Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals and science fiction aficionados will be excited about an upcoming presentation of a classic Columbia Pictures sci-fi masterpiece.
Svengoolie presents: “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956)
Original Columbia Pictures theatrical trailer for “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956).
Original Columbia Pictures poster art for “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956).
The legendary Chicago/Berwyn-based horror film host will present his coast-to-coast premiere of “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956), this Sat., May 5 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
“Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956) was directed by actor-director Fred F. Sears, who also worked on Columbia’s smash rock-and-roll revue feature, “Rock Around the Clock” (1956, featuring Bill Haley and the Comets, The Platters, disc jockey Alan Freed and the Ernie Freeman Combo).
Visual effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen worked on the special effects for “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.” This was Harryhausen’s second Columbia visual effects feature; he previously worked on visual effects sequences for Robert Gordon’s “It Came from Beneath the Sea” (1955).
Bernard Gordon and George Worthing Yates’ screenplay was inspired by United States Marine Corps Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe’s 1953 account on flying saucers, “Flying Saucers from Outer Space.” Bernard Gordon was credited under the pseudonym of “Raymond T. Marcus” due to Gordon’s name being blacklisted (according to IMDB’s trivia section on the film).
Who was in “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers” (1956)?
The players who appeared in the Sears/Harryhausen Columbia sci-fi feature were Hugh Marlowe (as Dr. Russell A. Marvin), Joan Taylor (as Carol Marvin), Donald Curtis (as Maj. Huglin), Morris Ankrum (as Brig. Gen. John Hanley), John Zaremba (as Prof. Kanter), Grandon Rhodes (as Gen. Edmunds), Tom Browne Henry (as Vice Adm. Enright), Larry J. Blake (as a motorcycle cop), Fred Aldrich (in three uncredited roles as an airline passenger, an Air Command intelligence officer and a man in the saucer attack) and veteran voice-over artist Paul Frees (in dual uncredited roles as the narrator and the voice of the alien).
Silver Screen Reflections 