20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH

The little Ymir with Joan Taylor and Frank Puglia

20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957). Director: Nathan Juran. 

An expedition from Venus crash lands on earth off the coast of Sicily and dislodges a life form indigenous to that planet, a tiny lizard-like creature with claws and a tail, and a taste for sulfur. Exposed to our environment, the creature quickly grows larger and larger until it is captured, then escapes from a lab to wreak havoc in Rome. The expedition's only survivor, Colonel Robert Calder (William Hopper), sets out to re-capture or kill the beast, although he hopes it can be studied so that future astronauts can survive Venus' deadly environment. 

The Venusian beast advances ... 

20 Million Miles to Earth is special effects man Ray Harryhausen's show all the way, as the lively and well-animated stop-motion monster is the true star of the movie and gets a great deal of footage. Its battle with a dog and a farmer in a barn is notable, as is its escape from the lab in Rome, its fight with an angry elephant, and its exciting and destructive pathway through Rome. The film makes very good use of such locations as the Coliseum, which figures in the finale. 

The ymir gets real big 

While this doesn't diminish the film's entertainment value very much, one might wish it had a better score, and that William Hopper -- although he was fine as Paul Drake on Perry Mason -- was a bit more interesting and dramatic as the leading man. As the female lead, a budding lady doctor named Marisa, Joan Taylor is a bit more peppery. Perhaps the acting honors should go to Frank Puglia, who plays her zoologist grandfather, and to little Bart Braverman as Pepe, who finds the creature when it is still inside its gelatinous sheath, and gets enough money from Marisa's grandpop to buy himself a cowboy hat. Don Orlando also makes an impression as Pepe's father, Mondello. Thomas Browne Henry is on hand as a major-general. If you missed Arthur Space it's probably because he plays a doctor on the expedition who has a disfiguring disease and dies early on in the story. 

Ymir vs elephant

At one point a scientist explains that the beast from Venus has no heart or lungs, but there is no explanation for why it appears to be clearly breathing with its chest rising and falling. One supposes it has a completely different inner structure. Ray Harryhausen, who has a silent cameo in the film, always referred to the Venusian monster as a "ymir," although it is never referred to that way in the film. I watched the colorized, remastered version of the movie, and I must say it was a treat to see it in that format. 

Verdict: Monster vs Rome with the Army intervening. ***. 

GIRLS IN PRISON

Joan Taylor

GIRLS IN PRISON (1956). Director: Edward L. Cahn. 

Anne Carson (Joan Taylor) is incarcerated in a woman's prison after being convicted of robbery, although she claims she didn't know that the two men she was with were going to commit a crime. She also claims that she has no idea where the money is, a notion that doesn't sit well with fellow inmates Jenny (Adele Jergens), Melanie (Helen Gilbert), and others. Paul Anderson (Lance Fuller of This Island Earth) goes to see Anne's crusty pop (Raymond Hatton) and the two try to find the stolen money. The prison chaplain, Reverend Fulton (Richard Denning), believes that Anne should be transferred to a prison farm where things will be easier for her, but then an earthquake and a prison break -- not to mention a run for the money -- changes the scenario dramatically, 

Taylor and Jergens on the run

Girls in Prison is a lively, engaging "chicks-in-stir" movie and it's one of the better ones. The prolific Edward L. Cahn also turns in one of his best directorial jobs and the picture moves at a swift, exciting pace. Joan Taylor of Earth vs the Flying Saucers is effective in a sort-of bad girl persona, Denning is typically professional and blandly pious, but of the jailed ladies Adele Jergens gets the acting honors with her vivid portrayal of Jenny; Jergens keeps you guessing as to which side she will ultimately be on. Jane Darwell also makes an impression as the unsentimental but sympathetic wardress. Raymond Hatton nearly steals the movie as Pop Carson, always complaining of assorted trials and tribulations while also hoping he can get his hands on some money. 

Richard Denning

Helen Gilbert scores as Melanie, but the rather obvious hints at her sexuality go unexplored. Phyllis Coates is fine as another inmate who murdered her cheating husband and still thinks her little boy is alive. Laurie Mitchell of Queen of Outer Space has a small role as another nasty inmate. The earthquake sequence is handled quite well on a limited budget, and Ronald Stein's score effectively underlines the busy action. The slight touches of religiosity are silly but brief. Cahn also directed the similar Betrayed Women the previous year. This is not to be confused with the inferior Women's Prison also made the previous year. Girls on the Loose, directed by Paul Henreid, is another entertaining flick about an all-girl gang. 

Verdict: Zesty B movie is well-acted and a lot of fun. ***. 

EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS

Curtis, Marlowe, Taylor and Blake 

EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956). Director: Fred F. Sears. NOTE: This is the colorized version.

"When an armed and threatening power lands at the steps of our capital, we don't greet them with tea and cookies!" -- Adm . Enright

Scientist Russell Marvin (Hugh Marlowe) and his wife, Carol (Joan Taylor of 20 Million Miles to Earth), encounter a flying saucer while driving to his office at Operation: Shyhook, where rockets are being blown out of the sky. Russ can't figure out how the aliens are communicating with him, so he misses a message about their arriving at the base. Stupidly, armed forces start firing at the aliens when they land, but it wouldn't have made much difference, as these representatives of a dying universe are here to take the earth for themselves no matter what. Now it's up to Russ to come up with a weapon that can bring the multitude of saucers crashing down before they can destroy Washington, D.C. and before their disintegrator beams can destroy him and the weapons.

Russ and Carol enter the main saucer

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is a fun if minor sci fi movie distinguished by some very good Ray Harryhausen effects. Though the FX genius couldn't add too much personality to these saucers as he could living animals, the UFOs still perform quite well, and the other effects are generally okay considering the very low budget -- an entry foyer into one of the spaceships actually rattles as the characters step into it. The sound effects are unnerving and creepy, however. 

Morris Ankrum

Marlowe and Taylor offer professional performances, and the latter is able to summon up the necessary emotion when required. Morris Ankrum [Beginning of the End] is notable as Carol's father, who comes to a bad end, and there are also appearances by Thomas Browne Henry as an Admiral who's itching to fight the nasty aliens; Donald Curtis as a Major who tries to assist Russ and his wife; Harry Lauter as a technician working with Russ; and Larry J. Blake as an ill-fated motorcycle cop. Curtis and Lauter were both in Harryhuasen's It Came from Beneath the Sea. 

The saucers invade Washington, D.C.!

For me the biggest problem with the movie is that not one of the many characters ever register the slightest awe or sense of wonder at the fact that aliens from a faraway world even exist, let alone that they've come to earth. (This was also a problem with the much later alien invasion movie Independence Day). You'd think this sort of thing happened every day. Russ and Carol at least seem a bit amazed and frightened when they first spot the saucer, but that aspect is quickly jettisoned. The whole movie is on the intellectual level of a cliffhanger serial along the lines of King of the Rocket Men. Just as Universal used the same music cues in its sci fi movies over and over again, Columbia studios did the same thing in its sci fi films, so the score for this is very familiar. Fred F. Sears' direction is totally routine.

Verdict: Not quite a fifties sci fi classic but entertaining on its own terms. **3/4.