Target Earth ** (1954, Richard Denning, Kathleen Crowley, Virginia Grey, Whit Bissell, Richard Reeves, Robert Roark, Arthur Space, Steve Pendleton) – Classic Movie Review 3754

Director Sherman A Rose’s 1954 vintage black-and-white post-war paranoia sci-fi horror movie Target Earth tries to terrify us by supposing that giant robots from Venus are invading Chicago. Though trashy and low budget, it is notable as one of the first movies to explore the sub-genre of alien invasions, in the wake of George Pal’s The War of the Worlds (1953).

The film, produced by Herman Cohen and distributed by Allied Artists, focuses on a small group of people overlooked during a mass evacuation of Chicago after an invasion by the hostile robotic beings from Venus. Richard Denning and Kathleen Crowley are the dull humans Frank Brooks and Nora King, a pair of strangers stranded together after a chance meeting in the deserted city.

If Target Earth has reached cult classic status, it is a very small cult. It might have scared kids back in the Fifties, although, stuck with its desperately low budget, it is not going to scare anyone now, but it still might entertain robot / alien invasion buffs.

Robert Roark, who plays Davis, the killer, was cast because his LA doctor father agreed to invest in the film only if his son was given a part. He had a lengthy acting career throughout the Fifties, mostly on TV.

Steve Calvert, who worked as a bartender at Ciro’s on the Sunset Strip, plays the Robot. Though a robot army is mentioned several times, they only built one robot, which was used in all scenes to depict the invasion. Calvert also played the apes in Bride of the Gorilla (1951) and Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952).

The screenplay is based on the short story Deadly City by Paul W Fairman, which first appeared in the March 1953 issue of If magazine under his pseudonym Ivar Jorgensen.

It was filmed in just seven days that included outdoor shooting in empty streets in the early morning before traffic in Los Angeles, though the film is set in Chicago. Principal photography began mid-July 1954 at Kling Studios.

It is produced in his debut by Herman Cohen, going on to become one of the most prominent Sixties B-movie producers. Director Rose made only two other films.

The main cast are Richard Denning as Frank Brooks, Kathleen Crowley as Nora King, Virginia Grey as Vicki Harris, Richard Reeves as Jim Wilson, Robert Roark as Davis, Whit Bissell as chief research scientist Tom, Arthur Space as Lt. General Wood, Steve Pendleton as Colonel, Mort Marshall as Charles Otis, House Peters Jr as technician and Steve Calvert as the Robot.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3754

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