This Island Earth

This Island Earth
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This Island Earth

Tribute poster by Mitch O'Connell.
Directed by Joseph M. Newman
Produced by William Alland
Written by Raymond F. Jones (story "The Alien Machine")
Franklin Coen
Edward G. O'Callaghan
Starring Jeff Morrow
Faith Domergue
Rex Reason
Lance Fuller
Russell Johnson
Music by Joseph Gershenson (music supervision)
Henry Mancini (uncredited)
Hans J. Salter (uncredited)
Herman Stein (uncredited)
Cinematography Clifford Stine
Editing by Virgil Vogel
Distributed by Universal Pictures International
Release date(s) June 1, 1955 (U.S. release)
Running time 87 min
Language English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

For the novel by Raymond F. Jones, see This Island Earth (novel).
This Island Earth is a Technicolor, 1955 science fiction film directed by Joseph M. Newman. It is based on the novel of the same name by Raymond F. Jones. The film stars Jeff Morrow as the alien Exeter, Faith Domergue as Dr. Ruth Adams, and Rex Reason as Dr. Cal Meacham. Being one of the first major science fiction films produced in color, This Island Earth opened the door to high-budget space-themed productions such as MGM's Forbidden Planet. In 1996, This Island Earth was also edited down and lampooned in the film Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie.

When initially released, the film was praised by most critics, many citing the special effects, well written script and eye-popping color (prints by Technicolor) as being its major assets.

Contents
[hide]
1 Plot
2 Trivia
3 Scientific Gaffes
4 External links



[edit] Plot
Dr. Cal Meacham, a noted scientist, receives an unusual substitute for electronic condensers that he ordered. They are un-Earthly in their ability to carry overloads of electricity; he sends a letter to the company that supplied the parts, and receives a package which appears to be a catalog. He begins ordering parts from it, and eventually is given a kit to build a very complex communication device called an interocitor. When finished, Meacham receives a message on it: A mysterious man named Exeter tells him he has passed the test he was given. His ability to build the interocitor demonstrates that he is gifted enough to be part of the special research project Exeter is running.

Intrigued, Meacham accepts an invitation to visit Exeter's facility, and finds an international group of top-flight scientists already present--including an old flame, Dr. Ruth Adams. But Cal is almost immediately suspicious of the odd-looking group of men leading the mission.

Cal and Ruth decide to slip away from the facility, but as they take off in a small plane, they watch as the facility and all its inhabitants are incinerated, and their plane is drawn up inside a flying saucer.

It is then that Cal and Ruth learn that Exeter and his band are aliens from the planet Metaluna, come to Earth seeking scientists to help them defend their planet in the war against the evil Zagons. Though they protest, Exeter informs them that he is taking them back to his war-torn planet, in the hope that they can do something to aid it.

After a mind-bending journey, they arrive to find the planet under full bombardment and falling quickly to the enemy. Metalunan society is breaking down and there is little hope. The Monitor (Exeter's leader) reveals that the Metalunans intend to relocate to Earth and insists that Meacham and Adams be subjected to the Thought Transference Chamber in order to subjugate their free will when they object to this plan. Exeter believes this to be immoral and also wrong since it sets up unconscious barriers in the minds of the subjects and thus constrains their ability to help the Metalunans. Exeter decides to help Meacham and Adams escape, thus revolting against his own kind, before they enter the brain-reprogramming facility.

Cal overpowers the mutant creature accompanying them (but not before it wounds Exeter) and the three make their escape and journey back to Earth. As they enter Earth's atmosphere, Exeter sends the two on their way in their small plane, but as he himself is too wounded to continue and his ship is nearly depleted of energy, he allows the saucer to crash into the sea. Cal and Ruth return home.

Many critics cite the special effects as the strongest element in This Island Earth, which were ground breaking for their time and are considered by many film buffs to be comparable to modern special effects.


