It Came from Outer Space [Isolated Score] (1953)

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It Came from Outer Space [Isolated Score] (1953) Music by Henry Mancini (1924-1994), Irving Gertz (1915-2008) & Herman Stein (1915-2007) Tracklisting: 1. [00:00] Main Title 2. [06:04] The Vision 3. [08:11] It's Alive 4. [10:29] Strange Discovery 5. [13:17] First Contact 6. [15:27] Research 7. [17:09] The Real Thing 8. [18:46] Weird Encounter 9. [19:55] Car Crash 10. [22:14] The Strange Cave 11. [24:15] Escape Before The Blow 12. [25:30] End Title 13. [27:09] Trailer Score Directed by Jack Arnold (1916-1992), this classic American sci-fi film stars Alan Dexter (1918-1983), Barbara Rush (1927-2024), Bob Carson (1909-1979), Charles Drake (1917-1994), George Eldredge (1898-1977), Canadian actor Joe Sawyer (1906-1982), Richard Carlson (1912-1977), Russell Johnson (1924-2014), and Virginia Mullen (1906-1988). Considered one of the most prominent sci-fi directors of the 1950's, Arnold (who also worked in television) would go on to make a number of genre classics including 'The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), 'Revenge of the Creature (1955), 'Tarantula (1955), 'The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), and 'The Space Children (1958). This film was his first foray into the sci-fi genre after making his theatrical film debut with the melodrama 'Girls in the Night (1953). Amateur astronomer John Putnam (Richard Carlson) watches a meteor come down in the desert not far from his home. He rushes to the site and discovers it's actually a crashed alien spaceship that's now being buried by a landslide. He informs the town sheriff (Charles Drake) but receives nothing but ridicule. Even his fiancée, Ellen (Barbara Rush), is sceptical. Before long, the befuddled townsfolk start disappearing, replaced by eerie duplicates. What's going on, and what do these aliens want? It's a simple story, but rich in dialogue and imagery. The film hovers on a shadowy twilight edge where things are never what they seem. Adding to this is some mildly risible attempts at 3D effects, which gives the film a more visual edge in certain scenes. Inspired by Ray Bradbury's (1920-2012) short story 'The Meteor and modified for the screen by Harry Essex (1910-1997), 'It Came from Outer Space is one of the most intelligent genre films of its era. Another outstanding quality of the film is the eerie, unconventional score, full of menace one minute, tender and melodic the next. A plain-old orchestral score wasn't deemed sufficient to create the necessary extraterrestrial ambience, so the film's composers decided to feature the Theremin, played here by Samuel Hoffman (1904-1967). Throughout the 1950's, Hoffman and his electronic instrument became the other-worldly sound of many sci-fi films, notably 'Rocketship X-M (1950) and 'The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). It was used to make the viewer aware of an alien presence and to occasionally add a shock layer to the instrumentation. The score was composed (fairly equally) by three composers: Henry Mancini, Herman Stein, and Irving Gertz. These three composers worked alongside each other in fashioning the musical backdrop of hundreds of films for Universal Studios. Due to the equality of the composers' contributions in this film, as well as the way each of their cues are spread evenly throughout, the score has a very cohesive feel to it. The conducting of Joseph Gershenson (1904-1988) and the presence of the Theremin further cement the different elements into a seamless whole. Some of the music here can also be heard on other films, including 'Them! (1954) and 'The Mole People (1956). This video is for promotional use only. I do not own the rights to the music. All rights belong to the artist / band.