Stranger from Venus

...as the British attempt to duplicate The Day The Earth Stood Still.

Patricia Neal plays the lead, but mostly appears as window-dressing. The alien looks like Helmut Dantine. In fact, he is Helmut Dantine. For the first fifteen minutes, we only get to see the back of his head. Unfortunately, at some point he turns around. He wears the same expression on his face throughout the entire film. I couldn't tell if it was boredom or disdain, both of which I felt watching his performance. It's hard to believe that men from Venus speak with Austrian accents - then again, it was hard to believe Arnold Schwarzenegger playing Hercules.

Dantine lands in the British countryside, although we don't get to see his ship. Neal has an accident and he miraculously heals her. He also heals a guy with a limp. Dantine strolls into the first bar/inn he sees and orders something to drink. We discover he does not like beer, but he loves water. He wears what look like jogging pants and some kind of pullover jacket. Fortunately, he is not wearing a spacesuit. I shudder to think of Helmut in a helmet.

Dantine is here to confer with our world leaders about, you guessed it, atomic energy. Of course, that's why he picked a farmhouse in which to stay. Meanwhile, two more ships are on the way to pick him up.

Neal's fiance, played by Derek Bond, is a bit of a pain, kind of like the Hugh Marlowe character in Day, just not as good-looking and not as obnoxious. The rest of the cast just go through the motions. Look for Nigel Green in one of his earliest screen roles.

It's obvious that the people making this film were trying to do a remake of the classic sci-fi film THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL only three years later. Not only is the plot very similar but it also stars Patricia Neal--the same lady who starred in the original film! Like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, this film is about an alien coming to our planet to deliver an ultimatum concerning our ill-advised use of nuclear weapons. Oddly, however, he lands in the middle of no where in England--probably because it's obviously they have no budget and couldn't set the film in London or any other big city. You hear about the military, but you only see a few assorted guys in rather generic uniforms with no fancy equipment.

Despite the many limitations due to budget, however, the film is still very entertaining--even if you've seen the superior prior film. I think part of it is because the alien, played by Helmut Dantine, seemed a lot more like an alien than Michael Rennie from THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. This isn't saying Rennie was bad--just that Dantine offered a unique interpretation. The other thing I liked is that instead of the humans attacking by mistake, in this film the leaders from the UK are real jerks. Despite the Venusians coming with openness and peace, the officials responded with lies and a foolish attempt to steal their space ship!! As a result, this film takes an even more cynical view of human nature. In the original, humans were scared and a bit dumb. Here, they're just jerks! The final thing I loved about the film is that they didn't try too hard with the special effects. Other than a model of a space ship, the film has no bug-eyed alien or silly ray gun--just a dandy story.

So, despite being extremely derivative, the film still is entertaining thanks to good acting and a few interesting twists.

By the way, in a silly little scene, one "expert" said that Venus is "many light-years away from the Earth". No, dude, it isn't. A single light year is about 6 trillion miles. Venus is actually about 25 million miles. So, a light year is 240,000 times greater than the distance to Venus AND they said "many light-years"! I am surprised the writers didn't notice this discrepancy. Wow. I now feel like Mr. Wizard!

An alien craft is spotted, barnstorming the countryside. While traveling home, Susan North (Patricia Neal) encounters a strange phenomenon. Soon, a mysterious man (Helmut Dantine) shows up at a rural pub, seeming to have odd ideas and prescient knowledge, some of which is about Susan, who has gone missing.

He also has no pulse!

When the authorities attempt to make him talk, they find it... difficult. Things only get weirder when Susan reappears. Of course, the government / military gets involved, and nearly makes a pig's breakfast of it all.

STRANGER FROM VENUS, like its -very similarly themed- cousin, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, is a more cerebral bit of cautionary sci-fi. No laser battles, monsters, or spaceship chases here. Dantine downplays his role, making the "miracles" he performs, and the words he speaks seem all the more believable. Ms. Neal is just as good in this as in that other, better-known film. Due to its budgetary constraints, most scenes are rather small in scope, making the dialogue quite important. This movie delivers excellent discourse and actually makes one think. Imagine that...

When first considering to watch this film I expected it to be very bad. The title seemed cheesy, it was made 40 years ago. Also I had viewed other online reviews and on average it didnt seem favorable.

This being said I am a fan of older sci fi and horror films. I found the acting, rather subtle compared to the cheesy performances I was imagining. I found that the film displayed the best traits of the 40 year old sci fi movies I had seen in the past. Such traits like the fun playful whimsy while still gladly lacking exaggerated attempts to shock or scare unnecessarily. The thing I like about these old movies is that they are fun, light and at the best of time thoughtful without being preachy.

I would agree that this film may lose points for lack of originality in parts. This being said the critics scored this film a lot poorer than it deserved. Part of the problem is that we just dont have a large number of people who have seen the film to give an accurate depiction of what the average person who likes old movies would feel about it.

I must finally say that it is not an all time classic must see film. This being said, if you like older sci fi and are looking for some light fun with the subject matter, "stranger from venus" is a decent watch for you. I feel it deserves at least 7 stars and I found it a relaxing and enjoyable sci fi story.

I'm always amazed at how emotion some people get. This movie (which few if any people have heard of) is a neat little slice of life thing. Once again Patricia Neal is paired up with an alien who looks more Aryan than Venutian. Once again, he holds the power to do great harm to the earth unless the military posturing stops. I guess this town is too big for the both of them. This is a gently done offering with few sparks or special effects. The point is that despite all he proves to them and the kindness of his actions, the people decide he needs to be destroyed. I don't put it quite in the same cinematic league with "Citizen Kane" and "Lawrence of Arabia" but it's no worse than hundreds of other films of the early 1950's. For those that consider it boring, I never lost interest in some rather neat characters who interact throughout. Please relax.