This Island Earth
Tribute poster by Mitch O'Connell.
Directed by	Joseph M. Newman
Produced by	William Alland
Written by	Raymond F. Jones (story "The Alien Machine") Franklin Coen Edward G. O'Callaghan
Starring	Jeff Morrow Faith Domergue Rex Reason Lance Fuller Russell Johnson
Music by	Joseph Gershenson (music supervision) Henry Mancini (uncredited) Hans J. Salter (uncredited) Herman Stein (uncredited)
Cinematography	Clifford Stine
Editing by	Virgil Vogel
Distributed by	Universal Pictures International
Release date(s)	June 1, 1955 (U.S. release)
Running time	87 min
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

This Island Earth is a Technicolor, 1955 science fiction film directed by Joseph M. Newman. It is based on the novel of the same name by Raymond F. Jones. The film stars Jeff Morrow as the alien Exeter, Faith Domergue as Dr. Ruth Adams, and Rex Reason as Dr. Cal Meacham. Being one of the first major science fiction films produced in color, This Island Earth opened the door to high-budget space-themed productions such as MGM's Forbidden Planet. In 1996, This Island Earth was also edited down and lampooned in the film, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Joseph M. Newman (August 17, 1909- ) was an American film director most famous for his 1955 film This Island Earth. ... Irving Jeff Morrow (b. ... Faith Domergue (June 16, 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana - April 4, 1999 in Santa Barbara, California) was a film actress. ... Rex Reason, actor, born in Berlin, Germany on November 20, 1928. ... Russell Johnson as The Professor on Gilligans Island Russell David Johnson (born November 10, 1924, in Ashley, Pennsylvania), is an American television and film actor best known as The Professor on the CBS television sitcom Gilligans Island. ... Henry Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994), was an Academy Award winning American composer, conductor and arranger. ... Hans J. Salter was an American film composer. ... Herman Stein (born August 9, 1915, in Philadelphia, PA - died March 15, 2007, in Los Angeles, CA) was an American composer who wrote music for many of Universal Studios 1950s science-fiction and horror films,. Herman Stein at the Internet Movie Database Categories: | | ... Universal Studios logo Universal Studios is an informal designation for NBC Universal Inc. ... is the 152nd day of the year (153rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The year 1955 in film involved some significant events. ... This Island Earth is a 1952 science fiction novel by Raymond F. Jones. ... Logo celebrating Technicolors 90th Anniversary Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... Raymond F(isher) Jones (b. ... This article is about the 1956 film. ... Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996, produced by Best Brains, Inc. ...

When initially released, the film was praised by most critics, many citing the special effects, well written script and eye-popping color (prints by Technicolor) as being its major assets.

Plot

Dr. Cal Meacham, a noted scientist, receives an unusual substitute for electronic condensers that he ordered. They are un-Earthly in their ability to carry overloads of electricity; he sends a letter to the company that supplied the parts, and receives a package which appears to be a catalog. He begins ordering parts from it, and eventually is given a kit to build a very complex communication device called an interocitor. When finished, Meacham receives a message on it: A mysterious man named Exeter tells him he has passed the test he was given. His ability to build the interocitor demonstrates that he is gifted enough to be part of the special research project Exeter is running. See Capacitor (component) for a discussion of specific types. ... An interocitor being used as a communications device The interocitor is a multi-functional device featured in the 1955 science fiction film This Island Earth (and later, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie which contained This Island Earth). ...

Intrigued, Meacham accepts an invitation to visit Exeter's facility, and finds an international group of top-flight scientists already present--including an old flame, Dr. Ruth Adams. But Cal is almost immediately suspicious of the odd-looking group of men leading the mission.

Cal and Ruth decide to slip away from the facility, but as they take off in a small plane, they watch as the facility and all its inhabitants are incinerated, and their plane is drawn up inside a flying saucer. UFO redirects here. ...

It is then that Cal and Ruth learn that Exeter and his band are aliens from the planet Metaluna, come to Earth seeking scientists to help them defend their planet in the war against the evil Zagons. Though they protest, Exeter informs them that he is taking them back to his war-torn planet, in the hope that they can do something to aid it. This article is about Earth as a planet. ...

After a mind-bending journey, they arrive to find the planet under full bombardment and falling quickly to the enemy. Metalunan society is breaking down and there is little hope. The Monitor (Exeter's leader) reveals that the Metalunans intend to relocate to Earth and insists that Meacham and Adams be subjected to the Thought Transference Chamber in order to subjugate their free will when they object to this plan. Exeter believes this to be immoral and also wrong since it sets up unconscious barriers in the minds of the subjects and thus constrains their ability to help the Metalunans. Exeter decides to help Meacham and Adams escape, thus revolting against his own kind, before they enter the brain-reprogramming facility.

Cal overpowers the mutant creature accompanying them (but not before it wounds Exeter) and the three make their escape and journey back to Earth. As they enter Earth's atmosphere, Exeter sends the two on their way in their small plane, but as he himself is too wounded to continue and his ship is nearly depleted of energy, he allows the saucer to crash into the sea. Cal and Ruth return home.

Many critics cite the special effects as the strongest element in This Island Earth, which were ground breaking for their time and are considered by many film buffs to be comparable to modern special effects.

Trivia

• The film was one of the last films to use the three strip Technicolor filming process. Even during production, the film's special effects were shot on the more conventional Eastman color process, which most studios had already switched to^{[citation needed]}
  

  

  Adams, Meacham and Exeter confront a mutant.

• The Mutant seen in this film was one of several potential aliens for Universal's 3-D film It Came from Outer Space (1953). Universal used it in This Island Earth after it was rejected by the other film's director, Jack Arnold.^{[citation needed]}

• Some European film reviewers noted the similarity to the Earth scientists being recruited by aliens to help them fight a war against other aliens with the American acquisition of German and other European scientists to help fight the Cold War ^{[citation needed]}.

• A brief homage to This Island Earth is seen in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). E.T. turns the TV on to This Island Earth, at the scene when Cal and Ruth are being abducted by the aliens and Cal says, "They're pulling us up!"

*This Island Earth was featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie

The original motion picture This Island Earth is more than 20 minutes longer than the edited version featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, which removes several sequences, some important (like a sequence of the Zagon fleet attacking Metaluna), both in order to make the film fit a shorter 73-minute running time and to accommodate several "host segments". Also, producers from Universal Pictures demanded the film be shorter. Ironically this makes Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie shorter than This Island Earth, or even the average MST3K episode. This work is copyrighted. ... This work is copyrighted. ... In film, the term 3-D (or 3D) is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate moving images of the third dimension, the illusion of depth as seen by the viewer. ... It Came from Outer Space is a 1953 Science Fiction 3-D film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, and Charles Drake. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... For the Atari 2600 video game based on the movie, see E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Atari 2600). ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 431 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 552 pixel, file size: 67 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Screenshot from Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 431 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 552 pixel, file size: 67 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Screenshot from Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. ... Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ...

• The bug mutant character in this film has a cameo during the Area 52 sequence of the Joe Dante film, Looney Tunes: Back in Action

The movie is referenced in the Misfits song "This Island Earth". Joe Dante (born November 28, 1946 in Morristown, New Jersey) is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and scifi content. ... Looney Tunes: Back in Action was a 2003 Warner Bros. ... For the movie, see The Misfits (movie). ...

External links

• This Island Earth at the Internet Movie Database
• Review by Science Fiction Weekly
• The Official Website of "This Island Earth" Star Rex Reason
• This Island Earth Sourcebook at The Thunder Child
• This Island Earth soundtrack release by Monstrous Movie Music review
• Fansite