Watching Classic SF (1950s)

Boreas

Scout
I'm planning on watching a lot of science fiction films from the 1950's since that's probably the decade that science fiction started getting more serious treatment on screen compared to the monster fare of the previous decade. I've seen some of the classics and will be re-watching them, but I'd appreciate recommendations for more obscure titles that are worthwhile, too.

The ones that are already on my re-watch/watch list are the following:

(1950) Destination Moon -- Irving Pichel
(1951) The Day the Earth Stood Still -- Robert Wise
(1951) The Thing from Another World -- Christian Nyby
(1953) Project Moonbase -- Richard Talmadge
(1953) The War of the Worlds -- Byron Hoskins
(1953) Spaceways -- Terence Fisher
(1954) Them! -- Gordon Douglas
(1954) Gojira -- Honda Ishiro
(1954) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea -- Richard Fleischer
(1954) Riders to the Stars -- Richard Carlson
(1956) Godzilla -- Terry O. Morse & Honda Ishiro
(1956) Invasion of the Body Snatchers -- Don Siegel
(1956) Forbidden Planet -- Fred M. Wilcox
(1957) The Incredible Shrinking Man -- Jack Arnold
(1957) The Monster That Challenged the World -- Arnold Laven
(1958) It! The Terror from Beyond Space -- Edward Cahn
(1959) Journey to the Centre of the Earth -- Henry Levin

What have I missed? I'm also looking to watch good 'B' movies. Do you know of other non-Anglo SF films made in the 1950's? And are there any SF titles from earlier decades that you think are worthwhile?
 
This decade is easy to find scifi movies. List of science fiction films of the 1950s - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(1950)
Rocketship X-M
(aka Expedition Moon and originally as Rocketship Expedition Moon) is a 1950 American black-and-white science fiction film from Lippert Pictures, the first outer space adventure of the post-World War II era. Rocketship X-M tells the story of a Moon expedition that, through a series of unforeseen events, winds up traveling instead to distant Mars. Once on the Red Planet, its crew discovers the remnants of a Martian civilization destroyed long ago by atomic war and now reverted to barbarism.
I found a copy and this movie is very watchable.

Other 1950 Movies:
Flying Disc Man from Mars
The Flying Saucer
The Invisible Monster
Prehistoric Women
Two Lost Worlds


(1951)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (also known as Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man (full screen title)) is a 1951 comedy horror film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the team of Abbott and Costello alongside Nancy Guild. The film depicts the misadventures of Lou Francis and Bud Alexander, two private detectives investigating the murder of a boxing promoter.
I have all the Abbott & Costello moves and they are fun to watch in a charming way. Listed as a comedy horror but the whole concept of invisibility is rooted in science fiction.

Flight to Mars is a 1951 American Cinecolor science fiction film, produced by Walter Mirisch for Monogram Pictures, directed by Lesley Selander, and starring Marguerite Chapman, Cameron Mitchell and Arthur Franz. The story involves the arrival on the Red Planet of an American scientific expedition team, who discover that Mars is inhabited by an underground-dwelling, but dying civilization.
I recently got this film and have not screened it yet.

Mysterious Island is the 46th serial released by Columbia Pictures. It is an adaptation of the 1874 novel by Jules Verne, The Mysterious Island (L'Île mystérieuse). As in the original story, which was a follow-up to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, this serial is set in 1865. However, the serial has alien Mercurians as an additional set of villains and it has been labelled as a space opera version of the Verne novel.
This is a component of my Mysterious Island Box Set which has multiple versions from various decades the most recent being 2012.

Superman and the Mole Men is an independently made 1951 American black-and-white superhero film, produced by Barney A. Sarecky, directed by Lee Sholem, and starring George Reeves as Superman and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane. The film was just 58 minutes long and served as a trial balloon release for the syndicated Adventures of Superman TV series, for which it became the only two-part episode, "The Unknown People".
This one is on my "To Get" list. I remember watching the original Superman series during my childhood in the 60's. Eventually I want to obtain the entire series with this film as the pilot film. This is the first rendition of a bad guy emptying his gun on Superman and the bullets bounce off then he throw the gun at Superman thinking that will hurt him - LOL.

Unknown World (aka Night Without Stars) is a 1951 independently made, black-and-white science fiction adventure film released by Lippert Pictures. Unknown World is loosely inspired by Jules Verne's novel Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) and At the Earth's Core (1914) by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
There is a special place in my heart for anything related to ERB novels.