[edit] Trivia
The film was one of the last films to use the three strip Technicolor filming process. Even during production, the film's special effects were shot on the more conventional Eastman color process, which most studios had already switched to.[citation needed]

Adams, Meacham and Exeter confront a mutant.
The Mutant seen in this film was one of several potential aliens for Universal's 3-D film It Came from Outer Space (1953). Universal used it in This Island Earth after it was rejected by the other film's director, Jack Arnold.[citation needed]
Some European film reviewers noted the similarity to the Earth scientists being recruited by aliens to help them fight a war against other aliens with the American acquisition of German and other European scientists to help fight the Cold War[citation needed].
A brief homage to This Island Earth is seen in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). E.T. turns the TV on to This Island Earth, at the scene when Cal and Ruth are being abducted by the aliens and Cal says, "They're pulling us up!"

This Island Earth was featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
The original motion picture This Island Earth is more than 20 minutes longer than the edited version featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, which removes several sequences, some important (like a sequence of the Zagon fleet attacking Metaluna), both in order to make the film fit a shorter 73-minute running time and to accommodate several "host segments". Also, producers from Universal Pictures demanded the film be shorter. Ironically this makes Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie shorter than This Island Earth, or even the average MST3K episode (running time 90 minutes with commercial breaks filling the show out to 2 hours).

The bug mutant character in this film has a cameo during the Area 52 sequence of the Joe Dante film, Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Dante also featured the final sequence from the film on a television at the beginning of his 1985 film Explorers.
The movie featured an uncredited appearance by future MST3k favourite Coleman Francis in the role of the express deliveryman.
The movie is referenced in the Misfits song "This Island Earth".
The Wonder Woman episodes, "Mind Stealers from Outer Space" (season 2, episodes 9 and 10), swipes scenes from "This Island Earth" to establish the plot.

[edit] Scientific Gaffes
In a scene where Reason and Domergue believe that they are protected by a lead slab, Domergue's cat comes into view, Domergue says "We call him Neutron because he's so positive."


[edit] External links
This Island Earth at the Internet Movie Database
Review by Science Fiction Weekly
The Official Website of "This Island Earth" Star Rex Reason
This Island Earth Sourcebook at The Thunder Child
This Island Earth soundtrack release by Monstrous Movie Music review
Fansite
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Island_Earth"
Categories: English-language films | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | 1955 films | Space adventure films | Mystery Science Theater 3000 films | Films based on science fiction books

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his Island Earth
March 27, 2007
filed under color, first encounter, MidCentury Modern, retrofuture, Space tableau.


This Island Earth (1955)
Two attractive scientists are kidnapped and taken on a joyride to another planet by their alien employer. His home world is so desperately out of resources they need the inferior humans to help them improve their power supply. But time is running out and it may be too late!

This first encounter with an alien species is an acid trip in vivid 3-strip Technicolor, but dry and unemotional like an Arthur C Clark epic. The actors stand around explaining things to each other while molecule sculptures blink and rotate like a moderne chandelier run amok. A large psychedelic console unit, the Interocitor, is a videophone, autopilot, and death ray all-in-one. At one point the spaceship is attacked by triangles that hurl sparkling balls at them, but they escape. Then they are attacked by a deranged slave bug, but they escape. Etc, etc. Occasionally the aliens strike a pose like the Abraham Lincoln statue, making them seem aloof and too preoccupied to get emotionally involved.

There aren’t any surprises here and that’s the surprise. It’s oddly refreshing to watch a sci-fi drama without the cliches, no sassy mouthed princess…, no wild west gunslinger or WW1 pilot…, no druids…. What you get is pure ’50s science fiction adventure that slowly unfolds from the mundane, to the mysterious, to the monumental as our stunned Earthling tourists witness the death of an alien civilization!

Interocitor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Interociter)
Jump to: navigation, search

An interocitor being used as a communications device
The interocitor is a fictitious multi-functional device featured in the 1955 science fiction film This Island Earth (and later, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie which contained This Island Earth). In the film, the device arrives in kit form as an intelligence test for scientists who might prove helpful to an alien race.


[edit] This Island Earth
The Interocitor is an alien communications device with unusual and strange properties. The concept was invented by science fiction writer Raymond F. Jones, who wrote the original novel This Island Earth beginning as a series of three sci-fi short stories now known as “The Peace Engineers Trilogy” appearing in the sci-fi pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories from 1949 to 1951. Raymond F. Jones then did a novelization of the complete story into full book form and it was first published in 1952 by Shasta Press. Universal Studios purchased the screen rights to the novel in 1953, since the novel was a popular sci-fi best seller, and made it into a Technicolor movie in 1954, which was then released on June 1, 1955. The film was a modest success and has brilliant special visual effects, ground-breaking milestone work for its time. The first third of the trilogy of stories was titled “The Alien Machine”, referring to the Interocitor, with original graphic artwork penned by famous sci-fi artist Virgil Finlay. The story was sold to the press with the help of literary agent Forrest J. Ackerman.

