Unearthly Stranger

Last updated

Unearthly Stranger
"Unearthly Stranger".jpg
Australian film poster
Directed by John Krish
Written byRex Carlton
Story by Jeffrey Stone
Produced by Albert Fennell
Starring John Neville
Philip Stone
Gabriella Licudi
Patrick Newell
Cinematography Reg Wyer
Edited by Tom Priestley
Music by Edward Williams
Production
company
Distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated
Release dates
  • 12 September 1963 (1963-09-12)(United Kingdom)
  • April 1964 (1964-04)(United States)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Unearthly Stranger (also known as Beyond the Stars) is a 1963 British black-and-white 'B' [1] science fiction film directed by John Krish and starring John Neville, Philip Stone, Gabriella Licudi and Patrick Newell. [2] It was written by Rex Carlton based on an idea by Jeffrey Stone. [3] It was released in the UK by Independent Artists; its US release was in April 1964.

Contents

Plot

Dr Mark Davidson, the narrator, is in fear for his life. His predecessor died under mysterious circumstances just after making a major breakthrough. The cause of death ("an explosion inside his brain") is being withheld by Secret Service agent Major Clarke. The scientists are working on a project involving spaceflight by the power of mental concentration.

Davidson has a new Swiss wife, Julie, in whom Clarke takes an interest. Julie has a number of unusual characteristics, such as sleeping with her eyes open, never blinking and having no pulse, which makes her husband suspect she is an alien. She also frightens children and can handle very hot objects with her bare hands. After frightening a whole schoolyard of children, though, it emerges she can cry, though the tears burn her cheeks. Clarke does a background check and finds she never existed before her life with the doctor. As a precaution, Davidson is relieved of his lab duties. With nothing else to do he works on the problem his predecessor had figured out. He is able to recover the lost formula. For security reasons, Clarke confiscates the notes but is struck dead in the same mysterious way.

Eventually, Julie confesses that she is an alien sent to kill her husband and that she must leave because she has failed, as she has fallen in love with him. Despite his pleas, she vanishes, leaving only an empty dress. He rushes into his office and makes the tape which narrates the film, warning that aliens want to prevent the breakthrough. He is then interrupted by his secretary, who announces she is also an alien and she is there to finish the assignment. A scuffle ensues and, her concentration threatened, she falls backwards out of a window but only an empty dress lands on the pavement. The scientists rush downstairs and are quietly surrounded by a crowd of grim-visaged women, all of whom seem to be aliens.

Cast

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Oddly unheralded by producers and distributors alike, Unearthly Stranger is in fact the best British SF-film since Wolf Rilla's Village of the Damned [1960]. One can pick holes in the script – the officially unqueried substitution of bricks for the corpse in Munro's coffin is one of them; but in the long run ingenuity and suspense pay off handsomely. The climax in particular is as satisfying as it is bleak. Julie's abnormality is eerily conveyed in shots of her tear-stained cheeks, furrowed as if by acid, and in little things like her imperviousness to heat as she lifts a red-hot casserole from the oven with her bare hands. An unfamiliar cast is distinguished by Patrick Newell's bluff and sinister callousness as Clarke, and by John Neville's meticulous and overwrought hero. John Krish whose first feature this is, directs with pace, flexibility and imagination." [4]

Variety wrote: "Rex Carlton's screenplay takes place almost entirely within the confines of the offices of a space-connected research project. This presented some cinematic obstacles but director John Krish ... kept his small cast on the move within the limited area, cutting to occasional outside scenes for a change of pace. He is also helped tremendously by the ability of his three major actors to handle pseudoscientific dialogue in a manner that makes it both interesting and dramatic. ... Shakespearean actor John Neville, who could have understandably coasted through this admittedly negligible role, gives it his complete attention ... On a par with Neville is Patrick Newell, particularly, as a deceptively jovial but suspicious security chief ... and Philip Stone as Neville's fellow scientist in the project, treated as the cold-blooded, "no funny stuff" counterpart of Neville's imaginative and romantic part." [5]

