While this 1951 classic
has a melodramatic title, poster and indeed opens in similar fashion it’s actually a
thoughtful movie which, after the initial sequence of an alien spaceship
landing in Washington, takes on more of the feel of a smaller film despite its
large subject. Its biggest asset is in making the events however unusual almost
documentary like at times as if this is something that could easily happen. For
much of the time the film never steps over the top into melodrama, helped by a
perfectly pitched performance by Michael Rennie and an aesthetic that still
seems extremely cool seventy five years later.
