It Conquered the World

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It Conquered the World

Theatrical release poster.
Directed by Roger Corman
Produced by Roger Corman
Written by Lou Rusoff
Charles B. Griffith (uncredited)
Starring Peter Graves
Lee van Cleef
Beverly Garland
Sally Fraser
Music by Ronald Stein
Cinematography Fred E. West
Editing by Charles Gross
Distributed by American International Pictures
Release date(s) July 15, 1956
Running time 71 min.
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

It Conquered the World is a 1956 science fiction film about an alien from Venus trying to take over the world with the help of a disillusioned human scientist. It was directed by Roger Corman, written by Lou Rusoff (with uncredited contributions by Charles B. Griffith), and starred Peter Graves, Lee van Cleef, Beverly Garland, and Sally Fraser.

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[edit] Plot synopsis

Dr. Tom Anderson (Van Cleef), an embittered scientist, has picked up the voice of a Venusian alien in his radio transmitter. The alien wants to take over the world with its mind-control devices and thus make a new home for itself, but claims only to be bringing peace to the Earth through the elimination of emotions. Anderson agrees to help the creature in this ploy, even recommending that the creature assimilate his friend Dr. Nelson (Graves) and his wife (Fraser). The alien's first action is to suppress all electric power on Earth, including the ignition systems of motor vehicles, leaving Dr. Nelson resorting to riding around on a bicycle.

After killing a flying bat-like creature which carries the mind-control device, Dr. Nelson finally persuades the paranoid Anderson that he has been wrong about the alien's motives and that he has made a horrible mistake, allying himself with a creature bent on world domination. They hurriedly leave when they discover Tom's wife has picked up a rifle and gone to the alien's cave to try to kill it. The monster succeeds in taking the life of Mrs. Anderson before the two doctors make it to her rescue. Finally seeing his hubris and the loss of everything he holds dear, Dr. Anderson kills the monster, sustaining lethal wounds of his own in the confrontation.

[edit] Cast

  • Peter Graves .............. Dr. Paul Nelson
  • Lee Van Cleef .............. Dr. Tom Anderson
  • Beverly Garland .............. Claire Anderson
  • Sally Fraser .............. Joan Nelson
  • Russ Bender .............. General James Pattick
  • Taggart Casey .............. Sheriff N.J. Shallert
  • Karen Kadler .............. Dr. Ellen Peters
  • Jonathan Haze .............. Private Manuel Ortiz
  • Paul Harbor .............. Dr. Floyd Mason
  • Charles B. Griffith .............. Dr. Pete Shelton
  • Tomas E. Jackson .............. George Haskell

[edit] Trivia

  • "It Conquered the World" was remade in 1966 as "Zontar, The Thing From Venus." It starred John Agar in the role played by Lee Van Cleef in the original. Because of virtually identical scripts, the two films are often confused with one another.
  • The French two man electronic music group M83 samples dialogue from the film in their song "Facing That," from their self-titled 2001 debut album.

[edit] External links