The term interocitor itself, rather than referring to a specific device, likely refers to a general class of devices that share a common set of operating principles (similar to the term computer). This is inferred from the fact an interocitor is observed or described in many different roles:

Telecommunications device
Aircraft autopilot
Surveillance and security controller
Directed energy weapon
In the film, advanced physicist Cal Meacham first becomes aware of an interocitor when a book arrives at his lab entitled, Electronic Service, Unit #16. Inside is contained a bill of materials for the interocitor, describing it as, "incorporating greater advances than hitherto known in the field of electronics". From the specifications, Meacham opines, "There's no limit to what it could do. Laying a four lane highway at the rate of a mile a minute would be a cinch."

Of the 2486 components comprising an interocitor, only three are named:

Bead condenser (model #: AB-619)
Cathermin tube with inindium complex of +4
Intensifier disk
The instructions accompanying the components also caution that no interocitor part can be replaced, and to bear this in mind while assembling. ("Use only Genuine Interocitor Parts."-Crow T. Robot)

Once assembled and powered, Meacham places the intensifier disk into the right-hand control and rotates it 18 degrees counter-clockwise. Upon doing so, the telecommunication function of the interocitor is activated, and Meacham establishes contact with Exeter, the party responsible for sending him the device.

During their conversation, Meacham's lab assistant, Joe Wilson attempts to photograph the device, but is informed by Exeter that "Your camera will pick up nothing but black fog. Images on the interocitor don't register on film."

Later, Meacham boards a light aircraft autopiloted by an interocitor to join Exeter at his research facility. Exeter is also seen using an interocitor to remotely surveil a private conversation between Meacham and two other scientists at the facility, Ruth Adams and Steve Carlson. Later, Exeter's assistant, Brack, uses the weapons capability of the device to thwart the attempted escape of Meacham, Adams, and Carlson from the facility.


An interocitor was shown in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie

[edit] Mystery Science Theater 3000
In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie, the robot Tom Servo announces that he has a personal interocitor in his room. The lead character, Mike Nelson, suggests that they attempt to use it in order to escape from the Satellite of Love. Servo was apparently unaware of its properties and had been using it to make hot chocolate. When Mike and the robots contact a Metalunan, who happens to be showering, he reveals that he is unable to help them. At that point Dr. Clayton Forrester breaks into the communication, using his own interocitor (claiming that everybody has one) and uses the interocitor's directed energy weapon to coerce Mike and the robots back into the theater.


[edit] Other appearances
An interocitor appeared in the "Weird Al" Yankovic video for "Dare to Be Stupid" and in his movie UHF.
An interocitor is visible in a dumpster in the July 2, 2005 episode of the webcomic Freefall by Mark Stanley.
In the computer-generated television show ReBoot, the interocitor was a component which frequently broke on the car of the main protagonist, Bob.
In the movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action, the mad scientist found in the California desert is looking for an interocitor that she misplaced.
The Interocitor is also the name of the program developed by Todd Rundgren for his PatroNet subscription service. The PatroNet server itself is named "Metaluna".
An Interocitor is referenced in the setup of the Kelly LeBrock creation in Weird Science.
An Interociter is listed as a component of the containment unit by Egon on an episode of The Real Ghostbusters.
Interociter is the name of a device in Doctor Who, involving quantum telecommunication across time and space. It is named specifically as a reference to this movie, and this is mentioned by the Doctor (Peter Davison) during the story. This in Renaissance of the Daleks by Big Finish.
In the video game Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, an Interociter can be seen in the science lab below the library. when examined Larry will remark "I wonder where the candy comes out".


This website is dedicated to Raymond F. Jones (1915-1994), the author of several highly regarded science fiction novels and short stories. His work has appeared in magazines such as Thrilling Wonder Stories, Amazing Stories and Galaxy. His first published story, "Test of the Gods," appeared in Astounding Science Fiction magazine in 1941. Over the next three decades Jones went on to write an impressive array of entertaining science fiction tales until his final story, "Death Eternal," was published in Fantastic Stories in 1978. His easy, flowing style of writing won him many admirers.