When Worlds Collide is a 1951 American Technicolor science fiction film from Paramount Pictures, produced by George Pal, directed by Rudolph Maté, and starring Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen and John Hoyt. When Worlds Collide concerns the coming destruction of the Earth by the rogue star Bellus and the desperate efforts to build a space ark that will save and transport a small portion of humanity to the star's single orbiting planet, Zyra.
I found this film very well made and fun to watch. A scifi take on the Noah's Ark story.

Other 1951 Movies:
Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere
Five
I'll Never Forget You
Lost Continent
Lost Planet Airmen
The Man from Planet X
The Man in the White Suit


To fully examine the entire 50's decade like this I will need to break my reply into multiple posts to avoid character limits.
 
(1952)
I notice that you have no movies on your list from 1952

Radar Men from the Moon is a 1952 black-and-white Republic Pictures' 12-chapter movie serial, the first Commando Cody serial starring newcomer George Wallace as Cody, Aline Towne as his sidekick Joan Gilbert, and serial veteran Roy Barcroft as the evil Retik, the Ruler of the Moon.
Chapter Titles:
  1. "Moon Rocket" (20 min)
  2. "Molten Terror" (13min 20s)
  3. "Bridge of Death" (13min 20s)
  4. "Flight to Destruction" (13min 20s)
  5. "Murder Car" (13min 20s)
  6. "Hills of Death" (13min 20s)
  7. "Camouflaged Destruction" (13min 20s)
  8. "The Enemy Planet" (13min 20s)
  9. "Battle in the Stratosphere" (13min 20s)
  10. "Mass Execution" (13min 20s) - a re-cap chapter
  11. "Planned Pursuit" (13min 20s)
  12. "Death of the Moon Man" (13min 20s)
I have this film but have not watched it yet

Red Planet Mars is a 1952 science fiction film released by United Artists based on a 1932 play Red Planet written by John L. Balderston and John Hoare. It starred Peter Graves and Andrea King and was directed by art director Harry Horner in his directorial debut. When the film was released, the staff at Variety liked the film, writing, "Despite its title, Red Planet Mars takes place on terra firma, sans space ships, cosmic rays or space cadets. It is a fantastic concoction [from a play by John L. Balderston and John Hoare] delving into the realms of science, politics, religion, world affairs and Communism...Despite the hokum dished out, the actors concerned turn in creditable performances."
This is a pretty good movie

Zombies of the Stratosphere is a 1952 black-and-white Republic Studios serial that was intended to be their second featuring "new hero" Commando Cody and the third 12-chapter serial featuring the rocket-powered flying jacket and helmet introduced in King of the Rocket Men (1949). Instead, for reasons unknown, the hero was renamed "Larry Martin," who must prevent Martian invaders from using a hydrogen bomb to blow Earth out of its orbit, away from the Sun, so that Mars can take its position.
Chapter Titles:​
  1. "The Zombie Vanguard" (20min)
  2. "Battle of the Rockets" (13min 20s)
  3. "Undersea Agents" (13min 20s)
  4. "Contraband Cargo" (13min 20s)
  5. "The Iron Executioner" (13min 20s)
  6. "Murder Mine" (13min 20s)
  7. "Death on the Waterfront" (13min 20s)
  8. "Hostage for Murder" (13min 20s)
  9. "The Human Torpedo" (13min 20s)
  10. "Flying Gas Chamber" (13min 20s) – a re-cap chapter
  11. "Man vs. Monster" (13min 20s)
  12. "Tomb of the Traitors" (13min 20s)
I don't have this movie yet but now that I see it has links to Radar Men I am now on the look-out for it. Maybe YouTube?

Other 1952 Movies:
Alraune
April 1, 2000
Captive Women
The Jungle
Untamed Women


To fully examine the entire 50's decade like this I will need to break my reply into multiple posts to avoid character limits.
 
(1953)

Abbott and Costello Go To Mars is a 1953 American science fiction comedy film from Universal-International, produced by Howard Christie, directed by Charles Lamont, and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film follows the misadventures of Lester and Orville who accidentally find themselves aboard a rocket ship bound for Mars, but instead accidentally lands at the New Orleans Mardi Gras. The pair are then forced by bank robbers Mugsy and Harry to fly to Venus where they encounter a civilization consisting entirely of beautiful women.
The Venusian women were played by contestants in the Miss Universe competition.
Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein wrote a film treatment in 1950 called Abbott and Costello Move to the Moon that may have inspired the film's screenplay.

