'This Island Earth'

The Zahgon fighter ships dive suicidally toward the planet Metaluna. Slicing through the thick cloud covering of the planet’s Ionization Layer, the delta-winged invaders magnetically carry a payload of deadly meteors in tow. The ships swoop in for the kill, sending the meteors hurtling down onto the war-ravaged planet’s surface. In a series of spectacular explosions, the space boulders sear into the Metalunan landscape. Eye-boggling displays of molten rock and incandescent smoke mushroom into the air, illuminating the surrounding area for miles around.

Gradually, the blasts of light and heat subside. The Zahgon ships return to space. The cold darkness again creeps over the landscape of the dying world of Metaluna.

Not a trace of the once proud Metalunan civilization remains intact above ground, although portions of the planet’s cities have been rebuilt in massive, subterranean caverns. Their structures can be spotted through the crater-like holes that pockmark the burned out terrain.

This latest Zahgon raid is just another in an endless series of attacks that have gone on for as long as the two warring civilizations can remember. But now, the end of Metaluna is at hand. Within their underground structures, a handful of Metalunan survivors await the return of their ambassador Exeter from deep space. Their only hope of escape now is emigration... emigration to that distant, peaceful island in space known as Earth.

Standing Alone in the 1950s

Over twenty years before the epic space battles of Star Wars set imaginations afire around the world, interplanetary warfare shook the screens in a Technicolor extravaganza entitled This Island Earth. Though its box office impact was minuscule compared to George Lucas' widescreen blockbuster, the film left a lasting impression on its viewers and, indeed, generations of sci-fi filmmakers to come.

Like any truly memorable work of the imagination, This Island Earth owed much of its success to its dazzling sense of scope. On a physical level, it swept viewers from the familiar green fields of Earth off to the strangest of dying worlds in space. And, while it offered ample nuts and bolts thrills for the legions of gadget-mad, action-oriented filmgoers, it also appealed to the emotions. For once, a science-fiction film presented an alien character who was neither devil nor saint, but a very human being caught between two worlds. Having lost his home and his people, Exeter fights a valiant battle against the loss of his soul.

This Island Earth stood alone during the sci-fi film boom of the 1950s for a number of reasons. It was an ambitious film during a time of make-'em-quick "B" movies. It attempted a realistic portrayal of interplanetary warfare during a time period when most film studios avoided the subject because of the difficulties involved and the expense.

Rarely had a group of writers, artists, and technicians combined their efforts as imaginatively toward creating an entirely consistent alien world and technology as in This Island Earth. Audiences were growing more sophisticated, having been subjected to the visual thrills of War Of The Worlds, When Worlds Collide, and Destination Moon. Sci-fi filmgoers hungered for novel ideas, escapist entertainment, and visual awe. Even children were familiar enough with the genre to spot phony special effects and production values.

Universal-International felt the pressure and the needs of the audience and decided to take a giant step forward in the field of sci-fi. Up until the mid 50s, films like It Came From Outer Space and The Creature From The Black Lagoon had been turned out by Universal on a fairly regular basis. Effective as they were, the productions were usually low-budget, black-and-white affairs using lesser known actors and minimal story background. Universal execs saw the need for bigger, glossier films to compete at the box office with the prestige "A" movies of the larger studios.

They searched for an ideal property. It had to be an sci-fi story with horrific overtones, since that type of film had been Universal’s bread-and-butter from its inception. It had to have a sense of "bigness" which could be exploited in their ads. It had to be unlike anything the other studios were turning out.

They purchased a script entitled This Island Earth. Its storyline had all the key ingredients they were searching for.

A Tale of Survival in 'This Island Earth'

Returning from a Washington D.C. atomic power conference, nuclear research scientist Cal Meacham (Rex Reason) suddenly discovers that his jet’s engines have flamed out. Only miles away from his destination, California’s Ryberg Instrument Center, Cal plummets to the desert below. A strange green light appears from nowhere, envelops the plane and guides it safely to the Ryberg airstrip.

Both Cal and his assistant Joe Wilson (Robert Nichols), who has witnessed the incident, agree not to mention the strange chain of events until an explanation can be found. Arriving at his lab, Cal uncovers further mysterious circumstances. A routine order for some X-C condensers has inexplicably been replaced by a shipment of tiny, cherry like beads of unknown design. The minuscule beads are more powerful than the larger condensers! No identification or address is found on the package. "Electronics Service, Unit 16" is scrawled on the invoice.

