Invisible Invaders (1959) - With Visible Spoilers

Like any art, movies reflect the culture that they emerged from. Invisible Invaders, a low-budget alien invasion film, came from a culture with deep seated fears and insecurities. The ambiguities of the Cold War, concerns of nuclear proliferation, the tension between the military and science, varying attitudes towards pacifism and military preparedness and fears of communist infiltration are all on display. That these themes are sandwiched between moments of ludicrous melodramatics, scenery chewing acting, dull direction and cinematography and a lot of stock footage does not detract from them.

Synopsis

The film opens with an accident in a atomic weapons lab, an explosion that kills Karol Noymann (played by John Carradine; although he is referred to as Karol by the cast, he is listed as Carl Noymann in the end credits and is called Carl in the opening narration). This leads Professor Adam Penner (Philip Tonge) to resign from America's nuclear weapons program because of the threat it represents to the human race. His family, friends and colleagues don't understand why he thinks working on weapons that can destroy civilization is a problem. His daughter Phyllis - played by Jean Byron - exemplifies this attitude, hoping "he gets over it."

The night after Noymann's funeral, his reanimated corpse shows up at Penner's door, to deliver a message from the "Invisible Invaders." The aliens - whose ships and bodies are invisible, hence the name, and who can possess human corpses - want Penner to tell the world that the human race must surrender in 24 hours or a massive invasion force will be launched from the Moon. The alien explains that they are going to attack because mankind is developing nuclear weapons and space travel and might be a threat to their "dictatorship of the universe."

Of course, no one listens. The invasion commences; it consists of stock footage of various disaster, inter-cut with a few scenes of reanimated corpses lumbering about the countryside (all of whom are well-dressed, middle-aged white men). Our heroes (the Penners, scientist - and the initial, ambiguous love interest for Phyllis - John Lamont (Robert Hutton) and Air Force Major Bruce Jay (B-movie regular John Agar, who gets the girl in the end...of course)) retreat to an underground bunker, working desperately to find a weapon to defeat the invaders. After only three days, mankind is on the brink of extinction. However, at the last minute, our heroes succeed in developing a sonic weapon that can defeat the aliens.

The movie ends with the protagonists being thanked by the UN and the human race learning a valuable lesson; that in spite of our differences, we can cooperate

Analysis

While the story is pretty straight forward (and adequate for the 67 minute runtime) it does have a number of themes in tension. The attitude towards nuclear weapons is conflicted. They are responsible for the death of Noymann, Penner cites environmental contamination from tests and accidents as a reason he is leaving the project and their development prompts the alien invasion. The military justifies their development by saying the Russians are working on them, so we have to as well, a pragmatic/realist view of nuclear deterrence. While the aliens cite the development of nuclear weapons as one reason for invading, the fact that they wiped out the original inhabitants of the moon, shows that they are a genocidal menace. In this case, the argument can be made that nuclear weapons themselves are not the problem. Rather, the problem is that they cannot be employed as a deterrent. An incomplete, but potentially threatening defense is more destabilizing than either no defense or one that is a capable deterrent.

Best. Dressed. Zombies. Ever.

There is a mixed message regarding pacifism and peace advocacy. Penner is approached by the aliens because he has been an advocate for peace. Apparently, pleading for peace and cooperation leaves you open to manipulation by aliens, communists, and whatever other inhuman monsters are menacing America. However, it is the lack of peace - in the sense that building nuclear weapons is indicative of a lack of peace - that prompts the aliens to invade Earth when they do. They have been observing Earth for thousands of years; it is only when our technology is approaching the point where we can take our warlike ways into space that they finally see us as a threat.

With the specter of a catastrophic nuclear war hanging over America in the '50s, it is not surprising that attitudes towards peace were complex. Peace was desirable, particularly in the wake of the global devastation of the Second World War. However, advocating peace and disarmament while the "other side" prepared for war was seen as suicidal. It was also not clear what could provoke the USSR and Communist China. Would they launch an attack if they thought the US was too weak and passive? Or would an arms build-up lead to a preemptive assault?

The film also looks at the tension between the scientific and military communities (a standard note of tension in science fiction films of the time). While science and the military are intertwined in many of the films of the era, it is an uneasy partnership. From the military's initial lack of understanding of Penner's reasons for quitting the nuclear weapons program to Lamont shifting from proponent of a robust defense to sniveling coward ready to surrender to the aliens (which leads to a fist fight with Major Jay) to Jay's no-nonsense "just build something to kill the enemy" attitude, the alliance between science and the military is not a comfortable one. That it is the clash between Jay and Lamont that leads directly to the means to destroy the aliens can be seen as an indication that this uneasy relationship is both necessary and complex.

Finally, the film touches at the need for unity among the nations of the world. While the story focuses on the United States and the efforts of our American heroes, it is telling that the first clue to the alien's weakness comes from a Russian scientist working in Moscow. It ultimately takes the efforts of the entire human race to win the war, even though our heroes develop the weapon that can destroy them. This is in contrast to other, similarly themed movies of the time. For example, in The War of the Worlds, the Communist block nations are never mentioned. It is a small moment, a tiny bit of dialogue, but it does reinforce the theme that we all stand or fall together.

Verdict

Invisible Invaders is a watchable, low-budget movie that has some thematic complexity, although it it is hampered by the reliance on stock footage, dull direction, flat cinematography and mediocre performances. Check it out.