I didn't know of this movie till now and I am now on a quest to get it for my collection.

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1953 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Lamont and stars the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, and co-stars Boris Karloff. Loosely based on the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, the film follows the story of two American detectives visiting Edwardian London who become involved with the hunt for Dr. Jekyll, who is responsible for a series of murders.

This movie is part of my Abbott & Costello Boxed Set. It also exists in my Karloff Kollection Set.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (aka The Monster from Beneath the Sea) is a 1953 American black-and-white science fiction monster film from Warner Bros., produced by Jack Dietz and Hal E. Chester, directed by Eugène Lourié, and starring Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, and Kenneth Tobey.
The film's stop-motion animation special effects are by Ray Harryhausen. Its screenplay is based on Ray Bradbury's short story "The Fog Horn", specifically the scene where a lighthouse is destroyed by the title character. The storyline concerns a fictional dinosaur, the Rhedosaurus, which is released from its frozen, hibernating state by an atomic bomb test in the Arctic Circle. The beast begins to wreak a path of destruction as it travels southward, eventually arriving at its ancient spawning grounds, which includes New York City.

This movie is one of my favorite stop-motion dinosaur movies. I love monsters and I love giant monsters even more but the monster is not the reason I love this movie so much, its the performances of the actors and actress. I have watched this on Saturday or Sunday afternoons many times and I think you should add this one to your 'Must See' list.

Invaders from Mars is a 1953 American science fiction film independently produced by Edward L. Alperson Jr. and directed by William Cameron Menzies. The film stars Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Morris Ankrum, Leif Erickson, and Hillary Brooke and was distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. Invaders from Mars is notable for being the first feature film to show aliens and their spacecraft in color. Youngster David MacClean witnesses a bright [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_saucer']flying saucer disappear underground in the large sand pit behind his home. Soon, people around him begin behaving strangely.[/URL]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Fox
It Came from Outer Space is a 1953 American black-and-white science fiction film, the first in the 3D process from Universal-International. It was produced by William Alland, directed by Jack Arnold, and stars Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, and Charles Drake. The film's script is based on Ray Bradbury's original story treatment (not, as sometimes claimed, a published short story) The Meteor. It Came from Outer Space tells the story of an astronomer and his fiancee who are stargazing in the desert when a large fiery object crashes to Earth. At the crash site, he discovers an alien spacecraft just before it is completely buried by a landslide. When he tells this story to the local sheriff and newspaper, he is branded a crackpot. Before long, strange things begin to happen, and the tide of disbelief turns hostile.

Other 1953 Movies:
Cat-Women of the Moon
Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe
Donovan's Brain
Four Sided Triangle
The Lost Planet
The Magnetic Monster

Mesa of Lost Women
The Neanderthal Man
Phantom from Space

Port Sinister
Robot Monster
The Twonky

To fully examine the entire 50's decade like this I will need to break my reply into multiple posts to avoid character limits.
 
(1954)

Creature from the Black Lagoon is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster and horror film, produced by William Alland, directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell. The Creature was played by Ben Chapman on land and by Ricou Browning underwater.
In 1982 John Landis wanted Jack Arnold to direct a remake of the film.
In July 1992 John Carpenter was developing the remake at Universal.
Universal offered Peter Jackson the director's position in 1995.
In February 1996 Ivan Reitman was planning to direct the remake.
In December 2001 Gary Ross signed on to write and produce the remake.
In August 2002, Guillermo del Toro, a fan of the original, was attached as director.
In October 2005 Breck Eisner signed on as director.
Ross said in March 2007 the Gill-man's origin would be reinvented, with him being the result of a pharmaceutical corporation polluting the Amazon.
In 2009 it was reported that Carl Erik Rinsch might direct a 2010 remake.
In March 2012 Universal announced that a reboot was in production.
On April 9, 2015, Tracking Board reports that the studio are offering actress Scarlett Johansson for the lead role.
On August 9, 2015 it was reported that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 writer Jeff Pinker had been hired to write the film.