His best known novel, This Island Earth, was adapted into a feature film by Universal Studios. Jones' early short stories, including "Noise Level," "Black Market" (a story which served as an inspiration for H. Beam Piper's Paratime series) and "The Person From Porlock," are widely considered to be classics of the genre. In tales such as "Production Test" and "The Model Shop," Jones created rare gems: science fiction stories with scientific problems to solve. In others still, including powerful pieces such as "The Farthest Horizon," Jones wrote thoughtful stories with believable characters. These talents made Jones a highly respected writer of science fiction in the 1940's and 1950's. He was a regular contributor to Astounding Science Fiction magazine, one of a large group of writers influenced by the magazine's editor, John W. Campbell.

In this website you will find a checklist of his novels and short fiction, images of book and magazine covers (including some superb pulp cover artwork from the 1940's), links to other webpages with information on Jones, a guide to his short stories, a news and updates section and a page with transcriptions of two autobiographical sketches written by Raymond F. Jones. Whether you are a fan of Raymond F. Jones or merely curious about his work, I hope that you find this site informative and entertaining.

E-Mail: richNOard@simms7092.freesSPAMerve.co.uk





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Copyright © 2007 Richard Simms
Last updated on February 27, 2007

Raymond F. Jones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Raymond F(isher) Jones (November 15, 1915, Salt Lake City, Utah - January 24, 1994, Sandy, Utah) was an American science fiction author. He is best known for his 1952 novel, This Island Earth, which was adapted into the 1955 film This Island Earth.

Jones' career was at its peak during the 1940s and '50s. His stories were mostly published in the pulp magazines, such as Thrilling Wonder Stories, Astounding Stories, and Galaxy. His short story Noise Level is known as one of his best works and is considered to be a classic of the genre.


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In 1949 and 1950 a science fiction serial by Raymond F. Jones appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories. Within half a decade that serial would make history as the basis of the first science fiction movie about interstellar travel and interstellar war. The next Hollywood movie to venture to another solar system was Forbidden Planet, a wholly original construct of the prestige studio MGM. But solid, reliable Universal Studios was there first...long before Star Trek.

This Island Earth was really the first Star Wars. Colorful, spectacular, wildly imaginative, it lived up to everything its agent could possibly want, a man who was known as Mr. Science Fiction and who now brings back this classic novel: Forrest J Ackerman. A phrase he coined in another galaxy a long time ago say's it all: Gosh Wow! This story has it all.

The cover of this special edition features Jeff Morrow in the role of one of the most sympathetic aliens in 1950's science fiction film (the other is Michael Rennie in The Day the Earth Stood Still, also adapted from a literary source). In the novel he is Jorgasnovara, in the movie the less jaw Breaking Exeter. In both print and celluloid he comes to respect the Earth scientists essayed by Rex Reason and Faith Domergue.

This Island Earth is a book of heroes. The first half of the film closely follows the novel but then diverges from the intellectual challenges faced by Dr. Cal Meachem to more cinematic fare. Reading the novel now, one cannot help but marvel at how Jones' views everything from labor disputes to the predictability of computers influenced later movies and television, making This Island Earth, the novel, even more influential than-one would guess from This Island Earth the movie.

Pulpless.Com is proud to bring back the printed word in hope that all who see the movie will want to read the book, and vice versa! Turn on your interocitors and prepare to receive transmission!

Used availability for Raymond F Jones's This Island Earth


[edit] Sources
"Raymond F. Jones". The Unofficial Raymond F. Jones Website. Retrieved on 2005-12-12.
"Raymond F. Jones". Spaceflight. Retrieved on 2005-12-12.
This is G o o g l e's cache of http://www.adherents.com/lit/bk_JonesRF.html as retrieved on Jan 22, 2008 05:59:25 GMT.
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Brief Reviews of Science Fiction by
Raymond F. Jones

Select Links
Unofficial Raymond F. Jones website
Latter-day Saint science fiction authors bibliography: Raymond F. Jones Novels and Stories

