An earlier Plan from Outer Space with the same effectiveness.
The director of Killers was W. Lee Wilder, best known as the older brother of legendary director Billy Wilder. I'd say Billy's directorial efforts (The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard) are a bit more impressive than Lee's (The Snow Creature, Phantom from Space and our current subject). The brothers reportedly didn't get along, though I'm sure "whose films are better" wasn't the point of contention. Billy once described Lee as "A dull son of a bitch". If he was serious, it comes off rather mean; upon looking at Lee's films though, it also seems accurate.
Today's subject is another of the seemingly thousands of B-movies shot out in California's Bronson Canyon. These films can be difficult to distinguish but some have unforgettable features. Robot Monster has the gorilla-suit clad robot, The Beast of Yucca Flats has Tor Johnson hiking through the desert amid retarded narration, and Killers from Space features those guys with the ridiculous ping-pong eyeballs. After seeing the entire film, though, one would probably offer 'boredom' as the film's main characteristic. A good deal of the movie takes place in a few small rooms where characters add lots of unnecessary chatter to their expository dialogue.
The film opens on stock footage of American soldiers, planes, radar installations, and atomic test observers. The narrator informs us a test bombing is scheduled for 6:15am at Soledad Flats, Nevada. He then tosses out serious phrases detailing what soldiers are doing, how the scientists feel, and how there is "Radar with eyes that never sleep", one of those slightly imprecise, goofy phrases abundant in such films as this one.
After a couple of minutes, we see our first image actually shot for this film as atomic scientist Dr. Doug Martin rides in the backseat of a jet. Dr. Doug is played by Peter Graves, who is impossible for me to watch in any role without laughing (except maybe in Stalag 17). It's not because of his acting, which is excellent, but like others of my generation, I can't get him in Airplane! out of my mind.
The atom bomb is dropped and blows up as planned. Following the sight of a laughable model jet wobbling transparently through the clouds, Doug reports some meaningless numbers to base for verisimilitude's sake. The pilot notices something glowing on the ground; soon afterwards he loses control of the plane. The jet nosedives, passing through clouds which sympathetically tilt the same way as the aircraft. How hard could it have been to turn either the cloud background or the toy jet by ninety degrees?
The military base loses contact with the jet and sends out search planes. Soon enough, a pilot spots the wreckage of Dr. Doug's ride. The base dispatches stock footage of three different kinds of helicopters.
Our next scene takes place in the office of base commander Colonel Banks. Get used to seeing this place. Doug's pretty young wife Ellen is there, getting informed about the crash from the Colonel. Dr. Kruger, one of Doug's scientist colleagues, comes in and helps console Ellen. I must say, Ellen ain't too shabby to look at, in 1954 anyway. Col. Banks tells her the pilot was found dead and, although they haven't found a trace of Doug, there's no way he could've survived the impact.
Audiences test a device to improve the viewing experience of the film.
Our next scene reveals that somehow Doug did survive the crash as we watch him stagger toward the base entrance. A guard helps him stay on his feet and he gets examined by Major Clift, the base MD. Clift's distinguishing characteristic, to me anyway, is his strange habit of contradicting himself. For example, he informs Doug "Everything seems alright" but then asks about his loss of memory after the crash and his fresh surgical scar near his heart. I guess to Clift, amnesia plus mysterious incisions in the chest are insignificant symptoms.
An FBI agent named Briggs visits Col. Banks' office. I don't know how this became an FBI matter already, but never mind. The Colonel and Briggs seem to know each other, as they waste time with inane greetings before Briggs volunteers his theory that the current Doctor Martin may actually be a doppelganger. You know, I'd have thought Briggs might've spent a minute or two investigating before reaching his nutty theory of subversion but maybe he was appointed by Joe McCarthy. To check out these suspicions, Doug's fingerprints are sent to FBI headquarters while we watch some breathtaking stock footage of telephone operators at work. One of the great benefits of modern times has been automated telephone connections, if only because we're no longer subjected to transitory scenes of operators moving plugs around.
I believe we can save his brain, Mrs. Martin; Where would you like it sent?
Gratuitous telephone routing!
In his office, which I suspect is Col. Banks' office from another angle, Briggs gets the test results: Doug is really Doug, so the previous scene was a total waste of time. He picks up his phone and calls Colonel Banks, who is on the other side of the…. I mean, in his own office. Briggs tells Col. Banks about the test results. We see Col. Banks on the other end, to prove to us that Briggs called the same Col. Banks that appears in this film, I suppose.
Back in Col. Banks' office (seems like we never left), Ellen has arrived to take Doug home. The Colonel has ordered Doug to stay home for a while until the whole mystery surrounding his crash gets sorted out. Ellen asks Clift the MD if there is anything she should or shouldn't do for Doug while he convalesces. Clift continues his contradictory style of speech, replying "No, except he does need a diversion"
At his home that night, Doug wakes and sits up in his bed, separate from his wife's bed like in The Brady Bunch, except in this case Doug isn't gay. He sees a pair of big, ghostly ping-ping pong eyes outside the window. Restless, he calls the base asking for information on the atomic test data, the work on which has been continuing without him. He wants to drive to the base immediately, which leads to an argument with his wife. Damn, his job must be way better than mine; I'll be damned if I ever wake up at 3 in the morning with an itch to get back to the goings-on at the office. She convinces him to stay and they make nice and go back to sleep.
The next day Doug gets all pissed again as his morning paper reveals that another atom bomb test has taken place. I know I'd get mad if my friends blew up lots of shit without telling me. Doug heads to the base, namely Colonel Banks' office, of course. The Colonel tells him he's a security risk and orders him to return home immediately. Doug walks out but instead hides in his own office for several hours. I'd have thought Banks would've had someone at least watch Doug leave the premises, Doug being the erratically-acting, surgically-somethinged, disgruntled atomic expert who defied orders, but I guess the Colonel is what a sportswriter would call "a players' coach".
Doug's contemporary Dr. Kruger is nearby. Before heading home for the evening, Kruger checks Doug's office, suspicious that he may have stayed there after all. However, he just opens the door and casually glances toward one corner of the room, but it's the thought that counts. Doug sneaks over to Kruger's office but first puts a tobacco pipe in his mouth for some odd reason. He opens the safe in Kruger's office and, amid an overblown musical score, reviews atomic test documents. Never before has reading been so thrilling!