This is another of my favorite movies. It is certainly horror but there is a science fiction element in the fields of biology and xenobiology. Flat out: This movie scared the wits out of me when I first saw it as a kid. Under the spoiler I put the Creature and a few of the designs for the remake that is lost in development hell.

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This is the original design from this movie

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This is a deviant art design

images


This is Harry Essex's design

Target Earth is a 1954 independently made black-and-white science fiction film, distributed by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation, produced by Herman Cohen, directed by Sherman A. Rose, starring Richard Denning, Kathleen Crowley, Virginia Grey and Whit Bissell. Target Earth tells the story of a deserted Chicago and a small group of people who have been overlooked during a mass evacuation of "the city that never sleeps" because of a sudden invasion by hostile robotic beings from the planet Venus.

Other 1954 Movies:
Crash of Moons
Devil Girl from Mars
Gog
Killers from Space
Monster from The Ocean Floor
Snow Creature
Stranger From Venus
Tobor the Great


To fully examine the entire 50's decade like this I will need to break my reply into multiple posts to avoid character limits.
 
(1955)

I notice that you have no movies on your list from 1955

Conquest of Space is a 1955 American Technicolor science fiction film from Paramount Pictures, produced by George Pal, directed by Byron Haskin, and starring Walter Brooke, Eric Fleming and Mickey Shaughnessy.
The film story concerns the first interplanetary flight to the planet Mars, manned by a crew of five, and launched from Earth orbit near "The Wheel", mankind's first space station. On their long journey to the Red Planet, they encounter various dangers, both from within and without, that nearly destroy the mission.

Day the World Ended (1955) was the fourth film directed by Roger Corman. Rick (Richard Denning) is a heroic scientist who, among others, must face off against a mutant monster (Paul Blaisdell) after an atomic war destroys human civilization. An atomic war has seemingly destroyed most (if not all) human civilization, leaving Earth contaminated with radioactive fallout.

It Came from Beneath the Sea is a 1955 American science fiction giant monster film from Columbia Pictures, produced by Sam Katzman and Charles Schneer, directed by Robert Gordon, and starring Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, and Donald Curtis. The script by George Worthing Yates was designed to showcase the stop motion animation effects of Ray Harryhausen.

This is another 'must see' film that has great acting and a passable creature.

The Quatermass Xperiment (US title: The Creeping Unknown) is a 1955 British science fiction horror film from Hammer Film Productions, based on the 1953 BBC Television serial The Quatermass Experiment written by Nigel Kneale. The film was produced by Anthony Hinds, directed by Val Guest, and stars Brian Donlevy as the eponymous Professor Bernard Quatermass. Jack Warner, Richard Wordsworth, and Margia Dean appear in supporting roles.
Three astronauts are launched into space aboard a rocket designed by Professor Quatermass, but the spacecraft returns to Earth with only one occupant, Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth). Something has infected him during the spaceflight, and he begins mutating into an alien organism which, if it spores, will engulf the Earth and destroy humanity. When the Carroon-creature escapes from custody, Quatermass and Scotland Yard's Inspector Lomax (Jack Warner), have just hours to track it down and prevent a catastrophe.

Tarantula is a 1955 American science fiction film from Universal-International, produced by William Alland, directed by Jack Arnold, and starring John Agar, Mara Corday and Leo G. Carroll.The special effects showing the giant animals and the unfortunate scientist's deformity are fairly advanced for the time, with real animals (including a rabbit and a guinea pig in Professor Deemer's lab) being used to represent the giant creatures. A real spider was also used for shots where the entire monster was shown.

This Island Earth is a 1955 American Technicolor science fiction film directed by Joseph M. Newman and Jack Arnold. It is based on the novel of the same name by Raymond F. Jones which was originally published in the magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories as three related novelettes: "The Alien Machine" in the June 1949 issue, "The Shroud of Secrecy" in December 1949, and "The Greater Conflict" in February 1950. The film stars Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue and Rex Reason. Since its original release, the critical response to the film has continued to be mostly positive. Bill Warren has written that the film was "the best and most significant science fiction movie of 1955…it remains a decent, competent example of any era's science fiction output.

This film is a 'must see' for the 1950's scifi era. Everyone I know who likes scifi oldies has seen this movie at least once. Definately add this to your list!

