The Cosmic Man is a 1959 American sci-fi horror film about a spherical UFO that proves to contain an alien visitor.
Directed by Herbert S. Greene from a screenplay by Arthur C. Pierce (Terror in the Midnight Sun, The Astral Factor).
Herbert S. Greene was assistant director on Invisible Invaders, The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (both 1959) and Strait-Jacket (1963).
The film stars John Carradine, Bruce Bennett, Angela Greene, Paul Langton, Scotty Morrow, Lyn Osborn, Walter Maslow, Herbert Lytton.
Plot:
After being tracked at 180,000 mph inside the Earth’s atmosphere, a white, spherical object lands in the California desert, accompanied by a strange semi-transparent man-shaped humanoid figure. He appears friendly, but is he?
Reviews:
“A virtual re-write of The Day The Earth Stood Still, with the great John Carradine as the alien … No match for Earth Stood Still, of course, but how many movies are? Not-So-Memorable Dialog: “Here… Colonel, have a mint.” The man-hungry blonde is a hoot. Includes some nifty electronic sound effects.” Willard’s Wormholes
“Carradine’s alien appearance is largely limited to being shown in negative and that isn’t enough to enliven this tedious and sticky confection.” Alan Frank, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Handbook, Batsford, 1982
“Director Herbert Greene and scripter Arthur C. Pierce create almost zero suspense in their scenario, attempting at the eleventh hour to duplicate the Christ-motif of Day by having the Cosmic Man sacrifice his life for the young boy but then “rise again” — or at least, it’s implied that he may live again after his dead body gets teleported away.” Naturalistic! Uncanny! Marvelous!
“… engaging low-budget oddity … The film’s optimistic ending has a certain naive power.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction
YouTube reviews:
Free to watch online on YouTube:
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Cast and characters:
John Carradine … Cosmic Man; Bruce Bennett … Doctor Karl Sorenson; Angela Greene … Kathy Grant; Paul Langton … Colonel Matthews; Scotty Morrow … Ken Grant; Lyn Osborn … Sergeant Gray; Walter Maslow … Doctor ‘Rich’ Richie; Herbert Lytton … General Knowland; Ken Clayton … Master Sergeant; Alan Wells … Sergeant; Harry Fleer … Bill, the Park Ranger; John Erman … Radar Operator; Dwight Brooks … Major; Hal Torey … Doctor Steinholtz
Filming locations:
Griffith Observatory, 2800 E Observatory Rd, Los Angeles, California
Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park – 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California
Technical specs:
1 hour 12 minutes
Black and white
Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1