In Offbeat: British Cinema's Curiosities, Obscurities and Forgotten Items, Phll Tonge wrote: "Unearthly Stranger is a very odd but rewarding experience. It's shot on tuppence ha'penny in a rather staid television style ... Of course this is nit-picking. John Krish knows how to do 'Dutch' angles for when Davidson (John Neville) is running through the streets of London, and he knows the best way to shoot a spiral staircase, looking down from on high to get that concentric effect. He also has a field day getting the lighting to turn the good-looking Neville into a pointy-faced freak ... Patrick Newell's performance as Major Clark is nothing short of outrageous. It's so fruity you could make jam out of it. [6]

Unearthly Stranger was selected by the film historians Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane as one of the 15 most meritorious British B films made between World War II and 1970. "Although Unearthly Stranger appears to draw attention to the performance of femininity, it is male society that is the real object of scrutiny," they say, describing it as "a highly effective fable" and praising its "unsettling atmosphere of dislocation and tension which disturbs our taken-for-granted assumptions about the worlds of office and home". [1] : 282–84 

Related Research Articles

<i>Taken</i> (miniseries) American science-fiction television miniseries by Steven Spielberg

Taken, also known as Steven Spielberg Presents Taken, is an American science fiction television miniseries that first aired on the Sci-Fi Channel from December 2 to 13, 2002. Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, it was written by Leslie Bohem, and directed by Breck Eisner, Félix Enríquez Alcalá, John Fawcett, Tobe Hooper, Jeremy Paul Kagan, Michael Katleman, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Bryan Spicer, Jeff Woolnough, and Thomas J. Wright. The executive producers were Leslie Bohem and Steven Spielberg.

<i>Dance with a Stranger</i> 1985 British film

Dance with a Stranger is a 1985 British film directed by Mike Newell. Telling the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain (1955), the film won critical acclaim, and aided the careers of two of its leading actors, Miranda Richardson and Rupert Everett. The screenplay was by Shelagh Delaney, author of A Taste of Honey, and was her third major screenplay. The story of Ellis has resonance in Britain because it provided part of the background to the extended national debates that led to the progressive abolition of capital punishment from 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rona Anderson</span> British actress (1926–2013)

Rona Anderson was a Scottish stage, film, and television actress. She appeared in TV series and on the stage and films throughout the 1950s. She appeared in the films Scrooge and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and on TV in Dr Finlay's Casebook and Dixon of Dock Green.

<i>The Family Stone</i> 2005 American dramedy film

The Family Stone is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Thomas Bezucha. Produced by Michael London and distributed by 20th Century Fox, it stars an ensemble cast, including Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson, Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams, and Tyrone Giordano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Newell</span> English actor

Patrick David Newell was a British actor.

Day One (<i>Torchwood</i>) 2006 Torchwood episode

"Day One" is the second episode of the first series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. Directed by Brian Kelly, the episode was first broadcast on the digital channel BBC Three on 22 October 2006 with the series pilot, "Everything Changes", and later repeated on terrestrial channel BBC Two on 25 October. It was the first work in the Doctor Who universe to be written by future Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall.

<i>The Tell-Tale Heart</i> (1960 film) 1960 British film

The Tell-Tale Heart is a 1960 British horror film directed by Ernest Morris produced by the Danzigers. The screenplay by Brian Clemens and Eldon Howard is a loose adaptation of the 1843 short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe. The film was released in England in December 1960, and in the U.S. in February 1962 as The Hidden Room of 1,000 Horrors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriella Licudi</span> British actress (1941–2022)

Gabriella Licudi was a British actress.

<i>The Last Man to Hang</i> 1956 British film by Terence Fisher

The Last Man to Hang? is a 1956 crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Tom Conway and Elizabeth Sellars. It was produced by John Gossage for Act Films Ltd.

<i>Its Not Cricket</i> (1949 film) 1949 British film

It's Not Cricket is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Alfred Roome and starring Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Susan Shaw and Maurice Denham. It is the second of two starring films for Radford and Wayne who appeared as supporting players in ten other films. It was also one of the final films made by Gainsborough Pictures before the studio was merged into the Rank Organisation.

