Stranger from Venus (1954)

Excellent, a Must See

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

An Exercise In Nonsense

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Aliens seem to have two things in mind when they drop in on planet Earth, subjugating the natives or enlightening them. In this dull tale its the latter.Every expense is spared so don't expect eight-tentacled, six-eyed, poison-spewing monsters. What you get instead is a human-shaped man who is shot from behind for the first ten minutes of the film in a desperate attempt to generate a little suspense. From behind he resembles one of Kraftwerk. Obviously he has no shocking features otherwise those who see him face on would have emitted screams or fainted. The story plods on taking in a hint of inter-species relations, miracle healing and betrayal until it reaches a "dramatic" finale with an appearance of an alien spaceship borrowing its design from a dinner plate.

Yes, there is a stranger from Venus, played by the dashing Helmut Dantine. He indicates that Venus is the earthly name for his planet, preparing for the arrival of others from his home. He warns that earth itself is like the unruly younger brother which needs to be disciplined and educated in the dangers of the progression of nuclear power and other energies. All interesting to read about in a science fiction short story, and already explored in much better science fiction films, most obviously "The Day the Earth Stood Still". The presence of Patricia Neal adds to the obvious connection between the two films, but a good majority of the film is just chat, constant and boring.Is this supposed to be a science fiction analogy of what the world is doing wrong in its attempts to keep peace? If so, it never goes past what could have been explained in a 10 minute educational short, adding a romance in between Neal and Dantine. Best known for his roles as Nazi soldiers in propaganda films of World War II, he gives a very good performance, passionate in an otherwise lifeless film. Neal, with her strong eye expressions, is hard to resist, but her presence only explodes the idea of why this has failed to be nearly as stunning as "The Day the Earth Stood Still". The rest of the cast is rounded out with some of England's finest character performers, but the laziness of an un-intriguing film takes away any real impact that it could have had. Desperate attempts to bring in some last minute suspense seems to be too little, too late.

I'm always amazed at how emotion some people get. This movie (which few if any people have heard of) is a neat little slice of life thing. Once again Patricia Neal is paired up with an alien who looks more Aryan than Venutian. Once again, he holds the power to do great harm to the earth unless the military posturing stops. I guess this town is too big for the both of them. This is a gently done offering with few sparks or special effects. The point is that despite all he proves to them and the kindness of his actions, the people decide he needs to be destroyed. I don't put it quite in the same cinematic league with "Citizen Kane" and "Lawrence of Arabia" but it's no worse than hundreds of other films of the early 1950's. For those that consider it boring, I never lost interest in some rather neat characters who interact throughout. Please relax.

Which B&W sci-fi film of the 1950s features an alien from outer space who comes to Earth to warn mankind of its warmongering ways and becomes involved with a character portrayed by Patricia Neal? Now, before you smugly respond "The Day the Earth Stood Still," the Hollywood sci-fi classic of 1951, let me add that the film in question is a British production and was made in 1954. That film is "Stranger From Venus," a very subpar knockoff of a great classic, and, what's more, even inferior to another British copy of "TDTESS" that also came out in 1954, the camp classic "Devil Girl From Mars." In "Stranger," the alien from Venus (which is said to be "millions of light-years" away from Earth...patent BS!) is played by Austrian actor Helmut Dantine, who gives a very UNsympathetic performance. The "action," for the most part, is confined to a drab-looking inn somewhere in the English countryside, and the movie is very static and never seems to move at all. Whereas "DGFM" features a Martian dominatrix, a ridiculous-looking and lumbering robot, and a very impressive space explosion to cap things off, "SFV" features virtually no FX at all and little in the way of suspense. The only real "effect" to speak of is a "mother ship" disgorging a space flier, accomplished with what looks like a lamp hood and a wooden disc. I am not hyperbolizing when I say that the FX in Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" come off looking like those in "The Matrix" by comparison. Furthermore, director Burt Balaban's work is extremely lackadaisical here, and composer Eric Spear contributes a sappy score that is repeated to distraction. Though competently acted, and presented here in a nice, crisp-looking DVD, this film really is for 1950s sci-fi completists only, and even they will be bored and restless. Anyone out there know how to say "snoozer" in Venusian?