&sq=&lang=&file=File:Wiki_letter_w.svg){kind=small} | This article is missing information about the film's theatrical/ home media release. (October 2017) |
| Invaders from Mars | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Invaders_from_Mars_1953_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | William Cameron Menzies |
| Screenplay by | Richard Blake |
| Story by | John Tucker Battle |
| Produced by | Edward L. Alperson Jr. Edward L. Alperson |
| Starring | Jimmy Hunt Helena Carter Arthur Franz Morris Ankrum Leif Erickson Hillary Brooke |
| Cinematography | John F. Seitz |
| Edited by | Arthur Roberts |
| Music by | Raoul Kraushaar |
| Color process | SuperCinecolor |
Production company | National Pictures Corp. |
| Distributed by | 20th Century-Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $290,000 |
Invaders from Mars[2] is a 1953 American independent science fiction film directed by William Cameron Menzies and starring Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Morris Ankrum, Leif Erickson, and Hillary Brooke. It was produced by Edward L. Alperson Jr. and released by 20th Century-Fox in SuperCinecolor.[3] The film follows David MacLean, a young boy who witnesses a flying saucer behind his home one night. When his father investigates, he returns a changed man; soon David's mother, his neighbors, and others begin to act in the same way. David's panicked story is heard by Dr. Pat Blake, who takes him to astronomer Dr. Stuart Kelston. David soon convinces Kelston, who comes to believe that this is an invading vanguard from Mars.
Invaders from Mars recounts its story from the point of view of an older child in an adult world heading into crisis.[4] It was developed from a scenario by Richard Blake and based on a story treatment by John Tucker Battle, who was inspired by a dream recounted to him by his wife.[5] The film was rushed into production to be released before George Pal's War of the Worlds (also released in 1953), becoming the first feature film to show aliens and their spacecraft in color.[6]
- ^ "Invaders from Mars - Details". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
- ^ Extremely detailed articles and book chapters covering all aspects of this film—from concept through production to release and reception—can be found in a variety of sources, including Bill Warren's Keep Watching the Skies!, Vincent Di Fate's “The Magic of Menzies” in Filmfax #106, Robert Skotak and Scot Holton's “Invaders from Mars” in Fantascene #4, and DVD Savant Glenn Erickson's https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s96InvadersA.html and also published in abridged form in his film overview volume Sci-Fi Savant: Classic Sci-Fi Review Reader.——From: Miller, Thomas Kent. Mars in the Movies: A History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2016. ISBN 978-0-7864-9914-4.
- ^ Credited as "In Color", only, not as SuperCinecolor; initial prints were indeed SuperCinecolor, from the Eastmancolor negative, but all reprints were Eastmancolor. Cinecolor's color consultant Clifford D. Shank was listed in the credits as such, underneath the DOP's credit.
- ^ Meehan 1998, p. 50.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Warrenwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Meehan 1998, p. 49.