Other 1955 Movies:
The Beast with a Million Eyes
Bride of the Monster
Creature with the Atom Brain

The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues
Godzilla Raids Again
King Dinosaur
Monster Snowman
Revenge of the Creature

To fully examine the entire 50's decade like this I will need to break my reply into multiple posts to avoid character limits.
 
(1956)

I can't believe you have not seen

1984 is a 1956 film, based freely on the novel of the same name by George Orwell, depicting a totalitarian future society. This is the first cinema rendition of the story, directed by Michael Anderson, and featuring Edmond O'Brien as protagonist Winston Smith. Also featured are Donald Pleasence, Jan Sterling, and Michael Redgrave.

I recall this was graded viewing in my high school Social Sciences class. The teacher broke the film into 6 parts and we discussed and wrote essays on each part. After the film, we were graded on our review of the film.

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (aka Invasion of the Flying Saucers, Flying Saucers from Outer Space, and Invasion of the Flying Saucers) is a 1956 American black-and-white science fiction film from Columbia Pictures, produced by Charles H. Schneer and Sam Katzman, directed by Fred F. Sears, and starring Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor. The stop-motion animation special effects in the film were created by Ray Harryhausen.

Another very well-known scifi 50's movie.

It Conquered the World is an independently made 1956 American science fiction film, produced and directed by Roger Corman, starring Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef, Beverly Garland and Sally Fraser. It Conquered the World concerns an alien creature from the planet Venus that secretly wants to take control of the Earth. The creature makes radio contact with a disillusioned human scientist, who agrees to help because the scientist believes such an alien intervention will bring peace and save a doomed humanity from itself.

Other 1956 Movies:
The Beast of Hollow Mountain
The Black Sleep

The Creature Walks Among Us
Fire Maidens from Outer Space
The Gamma People
Indestructible Man
The Man Who Turned to Stone
The Mole People
The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues
Sora no Daikaijū Radon aka Rodan
Uchūjin Tokyo ni Arawaru aka Warning from Space or Mysterious Satellite

World Without End
X the Unknown

To fully examine the entire 50's decade like this I will need to break my reply into multiple posts to avoid character limits.
 
(1957)

There are many watch-worthy scifi movies from 1957. Due to posting restrictions I can't possibly detail out every one. There are a few that I highly recommend in addition to the two you have already selected.

20 Million Miles to Earth is a 1957 American science fiction giant monster film written by Bob Williams and Christopher Knopf from an original treatment by Charlotte Knight. The film was produced by Charles H. Schneer's Morningside Productions for Columbia Pictures and directed by Nathan H. Juran. As with several other Schneer-Columbia collaborations, it was developed to showcase the stop-motion animation talents of Ray Harryhausen. In 2007, five years after the death of the film's director, Harryhausen worked with restoration and colorization company Legend Films to create a colorized version of the film. That version, along with the original theatrical black-and-white version, was released as part of a 50th Anniversary Edition of the film on July 31, 2007.

This is another one of my favorite movies that I frequently watch on weekends. The creature/monster is what brings me to like this film. The creature from Venus is called Ymir. It eats sulfur. I find the little kid annoying as hell and the acting is sub-par but I just love that creature.

The Amazing Colossal Man (aka The Colossal Man) is a 1957 black-and-white science fiction film, directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Glenn Langan. The film revolves around a man who grows to over 60 feet tall as the result of an atomic accident. It is an uncredited adaptation of the 1928 Homer Eon Flint short novel The Nth Man. Jim Nicholson of American International Pictures had the rights to Homer Eon Flint's 1928 novel The Nth Man, about a man who was 10 miles high. Nicholson thought it could be adapted to cash in on the success of The Incredible Shrinking Man (released six months earlier in 1957) and originally announced Roger Corman as director.

Beginning of the End is a 1957 American science fiction film directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Peter Graves and Peggie Castle. The film is about an agricultural scientist (Graves) who has successfully grown gigantic vegetables using radiation. Unfortunately, the vegetables are then eaten by locusts (the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers), which grow to gigantic size and attack the nearby city of Chicago. The film is generally recognized for its "atrocious" special effects and considered to be one of the most poorly written and acted science fiction motion pictures of the 1950s.
It's really bad but must be watched by scifi film buffs. I watched it twice...I still don't know why?