Reviews on this page
The Non-Statistical Man
Renegades of Time

"Rating" awards up to 5 stars based on how good I thought the book was (primarily based on how much I liked it).
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The Non-Statistical Man
by Raymond F. Jones
Anthology of four Golden Age science fiction stories by Raymond F. Jones:

The Non-Statistical Man
This may be the definitive science fiction tale about intuition. The story is completely about intuition, and little else. This is an impressive and thought provoking tale about a statistician who becomes, as the title suggests, non-statistical when his natural human potential for intuition is unlocked.
This story thoroughly contemplates the impact that the possession and use of powerful intuition would have on individuals and society. For example, the main character first encounters the world of intuition when investigating a statistically improbable run of short term insurance claims: dozens of people have purchased insurance just weeks before actually needing it. The only connection between these people is they have all participated in a seminar by a seemingly quack scientist whose program actually does unlock people's powerful intuitive abilities.
This is a very focused science fiction tale: there are no aliens, no new inventions, nothing science fictional except the central elements pertaining to intuition. This story has a very "Twilight Zone" feel to it. This is definitely recommended reading for anybody unafraid to confront a startlingly alternative viewpoint.

The Gardener
This is a warm and wrenching story of a young boy born with phenomenal intellect and mental abilities. The focus of the story isn't so much on his abilities as on how he does and does not fit into common society. This story is notable for its early use of the term "Homo superior", pre-dating the appearance of the term and concept a few years later in Stan Lee's "X-Men."

The Moon is Death
This is perhaps the weakest piece in the anthology, in part because it is the most anachronistic. Written before the first moon landing, the story tells of many disastrous attempts to land a man on the moon. Mars, in fact, has been visited by the time this story takes place. Launched from an extensive space station orbiting the moon, two closely monitored astronauts try once and for all to discover nobody has ever returned from the moon. Somewhat "puzzle oriented," as were so many science fiction stories of the period. But the story is short, well told, and worth the read, despite its flaws.

Intermission Time
This is a surprisingly powerful and interesting story. Although conceptually less revolutionary than "The Non-Statistical Man", it may be the best story in the volume in terms of character and emotion.

This is essentially a romance set against the backdrop of an interesting and massive experiment in human colonization. After wars of mass destruction, humanity's survivors have learned how to travel interstellar distances. One nearby planet (dubbed "Planet 7") has habitable regions near its poles, which are colonized with different closely watched types of society. The goal is to use these experiments in sociology to determine which social structure is best for the continued survival and improvement of humanity.

John is a concert pianist who has volunteered to be a colonist because his sister is going. They are assigned to Alpha Colony, which is dedicated to aesthetic pursuits. En route, John meets and falls crazy in love with Lora. Unfortunately, she's in the "Control Group", not assigned to one of the colonies and consigned to eke out a living in the habitable jungles of the colony planet. Contact between the two groups is forbidden, but John can't forget her.

The plot sounds incredibly hackneyed, but the details and characters are fresh and surprising (yet very believable) at every turn. Perhaps the story is an old one, and even the sociological speculations may be found in other stories (most of which post-date this one). The story's strengths are the insightful characterization of its grasping, sometimes desperate characters, along with the twists and turns in their relationships and understanding of each other. This is a powerful and tightly told tale with unexpected emotional impact.

Who should read this: Everybody who appreciates John Campbell-era s.f. Fans of Orson Scott Card, Zenna Henderson, Philip K. Dick, etc.
Rating: ****


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Renegades of Time
by Raymond F. Jones
Joe Simmons finds himself completely lost in time and space in a jungle that definitely is not on Earth. His only company is Tamarina, an enchanting young woman from a culture that regularly wanders through countless planets. But she has no idea where they are now, and blames Joe for stranding them there. This is the breezy beginning of Renegades of Time, a fast paced, adventurous jaunt through imaginative, alien settings.

In large part, this may seem to be just a very silly fantasy-adventure story, harking back to the Warlords of Mars fantasies of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Mostly that's all it is -- harmless and colorful fun. But some of the ideas are creative, such as the method of travelling to other planets using not the space, but the time aspect of the time-space continuum. And the thoughtful look at the ramifications of extreme individualism are interesting: The Algorans who are the primary fictional culture of the novel can travel to any of countless planets. But they've ended up neglecting their homeworld to the point of almost losing their own culture, while living as parasites on other planets.

