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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Saturday, March 24, 2018

The Flying Saucer (1950)

Starring Mikel Conrad, Pat Garrison, Hantz von Teuffen, Earle Lyon, Lester Sharpe
Directed by Mikel Conrad
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A government agent is sent to Alaska to track down reports of a flying saucer, but he doesn't believe the sightings are legitimate, and keeps blowing his cover.

We have here one of the earliest "flying saucer" films, starring, produced, and directed by Mikel Conrad who also is credited with supplying the film's story.  Those expecting to see visitors from another planet will be disappointed, but the saucer itself is brought to the screen with some very effective special effects, despite the movie's status as a low budget independent film.  Although it's in essence a thriller, with Conrad facing enemy agents trying to capture the saucer for their government, at times it seems more like a travelogue, with some very lengthy scenes of boating or flying through the Alaskan scenery.  The scenery is beautiful, but some tighter editing would have helped.  I also found Conrad's agent to be among the worst ever, more interested in getting drunk and romancing his partner then looking for evidence, before finally becoming dedicated to the task at hand.  Still, it's an entertaining enough watch and Darrell Calker's score is probably my favorite of his, with some lovely interludes for the Alaskan scenery, and more driving cues for Conrad's confrontations with the enemy.

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