The following morning, a complete catalogue from "Electronics Service" arrives, listing a horde of totally alien apparatuses. Cal decides he will order the parts needed to build a rather intriguing machine described in the book… an Interociter.

Soon, Cal and Joe stand before their finished creation: a black box housed beneath a triangular viewing screen. The image of a high-domed, white-haired scientist called Exeter (Jeff Morrow) appears on the viewer which, after congratulating Cal on the extraordinary accomplishment of constructing the machine, states, "I represent a group which is seeking scientists of exceptional ability." Cal, it seems, has passed Exeter's IQ test by assembling the Interociter. Meacham, however, is not interested in passing silly tests. Exeter convinces Cal to join him at an unknown destination, allowing that any good scientist would "give his right arm for more examples of our superior technical knowledge."

Days later, Cal is taken in a pilotless and windowless plane to a southern-type mansion in a woodland glade. He is greeted by Dr. Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue), an old acquaintance who refuses to acknowledge their friendship. At the house, Cal is met by Exeter. "Dr. Meacham," Exeter explains, "our group works with but one purpose: to put an end to war! Such a goal can’t be attained without men of vision—men such as you, doctor—gathered here, exchanging information daily, putting aside all thoughts of personal success."

Cal's suspicions are aroused when he notices that every member of the strangely subdued group of altruistic scientists are experts on nuclear power. His uneasiness is heightened by the threatening presence of Exeter’s sinister assistant, Brack (Lance Fuller).

Cal confronts Ruth and co-worker Steve Carlton (Russell Johnson) and demands to know exactly what’s going on. Once the pair are assured that Meacham is not a brainwashed spy of Exeter's, they begin to compare notes about the strange shape of their hosts’ foreheads and the existence of a secret cavern hideout nearby. Adding to their panic is the fact that the Interociter, supposedly a mere communications device, can fire lethal Neutrino rays at moving targets. The trio decide to flee their mansion prison.

Brack, meanwhile, argues with Exeter about the scientists. Brack wants to use "The Transformer" to keep the thinkers mentally enslaved. Exeter is appalled. "Use a machine to control a man's brain and you destroy his initiative, his power to help us."

As Cal, Ruth, and Steve flee, Exeter talks with The Monitor (Douglas Spencer as yet another high-foreheaded fellow) on his Interociter. "The Ionization Layer is failing rapidly. We need transportation," the Monitor reveals. Exeter is ordered to take Cal and Ruth and return home, where the nuclear research can be monitored more closely.

Brack, however, has other plans. Spotting the escaping scientists' car, he fires a Neutrino ray from his Interociter. Cal and Ruth leap from the car… seconds before it disintegrates. Reaching a small, single-engined plane, they escape skyward. From behind the mansion, however, a gigantic flying saucer appears. Hovering above the plane, it pulls the craft aboard using a mysterious green ray.

Pilot Exeter greets Ruth and Cal on the saucer’s main deck, informing them that they are bound for Metaluna, a planet far beyond the Earth's solar system. The ship passes through the thermal barrier, and the Earth people are conditioned for the heavier atmospheric pressure of Metaluna.

Approaching Metaluna, Exeter wards off an attack by the Zahgon fighters. Exeter explains that the Zahgons have ignored all peace efforts made by the Metalunans in a seemingly endless war. Only the protective ionized barrier of Metaluna has saved it from destruction. Now, with their source of nuclear energy exhausted, the Metalunans watch the shield grow weaker. The Earth people must help. Gliding over the devastated surface of the planet, the saucer descends through the upper crust, landing in an underground Metalunan city.

The Earthlings are led to The Monitor, who threatens to lobotomize them if they do not cooperate. Exeter protests. Cal and Ruth threaten escape. In the corridors outside the Monitor's domain, the threesome is attacked by a mutant—a grotesque specimen of a group bred by Metalunans to do slave labor. A Zahgon meteor unexpectedly penetrates the planet’s upper crust at that instant, crushing the Monitor and the mutant in an avalanche of falling debris.

Cal and Ruth try to make it to the saucer, aided by Exeter. They take to space and, from a vantage point far off in the galaxy, watch the planet’s final demise. As thousands of Zahgon ships bombard the planet with meteors, Metaluna explodes to supernova proportions. "A lifeless planet," Exeter philosophizes. "Yet, still serving a useful purpose, I hope… warming the surface of some other world, giving light to those who may need it."

The trio head for the atmospheric conversion tubes. Secure in their tubes, the two men watch helplessly as an injured, stowaway mutant lurches out of the shadows and attempts to manhandle Ruth. She escapes and the creature dies from the changing pressure.