The book is never preachy, but it does make a case for home and hearth, family and friends as opposed to pure, isolating individualism. And perhaps few books have ever imagined access to so many different worlds. The novel doesn't take us to them, but the Algorans describe the places they can go to: truly worlds without number, populated by an endless variety of cultures.

Who should read this: General readership.
Rating: ***


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Web page created 19 July 2000. Last modified 15 August 2000.













RAYMOND F. JONES

Homepage | Novels | Collections | Short Fiction | Cover Art

Meet the Author | Latest News | The Farthest Horizon | Links | Oddments

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The Novels of Raymond F. Jones
A Complete Checklist and Guide



Renaissance
Published by Gnome Press, 1951.
This novel was originally published in serialized form in Astounding Science Fiction magazine during 1944. Renaissance is an epic parallel-dimension story with political overtones. It has been described as "highly intelligent space opera." A large number of fans believe this to be Jones' best work. It was republished as Man of Two Worlds by Pyramid Books in 1963.



The Alien
Published by World Editions, 1951.
First published under the Galaxy imprint, The Alien has an exciting premise; a scientific mission in the asteroid belt comes across an entombed alien. What follows is ground breaking material written in a strong and entertaining manner. Jones is on top form here.



This Island Earth
Published by Shasta Publishers, 1952.
A novel-length version of three stories that were first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories magazine in 1949 and 1950. The stories which make up this book were originally entitled "The Alien Machine," "The Shroud of Secrecy" and "The Greater Conflict." This Island Earth is an unusual and engaging tale of a group of scientists on Earth who are requested by aliens to assist in a galaxy-spanning struggle for survival. It was made into a film by Universal Studios in 1955



Son of the Stars
Published by The John C. Winston Company, 1952.
An immensely popular inclusion in the Winston Juvenile Series of books aimed at younger readers. Son of the Stars deals intelligently with several themes relating to human-alien contact.



Planet of Light
Published by The John C. Winston Company, 1953.
An entertaining and thoughtful sequel to Son of the Stars. The hero of the first book, Ron Barron, travels with his family off-world. A succinct but favourable review in the June 1954 Galaxy magazine describes Planet of Light as "fine reading for all ages." This is definitely one of my favourites and in my opinion this sequel is even better than its predecessor.


















Raymond F Jones

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Raymond F Jones (b. November 15, 1915, Salt Lake City, Utah - d. January 24, 1994, Sandy, Utah) was an American science fiction author. He is best known for his 1952 novel, This Island Earth, which was adapted into the 1955 film This Island Earth.

Jones' career was at its peak during the 1940s and '50s. His stories were mostly published in the pulp magazines, such as Thrilling Wonder Stories, Astounding Stories, and Galaxy. His stories were strong on action and the "gee-whiz" science of the pulp era. With the coming of 1960s and the science fiction "New Wave", many of his publishing markets dried up.

Raymond F Jones was a practicing Mormon.

Pseudonyms: David Anderson

Selected Bibliography
Complete Bibliography
Novels
The Cybernetic Brains (1950)
Renaissance (1951)
Variant Title: Man of Two Worlds (1951)
Magazine/Anthology Appearances:
Renaissance (Part 1 of 4) (1944)
Renaissance (Part 2 of 4) (1944)
Renaissance (Part 3 of 4) (1944)
Renaissance (Part 4 of 4) (1944)
This Island Earth (1952)
The Deviates (1956)
Variant Title: The Secret People (1956)
The King of Eolim (1975)
Renegades of Time (1975)
The River and the Dream (1977)
Weeping May Tarry (1978) with Lester del Rey
Renaissance (1991)
Magazine/Anthology Appearances:
Renaissance (Part 1 of 4) (1944)
Renaissance (Part 2 of 4) (1944)
Renaissance (Part 3 of 4) (1944)
Renaissance (Part 4 of 4) (1944)
Collections
The Toymaker (1951)
This Island Earth (1952)
The Non-Statistical Man (1964)

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Editors Notes;The Problem with This Island Earth is that it was an interesting concept,that quickly fell apart toward the end.The whole mystery with Cal Meachim and his freind building the Interostitor began as a great introduction to a larger world,but half into the movie things begin to fall into standard 195o's crap thinking.After Cal meets Ruth at Exeter's facility,things begin to fall into standard plot points.The Metalunans start to act like stupid assholes instead of intelligent aliens.Brock blast the car Cal and Ruth are escaping in,with Gillagans Professor-don't remembers the characters name,but Russell Johnson's the actor,who portrays him.The Metalunans,must have thought the Professor was going to go back his lab and devise a defence made out of coconuts or something and defeat there plans.














