"They're not human, but they want human women!"Okay, so that line doesn't appear on any of the posters for this movie, but it pretty well sums things up. The question is, however, why do they want human women? I'm not telling, but I'll let you in on a couple of things, one of which is that what we have here is another of those '50s movies in which the aliens are taking over the bodies of the locals. After Gloria Talbot marries Tom Tryon, she notices that he's not quite the same guy he was before they married. She eventually finds out that his appearance has been duplicated by one of the aliens who doesn't look at all like him.
Sound familiar? It was a common theme in '50s SF movies, including the better-known Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This movie is almost as good as that one, and if you haven't seen it, it's well worth a look. Tom Tryon starred, and he went on to have a successful career as a writer than as an actor, with novels like Harvest Home and The Other that sold a ton back when they were published. Now I suppose they qualify as forgotten books.
4 comments:
Tryon was a better writer than he was an actor, but this was a good one.
Wasn't that "aliens want to mate with human women" the tag line for the classic HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP?
Jeff
I loved Tryon as a novelist and remember he played a priest in some movie but this one got by me.
I think you mean The Cardinal, Patti. Apparently it was nominated for six Academy Awards, though my (admittedly hazy) memories of it are that it was somewhat over the top.
Tryon was another of the gay actors who got married for his career.
This was news to me:
Tryon was also involved in a relationship with Calvin Culver, also known as Casey Donovan, a gay porn star.
Jeff
I saw this for the first time when I was young and did not 'get'. Now I am a little older and wiser, it is one of my favorite 1950s SciFi films :)
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