The Thing from Another World (1951)

All the trapped in, under, above, at fill-in-the-blank monster horror films we all love (“Alien”!) started with Howard Hawks’ “The Thing From Another World,” or, really, just titled, “The Thing.”  Heavy on the brain-hammer “THEY AREN’T LIKE US!” Commie scares, “Thing” focuses on a group of military hot-heads and science nerds trapped at the North Pole, stalked by a tallish alien humanoid (James Arness) whose flying saucer has crashed nearby. This must have been a blast to watch when it first hit theaters as director Christian Nyby (with Hawks) was smart enough to temper the Red Scare tactics with tongue in cheek humor, cracks at military logic, and a mixture of genuine scares and not a little romance. It makes the patriotism go down smooth, even if the set-up takes for damn ever and the butt of all jokes is the journo (Douglas Spencer) trying to get the story of the millennia out. OK, I liked that last part, especially his line, “Keep watching the skies,” years before the Red Scare hit: Sputnik. A-

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

The original “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is a cheesy 1950s space invasion flick with stiff acting, a condescending treatment of women and limited special effects, but it’s glorious. It’s an anti-war call for coming together that ought to be played around the world today. The plot: Human-looking alien Klaatu (Michael Rennie) comes to Earth, with robot Gort in tow, and lays out the facts: Bickering humans are out of control with their petty “my [god, country, skin color, way of life] is better than yours” wars and threaten the universe. Klaatu promises that if Earth keeps this pace, it’s going to get vaporized. (Tough love!) A White House flack sputters, and basically says, “Well, hell, other than killing each other, we don’t know what else to do.” Klaatu rolls his eyes. Gort gets mad. This film is 60 years old, and it’s more viable now than ever. Rennie, tall and emulating wisdom, rocks. Patricia Neal, a favorite 1950s actress of mine, is relegated to panic. Several plot mechanics grind my mind, especially the clueless military approach, but that’s the film’s weird, quaint charm. Skip the remake, which is neither quaint nor charming. A-