Devil Girl from Mars *** (1954, Patricia Laffan, Hugh McDermott, Hazel Court, Peter Reynolds, Adrienne Corri, Joseph Tomelty, John Laurie) – Classic Movie Review 3,123

‘Invasion from Outer Space!… Sights too weird to imagine! Destruction too monstrous to escape!’ However, this is the exotic and amazing Patricia Laffan’s finest hour in the movies.

‘Invasion from Outer Space!… Sights too weird to imagine! Destruction too monstrous to escape!’

Director David MacDonald’s wonderfully campy and deliriously dreadful 1954 black-and-white sci-fi thriller film represents an unusual Fifties British attempt to grab a corner of the American chiller market. Produced by the Danzigers, it certainly at least rivals the best of them for lowness of budget, stiffness of performances, talkiness of script and staginess of handling. It enjoys an esteemed place among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made in The OFFICIAL RAZZIE MOVIE GUIDE.

However, this is the exotic and amazing Patricia Laffan’s finest hour in the movies. And she is a sight for sore eyes as Queen Nyah, a sexily menacing PVC-clad Martian space woman, who grabs her ray gun and comes to Earth from a female-dominated Martian society with her robot Chanti to take home healthy Scots laddies as breeders.

Admittedly, she’s landed in the Scots Highlands by mistake, instead of London, but no matter! An escaped convict (Peter Reynolds), despite being protected by barmaid Doris (Adrienne Corri), gets caught up in Nyah’s web.

All this excitement, and a U certificate too!

It also stars Hugh McDermott, Hazel Court, Joseph Tomelty and John Laurie.

Also in the cast are Sophie Stewart, Anthony Richmond, James Edmond and Stuart Hibberd.

John C Maher and James Eastwood’s screenplay is based on their own stage play.

A clip of Patricia Laffan firing her ray gun  is often used in commercials and documentaries, such as the TV remote episode of the History Channel series History’s Lost and Found which showed that early remotes used a beam of light and looked like a ray gun.

Laffan found her costume hot and hard to wear and was not allowed to eat or drink while filming because of the difficulties of getting out of it.

Patricia Laffan was born on March 19 1919 in Wandsworth, London, and is also known for Quo Vadis (1951) and 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956). She was 5ft 6in with reddish brown hair and green eyes. She died at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London on 10 March 2014, nine days short of her 95th birthday.

After retiring from acting, she became an international fashion impresario.

http://derekwinnert.com/quo-vadis-1951-robert-taylor-deborah-kerr-leo-genn-peter-ustinov-patricia-laffan-finlay-currie-abraham-sofaer-classic-movie-review-2253/

A new restoration of the film is available to buy on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from 15 January 2024.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 3,123

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