The Deadly Mantis is a 1957 science fiction film produced by William Alland for Universal-International. It was directed by Nathan Juran from a screenplay by Martin Berkeley, and starred Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, and Pat Conway. It was filmed in black and white and runs for 1 hour and 19 minutes.
1957 is filled with giants, must have been a hollywood craze or something? I kinda liked this film.

The Giant Claw (also known as The Mark of the Claw) is a 1957 science fiction giant monster film about a giant bird that terrorizes the world. Produced by Sam Katzman and released by Columbia Pictures, The Giant Claw was directed by Fred F. Sears; both Sears and Katzman were well known as low-budget B film genre filmmakers. The film starred Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday.
I have seen this movie more times than I like to admit. There is a website that tracks how many times they say Big as a Battleship for a drinking game and Bad Movies.org has a funny review with a feature I love called What I Learned From This Movie.

Kronos (aka Kronos, Destroyer of the Universe) is a 1957 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film from Regal Films, produced by Irving Block, Louis DeWitt, Kurt Neumann, and Jack Rabin, directed by Kurt Neumann, and starring Jeff Morrow and Barbara Lawrence. Since the film's release, it has been widely praised both for its above-average story line and its farsighted portrayal of the consequences of over-consumption of both natural and man-made resources; it has achieved minor cult status as a result.


I'm running out of characters gotta end this reply...

Other 1957 Movies:
The 27th Day
She Devil
The Astounding She-Monster
Attack of the Crab Monsters
The Black Scorpion
The Brain from Planet Arous
The Cyclops
From Hell It Came
Half Human
Invasion of the Saucer Men
The Invisible Boy
The Land Unknown
The Monolith Monsters
Monster from Green Hell
The Mysterians
The Night the World Exploded
Not of This Earth
Quatermass 2
The Secret of Two Oceans
The Strange World of Planet X
The Unearthly
The Unknown Terror

 
I had some trouble getting everything to post for the 1957 reply. Not only did I exceed 1000 charaters when I edited the post the formatting markup showed in the post. I could split my replys to multiple replies per year due to the increased films that are listed but I will try to do this in one reply each. Please note that just because I didn't expound on a title doesn't make it less worthy. Its a space thing...lol
 
(1958)

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
Attack of the Puppet People


The Blob (a.k.a. The Molten Meteor) is an independently made, 1958 De Luxe color, American horror/science fiction film directed by Irvin Yeaworth. The film stars a 27-year-old Steve McQueen in his debut leading role as a teenager, and Aneta Corsaut, as his co-star. The plot depicts a growing corrosive alien amoeba that crashes from outer space in a meteorite and engulfs and dissolves citizens in the small community of Downingtown, Pennsylvania. The origin of The Blob is never identified, and the film ends with a question mark.
This movie is "Must See" scifi

The Brain Eaters
The Colossus of New York
The Day the Sky Exploded
Doroga K Zvezdam aka Road To The Stars (Russian)
Earth vs. the Spider
The Electronic Monster
The Fabulous World of Jules Verne
Fiend Without a Face


The Fly is a 1958 American DeLuxe Color science fiction-horror film in CinemaScope produced and directed by Kurt Neumann. The screenplay was written by James Clavell (his first), from the short story of the same name by George Langelaan. It tells a story of a scientist who mutates into a human fly after one accidentally flew into his transportation machine and mixes their atoms. It was followed by two sequels, Return of the Fly and Curse of the Fly. It was remade in 1986 as a film of the same name by director David Cronenberg.

Frankenstein 1970
From the Earth to the Moon

The H-Man
I Married a Monster from Outer Space
The Lost Missile
Missile to the Moon
The New Invisible Man
Night of the Blood Beast
Queen of Outer Space
Space Master X-7
Teenage Cave Man
Teenage Monster
The Trollenberg Terror
Varan the Unbelievable
War of the Colossal Beast
War of the Satellites


There are many worthy scifi mvies listed above that I would have liked to express to you.
 
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All during my replies I was plagued with memories of old scifi radio shows. The 50's was a time for listening to as well as viewing science fiction. There are many novels that have been adapted to radio that have yet to be graced with a film version. Consider taking a tour of the old time radio shows to complete your media experience.

