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Summary
The fifties produced mountain of memorable sci - fi book adaptation , as film producer seek inspiration from both pulp fiction and well - respected generator . In the backwash of the Second World War , and with the Cold War in full jive , sci - fi in the 1950s reflect the rough-cut anxieties of the era . The nuclear years and the space race both represented dreaded new frontiers in the human beings of scientific discipline , and many sci - fi movies also borrowed from the repugnance genre .
In one way or another , the best sci - fi film of the fifties explored what could happen in the near time to come . Studios often looked for aspiration from the popular sci - fi novel of the geological era . In other cases , they go through the timeless themes of senior classic by authors from previous centuries . Book adaptations develop some classic of the sci - fi genre in the fifties , includingInvasion of the Body SnatchersandThe War of the Worlds .
Many masses dismiss dark and clean films as outdated , but some sci - fi classics from decennium ago helped create the musical style as it is today .
10The Thing From Another World (1951)
Based on Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell
John W. Campbell ’s novella " Who conk out There ? " is probably most famous these Clarence Shepard Day Jr. as the ground for John Carpenter ’s sci - fi / horror classicThe affair , but it was adapted into a pic over 30 eld before . The matter From Another Worldis a very unlike kind of monstrosity picture show . While Carpenter ’s version is all about paranoia and suspicion , The Thing From Another Worldis a more traditional monster movie .
John W. Campbell ’s novella " Who Goes There ? " is probably most famous these days as the base for John Carpenter ’s sci - fi / horror classicThe Thing , but it was adapt into a movie over 30 years earlier .
The affair From Another Worldis one of many greatmonster film from the 1950s , and the Thing is distinctive of the era ’s menacing creature intention . The hulking plant - ground creature feed into fears of the unknown as humanity was start to dip its toe into blank geographic expedition . Howard Hawks is listed as the picture show ’s author and manufacturer , but the guesswork opus and lapping , realistic negotiation scene suggest that he may have also had a hand inThe Thing From Another worldly concern ’s direction .
9The War Of The Worlds (1953)
Based on The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Cast
H.G. Wells’The War of the Worldsisone of the most influential sci - fi novels of all clip , and it has been adapted into several picture , TV shows and radio drama . The 1953 film version is abrilliant alien invasion moviewhich constituted a cracking leap forward for sci - fi . The movie features a race of technologically advanced aliens waggle warfare on Earth in their tripod - mold spacecraft .
The War of the Worldswas first published in 1898 , but this film adjustment came after audiences had already witness the large - scale leaf horrors of two humanity wars .
The War of the Worldswas first print in 1898 , but this film adjustment came after hearing had already witnessed the large - scurf horrors of two world war . Suddenly , the prospect of humanity ’s demise did n’t seem so imaginary . The aliens inThe War of the Worldsplayed on contemporary fears of remote invaders come up to destroy the established status quo , but it ’s just as much about humanity ’s muddled reception to existential threats .
8This Island Earth (1955)
Based on This Island Earth by Raymond F. Jones
This Island Earthwas an eye - popping sci - fi spectacle when it was first expel , with gorgeous technicolor and plentitude of originative visual effects . This Island Earthis an expansive quad opera about a race of bug - eyed foreigner who practice the Earth as a cat’s-paw in an intergalactic warfare . Humans push back to retrieve their independence and their autonomy , but they are powerless in a biz that they ca n’t get the picture .
This Island Earthwas an eye - pop sci - fi spectacle when it was first discharge , with gorgeous technicolor and plenty of creative optical effects .
This Island Earthdeviates a lot from Raymond F. Jones ' novel , which was publish just two years before . The flick cuts some of the complicated political intrigue and a few supporting characters , and it inserts a romantic subplot , as many Hollywood adaptations do . Decades later , it ’s the motion picture which has survived , not the novel . This has a lot do with the flamboyant ocular grandeur of the production .
Custom image by Yailin Chacon
7The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Based on The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson
The unbelievable Shrinking Manfollows a man afflicted with a strange disease that causes him to step by step shrink . By the time he is the size of it of a child , he becomes caught in a media storm , but he is before long forgotten about as he shrivel little and smaller . By the end , he is abandon in the cellar of his home as he start to be dwarf by mice and insect eye him up like a potential meal .
The unbelievable Shrinking Manhas a cagey approach to its visual effects , but it ’s also a herculean emblem for final disease .
The Incredible Shrinking Manhas a clever coming to its visual result , but it ’s also a knock-down emblem for terminal disease . The story is about how Scott mete out with his circumstances , but it ’s also concerned with how other mass cover him as he and his motivation modification . Unlike most sci - fi motion-picture show of the era , The unbelievable Shrinking Mannever provides any explanation for its central mystery . Scott only assumes that his shrinkage is link to a mysterious cloud that beleaguer him , but the cloud ’s origins remain obscure .
6Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)
Based on The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
Invasion of the Body Snatchershas endured for far longer than most other 1950s sci - fi movies , and it has influence numberless alien intrusion movies . Jack Finney ’s novel was adapt a second time in 1978 . Both adaptations are deserving watch , but it ’s backbreaking to beat the intense , eerie standard pressure of the 1956 original . The story features an subtle exotic plot to slowly replace mass with bland zombi .
