Il pianeta degli uomini spenti

Claude Rains stars as Prof. Benson, a cynical mathematical genius/recluse who must save the world from implacable aliens. The movie has an interesting premise - a planetoid enters into orbit around the Earth causing widespread upheavals of Nature, and turns out to be a sort of alien Noah's Ark - but is marred by a tiny budget, hambone acting (except for Rains), oafish direction, and really crummy effects even for 1961. This may not have been Rains' last film, but he certainly deserved better. Having said all that, for some odd reason this one remains a favorite. Guess there's no accounting for taste. Seriously though, there are worse. MUCH worse.

1960's "Battle of the Worlds" (Il Planeta Degli Uomini or The Planet of Extinct Men) marks only the second science fiction entry from Italian director Antonio Margheriti (under his usual pseudonym Anthony Dawson), perhaps his best given that "Assignment: Outer Space" did not fare well internationally, plus the towering screen presence of an aging Claude Rains in the central role of Professor Benson, very similar to his just completed Professor Challenger in Irwin Allen's "The Lost World." A rogue planet dubbed 'The Outsider' has entered our galaxy and is believed to be on a collision course to destroy the earth, the scientific community casually brushing off Benson's assertion that it will merely pass by without incident. The old man soon learns that 'The Outsider' has slipped into orbit around our planet. Causing a wave of destruction and suicides to force an exploratory ship to examine it more closely. A small force of saucers are dispatched to obliterate the ship, so Benson himself is finally allowed to take charge in the battle, reasoning that 'The Outsider' is something of a 'Noah's Ark,' a relic from a dead world that can be reprogrammed to go back where it came from. The climax offers a race against time, Benson's crew desperate to return to their vessel and take off before nuclear warheads target 'The Outsider' in a blaze of glory. Top screenwriting workhorse Ennio de Concini was coming off Mario Bava's "Black Sunday," and continued working in all genres throughout a prolific career, the 70 year old Rains giving this one a stronger edge with an over the top performance that commands the screen, cantankerous yet lovable, an outsider himself who would prefer to die knowing the truth than live without knowledge. Rarely seen outside the confines of his greenhouse, scribbling calculations on flower pots, Rains easily dominates a cast of barely outlined characters, one couple ready to wed who suddenly end their relationship, another happily married and working in tandem from Earth to Mars. Margheriti's 1965 "Planet on the Prowl" would feature the same type of underground world for its finale, what appears to be a living, breathing organism with brain cells and arteries that bleed crimson. Rather than waste the talents of a fine actor, this low budget vehicle actually gives him something tangible to sink his teeth into, delivering in spades for a film that never receives much love, mostly relegated to horrid, washed out prints.

The mysterious sounding music of the main title when the film starts sets the pace for the whole movie, which is laid-back yet enchanting (especially if watched at night).

It is not hardly a typical space battle type picture so this should not be expected. As a matter of fact this movie shows a much more realistic viewing of what space travel will be like when it finally becomes common place. For example the rockets are propelled by some type of gas, and permission has to be given from mission control before engines are started, and rocket courses and accelerations have to take into account things like planet gravity and possible g forces on the crew.

The main characters are interesting and even though it is overdubbed the dialog is good, with a few exceptions which are fun to laugh at. The acting by Claude Rains is very good, and you can actually feel sympathy for professor Benson, who has nothing to keep him going but science (and Eve though he finds it hard to admit it even to himself).

The story is interesting and has a few twists to it that keep things moving along. The movie also presents an interesting commentary on possible future government-military-industrial and international organization. This movie might not fit everyone's taste, yet people who sometimes enjoy laid-back atmospheric fantasies should enjoy it.

Antonio Margheriti's second space opera, 'Battle of the Worlds' finds Earth threatened by fleets of flying saucers coming from a rogue planet (the "Outsider") that has wandered into our solar system. Veteran A-list actor Claude Rains plays Prof. Benson, a cantankerous and supercilious scientist who figures out is going on (it's odd to see Rains starring in an obscure spaghetti-space opera only a year before working with David Lean on 'Lawrence of Arabia'). I watched an adequately dubbed version so I can't comment on the acting (except for a hammy, English-speaking Rains), or script but the story, if implausible, is entertaining and the special effects have that gaudy but imaginative look that characterises Italian space operas of the era. The idea that the rogue planet is actually some kind of 'space ark' sent out by a dying species (as deduced by Benson based on very little data) is clever and poetic but the scenes in which the refugees are found dead at the controls are unfortunately almost indecipherable (this could be due to the quality of the version I was watching on-line). The film is similar to Margheriti's first space opera, 1960's 'Space Men' and both films, while having weaknesses, are better than most of their American contemporaries, which were too focussed on big bugs and the teenage drive-in market to offer up much in the way of ideas.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Antonio Margheriti a/k/a Anthony Dawson. Produced by Ultra Film (Italy), released in America by Manson Distributing (later in TV syndication packages). Screenplay by Ennio De Concini; Photography by Marcello Masciocchi; Music by Mario Migliardi. Starring Claude Rains, Bill Carter, Umberto Orsini, Maya Brent, Jacqueline Derval and Renzo Palmer.

This 1960s flick of Italian descent is a very funny science fiction suspenser in which mathematician Claude Rains saves the world from a collision with another planet and learns the "secret of the spheres" in the process. Tremendously hammy acting by Rains, who has a marvelous time at the expense of the Continental supporting cast.