One of the soucres where I gained some of my audio library is Sci Fi | Old Time Radio Downloads

Here are a few sample shows you might consider...

http://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/sci-fi/alien-worlds (33 episodes)
Even though it came to the air waves long after the Golden Age of Radio Drama was a distant memory, Alien Worlds takes advantage of radio’s unparalleled suitability for science fiction. Not matter how fantastic and wonderful a scene may be, the images you create in your own mind will always put a movie special effects department to shame. Alien Worlds is a space opera which takes place aboard the “Arthur C. Clarke Astronomical Observatory” or Starlab.

Bradbury Thirteen | Sci Fi | Old Time Radio Downloads (53 episodes)
In 1984, Michael McDonough of Brigham Young University produced "Bradbury 13", a series of 13 audio adaptations of famous Ray Bradbury stories, in conjunction with National Public Radio. The full-cast dramatizations featured adaptations of "The Ravine," "Night Call, Collect," "The Veldt", "There Was an Old Woman," "Kaleidoscope," "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed", "The Screaming Woman," "A Sound of Thunder," "The Man," "The Wind," "The Fox and the Forest," "Here There Be Tygers" and "The Happiness Machine". Voiceover actor Paul Frees provided narration, while Bradbury himself was responsible for the opening voiceover; Greg Hansen and Roger Hoffman scored the episodes.

http://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/sci-fi/x-minus-one (118 episodes)
Most of the stories for X Minus One were culled directly from the pages of Galaxy. Many of SF's most popular authors got mass exposure through this series, and even today X Minus One is still generally considered a cornerstone of radio drama.

http://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/sci-fi/journey-into-space (34 episodes)
Journey Into Space is a BBC Radio science fiction programme, written by BBC producer Charles Chilton. It was the last radio programme in the UK to attract a bigger evening audience than television.

Another resource is Sci Fi / Superheros - Old Time Radio (OTR)

2000 Plus - 2000 Plus (aka Two Thousand Plus and 2000+) was an American old-time radio series that ran on the Mutual Broadcasting System from March 15, 1950 to January 2, 1952 in various 30-minute time slots.

And Finally I give you Relic Radio Science Fiction

Have fun...
 
Holy felgercarb, Tom! I really appreciate the time and effort you put into those informative posts, but I'm suffering from information and choice overload. Yeah, I did take a cursory glance at Wikipedia, but because there were so many titles listed, I had no idea which ones to choose as an initial starting point. I decided I wanted some personal recommendations instead. The ones I mentioned were a combination of a few I had previously seen and others that I know are considered classics. I'll definitely be perusing your posts carefully, but what would help me is a smaller set of recommendations. How about you give me 10 films - one for each of the years from 1950-1959 that you definitely think I should see that are not already mentioned on my list. That will give me a more manageable number of films to start with!
 
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I love the list, so many of my favorites on it. One I didn't see or may have missed is Teenagers from Out Space. I recently watched it on YouTube for the first time in 30 years. There are a lot of these titles available on YouTube if you use the right search word.

My all time favorite is the original Thing From Another World with James Arnes as the Martian. I didn't care for the 80's remake with Kurt Russell. He was better in Big Trouble In Little China with Kim Cattrall.

Again, great list!
 
My all time favorite is the original Thing From Another World with James Arnes as the Martian. I didn't care for the 80's remake with Kurt Russell.
I love all three! Each for their own reasons.
The Thing From Another World was very well-acted and directed. I've read some trivia on it and there are many things in the trivia that lets the rewatch of the film be even more interesting. Truly an outstanding film and intricate in its execution.
 
+1 on 'It Came From Outer Space' and 'Phantom From 10,000 Leagues'.
the first is more a mood / thought piece;
the other is the kind you turn off your higher functions and enjoy the cheese.
 
Is anyone besides me watching the COMET Sci-fi Network? I love it! So many movies and shows from my childhood. Last Saturday I was watching an oldie called, The Terror (1963) starring Boris Karloff (before he was the voice of the Grinch) and a very young Jack Nicholson. Afterward I looked it up on Google and found that the girl was played by Nicholson's only wife, Sandra Knight.
 
Almost forgot to mention, also in 1963 Nicholson was in a version of, The Raven, with the ultimate trifecta of horror actors, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Vincent Price. It is an awesome movie for horror buffs! My husband Randy does a perfect Peter Lorre. Sometimes he even answers the phone that way when we get sales calls during dinner. It can be hysterical!

Maybe add these 2 movies to Tom's list?
 
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