<i>Return of a Stranger</i> (1961 film) 1961 British film by Max Varnel

Return of a Stranger is a 1961 British second feature thriller film directed by Max Varnel and starring John Ireland and Susan Stephen.

Incident in Shanghai is a 1938 British drama film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Margaret Vyner, Patrick Barr, Ralph Roberts and Derek Gorst. It was made at Pinewood Studios as a quota quickie for release by Paramount Pictures. It was shot in eleven days on a budget of £7,000.

<i>Cash on Demand</i> 1961 British film by Quentin Lawrence

Cash on Demand is a 1961 British black and white second feature neo noir crime thriller film directed by Quentin Lawrence and starring Peter Cushing and André Morell. The screenplay was adapted from the 1960 Associated Television Theatre 70 teleplay The Gold Inside, also directed by Lawrence, and featuring André Morell and Richard Vernon in the same roles.

<i>Offbeat</i> (film) 1961 British film by Cliff Owen

Offbeat is a 1961 black-and-white British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Cliff Owen and starring William Sylvester, Mai Zetterling, John Meillon and Anthony Dawson. The screenplay was by Peter Barnes.

<i>Alias John Preston</i> 1955 British film by David MacDonald

Alias John Preston is a 1955 British 'B' thriller film directed by David MacDonald and starring Christopher Lee, Betta St. John and Alexander Knox. A mysterious and wealthy man moves to a small village where he outwardly appears to be a friendly figure but nurses a dangerous secret.

<i>Panic</i> (1963 film) 1963 British film by Norman Harrison

Panic is a 1963 British 'B' crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Dyson Lovell, Janine Gray and Glyn Houston. The screenplay was by Gilling from a story by Gilling and Guido Coen.

<i>Dial 999</i> (1955 film) 1956 film directed by Montgomery Tully

Dial 999 is a 1955 British 'B' movie crime drama film directed and written by Montgomery Tully and starring Gene Nelson, Mona Freeman and John Bentley. It was based on the novel of the same name by Bruce Graeme. Produced by Todon Productions, it was shot at the Merton Park Studios in London. RKO Radio Pictures purchased the rights to distribute it in the United States, where it was released in cut form on 11 April 1956.

<i>Life in Her Hands</i> 1951 film by Philip Leacock

Life in Her Hands is a 1951 drama film sponsored by the British Ministry of Labour with the aim of recruiting women to the nursing profession. It was produced in response to addressing the short supply of qualified nurses in Britain after the Second World War, caused to some degree by the needs of the newly founded National Health Service (NHS). It was produced by the Crown Film Unit and distributed widely across all major cinemas by United Artists. The film was written by Anthony Steven and Monica Dickens, and directed by Philip Leacock. The cast included Bernadette O'Farrell, Jenny Laird, Jean Anderson and Kathleen Byron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Independent Artists (company)</span>

Independent Artists was a British production company of the 1950s and 1960s. It specialised in making second features.

<i>Candidate for Murder</i> 1962 British film by David Villiers

Candidate for Murder is a 1962 British second feature film directed by David Villiers and starring Michael Gough, Erika Remberg, Hans von Borsody and John Justin. Part of the long-running series of Edgar Wallace Mysteries films made at Merton Park Studios, it is based on a story by Edgar Wallace.

References

  1. 1 2 Chibnall, Steve; McFarlane, Brian (2009). The British 'B' Film. London: BFI/Bloomsbury. p. 389. ISBN   978-1-8445-7319-6.
  2. ↑ "Unearthly Stranger". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Jeffrey Stone, 85, was model for Prince Charming". Big Cartoon Forum . 24 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  4. ↑ "Unearthly Stranger". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 30 (348): 162. 1 January 1963 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ "Unearthly Stranger". Variety . 240 (5): 18. 22 September 1965 – via ProQuest.
  6. ↑ Tonge, Phil (2022). "Unearthly Stranger". In Upton, Julian (ed.). Offbeat: British Cinema's Curiosities, Obscurities and Forgotten Items (2nd ed.). Headpress. pp. 136–138. ISBN   9781909394933.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.