Nearing Earth, a badly injured Exeter bids farewell to the couple and, after releasing their tiny plane back into their home planet’s atmosphere, watches the power fade from his saucer. The ship streaks through the biosphere, bursting into friction-caused flames.

War Between the Planets

When William Alland was assigned by Universal to produce This Island Earth, the story had already been read by thousands of sci-fi fans. Beginning as a three-part story in Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1952, the tale by Raymond F. (Colossus) Jones was revised in 1953 into a novel form. Sabre Productions, an independent film company, bought the rights. Edward G. O'Callaghan, a veteran of a dozen or so Charlie Chan mysteries, was commissioned to do the screenplay. Finding a lot of the book’s more cerebral concepts hard to visualize (the book finds Cal trying to convince an alien race that mankind has a greater purpose than that of assembling components for destructive war machines), O’Callaghan opted to center his script on the intergalactic war itself.

With script in hand, Sabre suddenly found that it didn't have the budget needed for a finished film. On the other side of town, Universal was discovering that it had a lot of money and no movie to make. In 1954, the two factions met and Universal purchased This Island Earth. Sabre, however, insisted that they choose the film’s director. They did: Joseph Newman.

To insure the film's success, Universal assigned William Alland to produce This Island Earth. Alland, the producer of most of Universal’s quality sci-fi potboilers of the 50s, was a genius at making low-budget films seem spectacular. And, although This Island Earth was not a shoestring affair, it did not have money to burn.

Dazzling Special Effects

Alland then proceeded to supervise the special effects. A sequence depicting the saucer landing on Metaluna amid Zahgon bombardment is remarkable, if not by today's standards, then certainly by standards if at least a few decades later. To create this panorama, a 110' miniature of the planet’s terrain was built. Falling meteors were made of plaster filled with magnesium. These slid down blackened piano wires. As they struck the ground, small canisters of gasoline were ignited by electrical charges creating spectacular explosions. A complex, criss-cross network of wires connected to overhead tracks guided the movements of the diving Zahgon fighter models. The Metalunan saucer, constructed of aluminum and weighing a mere 18 pounds, was also guided by multiple wires attached to an overhead rig. In this case, the wiring required extremely delicate balance of tensions to produce smooth movements without telltale wobbling.

Red and green lights were projected onto a sky backdrop which was painted with red and green streaks simulating ionized clouds. The interplay of the lights on the background created shifting, shimmer patterns in the sky. The majority of the special effects planning was handled by the late Stanley Horsley. The intricate mechanical effects involving miniature explosions, models and flying scenes were handled by Universal’s veteran effects man Charlie Baker. Tying together the effects sequences with the live action was cinematographer Clifford Stine, an artist whose career dated back to the original King Kong.

Despite the opulent space heroics, Universal executives insisted that a monster be included in the plot for exploitative reasons. Makeup men Jack Keven, Chris Mueller, and Robert Hickman concocted the memorable mutant, costing a whopping $20,000. The studio didn’t complain. They now had the box office draw they desired.

Once the film was finished, however, Universal had second thoughts about the story. While director Newman had done a fine job with the live-action drama, his Metalunan sequences were found to be fairly boring. Alland quickly gathered together stars Reason, Domerque, and Morrow and revamped the Metalunan sets. Director Jack (It Came From Outer Space, The Incredible Shrinking Man) Arnold was called in and the resulting footage contained some of the most atmospheric planetary scenes ever concocted for the screen.

This Island Earth, because of its effects and unique use of color, gained a reputation as being the most gorgeous sci-fi film produced in the 50s. But, although the initial public and critical reaction was excellent, the overall performance of the film at the box office did not encourage Universal to continue on its technicolor path to the stars. Within a year or so, the studio was back to their black-and-white doings via such films as The Mole People and The Deadly Mantis.

Yet, out of all the films of that decade, This Island Earth stands alone as a moving vision of universal humanity. A low-budgeted film whose lack of dollars was compensated for by hours of love, sweat, and devotion, the film reminded moviegoers worldwide how narrow is the gap between the art of the fantastic and the art of poetry.

The special effects for This Island Earth, the first sci-fi film of its kind, were two-and-a-half years in the making. Atomic scientist Dr. Meacham is chosen for a top-secret research experiment, but quickly discovers that there is far more to his research than he thought. He and Dr. Adams make their escape, but are whisked away in a flying saucer to Metaluna, a planet far beyond Earth's solar system.