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It Conquered the World (film)

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“ He learned almost too late that man is a feeling creature, and because of it the greatest in the universe. He learned too late for himself that men have to find their own way, to make their own mistakes. There can't be any gift of perfection from outside ourselves. And when men seek such perfection, they find only death, fire, loss, disillusionment, and the end of everything that's gone forward. Men have always sought an end to toil and misery. It can't be given, it has to be achieved. There is hope, but it has to come from inside. From man himself. ”
- Paul Nelson


For the MST3K episode, see MST3K 311 - It Conquered the World.

It Conquered the World is a 1956 monster/horror film directed by Roger Corman and written by Lou Rusoff.

Plot[]

Dr. Tom Anderson is a brilliant but prickly physicist. Once the head of the "Perpetual Missile Project", he has fallen out of favor, but he has a ham radio with which he is in contact with intelligent entities from Venus.

Tom is disgusted with mankind's amoral behavior and is convinced that the solution is to remove man's messy emotions, with the assistance of the alien. Tom's wife is loyal to her husband but won't go along with his plans. He guides one of the Venusians to Earth with the aid of a satellite that was recently put into orbit by his old friend, fellow scientist Paul Nelson. The alien takes up residence in a nearby cave, causes all electro-mechanical devices to stop working, and sends out flying bat-like creatures to implant mind control devices in key humans.

Taking over human society requires measures that eventually persuade Anderson to reconsider his alliance with the alien. Nelson's unwillingness to cooperate is also a factor.

Cast[]

Notes[]

Beulah-colorPaulandBob
  • Monster-builder Paul Blaisdell originally crafted the monster as a short, dense thing because of Venus’ heavier gravity. He soon discovered that the two-foot-high alien invader wasn’t very intimidating, as evidenced when Beverly Garland laughed at it and knocked it over with a kick. Blaisdell then added a three-foot conical portion to the head.
  • Paul Blaisdell, who designed, built and portrayed the alien in the movie, affectionately dubbed his creation "Beulah". It is apparently the most popular monster of Blaisdell's oeuvre among his fans as well.
  • Although usually referred to as being a "cucumber" or another vegetable by fans, "Beulah" is supposed to be a fungus.
  • Among the numerous names the crew gave the monster were the Tee-Pee Terror, The Cucumber Critter, and the Carrot Monster.
  • The bat-like creatures that the monster uses to control people would be re-used in Roger Corman's next film The Undead.
  • It Conquered the World was shot in five days.
  • In 1956, American International released this film on a double bill with The She-Creature.
  • A made-for-TV remake of this film, Zontar, the Thing from Venus, was produced in 1965. It stars John Agar.
  • Peggie Castle was originally cast as Joan Nelson, but withdrew from the project shortly before filming began. She was replaced by Sally Fraser, who did it as a favor for her friend Roger Corman even though she was five months pregnant at the time.
  • Nominated in The Golden Turkey Awards series for Most Laughable Concept for an Outer Space Invader. It lost to The Creeping Terror.
  • An edited clip of It Conquered the World is used at the beginning of the 1988 feature film Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Much of Peter Graves' famous speech is cut, and his voice seems to be dubbed by another actor. Elvira remarks that the monster looked like "Gumby on steroids".

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