Nice effects though.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Blistering performances.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

SYNOPSIS: A Venusian books a room at a British country inn. NOTES: Movie debut of Marigold Russell.COMMENT: The first of six minor movies directed by Burt Balaban, this is probably the best-thanks chiefly to a superior group of players who work wonders with a heavy-on-clichés, light-on-ideas script that was obviously inspired by The Day the Earth Stood Still. Oddly, Miss Neal (so superb in Day the Earth...) is not so impressive here as she is forced to struggle against the opposing forces of a flimsy screenplay and too heavily indulgent direction. Helmut Dantine as the aggressive Venusian scores more forcefully, but the audience's real interest is constantly deflected to the minor characters, particularly the lovely Marigold Russell, quietly forceful Cyril Luckham (in only his second film appearance) as the doctor, and Nigel Green (one of my favorite stars) who brings such expertise to his small role as a policeman, he almost makes the film worth seeing on his account alone. Production values are definitely second-drawer, but credits come over as competent enough. Kenneth Talbot's cinematography has its attractive moments, and Eric Spear has contributed a suitably romantic musical theme.OTHER VIEWS: Despite all her indulgent close-ups, Hollywood import Patricia Neal is none too flatteringly photographed. It's attractive newcomer Marigold Russell who walks away with the film's acting honors (though 37-year-old Willoughby Gray, who made a career playing older men, seems too young to be her father. The director should have had enough sense to change this relationship to "brother"). Writers Jacoby and Leslie present some mildly interesting ideas here and there, but there's a lot of obvious padding to build up the parts of the two principals and listless Derek Bond proves a liability rather than an asset in his "other man" role.

Some careful thought and preparation is evident in this production but overall it is made in a non-dynamic manner, very deliberate and you might say too slow. The direction seems primitive. Once this director sets his camera for a scene it is seemingly planted in concrete- it ain't gonna move. In some scenes maybe coffee or caffeine would have helped the director. Military personnel just stand around, and even scenes beside a Monet-esque lily pond are flat and unromantic.The British actors are really good, especially the grey haired doctor and young Willoughby Gray who portrays "Gretchen". Helmut Dantine is very focused and is riveting in the lead role. In contrast, Patricia Neal looks as if she would rather be somewhere else and is not effective in her role. The music is mostly of the orchestrated "English pastoral" style popular in the early to mid 20th century but other than providing a classy sound is not lively enough for a sci-fi film. There is a huge early-50's Packard auto that is loaded with chrome and very noticeable but is thoroughly ugly- its too bad because the earlier post-WWII Packard designs were generally more elegant and graceful. I always enjoy looking for mid-century ambiance and trappings in films from the era such as I found in this movie.Some interesting science can be found here such as a proposed landing in a magnetic field area and concepts of interplanetary gravitation.An advanced being lectures us on how stupid and crude we are in routine fashion that has been done in films numerous times before and since, so this aspect of the theme seems rather redundant.

STRANGER FROM VENUS is Britain's answer to THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, and it isn't very good. This is a film which has dated very badly since first release, considering that 95% of its running time consists of middle-aged blokes sitting around in pubs and having philosophical debates.It's all very highbrow and intellectual, of course, but this also has the side effect of making it completely non-cinematic. There's very little incident in this film and no action, danger, or real excitement. All the good bits were done better in the Michael Rennie film, and really, things only pick up in the last ten minutes and then bang, it's suddenly all over. The low budget is always more than obvious.The concept of the film - an alien visits earth to condemn mankind for what they're doing to the planet - is overtly familiar and the script can add nothing new to the debate. Patricia Neal does well in a leading role and there are bit parts for John Le Mesurier and Nigel Green, but the leading cast is for the most part lacklustre, and there's very little to interest even the viewer with an interest in British science fiction of the 1950s.

Well, imagine if "The Day the Earth Stood Still" was made with no special effects, no Gort, bad sound, and lots of actors with weird accents, and you'd have "Stranger from Venus".Yes, borrowing the leading lady (who looks like she's phoning it in) and the basics of the plot (benign Christ-like alien comes to Earth and tells human race to knock it off) from the American version, this film blunders on for an hour and a half or so with no point, really.I'm not sure what inspired the producers to make this film. It wasn't like all copies of "Earth" had vanished or something. I am less sure why Patricia Neal decided to lend her talents to this, unless someone just promised her a vacation in the British countryside.Keep in mind, this was the 1950's, where people really believed benign aliens were visiting Earth with messages of peace, an offshoot of our own fears of nuclear war, and Charlatons like George Adamski made a lot of money doing it. So I guess people thought there was a market for this sort of thing.Interesting to watch for buffs of 1950's Science Fiction, not much else to recommend it.