The Bubble

I was a teen in the 60's and a big horror movie fan who saw and read anything I could get my hands on regarding horror films, and especially 3D horror films of the 50's. I distinctly remember reading the press releases in the Detroit newspapers that Arch Oboler, one of the technical pioneers of 3D films in the 50's, was in town to supervise the installation of special silver screens for his new 3D process.

It was not new because it used polarized lenses...those had been used in the majority of the 3D films in the 50's. The new process related to the projection of the film. (I don't recall the articles going into much more detail about that process, but now I know it was apparently the first to combine both images on a single filmstrip.)

I was so excited that Oboler himself was in my hometown to supervise the showing I made sure to go see it. I believe it was at the Adams in downtown Detroit.

The 3D was mind-blowing! The beer tray floating out over the audience has still (this is mid 2013) not been topped for jaw-dropping 3D. I have thought of it many times since, and I think the reason it worked so well, and so much better than explosions or other fast-moving moves out of frame, is that the tray moved slow enough to follow and keep in focus by our eyes. (This is similar to holding one finger in front of your face and slowly moving it toward your nose. Your eyes cross slowly as your finger gets nearer.) I remember little else of the film, but I know that I walked out feeling I got my money's worth, just for the 3D alone.

[Also release as: "Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth"]

Director Arch Oboler ("The Twonky") pioneered a new 3-D process called "Spacevision" which used polarized glasses to separate the right-and-left images for the audience. The 3-D effect works remarkable well, especially in a scene involving a serving tray which floats out of the screen and (apparently) right up to the viewer's face.

Oboler obviously made "The Bubble" just to show off "Spacevision"; the plot is practically nonexistent, and the film is littered with scenes that poke objects out of the screen at the audience. In Deborah Walley's first scene, she holds her arms out to the audience and exclaims "Darling!" to husband Michael Cole.

The token plot is about a small town which alien invaders have isolated inside a spherical force field (the bubble of the title). A small plane piloted by Johnny Desmond and carrying newlyweds Michael and Deborah is forced to land during a storm, and the trio end up trapped in the town. The town's citizens act like broken robots, repeating routine tasks over and over, oblivious to everything around them. Olan Soule has a small role as one of the automaton Earthlings. The alleged alien invaders are never shown.

Music by Paul Sawtell and Bert Schefter (the team which provided mucic for "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" and many other 1950s classics). Arch Oboler served as producer, screenwriter, and director -- so he has nobody to blame but himself.

A young couple (the guy is Michael Cole) find themselves in a mysterious town.

I am guessing many retro sci-fi fans don't even know this film exists for the simple reason that the title - The Bubble - does not give any hint as to what genre of movie this is.

Hit and miss best describes this flick. Cole does some great acting, the backlot town looks creepy enough, the moody musical score fits in well and there are some very well done moments that Under The Dome (2013) may have pinched.

But this is a long movie that really needed to be a 25 minute or 50 minute TV episode of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. The ending is a bit average. Also, the 3D tricks (actors pointing things at the camera) are not welcome.

I would suggest a late night viewing when you are not feeling very demanding.

This was not the first polarized 3-D movie by a long shot, as over 50 3-D movies were released in polarized 3-D in 1953 and 1954. Some of those were later downconverted to the inferior red/blue anaglyph format but they were not seen that way upon their initial release.

However, this was the first film widely distributed in a single strip/one projector 3-D process instead of the dual strip/dual projector system used in the fifties.

The film has been compared to an overlong "Twilight Zone" and that is an apt description. The widescreen 3-D is quite good. It's a bit slow, and the film was cut from the original 112m version to 90 mins for a wide 1976 3-D re-issue under the title FANTASTIC INVASION OF PLANET EARTH. Later 3-D video versions cut it further to 75 mins.

Rhino's DVD restores the original title but is the 90 min version, and has been downconverted from polarized to inferior red/blue anaglyph. Still, the red/blue presentation is better than most; and is worth a purchase for 3-D fans. Just don't expect it to look as good as the original polarized glasses version.

Yes this is a awful movie however I was in it: This was my first movie I play(name not on credits) the little girl walking around and riding on the carnival ride in a complete trance. My uncle was a producer and assisted Arch Obler on this film. I was only 7 years old but what memories. Gilligans Island,Big Valley ,Its about Time were all being filmed and I hung out with all of the actors. Michael Cole and Debra Wally were in the Bubble and were great to me. I will never forget that time. I continued on until into my 20 in the Hollywood scene and then decided to move on. I now own a successful Ice Sculpting and Event Decor company on the West Coast. I was so surprised to see this on the amazon.com I had to laugh. I even went to the opening it was at a theatre in Hollywood i got to walk down the red carpet and could barely write my name when another child asked if i was in the movie and wanted my autograph I only new how to print not write.