O Planeta dos Desaparecidos

I found this movie in one of those Mill Creek 50-packs. It's a low-budget sci-fi film that works better with ideas than special effects. As a MST3K fan I found myself riffing some scenes out of habit. But as flawed as it is, trashing it outright misses the better points.

I don't know what movie Claude Rains thought he was in, because he truly brings his A-game as a curmudgeon. He's the professor (often in a hammock) who the futuristic government doesn't believe. Stuck in his belief of scientific fact, he is not taken seriously.

Does Rains chew the scenery? Yep, but it's fun and funny. I felt he probably enjoyed this character. He gives Prof. Benson mannerisms and tics that a lesser actor would not have bothered with. So he is 2 of my 5 points, because is so fun to watch.

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.

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.

I've just seen Battle of the Worlds for the first time and is very similar to When Worlds Collide, which was made ten years before this in 1951.

A planet is discovered to be on a collision course with Earth and a way is devised to try and stop it. To makes things worse, Earth is attacked by flying saucers from this planet but they are eventually defeated. A party, including Professor Benson then lands on this planet and they manage to blow it up and successfully do so, but with Benson still on there as he refused orders to evacuate. Earth is saved yet again.

Battle Of the Worlds tends to be a little talky and slow moving in parts but the flying saucer scenes are OK. Despite it being talky, it is fairly eerie in parts.

This features a good performance from Claude Rains (The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man, The Lost World) as Professor Benson but he is the only star I've heard of in the cast.

To sum up, an average movie but not brilliant.

Rating: 2 and a half stars out of 5.

The appearance of Claude Rains is not the only surprise in Anthony Dawson's Il pianeta degli uomini spenti (A.K.A. Battle of the Worlds). Rains plays an eccentric, reclusive, contemptuous elderly scientist who leads a powerful research team. Professor Benson is the best, and he has little patience for lesser minds. His only link to humanity seems to be Eve (Maya Brent), his assistant. Her coming of age, the insubordination of one of the younger members of his research team, and the impending arrival of an enormous and mysterious space object - The Outsider - combine to challenge "the old man's" carefully-constructed self concept, his arrogance, and, ultimately, the continuation of life on earth.

Ultimately, this is one of Italy's best and most serious sci-fi films, and one of the better early '60s sci-fi films to come out of Europe. The relatively primitive (but creative) effects coupled with the very serious and dramatic tone of the dialog may be difficult for most American viewers. Giorgio Giovannini's soundtrack is jarring and intense. And the excellent, but sometimes surreal, Marcello Masciocchi cinematography won't help the average viewer enjoy this film. The international cast (mostly Americans) does very well.

Given the film's dubious pedigree and silly cliché title, I can certainly understand why some reviewers felt compelled to use the words "cheesy" and "spaghetti" in their reviews. I am tempted to point out that macaroni and cheese is a very tasty dish, but I will refrain. Approach this film with an open mind and you might just be able to get something more than guilty pleasure from it.