guided by producer George Pal, won an Oscar at the 1954 ceremonies. Although not up to today’s standards (wires can be seen at times supporting the saucers), they were the state of the art at that time and, overall, are still impressive today.

Memorable scenes include: The opening of the Martian “rocket;“ the massacre of the white flag bearers; the young couple (Barry, Robinson) trapped in a demolished house while a Martian roams about; and, the ending sequences when the invaders are killed.

Seen by some critics at the that time, and since, as reflecting the conflict between the West and the Soviet Union, the film saw three remakes in 2005, one of them by Steven Spielberg. In the Spielberg version, Barry and Robinson make a brief appearance as Tom Cruise’s in-laws.

Homegrown Creatures: Them! (1954)

• Director: Gordon Douglas
• Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness
• Source Material: From an original story idea by George Yates
• Synopsis: Atomic testing in the New Mexico desert has created a nest of giant ants. A highway patrolman (Whitmore) and a FBI agent (Arness), aided by a scientist (Gwenn) and his daughter (Weldon), find and destroy the nest only to discover that two queens have escaped. A hunt to find them and their nests before they destroy the world leads to a final confrontation in the Los Angeles sewers.

This is one of the best science fiction movies of the 1950s. It has strong characters, the overall acting is good, the script is well-written, and its anti-nuclear theme is subtle. True, the special effects in this movie are not great. In fact, the opening scenes in the desert when the ants are heard, but not seen, are scarier than the actual revealing of the creatures. But, that doesn’t really matter since the strength of the film is in its story.

Related articles: Sci-Fic Movies from the Early 1950s, Sci-Fic Movies From the Later 1950s.

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