This Island Earth

"2½ Years in the Making!"

1955 1h 25m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 242

Science FictionAdventureHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Aliens have landed and are hiding on Earth, but need Earth’s scientists to help them fight an inter-planetary war.

“2½ Years in the Making!”

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Cast

Rex Reason
Dr. Cal Meacham
Faith Domergue
Dr. Ruth Adams
Jeff Morrow
Exeter
Lance Fuller
Brack
Robert Nichols
Joe Wilson
Russell Johnson
Steve Carlson
Douglas Spencer
The Monitor of Metaluna
Karl Ludwig Lindt
Dr. Adolph Engelborg

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joseph M. Newman
Writers: Franklin Coen, Raymond F. Jones, George Callahan
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

85 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

71 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joseph M. Newman, shot by Clifford Stine. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Virgil W. Vogel shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rex Reason and Faith Domergue and Jeff Morrow carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "2½ Years in the Making!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0047577 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joseph M. Newman directs. Clifford Stine behind the camera. Virgil W. Vogel cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

185 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
371 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Joseph M. Newman, shot by Clifford Stine. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Virgil W. Vogel shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Rex Reason and Faith Domergue and Jeff Morrow carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "2½ Years in the Making!".
8IMDB entry: tt0047577 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 14 themes, including "spacecraft", "flying saucer", "extraterrestrial technology", "mutant".

The technical file

Cinematography: Clifford Stine
Editing: Virgil W. Vogel
Costume design: Rosemary Odell
Makeup / hair: Joan St. Oegger
Runtime: 85 min · 1h 25m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $800,000
Box office: $1,700,000
Return: 213% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: This Island Earth (1955)

Also by

Joseph M. Newman

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-09-09
★ 7/10
Captures the fear of the atomic age perfectly. Carl Meacham is an atomic scientist, who after passing a cunning test, gets invited to work at a top secret lab out in Georgia by the rather odd looking man known as Exeter. The project is apparently in the cause of finding world peace, and once arriving at his destination, Carl finds other notable scientists are also there, including the radiant Ruth Adams. As things progress things don't quite add up, and this leads to a realisation that the future of Earth could very well be in the balance. "This Island Earth" not only divides the casual film viewer, it's also proved divisive amongst the most hardened of sci-fi genre supporters. Some say the story is barely worth a second glance, whilst others point to a distinct lack of scientific nous as a reason to do the film down. To me I find it to be very much on the money for the era it was made. This film comes nearly ten years after America ended World War II with an atomic attack on Japan, when nuclear reactors had been commissioned and were no longer seen solely as a weapon of mass destruction, in short the nuclear age was prominent and very much a reality. Yes the film is a far fetched fantasy, and it tries too hard to encompass a myriad of plot strands - something which to the younger viewers is likely to fly right over their heads. Yet the value here comes very much in the production as a whole. Marvel at the sets, the model work and the gadgets that feature heavily in this delicious slice of berserker sci-fi. Take in the incredible work of cinematographer Clifford Stine as we find ourselves on a desolate planet. It's a beacon of the genre because it identified the benefits of Technicolor to the sci-fi splinter of film and used it vividly to enhance the story (even if some subsequent home entertainment releases failed to restore it to a print fully worthy of the colour venture). The lovely Faith Domergue and square jawed Rex Reason play our intrepid scientists with verve and vigour, whilst Jeff Morrow is uneasily quirky as the mysterious Exeter. Directed by Joseph M. Newman (out of his genre comfort zones) offering up a technically wonderful film, it does make one rue that he didn't make more sci-fi pictures. For this is a shining genre light made at a time when cinema was a craft from all quarters of the medium, for also it's intelligent and knowingly astute of its own time frame. So don't believe the nay sayers on this, because this is a smart and poetic fantasy that also contains genuine moments of cinematic beauty. 7/10
CinemaSerf2022-11-14
★ 7/10
I remember watching this film on television in the 70s and loving it. Whilst I'm not quite so impressed by it now, it is still quite a clever sci-fi yarn about an alien species, themselves under dire threat of extinction, who come to earth to assemble a team of scientists to help save their planet from an enemy bent on destroying it. Jeff Morrow has the slightly conical head as "Exeter" - their leader who recruits Rex Reason ("Meacham") and Faith Domergue ("Adams"). It is one of the first of these 1950s films that I recall seeing in colour, and that does render the SFX a little bit dated - perhaps a touch too much latex. Good nonetheless.