Invasion of the Body Snatchershas endured for far longer than most other 1950s sci - fi film , and it has tempt unnumberable alien invasion motion picture .
Each version ofInvasion of the Body Snatchersputs its own spin on Finney ’s novel . The 1956 iteration was released just two years after the record book was published , so it exists within the same societal context . intrusion of the Body Snatchersreflects the American Red Scare of the 1950s . The story hint at the creeping paranoia and spite gurgle beneath the surface of white - picket - fence middle America .
5When Worlds Collide (1951)
Based on When Worlds Collide by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie
When Worlds Collideis a space - age Noah ’s Ark tale , but the spaceships and sci - fi costume do very little to pull out focal point from the biblical overtone . The movie opens with a quotation from Genesis about how God decided to wipe out humanity , and the plot focalize on the mad scramble as mass seek to protect themselves from limbo . The topsy-turvydom shows precisely why civilisation has been doomed to conk , either by divine intervention or random cosmic nonchalance .
When Worlds Collideis all fervidness and brimstone , but it has plenty to offer beyond its religious themes .
When Worlds Collideis all fire and brimstone , but it has wad to offer beyond its spiritual themes . Prophetic visions of an apocalyptical future are especially prevalent in sci - fi movies during times of great social upheaval , so the 1950s produce many similar account . When Worlds Collidehas mess of miniature and paint backdrops which look quaint by today ’s measure , but it ’s an challenging cautionary narrative about the perils of atomic armament .
420,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954)
Based on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Seas by Jules Verne
There were many sci - fi movies in the 1950s which adapted contemporary novel , but20,000 Leagues Under the Seais establish on a Jules Verne novel from 1870.The Disney escapade movie assembles a astral castheaded by Kirk Douglas and James Mason , finally bringing Verne ’s popular novel to the expectant screen with all the grandness and magnificence that it deserves . premature adaptations plainly did n’t have the ambit or the technology to do so .
20,000 league Under the Seawas revered for its ocular effects , and its design avail to birth the steampunk aesthetic .
In an era when sci - fi movies were looking up to the stars,20,000 Leagues Under the Seaacted as a reminder that there were still undiscovered creatures obscure on Earth . There is just as much horror and adventure in the oceans explored by Captain Nemo and his crew as there is on the fabricated satellite of other movies.20,000 Leagues Under the Seawas idolize for its visual effects , and its design facilitate to birth the steampunk aesthetic .
3Journey To The Center Of The Earth (1959)
Based on Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
20,000 conference Under the Seawasn’t the only popular Jules Verne novel to receive a big - budget movie adaption in the 1950s . Five years after the box office success of20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,20th Century Fox releasedJourney to the Center of the Earth , another dazzle adventure that prove to be a hit with fan . Journey to the Center of the Earthfollows a race between two contend teams to receive the secrets hide in the planet ’s core .
Unlike the Cold War , Journey to the Center of the Earthfeatures dinosaurs , the metropolis of Atlantis and a anthropophagus .
The exploration inJourney to the Center of the Earthis reminiscent of Scott and Amundsen ’s scramble to plant a flag at the South Pole , but in the 1950s the story took on a newfangled meaning . The compete teams , one American and one European , represented the two interested company in the place subspecies . Unlike the Cold War , Journey to the Center of the Earthfeatures dinosaurs , the urban center of Atlantis and a cannibal .
2On The Beach (1959)
Based on On the Beach by Nevil Shute
On the Beachis set in the sixties , after the fallout from World War III has wiped out all life in the Northern Hemisphere . People in Melbourne , Australia hold off for the cloud of radiation to finally drift south and kill them , and they handle the newsworthiness of their impending end of the world differently . Some engage in act of drunken debauchery , while others sit down in stupor , refusing to conceive that their love ones in the U.S. are dead . Perhaps most troubling of all are the racing drivers in the Australian grand prix who give their all to either win the race or die trying .
On the Beachset the tone for many other post - apocalyptic sci - fi motion picture .
On the Beachmakes plenty of changes to Nevil Shute ’s 1957 novel . The most significant is that the ledger details the chronicle of the war , while little is love about what really happened in the movie . This is even more potent , as there is nobody to find fault for humanity ’s dying , and the reasons behind the conflict fade into insignificance . On the Beachset the tone for many otherpost - apocalyptic sci - fi movie .
1The Curse Of Frankenstein (1957)
Based on Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley first wroteFrankensteinin 1812 , when the advent of electricity and the industrial revolution were changing the world irreversibly . The revulsion story plays on humanity ’s anxiety about rapidly pass on technologies , and whether they can be placed into human hands , and this radical has ensured the story has remained just as pop 100 later . Guillermo del Toro is making his ownFrankensteinadaptation , proving that the characters and the story are still relevant .
The Curse of Frankensteintakes some liberties with Shelley ’s storey , but the construction blocking are unmistakable .
Boris Karloff ’s version of the monster may still be the gilt criterion , but horror icon Christopher Lee does a brilliant task in 1957’sThe Curse of Frankenstein . Peter Cushing , another veteran villain player , play the egomaniacal Dr. Frankenstein , and he highlight the fiber ’s own monstrous qualities . The Curse of Frankensteintakes some liberty with Shelley ’s story , but the building blocks are unmistakable .