Cal and Ruth travel to Metaluna in Exeters star ship,dodge some Zagor thrown meteors,go through a pressure tubes transference,and survive the bombardment of Metaluna.What do they do once on the planet ?

Nothing.The Metaluna LeaderThe Monitor ,desides Hitler like to talke over Earth for colonization by his people.Cal and Ruth are to be brainwashed.Suddenly,Metalunans are not a heroic ,intelligent people ,fighting against the enemy.but alien communist ,wanting to take over our world.Duh .Why?.Because it's the 1950's and acehole Hollyweird could not figure out anything else to do.This is one time current events do not help a script,but ruin it.Why not have Cal Meachim and Ruth Adams help the Metalunans fight the Zagons ?After,where do you think they are coming to after they destroy Metaluna ?Earth.thats where.All they have to do is backtrack Exeter's flight to Earth and back.Sorry,the acewhip happy ending with Cal and Ruth dosen't work if you figure that one out.Once the Zagons destroy Metaluna and turn it into their sun or second sun-I;m assuming that they are near by,so they sun might be pretty close and using 1950's thinking,that space is very close to everything,we assume Earth,Metaluna and Zagon are close by to each other.Cal and Ruth are smiling as the Zagon bombard Earth on the 1950's subburnban patio and transform Earth into a second sun in our own star system.I'm assuming,too-that the Zagon can transform planets into stars because you fucking anywhere do we see this technology anyplace anywhere ever-in reality ,theory or in the real world.

The whole movie just falls on it's ass in the end.What we get in tipical Hollyweird producers and writers,more interested in preserving the real world of the 195o's via this ending.Exeter and his ship dies in the end ,crashing into the oceans of Earth gone for good-you think if your a moron and believe stuff can stay hidden forever just because they are under the ocean-Why ?Well,because duh,Exeter and the Metalunan Star Ship migh just lead to Earth one day soon building it's own Star Ship Enterprise in the 1960's.not in the 22nd Century,as on Star Trek.Then gee,Cal Meachim might just command it to fight invading Zagons.Everything is done to preserve the current era,real world status quo.Tipical hollywood-something you still see today in movie and tv scripts and comics ,too.Don't transform the real world.Have Superbeings like Superman and so on,but don't themselves or their alien technology alter history or our world.Just have them use alien technology fight the bad guys or be an excuse for amazing powers.I could go on about for decades,but I won't at this time.Save this for perhaps another day.

My point,is Cal Meachim and Ruth Adams don't learn crap in the end.They meet Exeter and have adventures breifly on his ship.but in the nothing is changed,but the aliens and their world.And Everything is done to hide the fact that Earth is visitted by aliens in the 1950's.An intelligent script would be to have Cal Meachim and Ruth Adams ,stay with Exeter-like Flash Gordon and Dale Aden do with Doctor Hans Zakov.fighting the bad guys on another planet.Introduce the Zagons,which I'm pretty sure were the Mutantants,because things went out of hand and tranformed them into the idiot subplot monster for this movie.Then have Cal and Ruth explore space,and Exeter becomes Doctor Who,they alien guide to many other sceince fiction adventures.This is what I would have done.I even worked it,into a concept where one of my Time Sorcerer characters,Lord Tal Hajus does just this with earth people-a guy like Cal and a girl like Ruth.They go on,to have adventures in time and space after a war.

Anyway,This Island Earth could have been better,but it falls on it's ass quickly.No wonder it was the subject of ridicule of the Mystery Science 300 Theator movie-it deserve it.Maybe someday bits of the original novel,as Cal and Ruth use the Interositor to fight the Zagons will make it into a remake.Maybe I;ll get my own ending or maybe not.Maybe,I'll just have to write one of my own,disguised as something.

Doc Thompson